I may consider M4 Max 16inch MBP if it supports 256 GB RAM, and comes with more powerful GPU for DL/ML and Improves matMul. Or I may try a Mac Studio or Mac Pro after not buying Mac workstations for over a decade, if they can come up with M4 Ultra, 512 GB and 2-3 X GPU performance compared to Max. I don’t really care about CPU.
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What would make you upgrade to the M4 Macs?
- Thread starter Mity
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My computer would have to break or get lost. I have 2 of the last generation intel macs, a 27" iMac and a touchbar macbook pro.
Totally agree. With the exception of video conferencing, most general computer use is pretty much the same stuff people were doing with their Macs 10, 15 even 20 years ago: email, web, office software, messaging, maybe a little light gaming... not much new there.
BUT, my guess is that they'll drive demand with locally-processed AI that could offer compelling features requiring hardware with better specs and resources geared specifically to those features.
Considering I just recently upgraded to an M3 Max, there's likely nothing that would make me upgrade to an M4 variant.
For sure. The selling points for upgrading fall within the realm of specific tasks or features. Can I edit videos significantly faster? Is my battery life on my laptop improved? Am I less vulnerable to malware? Can I generate 3D renderings more quickly? Are my phone cameras better? iPhones reached this point several generations ago. For the most part the speed of a computer or phone for general use is great.
It can’t replace training from scratch, but it can easily run inferences and fine tuning existing models. Meta released Llama3 couple days back, and mac with Apple silicon 64 GB unified memory runs locally, and you can train/build a RAG on your own documents/knowledge base. Server based API has its place and the on device inference will be wide spread. Good luck uploading confidential data to the server based APIs.
We don’t even know what we’re getting yet. I’ve been waiting for M3 for years to finally upgrade my graphics machine because the rumor mill made it seem like m3 was gonna be this massive leap forward at 3nm… but the m3 studio isn’t even out yet and already feels like old news.
The M1 was much faster than my quad-core i7, discrete graphics MacBook Pro.
Whichever Apple Silicon version you pick, you'll be fine.
Currently on an M2Pro Mini, and I'm probably good until the M5/6. I use it for Photoshop, as well as a little Blender modeling, and what I have is amazing for it.
I'm on an M1 now, so it's either m4 or m5 for me. I'll need to see specifics to decide, but here's some thoughts:
Wifi is irrelevant - 6/6e is plenty to handle my 1GB internet connection (which isn't going to get faster since I'm stuck on cable), and I don't do much internal machine to machine transfers. Wifi 7 certainly would future-proof it though.
Thunderbolt 5 is a must-have for how long I expect to keep the machine. Bonus points if they ditch the SD card and HDMI connectors and give me a 4th TB 5 port. Must support USB 4, and 3.2 Gen 2x2 too - no more 2x1.
Something less than insane RAM and SSD upgrade prices - cannot be worse than the M3's for sure. I am considering 128GB and 4TB this go around (which would make this a 4 or 5 year machine - if it's only 64/2TB then I'll have to really think about if the raw CPU is worth it the upgrade cost...probably not).
More performance cores, and fewer efficiency cores would be nice too. Even at full power it's not that big an energy hog.
Wifi is irrelevant - 6/6e is plenty to handle my 1GB internet connection (which isn't going to get faster since I'm stuck on cable), and I don't do much internal machine to machine transfers. Wifi 7 certainly would future-proof it though.
Thunderbolt 5 is a must-have for how long I expect to keep the machine. Bonus points if they ditch the SD card and HDMI connectors and give me a 4th TB 5 port. Must support USB 4, and 3.2 Gen 2x2 too - no more 2x1.
Something less than insane RAM and SSD upgrade prices - cannot be worse than the M3's for sure. I am considering 128GB and 4TB this go around (which would make this a 4 or 5 year machine - if it's only 64/2TB then I'll have to really think about if the raw CPU is worth it the upgrade cost...probably not).
More performance cores, and fewer efficiency cores would be nice too. Even at full power it's not that big an energy hog.
When I can purchase a 14” M4 MacBook Pro at a similar config (24GB/1TB) to my 13” M2 and price ($1299) with 12-24 months 0% interest from Best Buy, I’ll be on the upgrade train pronto.
The base M4 will likely whip the M1 Max so to have that sort of power in an Air is compelling to me.
You "have a feeling," okay.
PC and Mac sales fell steeply across the board over the past couple of years following a huge sales boost due to lots of people getting work from home computers. Those analysts are only forecasting a post-pandemic recovery in sales by this year. People in the MR forums have blamed the decline in Mac sales on everything from M2 chips not being a big improvement over M1, to laptop design they don't like, to RAM and storage prices, to the notch. The plain truth is that lots of people got new computers in 2020 and 2021 and they don't buy new ones every year.
If you're holding out on buying a new machine because of rumors of new models with new features, faster this or that, etc., you will always have a reason to not buy, because rumors of some iterative change are always around. Wait for an M4 and there will be rumors of an M5.
So if you want or need a new machine, buy one and stop worrying about what is rumored to be available in another few years. You will have gotten lots of enjoyment & productivity from a machine that's much better than your Intel-based model. And as you noted, there are some good deals out there.
Same, but in my case it meant I could downgrade from a history of MBPs to a fully loaded MBA...I never imagined I'd be able to do that, but I really can now.
I don’t remember if I already replied to this thread, so here’s what would make me get an M4 Mac:
- Completely new architecture that significantly improves IPCs and the chip doesn’t rely on higher clock speeds to offer substantially increased performance.
- Much more efficient GPU, not much more powerful but more efficient to offer a better sustained performance without overheating.
- New generation of Neural Cores, designed specifically for AI and on device LLMs.
- Ideally, 12GM minimum of RAM.
- Completely new architecture that significantly improves IPCs and the chip doesn’t rely on higher clock speeds to offer substantially increased performance.
- Much more efficient GPU, not much more powerful but more efficient to offer a better sustained performance without overheating.
- New generation of Neural Cores, designed specifically for AI and on device LLMs.
- Ideally, 12GM minimum of RAM.
I'll prob upgrade to the M4 from my base M1 Pro 8/14 16GB 1TB mainly for more ram. I started running Fusion 13 with W11 Arm and it works well, but having more ram could def help my use cases unless MS releases a Mac version of Power BI.
I'm already eyeing the M3 Pro/Max with at least 48gb of ram though, so we'll see. I also do some ML stuff, so more ram could help, but it'll be interesting what the M4 brings for AI.
I'm already eyeing the M3 Pro/Max with at least 48gb of ram though, so we'll see. I also do some ML stuff, so more ram could help, but it'll be interesting what the M4 brings for AI.
On the Silicon side of things, upgrades I anticipate would include Thunderbolt 5 and Wi-Fi 7. And if Apple releases new AI software features in future operating systems, then additional software-defined hardware would be appropriate for future chips.
Apple could upgrade other aspects of their hardware, too, such as the screens and keyboards and stereo.
Apple could upgrade other aspects of their hardware, too, such as the screens and keyboards and stereo.
I’d upgrade to the M4 if, and only if my current M1 MBP would somehow break down.🤷🏻♂️