Send back or keep?

[smoking monkey]

Probably biggest issue will be the diff in screen real estate. Otherwise max out the air and you’re good to go. Games will eventually work well, but it will be gradual. But def send it back. You’re paying far more just for screen real estate. Not worth it now tha M1 has changed the landscape and has made intel look ancient. Just remember the Air does throttle as Maxtech showed but it was still working fine. And that was under sustained loads. The Pro would also be a good choice for you as seems the fans don’t kick in much.

 

[ght56]

You're taking a huge hit in GPU performance but you will get a quieter system. If you value quiet over everything else, go for it. Alternatively, you could get the M1 Air and a gaming laptop.

The coil whine in mine was from the SSD and it went away after some heavier usage in about a week. Not sure if that applies to yours or not. Some M1 Macs may also have this noise.

 

[bill-p]

Well, to be fair, the 16" MacBook isn't "just screen real estate". I still have mine. The following things still give me pauses:

0. 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports. Arguably very important to some.
1. Screen real estate, yeah.
2. Speakers. All M1 MacBook speakers suck compared to the 16" MacBook Pro. In fact, all laptop speakers suck compared to the 16" MacBook Pro. Since I'm used to the 16", My M1 MacBook just... sucks. It's not a minor thing.
3. Microphone. Much louder, clearer, and fuller sounding on the 16".
4. GPU. The M1 is fast, but it can barely hold 60fps @ 1080p in some games (lighter games don't count). The 16" MacBook can play most games 60fps @ 1080p easily. Some others reach 60fps @ 1440p, and a select few reach 60fps @ 4K.
5. Full compatibility with all games in existence. If it doesn't work under MacOS, it'll work under Bootcamp all the same.
6. eGPU support for even more graphics performance if the built-in GPU isn't enough.
7. Bigger trackpad (arguably not really a knock against the M1)
8. Battery life still lasts around 7-8 hours. M1 with the same usage lasts about 10-12 hours, so... while M1 lasts a bit longer, it's not by a significant amount.
9. Surprise, the 16" MacBook supports 4K @ 120Hz. The M1 MacBook doesn't.

 

[smoking monkey]

Well, to be fair, the 16" MacBook isn't "just screen real estate". I still have mine. The following things still give me pauses:

0. 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports. Arguably very important to some.
1. Screen real estate, yeah.
2. Speakers. All M1 MacBook speakers suck compared to the 16" MacBook Pro. In fact, all laptop speakers suck compared to the 16" MacBook Pro. Since I'm used to the 16", My M1 MacBook just... sucks. It's not a minor thing.
3. Microphone. Much louder, clearer, and fuller sounding on the 16".
4. GPU. The M1 is fast, but it can barely hold 60fps @ 1080p in some games (lighter games don't count). The 16" MacBook can play most games 60fps @ 1080p easily. Some others reach 60fps @ 1440p, and a select few reach 60fps @ 4K.
5. Full compatibility with all games in existence. If it doesn't work under MacOS, it'll work under Bootcamp all the same.
6. eGPU support for even more graphics performance if the built-in GPU isn't enough.
7. Bigger trackpad (arguably not really a knock against the M1)
8. Battery life still lasts around 7-8 hours. M1 with the same usage lasts about 10-12 hours, so... while M1 lasts a bit longer, it's not by a significant amount.
9. Surprise, the 16" MacBook supports 4K @ 120Hz. The M1 MacBook doesn't.

Fair points but the OP doesn’t list any of those things as issues for them. Of course OP didn’t say anything about screen size, but screen size is probably the first and most immediate difference in the two computers that will always have an impact on usage unless using a monitor. It’s possible everything you listed will have zero effect on the OP.

 

[nameste]

Probably biggest issue will be the diff in screen real estate. Otherwise max out the air and you’re good to go. Games will eventually work well, but it will be gradual. But def send it back. You’re paying far more just for screen real estate. Not worth it now tha M1 has changed the landscape and has made intel look ancient. Just remember the Air does throttle as Maxtech showed but it was still working fine. And that was under sustained loads. The Pro would also be a good choice for you as seems the fans don’t kick in much.

yes the screen will be an issue ,I also have 34” 2k screen.I can hook it up.I really wonder how’s the fan noise on the new m1.Are there any dB tests yet?

You're taking a huge hit in GPU performance but you will get a quieter system. If you value quiet over everything else, go for it. Alternatively, you could get the M1 Air and a gaming laptop.

The coil whine in mine was from the SSD and it went away after some heavier usage in about a week. Not sure if that applies to yours or not. Some M1 Macs may also have this noise.

Yes the gpu will be worse but I think quiet machine will be my priority. Because some easy games the 16” begins to scream even watching 4K videos when the fans kicks in I can’t stand the fan noise in my quiet room.Also when editing and can’t concentrate on what I do .

Well, to be fair, the 16" MacBook isn't "just screen real estate". I still have mine. The following things still give me pauses:

0. 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports. Arguably very important to some.
1. Screen real estate, yeah.
2. Speakers. All M1 MacBook speakers suck compared to the 16" MacBook Pro. In fact, all laptop speakers suck compared to the 16" MacBook Pro. Since I'm used to the 16", My M1 MacBook just... sucks. It's not a minor thing.
3. Microphone. Much louder, clearer, and fuller sounding on the 16".
4. GPU. The M1 is fast, but it can barely hold 60fps @ 1080p in some games (lighter games don't count). The 16" MacBook can play most games 60fps @ 1080p easily. Some others reach 60fps @ 1440p, and a select few reach 60fps @ 4K.
5. Full compatibility with all games in existence. If it doesn't work under MacOS, it'll work under Bootcamp all the same.
6. eGPU support for even more graphics performance if the built-in GPU isn't enough.
7. Bigger trackpad (arguably not really a knock against the M1)
8. Battery life still lasts around 7-8 hours. M1 with the same usage lasts about 10-12 hours, so... while M1 lasts a bit longer, it's not by a significant amount.
9. Surprise, the 16" MacBook supports 4K @ 120Hz. The M1 MacBook doesn't.

Thanks for the side by side comprasion.

Fair points but the OP doesn’t list any of those things as issues for them. Of course OP didn’t say anything about screen size, but screen size is probably the first and most immediate difference in the two computers that will always have an impact on usage unless using a monitor. It’s possible everything you listed will have zero effect on the OP.

Yes you are right ,16” is better than the 13” screen.But i feel like the 16” has many problems doesn’t worth the price tag.

 

[KPOM]

Well, what games are you playing? The M1 cannot play everything under the sun yet. In fact, even games made for MacOS may not run well (or at all). Rosetta 2 still has some compatibility issues.

Also if you get the MacBook Air, it'll throttle performance after 10 minutes, and the overall performance of the system may not be able to keep up with more demanding games like... StarCraft 2 for instance.

A number of fixes to Rosetta 2 are coming with the 11.1 update. Hopefully that resolves most remaining compatibility issues.

 

[bill-p]

A number of fixes to Rosetta 2 are coming with the 11.1 update. Hopefully that resolves most remaining compatibility issues.

I'm already on 11.1 beta. That's why more things are working and don't crash. But they aren't perfect.

Both 11.0.0 and 11.0.1 crashed and panicked a lot to me.

This is a nice machine, but gaming on it is still at least 6 months away, if not longer. I'd think you should stick to Intel Mac unless you like to beta test game compatibility.

 

[ght56]

Yes the gpu will be worse but I think quiet machine will be my priority. Because some easy games the 16” begins to scream even watching 4K videos when the fans kicks in I can’t stand the fan noise in my quiet room.Also when editing and can’t concentrate on what I do .

Since you prioritize silence over GPU performance and you are okay taking the massive GPU downgrade, then I think it makes sense in your instance...even more so if this is a personal machine and not one you rely on for money or the sole Mac you depend on for income. Also understand that compatibility might not be perfect for the time being.

 

[nameste]

Good news I talked with Apple and I was told I can keep my 16” untill 20 January 2021 .

 

[Graham King]

Not sure if he is trolling but I saw earlier on the topics someone complained about 13 mbp m1.He said fans ramp up to full blast after 10 mins of doing stuff.

I’ve had no fan noise whatsoever after a few hours of transcoding h.264 to ProRes.

 

[tdbrown75]

Problem with the M1 Air and Pro, is they are not 16" notebooks. As soon as a 16" version drops I'll make the switch. Simply not willing to give up the big glass.

Tim

 

[4sallypat]

Problem with the M1 Air and Pro, is they are not 16" notebooks. As soon as a 16" version drops I'll make the switch. Simply not willing to give up the big glass.

Tim

Same here - my 16" Intel MBP will have to wait until the AS 16" is released.