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14-Inch vs. 16-Inch MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide 2024

I wonder how this is, for a very rough back of the napkin guess on relative M3 silicon GPU performance VS Nvidia desktop GPUs.

But by pure teraflops, Apple's GPUs likely won't scale as well, looking more like:

Apple SoC		BinningVery Rough
Approximate
Nvidia GPU
M3goodGTX 1650
bestGTX 1060
M3 ProgoodGTX 1070
bestRTX 2060 SUPER
M3 MaxgoodRTX 2080 SUPER
bestRTX 3060 Ti
M3 UltragoodRTX 3070 Ti
bestRTX 3090
 
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newton4000 said:
Would the Pro chip have better battery than Max?
I know they are both rated for 18.
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Probably depends how you use them...

I expect if you're just playing video codecs in silicon, they'll be the same, but if you're doing more work on the Max with its greater power draw, it will last less time.
 
I have only question .. why they made the 14" M3 max battery smaller than the base 14" and 16" Pro & Max. :(
 
I was just about to upgrade to the M3 16" to use in my home office. I currently have the 14" M1 and it's more than enough for me. I just thought the bigger 16" would be better on my desk. Then I thought; why not just get a monitor to hook my 14" up to? So, anyone recommend a good monitor that's not too expensive? I'm thinking around 30"?
 
AVBeatMan said:
I was just about to upgrade to the M3 16" to use in my home office. I currently have the 14" M1 and it's more than enough for me. I just thought the bigger 16" would be better on my desk. Then I thought; why not just get a monitor to hook my 14" up to? So, anyone recommend a good monitor that's not too expensive? I'm thinking around 30"?
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That's a near impossible question without answering all of these questions:

What is your budget ($50 to $10,000)? 2) How would you rank the following, based on how much you care about:
  • High Dynamic Range / HDR (local dimming, OLED, etc...) ?
  • High Frame Rate (60Hz to 500Hz)?
  • Variable Frame Rate (Freesync, GSync, etc...)?
  • Native 1:1 Image Scaling (you need to test this yourself, E.g. 4K 27" screens)?
  • Pixel Density / DPI (Low:80, Standard:110, Retina: 220+)?
  • Ports: (Thunderbolt, USB-C, HDMI. DisplayPort)?
  • Colour Accuracy (either direct in front of the screen, or from an angle)?
  • Blacks black, or gray?
  • Other media stuff (webcams, speakers, mics, etc...)?
Below $300 starts to get complicated, and anything below that is driven more by availability and local sales.
 
AVBeatMan said:
I was just about to upgrade to the M3 16" to use in my home office. I currently have the 14" M1 and it's more than enough for me. I just thought the bigger 16" would be better on my desk. Then I thought; why not just get a monitor to hook my 14" up to? So, anyone recommend a good monitor that's not too expensive? I'm thinking around 30"?
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If it's just for office work, you could consider a 29" or 34" LG Ultrawide. The cheaper ones are not 4k though.

Alternatively, regular 27" or 32" LG UltraFine monitors would be a great choice too (I would prefer one of those). Since you have a MBP, you can also hook up two monitors. Two 27"/32" 4K LG monitors is still affordable and gives a massive amount of real estate.
 
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solarmon said:
I always buy more memory than I think I need and never regret. In the process now of scanning allllll of my old phots, class notes, books, etc. Tired of lugging them around.
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ALWAYS buy the most memory you can swing! In my 12.9 iPP I have 2TB,and have Little less than 1TB, (photo’s),(business)!, Swinging sweet with the M1 !
 
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I went back and forth for a long while on trying to make a decision on 14" vs 16". Wife has the 16" for her business and I ended up with a 14" M3 Pro. Loving this machine so far. Gave my 13" air to my son and this machine is leaps and bounds a head of that. Some may not be able to see the difference with the promotion, but I can. Its not drastic, but definitely a difference.
 
It seems to get lost in all of these comparison charts. But the 16" MBP with the M4 Max that has 36GB of RAM has LOWER memory bandwidth than all other configurations with the M4 Max chip. This detail is important to point out.

I point this out and the charts here at MacRumors never get updated 🤷🏾‍♂️

Screenshot 2024-11-08 at 11.25.56 AM.png
 
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I don't find this sort of arcticle to be informative. The two MBP's are targeted at completely different markets, so a head to head comparison of feature sets doesn't drive purchasing decisions.
 
So glad I picked up a heavily discounted ($800) 16’’ MBP M3 Max instead of waiting for the M4 variant and paying full retail. For what I do, Lightroom and Photoshop, the difference in speed seems modest.
 
mcilwraith said:
damn. im not sure which way to go. I have used 15" MBPs for about 20 years. was kind of waiting for the 16" but its very expensive. would I be happy with a 14"? its strictly a stay at home machine, so I dont need portability. and my eyes are going (age), I like the big screen, but cant use an external. 14" or 16"?? Hmmmm.
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Why can’t you use an external? Depends on what you use it for. I don’t use my 14in much like on the couch. It’s docked to my monitor most of the time. If I want to use it on the bed, the screen size is too small and gets annoying
 
krakenrelease said:
Why can’t you use an external? Depends on what you use it for. I don’t use my 14in much like on the couch. It’s docked to my monitor most of the time. If I want to use it on the bed, the screen size is too small and gets annoying
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You’re responding to a post from 2021.

I don’t know why, but whenever MacRumors updates this every year they use the same thread and perform a bit of necromancy 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
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Rizzm said:
Coming from a 2013 15" and I can't make a decision. Biggest hangup is screen size vs. weight/portability. Even after years of use, I'm still not thrilled to lug this thing around, and the new 16" is even heavier.

Wanna place the order so badly, but I know I basically have to see them side by side in a store.
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I was in the same boat. 14” M1. Went with the 16”. While I felt the 14” was still heavy when I had to carry it along with my iPad in my bag, I still would prefer more screen real estate over a slightly heavier Mac.
 
RightMACatU said:
In a pickle - I could upgrade to a base 14" from my 2020 Intel MBA as I find myself needing more video conversion horsepower, BUT, I also need my Windows 10 VM from time to time. Not keen on having two laptops.

Curious to hear about what are people doing in such a case?
Thanks.
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Download the ARM version of windows 11 and see if that will suffice.

What do you need to run in windows?
 
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