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whitby

Contributor
Original poster
Dec 13, 2007
406
417
Austin, TX
I received my new 14" MacBook Pro M4 machine today. 24 GB, 1 TB SSD in space black.

It took around 4 hours to migrate my 15" MBA (16GB 1 TB) to the new machine. Once migrated, around 1 hour had it configured correctly and working as expected. No unexpected issues except it stored way more photos on the machine in the optimized setting for Photos, thus eating a lot of my SSD space.

Pros:
1. Nicely made machine, as expected.
2. Color seems not as deep a black as the midnight color on the MBA. Greatly depends on the light.
3. Reduced screen size noticeable but not a show stopper.
4. Sound is fine but not up to the 16" but better than the Air.
5. Fast and responsive.
6. Keyboard identical to the Air and my 16" M1 Max MBPro.
7. Added SD card slot and port on the right side very helpful.
8. Screen is noticeable better than the Air, especially off axis. Color accuracy excellent.
9. Imports my Sony A7RV files very quickly.
10. Battery life is excellent.

Cons:
1. Too expensive especially if you need more storage.

I would really like to have more storage on the machine (my working photo library its around 980 GB as I found out today) but the $400 increment to add 1 TB is criminal. I can add an external 2 TB TB4 drive for $380 which would give me 3 TB but requires me to have a drive hanging off the port which sort of misses the point.

I have a 16" with 4TB but that is way too heavy for portable work. This machine misses the point for me and will probably end up going back to Apple. It is very functional and fast and will more than meet my CPU and GPU needs but I cannot get the storage which meets my needs at a decent price point. I wanted a light and therefore portable machine which had the performance and capabilities for my photo work. This machine almost makes it, but 1 TB is too small and the $400 extra they want for 1TB more is too expensive for a machine in this category. I will probably return the machine and sell the MBA, and revert to using my 16" M1 Max MBPro for the foreseeable future.

And yes, I should have seen this coming but my MBA was not used for much photography work and I had not realized how big my working library had become when I decided to get this more capable machine that could act as a more portable machine for photo work.

This is a phenomenal machine so long as you can live with the cost of storage. Apple really do know how to make life miserable.
 
External storage is relatively cheap. I mean the most I would even spec a MBP is 1TB at most.
For the price for a 1TB to 4TB upgrade on a MBP, I could pick up a 4TB T9 SSD with 2000/2000 at around same pricing, yet 4x more capacity.

The ram is where it needs to be correct usually, and some storage for a bit of peace of mind. 1tb seems like sweet spot
 
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External storage is relatively cheap. I mean the most I would even spec a MBP is 1TB at most.
For the price for a 1TB to 4TB upgrade on a MBP, I could pick up a 4TB T9 SSD with 2000/2000 at around same pricing, yet 4x more capacity.

The ram is where it needs to be correct usually, and some storage for a bit of peace of mind. 1tb seems like sweet spot
As I mentioned in my post, 2 TB of Thunderbolt connected external storage is around $380 which gives as fast storage access as internal storage but requires me to have a device hanging off the machine. This, to me, kind of ruins the point of a laptop. For a desktop, such as the Mini or iMac or Studio, this is not so much of an issue but a laptop is supposed to be an all in one portable machine. An aesthetic quibble I know, but tips me away from this otherwise excellent solution for a more portable solution for my photography needs.

I might as well stick with my less portable 16” MBPro and dispense with the 2nd machine entirely. I had thought this new M4 based MBPro might provide me with a compact and portable machine and I could probably retire my 16” MBPro or attach it to a dock and replace my aging 2020 27” iMac for a while, which does need upgrading. Such is life.
 
The keyboard on it looks different than the previous gen Pros. Or is it the same with the same 1.1mm key travel?
 
The keyboard on it looks different than the previous gen Pros. Or is it the same with the same 1.1mm key travel?
It is identical in size (approximately 10 7/8" x 4.5", 275 mm x 115 mm approx) as the MBPro and MBA and the travel feels the same, so I am guessing it is the same keyboard. I certainly cannot feel any difference. Appearance is identical.
 
much much better!
Somewhat subjective, I think, since the sound from a laptop is not that good and is obviously limited by the physical constraints of the packaging. Compared to most Windows laptops, Apple laptops are infinitely superior but I would not listen to music on any laptop, Apple or any other type. So I would not choose the 14" MBPro over the 15" MBA (note I do not have a 13" MBA to hand to compare the sound made by that device, so cannot comment on any comparison between the 14" MBPro and 13" MBA) based on sound. They are both terrible, but the 14" MBPro is marginally better, at least to me. The 16" is considerably better, but that is to be expected from its larger form factor. Again all highly subjective and this opinion is mine and may not be indicative of the general populous.
 
The keyboard on it looks different than the previous gen Pros. Or is it the same with the same 1.1mm key travel?
My keys on the M4 feel a lot more clicks on light touch compared to the M1 14" and 16". Don't now if I have a dodgy unit.
 
As I mentioned in my post, 2 TB of Thunderbolt connected external storage is around $380 which gives as fast storage access as internal storage but requires me to have a device hanging off the machine. This, to me, kind of ruins the point of a laptop. For a desktop, such as the Mini or iMac or Studio, this is not so much of an issue but a laptop is supposed to be an all in one portable machine. An aesthetic quibble I know, but tips me away from this otherwise excellent solution for a more portable solution for my photography needs.

I might as well stick with my less portable 16” MBPro and dispense with the 2nd machine entirely. I had thought this new M4 based MBPro might provide me with a compact and portable machine and I could probably retire my 16” MBPro or attach it to a dock and replace my aging 2020 27” iMac for a while, which does need upgrading. Such is life.

Flush-mount MicroSD adapter + a 1TB MicroSD card allowed me to double my storage for around $75. While it is not as fast as either the internal SSD or an external TB4/TB5 solution, what I'm using the added storage for doesn't require super fast speeds. Not only are there no dongles/attachments to deal with, but I can leave the additional storage in the machine at all times, even when the laptop is in the bag and I'm commuting/traveling.
 
Flush-mount MicroSD adapter + a 1TB MicroSD card allowed me to double my storage for around $75. While it is not as fast as either the internal SSD or an external TB4/TB5 solution, what I'm using the added storage for doesn't require super fast speeds. Not only are there no dongles/attachments to deal with, but I can leave the additional storage in the machine at all times, even when the laptop is in the bag and I'm commuting/traveling.
Nice idea. I will look into it. Thanks.
 
My keys on the M4 feel a lot more clicks on light touch compared to the M1 14" and 16". Don't now if I have a dodgy unit.

Clicky is good as long as every key presses and feels the exact same when pressed.
 
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