Hello! Thinking about updating my laptop while I still have the education discount before I graduate and lose use of it. My 14” M1 Pro has been awesome but thinking maybe it’s time to update. It’s the 10 core cpu/14 core gpu unit. Should I get an M4 Air with the stand chip and its 10 core cpu/10 core gpu, or should I get the MBP M4 Pro with the 12 core cpu and 16 core gpu? Would that be overkill and the Air M4 would be plenty good enough?
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14” MBP M1pro…should I get Air m4 standard or MBP M4pro?
- Thread starter delsoul
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Nobody can help unless you explain how you use the computer.
M4 may be a processing downgrade for you. My M4 is slower than my M1 Pro for some things, faster for others. For example, for batch processing of photos my M4 is half the speed of my M1 Pro, despite have twice the RAM.
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From what I recall, the GPU performance of an M1 Pro is better than an M4. In most other things the M4 will be an improvement.
But it doesn’t sound like you need a new computer. You’re just trying to cash out your education discount, which isn’t that impressive of a discount. You’d be better off saving your money and getting a computer from the Apple Refurb Store when you need a new one.
Even if you end up paying full price, the most reliable way to get the most value for your money on a computer is to not buy one until it’s necessary.
But it doesn’t sound like you need a new computer. You’re just trying to cash out your education discount, which isn’t that impressive of a discount. You’d be better off saving your money and getting a computer from the Apple Refurb Store when you need a new one.
Even if you end up paying full price, the most reliable way to get the most value for your money on a computer is to not buy one until it’s necessary.
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Thank you all for the insights and feedback. In photography, we call it GAS, or gear acquired syndrome. Even if you don’t need it, somehow you find a way to get a new camera lens or camera body. I guess everyone is right that the M4 would be a nice laptop to have but at this point it’s probably not truly necessary.
This is not a syndrome. We are telling you you don’t need it so just be happy with what you have.
Don't think you are going to gain anything substantial that would warrant the cost of a new machine. My workhorse is an M1 Max, handles Adobe CC with no issues and the gains I would get from a M4 Pro or above would be minimal for day to day use. You might save some time on processing, but again how much of that is really taking up your time that you are going to recoup those savings that a slightly faster computer brings. Invest the money, make it grow and then when you actually need to upgrade you can do so without thinking about it.