Um, now I'm confused. Buy a maxed out 13' pro (Apple silicon) or last years 13' maxed out.

[audirs5]

I ended up getting the maxed out M1. Gonna give it a shot and if/when apples releases the 14' model or one with 32 and 4 ports, I'll sell and upgrade. I don't do any task intensive stuff other than web apps and chrome. So, lets see how this goes ..

 

[Quackington]

I think it just depends on what yourt use case is. A couple of months ago, I finally upgraded my 11" 2011 MBA which is 9 years old and was chugging, to the 13" Intel MBP with 32GB RAM and 1TB. I was a bit nervous due to the Apple silicon machines coming, but now I've seen they're just the lower end machines ot begin with, I'm glad I stuck with Intel for now. If my MBA lasted me 9 years (and I'm still occasionally using it for some light browsing or if I need something smaller than the 13"), this MBP should last me a good while.

What I really like about the new machines is the battery life. My word, seems amazing. I think if Apple released another 11/12" in the future with a similar battery life, I'd consider it.

 

[ascender]

So presumably Apple have found that the majority of buyers of the 2 port MBP typically go for 16GB RAM max? Which would kind of make sense as people going for 32GB or more will presumably have historically bought the 4 port model with faster CPU etc.

In that context this model makes sense and there will be a new higher performance MBP coming with a different chip, 4 ports, more maximum RAM Etc.

But where it doesn’t make sense is how close it appears on paper to the upgraded Air. This was already the (confusing) case on the last Intel refresh but seems to be even more confusing now*


*Unless thermals are a disaster on the Air.

 

[aednichols]

So presumably Apple have found that the majority of buyers of the 2 port MBP typically go for 16GB RAM max?

In fact I suspect they found that number to be 100%, because the two-port Intel model never had the 32GB option.

 

[ascender]

In fact I suspect they found that number to be 100%, because the two-port Intel model never had the 32GB option.

Well there you go then, makes even more sense!

Now I don’t know why people are surprised! Apart from those of us like me who’d forgotten obviously ?

 

[aednichols]

Well there you go then, makes even more sense!

Now I don’t know why people are surprised! Apart from those of us like me who’d forgotten obviously ?

Haha yeah.

The M1 discussion on Macrumors has two themes:

1. "Unhappy M1 Mac has limitation X" when X was already true for the Intel model it replaced
2. "Unhappy M1 Mac has limitation Y" when Y will probably be fixed in the M1X for higher-end systems

 

[grrrz]

unless you know exactly what you're doing buying a mac arm right now seems like a stupid idea; pretty much no software will work natively on it (except apple softwares)

 

[aednichols]

unless you know exactly what you're doing buying a mac arm right now seems like a stupid idea; pretty much no software will work natively on it (except apple softwares)

Rosetta 2 appears to be very good. Recall the presentation where they said ASi Macs can run certain Intel software under emulation faster than Intel Macs themselves?

I expect it to work correctly virtually 100% of the time and fast enough for reasonable use 98% of the time.

 

[grrrz]

Rosetta 2 appears to be very good. Recall the presentation where they said ASi Macs can run certain Intel software under emulation faster than Intel Macs themselves?

I expect it to work correctly virtually 100% of the time and fast enough for reasonable use 98% of the time.

yes; certain softwares; but for now we only have their word on it; and there's no way you don't lose performance/reliability in emulation; even if it's well done. Buying a computer when you don't know if the software you use daily will run smoothly on it is a pretty big gamble. It's fine if you need an internet machine; but for anything else people should wait a few months at least to see how it's working; what works and how well. I mean we know almost nothing of the real world performance for starters. Anyway buying the first gen hardware redesign of anything is never a good idea; specially with apple.

 

[dopeytree]

The 13" MacBook Pro never had decent graphics. it has the built in intel iris graphics ok for simple gaming etc. So based on that I would get the new m1 chip as it'll be on par. and you'll probably prefer better battery life etc

However if you wanted to play the latest games via bootcamp etc you'd want a 15/16" old style MacBook Pro with AMD graphics

 

[aednichols]

yes; certain softwares; but for now we only have their word on it; and there's no way you don't lose performance/reliability in emulation; even if it's well done. Buying a computer when you don't know if the software you use daily will run smoothly on it is a pretty big gamble. It's fine if you need an internet machine; but for anything else people should wait a few months at least to see how it's working; what works and how well. I mean we know almost nothing of the real world performance for starters. Anyway buying the first gen hardware redesign of anything is never a good idea; specially with apple.

Yep, I ordered an Air on keynote day as my new personal machine, which is just for web and photos mostly.

My work laptop is another story entirely, will need the 16" to be revised.

 

[burgman]

Buying a new Intel based Mac is to knowingly purchase an obsolete computer, also one can always purchase a USB hub if the need be. I am confused between MacBook Air and the 13 inch MacBook Pro, 'cos I don't see any difference between the two.

Given Apple's history, constraints in storage and memory, and what they said about timeline, buying 1st Gen Apple M1 is knowingly buying an obsolete computer.

 

[markiv810]

Given Apple's history, constraints in storage and memory, and what they said about timeline, buying 1st Gen Apple M1 is knowingly buying an obsolete computer.

You are right about that, but the first generation M1 will still outlast the Intel based Macs, that was my point.

 

[Spindel]

If what apple says is true the M1 MBP 13 is going to be faster than the top Intel MBP 13.

Do you need performance and battery life or do you need RAM and TB-ports