Should I wait for the MBP 14" M2 Pro or buy the MBP 14" M1 Pro now?

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

I am an engineering student and I need a new MacBook Pro.

If I buy the M1 Pro now, it will arrive by the first week of august (I live in Spain and there is no stock anywhere because of the supply chain crisis), just in time for the next academic year. (MBP 14", 8 14 16, 16GB, 1 TB)

If Apple announces the M2 Pro MBP, lets say in mid October maybe, it may arrive by the end of the year.

I don't think the wait is worth it because there is not much to upgrade besides de processor, and from what I've been reading the improvement over the M1 Pro shouldn't be that big either. We should also take into account that the crisis situation could worsen, that the m2 pro could have even more delay, and that apple could also raise prices more as it has done with the new MBA.

What are your thoughts on this?

You're most likely going to wait well into 2023 for any new MBPs, or even 2024, as Apple has just released new MBPs last October.

I don't understand why so many are convinced Apple will do another update to the 13" MacBook Pro in 2022-2023, like a truly new 12"-13" M2 MBP, when Apple literally just updated the 13" MBP in the laziest way possible, making it incredibly unattractive and low-value per dollar by comparison to the new, M2 Air.

I would go for the 14" M1 Pro MBP as I don't see Apple releasing or announcing any additional laptops in 2022.

For the remainder of 2022, it would be much more likely to see M2 versions of Mac mini, iMac, or maybe an iMac Pro or a true Mac Pro.

 

[chars1ub0w]

How hard is it for Apple to put the M2 into the MBP 14"? I bet it's a simple upgrade and not hard at all. So I'd expect to see M2 into the MBP 14" line in October, shipping maybe a couple of months after that. If you need a machine now or later this summer, buy the M2 MacBook Air. The M2 MBP 13" is a weird, dead-end product. Then update to the most powerful M2 Max MBP at a later date. You need two machines anyway for zero downtime.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

How hard is it for Apple to put the M2 into the MBP 14"? I bet it's a simple upgrade and not hard at all.

Not hard at all, they could have done it already.

So I'd expect to see M2 into the MBP 14" line in October, shipping maybe a couple of months after that.

Not going to happen, because Apple doesn't want it. The MBP 14 and 16 are "Pro" machines, with Pro and Max SoCs. They won't put a normal M2 into one. That's what the MBA, the 13" MBP and the future MBA 15 are for. In a similar way, you won't see a M2 in a Mac Studio, that's what the Mac mini is for. There's a clear line in product lineup.

 

[StellarVixen]

I am an engineering student and I need a new MacBook Pro.

If I buy the M1 Pro now, it will arrive by the first week of august (I live in Spain and there is no stock anywhere because of the supply chain crisis), just in time for the next academic year. (MBP 14", 8 14 16, 16GB, 1 TB)

If Apple announces the M2 Pro MBP, lets say in mid October maybe, it may arrive by the end of the year.

I don't think the wait is worth it because there is not much to upgrade besides de processor, and from what I've been reading the improvement over the M1 Pro shouldn't be that big either. We should also take into account that the crisis situation could worsen, that the m2 pro could have even more delay, and that apple could also raise prices more as it has done with the new MBA.

What are your thoughts on this?

Can you wait? If yes then wait for M2 Pro, even if upgrades are marginal they are still upgrades.

You can't wait/need laptop now? Get M1 Pro.

 

[chars1ub0w]

Not hard at all, they could have done it already.

Not going to happen, because Apple doesn't want it. The MBP 14 and 16 are "Pro" machines, with Pro and Max SoCs. They won't put a normal M2 into one. That's what the MBA, the 13" MBP and the future MBA 15 are for. In a similar way, you won't see a M2 in a Mac Studio, that's what the Mac mini is for. There's a clear line in product lineup.

I understand. I wonder if M2 Pro is sampling now. Maybe mass production later this year according to this.

Apple’s M2 Pro, M2 Max Will Undergo Mass Production on TSMC’s Cutting-Edge 3nm Technology Later This Year

Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max will be mass produced on TSMC’s 3nm process later this year, and will be fueling products in 2023

wccftech.com

 

[petvas]

Rumor has it that M2 Pro and M2 Max will be manufactured on TSMC's 3nm node and will be ARMv9 - according to ShrimpApplePro.
Also, Mark Gurman recently said these chips could come as soon as the end of 2022, but could be delayed to early 2023.
However, it is also a matter of you needing the computer. If you need it now, buy it now. If you can wait, I think you should and then get a better machine for the money you will invest.
Personally I'm waiting for M2 Pro

No way that these chips will be 3nm. The M2 is namely 5nm…

 

[GrumpyCoder]

I understand. I wonder if M2 Pro is sampling now. Maybe mass production later this year according to this.

Apple’s M2 Pro, M2 Max Will Undergo Mass Production on TSMC’s Cutting-Edge 3nm Technology Later This Year

Apple’s M2 Pro and M2 Max will be mass produced on TSMC’s 3nm process later this year, and will be fueling products in 2023

wccftech.com

I’m pretty sure they will run small production samples for further testing, I don’t think they’ll start mass production this year. Also, the article says they’re jumping from 4nm to 3nm, which is wrong. The M2 is still 5nm and I doubt they’ll jump from 5nm M2 to 3nm M2 Pro/Max, they usually do it with a new generation, so the M2 would have been 3nm already. I think we’re reading a lot of wishful thinking right now. If a little miracle happens then we might see the M2 Pro/Max in about a year, otherwise as originally planned in late 2023. While the M2 is an upgrade over the M1, it’s a minimal one and brought a feature from the Pro/Max (ProRes) down, but at the price of being bigger and eating into more power than the M1. That will likely mean more heat, earlier throttling (for the fanless MBA) and less battery life.

With the 14” MBP already on it’s limits when it comes to thermals and battery life with the Max, we can only speculate what that means for a possible M2 Pro/Max. The GPU in the 14” Max version is already lower clocked than the version in the 16” and running the 14” Max full power for both CPU and GPU results in >49dB(A), which reminds me a little of the old Intel days. The 16” remains at 37dB(A), so there’s some headroom. In any case, the “real” updates will come with the M3. I personally would not wait for M2 if I’d need something now. And as always, if an upgrade isn’t needed now, then waiting as long as possible is the right thing to do, be that for M2, M3 or M5.

 

[satcomer]

I would buy the M2! Sense it's newer it will be longer on the long run to get updates!

 

[widEyed]

Not hard at all, they could have done it already.

Not going to happen, because Apple doesn't want it. The MBP 14 and 16 are "Pro" machines, with Pro and Max SoCs. They won't put a normal M2 into one. That's what the MBA, the 13" MBP and the future MBA 15 are for. In a similar way, you won't see a M2 in a Mac Studio, that's what the Mac mini is for. There's a clear line in product lineup.

agree although a M? Pro level max mini is a possibility i think. maybe still limited to 2 displays maybe not. more DRAM memory options. more speed but not to the Studio level of ports and IO grunt.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

agree although a M? Pro level max mini is a possibility i think. maybe still limited to 2 displays maybe not. more DRAM memory options. more speed but not to the Studio level of ports and IO grunt.

Yes, maybe. There’s no Pro in the Studio, only the Max so it could be an option. Maybe they’re waiting for a redesigned Mac Mini.

 

[chars1ub0w]

already on it’s limits when it comes to thermals and battery life with the Max, we can only speculate what that means for a possible M2 Pro/Max. The GPU in the 14” Max version is already lower clocked than the version in the 16” and running the 14” Max full power for both CPU and GPU results in >49dB(A), which reminds me a little of the old Intel days. The 16” remains at 37dB(A), so there’s some headroom. In any case, the “real” updates will come with the M3. I personally would not wait for M2 if I’d need something now. And as always, if an upgrade isn’t needed now, then waiting as long as possible is the right thing to do, be that for M2, M3 or M5.

That isn't right. As notebookcheck.net showed in their review, the 14" is not thermally limited. "All in all, this is a rather disappointing results since the fans certainly have plenty of headroom. If you pay a lot of money for the M1 Max, you will probably want to use the performance in combined workload scenarios, which is not possible here." I suspect Apple already planned for more power-hungry CPUs.

Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 Laptop Review: The performance of the M1 Max is limited

Notebookcheck reviews the Apple MacBook Pro 14 2021 with the M1 Max SoC, 24-core GPU, and the Mini-LED screen.

www.notebookcheck.net

I recommended a 16" MBP (over a 14") for someone recently, only because their aging eyes could see better with the larger screen. Otherwise, I'd have recommended the 14". When it arrived, I only used it for one day, I installed stuff on it for him, the larger screen was definitely a good thing. For myself, to replace my Intel i9 15" MBP, I'll ask for either a maxed out M2 MBA or a maxed out M1 Max 16" MBP for code development in September. Then ask my sponsor to buy a maxed out Mac Pro when it gets announced, and use that remotely for bigger jobs.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

That isn't right. As notebookcheck.net showed in their review, the 14" is not thermally limited.

Huh? Of course it is right, please read what I wrote. I said ”on the limit” which means, it’s running at full capacity and if it would go further, it would have problems. And that is, with a lower clocked GPU vs the 16” (same SoCs). They did this for a simple reason, keeping thermals down so they don’t run into throttling and battery life. The battery on the 14” Max is not ideal as it is, if anything the 14” is a really good match for the Pro. Maxing out CPU and GPU with sustained load over time, it is noisy at 49dB(A)+, while the 16” is much more quiet due to the larger cooling system.

For myself, to replace my Intel i9 15" MBP, I'll ask for either a maxed out M2 MBA or a maxed out M1 Max 16" MBP for code development in September. Then ask my sponsor to buy a maxed out Mac Pro when it gets announced, and use that remotely for bigger jobs.

That doesn’t really make sense comparing a M2 MBA to a M1 Max, totally different things with a massive performance gap in between. Bringing in a Mac Pro, you’re all over the place. But get whatever you like. I might grab a Mac Pro, depending on how it performs, but I don’t have my hopes up. Pure performance I’ve always been better off with my maxed out Dell machines or NVidia DGX stations for small to medium size projects. The rest went off to normal cluster boxes and for really large things, I booked time on one of the Top 100 super computer systems in the world. But the next Mac Pro should be a nice little toy again.

 

[chars1ub0w]

That doesn’t really make sense comparing a M2 MBA to a M1 Max, totally different things with a massive performance gap in between. Bringing in a Mac Pro, you’re all over the place. But get whatever you like. I might grab a Mac Pro, depending on how it performs, but I don’t have my hopes up. Pure performance I’ve always been better off with my maxed out Dell machines or NVidia DGX stations for small to medium size projects. The rest went off to normal cluster boxes and for really large things, I booked time on one of the Top 100 super computer systems in the world. But the next Mac Pro should be a nice little toy again.

Makes sense for me on the continuum of size/performance. Run smaller test jobs and develop code on my laptop. Will have two laptops for non-zero downtime. The Mac Pro will run the larger jobs. For larger runs, use a 64 core Threadripper Pro earmarked for my lab when it gets unembargoed by AMD/Lenovo. I tried to order the last generation one, but the order didn't go through as AMD discontinued the earlier HEDT generation. We have general access to HPC facilities too. (Because of the pandemic, last few years, I've been making do with a MacBook 12 and the i9 MacBook Pro 15", it's time to update the combo.)

 

[tomatoes44]

Hi all,

Just reviving this thread so I don't make a new one.

Im coming from a 2017 MacBook Pro and am interested in the 14" model; initially I wanted to wait for the M2 versions (I didn't want to get a 1-year old product) but the reviews for M2 I've seen have been lukewarm and the current M1 14" models have some great deals going on ($400 off, etc).

I'm not very savvy with this stuff so I'd appreciate any input you may have. I really want to develop my photography/graphic design hobby so I'm looking for a larger SSD (my 2017 model only has 128GB) as well as being able to quickly process photos with Lightroom/Affinity/CaptureOne. And to obviously maximize longevity of the machine.

Thank you!

 

[ArkSingularity]

Hi all,

Just reviving this thread so I don't make a new one.

Im coming from a 2017 MacBook Pro and am interested in the 14" model; initially I wanted to wait for the M2 versions (I didn't want to get a 1-year old product) but the reviews for M2 I've seen have been lukewarm and the current M1 14" models have some great deals going on ($400 off, etc).

I'm not very savvy with this stuff so I'd appreciate any input you may have. I really want to develop my photography/graphic design hobby so I'm looking for a larger SSD (my 2017 model only has 128GB) as well as being able to quickly process photos with Lightroom/Affinity/CaptureOne. And to obviously maximize longevity of the machine.

Thank you!

Yea, some of the sales going on are certainly VERY attractive. The M2 models are likely to more or less be the same for the most part, I don't think they are going to change very much aside from having a new M2 Pro/M2 Max chipsets based on the current M2. It will of course have slightly faster single core scores (always a welcome improvement) and the multicore scores will be better too, but the multicore scores are already screaming fast on the M1 Pro/Max models, as is the GPU performance. If the M2 Pro/Max are anything like the M2, we will probably see more of a normal iterative improvement (I'd estimate maybe a 10% uptick or so), and not necessarily anything earth shattering.

Honestly, the sales on the 14" models are insane right now. $1599 is a steal. You could probably upgrade it to the unbinned CPU model easily with those kinds of prices too and still get it cheaper than the normal price, and you'd get a machine that would last a very long time (no matter what you do). That being said, the M2 models would of course be faster (and that's always a welcome improvement), but it waits to be seen how they will be priced. I'd say that if it happened to be a choice between an unbinned M1 Pro and a binned M2 Pro, it might almost make more sense to go for the unbinned M1. What is the price range you're looking at?

 

[chars1ub0w]

I ended up not waiting for a M2 MacBook Pro 16". Went from my Intel 15" model (on the right) to the M1 Max (on the left). Sure the M2 Max will be faster, but I don't think by much.

 

[tstafford]

I have a 14" MBP base model and love it. I can't imagine any way the upcoming M2 model is compelling enough to even consider an upgrade. Unless there is something specific the M1 Pro model can't do, I'd for sure pull the trigger at today's prices rather than wait.

My guess is the M2 models will offer two advantages to the average user - longer battery life and somewhat faster web surfing. Nothing wrong with that, but not justification to spend a bunch more money IMHO

 

[senttoschool]

$1600 for M1 Pro 14" is a steal. You get 16/512 with 120hz Promotion miniLED display. Just can't beat it.

 

[theorist9]

Won't happen...
M1 in 2020, M1 Pro/Max in 2021, M1 Ultra in 2022...
M2 in 2022, M2 Pro/Max in 2023, M2 Ultra in 2024...
repeat

We're on a 2-year cycle with M-series SoCs. So if you can wait till fall 2023, wait. If not, buy now.

You're framing this as a sure thing, yet we don't know this for certain (those in a position to speak with such surety can't, because they're under NDA's). While your prediction may be right, there is also a reasonable possibility we will see 14"/16" M2-gen MBP's this fall, particularly given the very substantial across-the-board discounts that are being offered on the current models.

 

[neinjohn]

For anybody on Europe looking at the Pro 14'' the M1 model should be very tempting as the M2 model will certainly rise prices, maybe 200-300€ base.

 

[mattfro]

I just got, Pro 16" M1 pro 16/512GB. Because the price was down to around 2600 eur in a webshop. Also also they took my old MPRO 15" from 2016 and gave almost 400 eur for it. So I paid around 2200 eur for it.

I was really first thinking of waiting but then again, the difference between the new and old in my use is not much. Wouldn't have made a lot of sense and the price would be much higher. Also probably they wouldn't have given so "much" for my old macbook in return.

If the prices wouldn't have gone down on the M1 models, I would most likey waited. It's all about the money

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

For anybody on Europe looking at the Pro 14'' the M1 model should be very tempting as it's the M2 model will certainly rise prices, maybe 200-300€ base.

For anybody on Europe looking at the Pro 14'' the M1 model should be very tempting as it's the M2 model will certainly rise prices, maybe 200-300€ base.

probably even more

 

[maflynn]

I ended up not waiting for a M2 MacBook Pro 16". Went from my Intel 15" model (on the right) to the M1 Max (on the left). Sure the M2 Max will be faster, but I don't think by much.

Congrats, and I agree, while the M2 may have some bells and whistles, I don't think it will be that much. Given the reduction in price many people are seeing, the current model is a must buy at this point - at least imo

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Congrats, and I agree, while the M2 may have some bells and whistles, I don't think it will be that much. Given the reduction in price many people are seeing, the current model is a must buy at this point - at least imo

Assuming you live in the eu ,if you factor the current reduction + the 15% increase of the upcoming model ,it’s a no brainer im afraid

 

[tomatoes44]

Just wanted to follow up-
I ended up getting the 14" M1 Pro model and I absolutely love it! Ultimately the deals and the pricepoint was too good to pass up, and I knew the cost of a potential M2 Pro with similar specs would be too high for me.

Having a great time with it so far, hopefully it keeps up. Wonder if maybe 32GB of RAM is better than 16 in terms of getting longevity, but even 16 it runs very fast