What would the M3 need to make you upgrade from an M1?

[Yebubbleman]

I'd actually say the complete opposite. I've had more issues with Windows than Mac OS by far, especially since they released Windows 11. Microsoft broke so much common-sense stuff with the new OS that I openly wonder what the designers were smoking and drinking at the time. They nerfed the right-click context menu to hide 90% of the most commonly used options behind a second level, making right-click take 2-3 times longer than it did before. When I spend half an hour fixing what Windows 11 broke just to make the OS usable again, there's something decidedly wrong in Redmond.

That was one of the two aforementioned UI elements. Otherwise, it's not much different from 10, which isn't that different from earlier. It's still reasonably stable on the right hardware. And barring those few aforementioned UI tweaks, has me kicking and screaming far less that I do when I realize that Apple released a new macOS version that nobody wanted and broke something that wasn't broken before for reasons that seem unfathomable at a surface level.

There's much more wrong in Cupertino than Redmond. I'm not on the Panos Panay hype-train. I am entertained by Craig Federighi's existence, but I wish he did a better job of wrangling his people so as to not have me pulling my hair out with the changes Apple seems hell-bent on making for some reason.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

New features are not enough for me to upgrade anymore. My upgrade cycle is when Apple stops supporting OS updates. Lowers my annualized cost of ownership.

 

[dmccloud]

That was one of the two aforementioned UI elements. Otherwise, it's not much different from 10, which isn't that different from earlier. It's still reasonably stable on the right hardware. And barring those few aforementioned UI tweaks, has me kicking and screaming far less that I do when I realize that Apple released a new macOS version that nobody wanted and broke something that wasn't broken before for reasons that seem unfathomable at a surface level.

There's much more wrong in Cupertino than Redmond. I'm not on the Panos Panay hype-train. I am entertained by Craig Federighi's existence, but I wish he did a better job of wrangling his people so as to not have me pulling my hair out with the changes Apple seems hell-bent on making for some reason.

Increased lockdowns of aspects of the OS that were once relatively easy to change to fit personal preferences, changes to Windows Explorer that make it less useful than the GS/OS launcher (for those who remember that OS), changes for the sake of change rather than changes to actually improve the status quo and/or fix longstanding issues, thereby creating more issues, etc. At least Windows 10 was a stable and mature OS that iterated on changes rather than switching everything around because someone got a bug in their backside...

 

[name99]

If Apple were to adopt an improved Low Power Mode which could disable some cores of the CPU and GPU to save power when they were not in use, we could see some amazing battery life improvement.

You don't think Apple ALREADY do this? Seriously?

Not only do Apple already do this, they subdivide a GPU into 4 parts and can if appropriate power down each of those four parts individually.

 

[BellSystem]

Maybe a version of TextEdit edit that isn’t buggy.

 

[Gudi]

Personaly I can't think of anything that an M3 MBP could offer that would make me feel its viable to upgrade.

That's too easy: much thinner and lighter, colorful, getting rid of the notch, adding cellular connection, touchscreen with full support of all iOS apps, tripple-A gaming with ray-tracing, a magnetically attached bluetooth remote, Apple Pencil works on the touchpad, touchpad becomes a second screen, wireless charging on the palm rest, adaptive keycaps that change their label with the language setting and of course a glowing  logo.

 

[bobcomer]

You have never been able to resize the system settings window on a Mac. All the way back to Puma 10.1, it has always been fixed size. Seems to me even before, you could not resize the Control Panel window, though I could be mistaken.

Not that big a problem really. One does not spend much time in it.

I liked the old control panel, and I didn't need to resize it, so I don't know if it did or not.

The new control panel, I wish I could do something about that. It's hideous looking, hard to find things, and it's a total horrid experience all the way around. If I were grading it it would get an F-, incomplete, do over again next release.

I hate Windows 11 Settings app, for some of the same things, like finding things, but it's way better than the Mac Control Panel. Luckily, in windows there's a way to use the old "control Panel". I'd like one for the Mac, is there any way?

 

[darngooddesign]

An under-screen webcam is exactly what the iPhone is about to have, and then the Mac models will follow with the same technology. (Just as the Mac notch followed the iPhone notch.)

They better not use an under screen camera until the image quality issue is solved. I want the better camera, not the most hidden camera, and I certainly dont want to have to read a bunch of #cameragate complaints from all the underscreen-or-nothing loud voices when they have to deal with the compromises the rest of use are aware of.

USB-C is the dongle life. Adopt USB-A, and there's no dongle to worry about.

You only need dongles if you refuse to buy a ~$5/10 cable, and you dont even need a big dongle because adapters which are slightly larger than USB-A plug exist. For example, I replaced my old USB-A > Micro-USB cable with a USB-C > Micro-USB cable and I keep the old cable packed with my 2014 MBP that my M1BP replaced. My old Brother laser printer has a USB-B port; I didn’t buy a new cable because it sees such infrequent use that leaving an USBA/C adapter connected to the cable is fine. All these dongle life complaints from both USB-A and USB-C proponents are completely overblown IMO.

 

[darngooddesign]

Personaly I can't think of anything that an M3 MBP could offer that would make me feel its viable to upgrade from my M1. An OLED screen would tempt me, but I'd probably still wait for an M4 or M5.

I will upgrade when my current MBP can’t handle my then workload, it’s the same reason why I upgraded my 2014 MBP with an M1-Pro.

 

[darngooddesign]

That's too easy: much thinner and lighter, colorful, getting rid of the notch, adding cellular connection, touchscreen with full support of all iOS apps, tripple-A gaming with ray-tracing, a magnetically attached bluetooth remote, Apple Pencil works on the touchpad, touchpad becomes a second screen, wireless charging on the palm rest, adaptive keycaps that change their label with the language setting and of course a glowing  logo.

Or a mag-safe trackpad which lets you use your phone’s screen as the trackpad while it is charging.

 

[257Loner]

You only need dongles if you refuse to buy a ~$5/10 cable, and you dont even need a big dongle because adapters which are slightly larger than USB-A plug exist. For example, I replaced my old USB-A > Micro-USB cable with a USB-C > Micro-USB cable and I keep the old cable packed with my 2014 MBP that my M1BP replaced. My old Brother laser printer has a USB-B port; I didn’t buy a new cable because it sees such infrequent use that leaving an USBA/C adapter connected to the cable is fine. All these dongle life complaints from both USB-A and USB-C proponents are completely overblown IMO.

It's true you can buy new USB-C cables for some situations. What you can't do is go without a dongle if you need a USB-A thumb drive that will be compatible with older USB-A devices.

 

[AltecX]

Have you tried to use Windows lately? From my perspective, as a 30+year Mac user, Windows has become an opaque nightmare. It is simply anathema to my workflows, much worse than macOS.

Yes, Apple has tightened the UI, and done some things I really dislike. But the doors to doing what you need to do are still there, just obscured a little by arrases. If they kill the ability to use Go to Folder to get to / or ~/Library, or disallow those directories in the sidebar, that will piss me off. But most of the annoying phone-like features can strangled or stomped on in Prefs.

They are making an OS that is easy to use, and maybe since 87.4% of computer users have ditched the big hot box in the study for the phone in hand, their increasing moves toward simplifying a niche-use product are ill-considered. But, as long as they keep the nerd doors and the prefs settings that make me happy, the other stuff is fine with me.

As a person that uses both I find Windows MASSIVELY better for multitasking. More so on a large ultrawide. The simple fact I need to add 3rd party add-ons to get Window management as good as Windows for me is a HUGE failure on Apples part. I could not care less about how "opaque" Windows is. If an OS is pretty means nothing to me. I care about how FUNCTIONAL my OS is, how fast I get around it, and how it hleps me get my work done. For me MacOS has fallen WAY behind MacOS in all those things.

For any work I've done in the last 20+years of being a Mac user, Apple has done NOTHING to change or impact my workflow. I really feel like I'm just using a 10.6 with Dark Mode and iOS elements.

 

[AltecX]

That's too easy: much thinner and lighter, colorful, getting rid of the notch, adding cellular connection, touchscreen with full support of all iOS apps, tripple-A gaming with ray-tracing, a magnetically attached bluetooth remote, Apple Pencil works on the touchpad, touchpad becomes a second screen, wireless charging on the palm rest, adaptive keycaps that change their label with the language setting and of course a glowing  logo.

I assume this is a joke?

 

[NikkoTuason]

If it’s at least 20-30% faster (single core) than the M2 Pro, has Face ID like on the iPhone and more GPU cores, I’ll upgrade even from my M2 Pro.

 

[AltecX]

If it’s at least 20-30% faster (single core) than the M2 Pro, has Face ID like on the iPhone and more GPU cores, I’ll upgrade even from my M2 Pro.

FaceID would be great. Windows Hello is very handy on my Surface and PC desktop.

 

[darngooddesign]

It's true you can buy new USB-C cables for some situations. What you can't do is go without a dongle if you need a USB-A thumb drive that will be compatible with older USB-A devices.

I don't consider something like this tiny adapter to be a big deal, and I don't use legacy thumb drives enough to want dedicated port.

 

[darngooddesign]

FaceID would be great. Windows Hello is very handy on my Surface and PC desktop.

It would be great, but current Face ID components are twice as thick as the MBP's lid.

 

[AltecX]

It would be great, but current Face ID components are twice as thick as the MBP's lid.

Then make the lid thicker. Rather have a handy functional/useful machine than something that "looks cool".

 

[AltecX]

I don't consider something like this tiny adapter to be a big deal, and I don't use legacy thumb drives enough to want dedicated port.

View attachment 2173822

As a person that has to transfer files to USB-drives for clients (because that's how they insist on accepting them), connect up to USB-A docks, for testing devices/external drives and regularly physically connect to networks with a NIC, I've lost many USB-C to A adapters because they are small. I'd rather just have 1 USB-A port.

 

[JouniS]

Then make the lid thicker. Rather have a handy functional/useful machine than something that "looks cool".

If Apple were to make the MBP thicker, there would be better uses for the extra space. For example, adding an NVMe slot for internal storage expansion.

 

[Corefile]

The M1 systems are better than the M2 systems due to the use of dual channel SSDs for base M1s IMO. I really wouldn't see the utility of faster chip to make it a better investment than the M1.

 

[darngooddesign]

As a person that has to transfer files to USB-drives for clients (because that's how they insist on accepting them), connect up to USB-A docks, for testing devices/external drives and regularly physically connect to networks with a NIC, I've lost many USB-C to A adapters because they are small. I'd rather just have 1 USB-A port.

What about a USB-C dock which has multiple USB-A ports be better than a single USB-A port?

Obviously our needs are different and I can only speak to my preferences.

 

[Gudi]

I assume this is a joke?

You don't find any of this useful? Not even the wireless charger in the MacBook's palm rest???

But cellular internet when there is no WiFi around, come on!

 

[leman]

As a person that uses both I find Windows MASSIVELY better for multitasking. More so on a large ultrawide. The simple fact I need to add 3rd party add-ons to get Window management as good as Windows for me is a HUGE failure on Apples part. I could not care less about how "opaque" Windows is. If an OS is pretty means nothing to me. I care about how FUNCTIONAL my OS is, how fast I get around it, and how it hleps me get my work done. For me MacOS has fallen WAY behind MacOS in all those things.

Interesting. I find multitasking on Windows to be absolutely atrocious. Inefficient use of screen space, awkward app switching… and regarding “window management”… never really understood what toy gimmicks like windows tiling or snapping have to do with productivity.

With macOS, I can locate whatever I need with a quick trackpad gesture most of the time. With Windows it’s like pulling teeth.

I assume this is a joke?

Adaptive key glyphs would be a huge feature.

 

[sdwaltz]

To be honest, probably nothing. My M1 Pro 15" MBP and M2 MBA already have more than enough power to do what I need to do.