Advice Needed - Which MBP to go for?

[jtcameron]

Hello all,

Last week I managed to damage the lid and screen of my M1 Pro 16” MBP (16GB, 1TB). I took it to the Apple Store in both Bristol and Cardiff and they advised that it would be £950 to replace the lid and screen, and that my best bet would be to sell the MBP whilst it holds some value.

I decided to downsize and order a MBP M4 Pro 14” (24GB, 1TB) from the Apple Refurbished site. I just don’t like how small it is, and I think I want to take it back. Equally though, I bought my current one for £2000 from John Lewis in a huge sale.

I am a music teacher, so don’t use it for high end music production, but I do use Logic, Sibelius, GarageBand, PowerPoint, Word etc. and have them quite often open at the same time. My M1 Pro has been brilliant and never let me down. I do also use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for running the school website, but not as often anymore. I do also have two 27” monitors (that I probably don’t use enough). I just don’t think I like the size difference of the 14”, and don’t want to regret it.

Therefore, do I:

1. Keep the M4 Pro 14” and get over the size and use my monitors more
2. Get an M1 Max 16” that I’ve seen on eBay with 64GB Ram for about £1500
3. Buy a M4 Max 16” for about £3000 - would rather save money and get an M1 if the M1 is still a good choice
4. Is the MacBook Air 15” a contender? Personally I don’t like the look of the Air as much

Any advice is appreciated. Is a used M1 Pro or Max still worth it in 2025? Or is that dead money? I’d like to save money if possible - I’m not made of it

Many thanks,
Jam

 

[russell_314]

I am a music teacher, so don’t use it for high end music production, but I do use Logic, Sibelius, GarageBand, PowerPoint, Word etc. and have them quite often open at the same time. My M1 Pro has been brilliant and never let me down. I do also use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for running the school website, but not as often anymore. I do also have two 27” monitors (that I probably don’t use enough). I just don’t think I like the size difference of the 14”, and don’t want to regret it.

I wouldn’t go with the 15” Air because you’re already not happy with the 14” Pro. You said you don’t like the design of the Air so I would forget about that. It sounds like it’s another future return.

I’m curious as to why you’re looking at the Max chip at all? I don’t use those applications, but I don’t believe they require much if any GPU power. I think what you’re describing is you would like to have a bunch of stuff open so therefore you need RAM.

Anyone feel free to chime in because I don’t use those specific applications but it sounds like even the base model Pro with sufficient RAM would work. Of course the question is how much RAM and I will leave that for someone that uses those applications.

 

[jtcameron]

I wouldn’t go with the 15” Air because you’re already not happy with the 14” Pro. You said you don’t like the design of the Air so I would forget about that. It sounds like it’s another future return.

I’m curious as to why you’re looking at the Max chip at all? I don’t use those applications, but I don’t believe they require much if any GPU power. I think what you’re describing is you would like to have a bunch of stuff open so therefore you need RAM.

Anyone feel free to chime in because I don’t use those specific applications but it sounds like even the base model Pro with sufficient RAM would work. Of course the question is how much RAM and I will leave that for someone that uses those applications.

Hello,

Thanks for replying. I’d look for an M1 Max just because I think if I’m buying a used one in 2025, it would probably last a bit longer than a pro? Could be completely wrong! I’m not particularly fussed. I have seen a few on eBay for about £1300 - £1600.

In terms of an M4, because I need 1TB storage, from most retailers, I’ve noticed that it is either 512GB with the M4 Pro chip, or 1TB with an M4 Max. Apple direct obviously sells it how I want it, but the lead time is 2-3 weeks due to the 1TB.

I’d rather get 1TB than 512GB just because a lot of the software I use requires additional packages. I’m on about 800GB out of 1TB now - although I know I could clean the files.

Cheers,
J

 

[russell_314]

Hello,

Thanks for replying. I’d look for an M1 Max just because I think if I’m buying a used one in 2025, it would probably last a bit longer than a pro? Could be completely wrong! I’m not particularly fussed. I have seen a few on eBay for about £1300 - £1600.

In terms of an M4, because I need 1TB storage, from most retailers, I’ve noticed that it is either 512GB with the M4 Pro chip, or 1TB with an M4 Max. Apple direct obviously sells it how I want it, but the lead time is 2-3 weeks due to the 1TB.

I’d rather get 1TB than 512GB just because a lot of the software I use requires additional packages. I’m on about 800GB out of 1TB now - although I know I could clean the files.

Cheers,
J

I don’t think the M1 Max is going to receive support from Apple any longer than the M1 Pro. Will it have a usable life slightly longer? Maybe. If the price is close, then why not get the Max.

I kind of overlooked your comment about using the monitors more. Are you using it mostly at your desktop? If so, in theory, you should be using the monitors more because they are much larger than a 16” MacBook screen. Why don’t you like using the monitors? Is the screen quality poor so you prefer looking at the MacBook screen? I can definitely understand that. Expensive monitors are nice, but they can be more expensive than the MacBook itself.

 

[Basic75]

Use what you have, including the external displays. If you find that it doesn't work well for you in a couple of weeks or months you can still look into buying something else.

 

[dmccloud]

Hello,

Thanks for replying. I’d look for an M1 Max just because I think if I’m buying a used one in 2025, it would probably last a bit longer than a pro? Could be completely wrong! I’m not particularly fussed. I have seen a few on eBay for about £1300 - £1600.

In terms of an M4, because I need 1TB storage, from most retailers, I’ve noticed that it is either 512GB with the M4 Pro chip, or 1TB with an M4 Max. Apple direct obviously sells it how I want it, but the lead time is 2-3 weeks due to the 1TB.

I’d rather get 1TB than 512GB just because a lot of the software I use requires additional packages. I’m on about 800GB out of 1TB now - although I know I could clean the files.

Cheers,
J

Going with an M1 Max over an M1 Pro wouldn't affect how long the device is supported, since they are the same generation of SoC. The Apple Stores should carry multiple configurations in store. I picked up mine (M4 Pro, 2TB SSD, 48GB RAM, Nano-texture display) in-store as it is one of the configurations they normally carry. My local Apple Store has the following configurations in-stock for same day pickup:

14" MBP:

M4, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD ($1799)
M4, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD ($1999)
M4 Pro, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD ($2399)
M4 Max, 36GB RAM, 1TB SSD ($3199)
M4 Pro, 48GB RAM, 2TB SSD, Nano Texture display ($3349)

For the 16", they only have M4 Max configurations with 1TB SSDs in store.

 

[jtcameron]

Hi all,

So I need some advice...

Do I buy an:

1. M1 Max 16" 1TB 32GB etc. for £1500
2. M4 Pro 16" 1TB 24GB etc. for £1850 - still includes Apple Care

I can't afford new really and I've decided the 14" isn't for me...

Is M4 Pro going to be much better than the M1 Max?

Thanks

 

[raythompsontn]

Is M4 Pro going to be much better than the M1 Max?

For your needs, no. I would opt for the M1 for the larger memory and cheaper price. It will serve you quite well.

 

[jtcameron]

For your needs, no. I would opt for the M1 for the larger memory and cheaper price. It will serve you quite well.

Thanks for this... I just want something that will last a few years. My worry is the the M1 Max will stop being supported soon - am I worrying too much?

 

[Onimusha370]

Out of those options, I'd get the M1 Max and save some money. The extra RAM will probably be more important than the extra CPU speed of the M4 Pro. I think there will be support for atleast another few years given the M1 chips were still being sold right up until late 2023. I think that machine will hold its value pretty well - so you can always sell up in a few years and get a more recent chip.

 

[raythompsontn]

My worry is the the M1 Max will stop being supported soon

In my opinion I don’t think any of the M* series are going to stop being supported for a very long time. Even if support is dropped, that is not the end of the world. Your machine will continue to work, your apps will work. You may miss new features, an obscure security feature, but nothing really stopping you from using the machine for years.

 

[whitby]

I am a little late to the party but for what it is worth I would go with the M4 Pro 16" with 24GB of memory, given that you currently use a machine with 16GB and it serves your needs well.

The more modern machine will serve you longer and I tend to go for the most up to date machines when replacing an older machine. I have the 16" M1 Max and it is still an excellent machine but I am surprised how much faster at single core tasks my plain M4 in a 14" MacBook Pro form has proved to be. I use Logic Pro, along with Adobe LrC and PS. I have a Mini with the M4 Pro chip and it is considerably quicker than the M1 Max when it comes to ingesting large files from one of my cameras. I am aware that this is not representative of your use case, but I think you will find that it is worth a little extra to get the M4 chip in your new machine.

I am interested that you find the 14" screen too small. I am assuming you use the laptop a considerable amount of time in stand alone mode and not docked with your external screens and hence the issue. My 14" M4 MBPro replaced my 15" MBA as my second machine for round the house use in the main. I found the MBA screen quality (I was used to the 16" M1 Max MBPro's screen), sound and lack of ports to be an issue for me, but adapted quite quickly to the smaller screen, surprisingly. As a side note, I find the 16" MBPro to be a little heavy for 'portable' use and prefer a lighter machine for use around the house and travel (when I do it these days, which is much frequent than it used to be).

Just to sumarise, I think going for a newer machine design is always the best policy and the gains in performance with the M4 may not be a prime consideration but it is always welcome. The 24 Gb of memory is a useful upgrade to your current machine, meaning that it should work well for you.

I hope I have not confused things too much and my comments are of some help.