Am I Low-Pro? No-pro? MBPr 2013 to Base 14" or MBA

[roncliff]

Longtime lurker and mac laptopper (started with a PB540c back when). Whoa I feel old writing that. I've ordered a Base Pro 14" 8/14– order is "processing"– as an upgrade to my current MBPr late 2013, 256/8, which has been a total workhorse. Was looking forward to these new Pro's but man, they are so much machine. Now I'm not sure I actually even need a base model.

So I'm considering a spec'd out M1 Air (16 ram/1tb HD) which could be obtained a.) more quickly, b.) would leave some money for an external monitor and new audio interface, and c.) may be plenty for now, with a possible upgrade down the line as the M1 develops.

I'm an audio archivist and educator by profession, with some interest in immersive audio on the horizon. I just watched a pro friend of mine doing live immersive on his M1(MBP). I use Logic, Audition, Audacity. Honestly not much beyond 12-14 tracks, 4-6 VSTs.

I do do some mixed work:
– Premier/FinalCut: 1080 video editing right now (10-20min, nothing long) but I'm moving toward 4k and learning about LUTs.
– Photoshop/Illustrator/Indesign: print work, logo work, branding, typesetting, book flow etc. (my sweet spot)
– After Effects: logo, titling, motion graphics (2d mainly, as I teach myself)
– Never got into Lightroom but I'm Lightroom-curious.

Avid photographer as well as sound engineer and musician. No heavy coding (we're on AEM where I work so not my job), no massive renders of feature-lengths. Def not a power user and probably not even a pro, though the more I get into things the more I want to learn. I've tried to do the research on multicore usage, CvP cores, and gone down the hyperthreading discussion rabbithole.

So: a spec'd 16/1TB M1 Air be enough to handle that workload while leaving $ for monitor/interface (a nice quality of life addition)
Or: stick with the base 14"

Trying to be honest and humble about my needs and abilities here, and you guys always seem to give solid advice.

Thanks so much in advance,
Cliff

 

[DenisK]

I'd say the specced out MBA will deal with it just fine, but performance on the MBP would be better, meaning shorter rendering times in FC, etc... I'd also suspect the MBP supports more external monitors.

 

[roncliff]

Thanks so much, Denis!

I'd likely just be using a single external monitor for my space (so not too concerned about that). Looks like the thermals are also better (though I guess we'll see as benchmarks keep comin').

Mainly just trying to get a grasp on whether spending more on extra power in my case is necessary. I'm an educator which helps with outlay– but always have to watch the budget.

Trying too to get a beat on what "pro" usership looks like in an age when so many people are creating content.

Best,
Cliff

 

[syncopy]

The spec'd out MBA will be good enough, but since you use Final Cut/Premiere, AE, and perhaps more in the future, as well as Logic and so on, the 14" will be *better*. You'll have more overhead that might not always be needed, but with the MBA, you might hit its limits more often than not. Also, since you've been using the same laptop since 2013, I would suggest paying more for the 14".

 

[JonTa]

I was in the same boat so I took a drive to the nearest store and have them side by side (14" M1Pro, 13" MBP M1 and 13" Air M1). After seeing and testing the machines I immediately ordered 14" base model. The form factor, ports, screen is so much nicer and I will swallow the price difference from air (16/512) of 500€. Size of 14" is basically the same as my Late 2013 13" rMBP which I am coming from.

just wish you could order one without webcam and ugly notch as I am not using at all, hope there will be some "legacy" option implemented and move the taskbar down into 16:10 as thats the case with all older macs.

 

[roncliff]

Thanks for your experience and counsel @syncopy and @JonTa Appreciate it very much. The last year has rewired me– totally forgot that I could likely go check out both instore at this point. Good call to see if I can around here.

I'm not in it so much for the many cpu cores over 8 given single-core scores are pretty close and that's where I'd imagine a lot of my general use will be. I'm totally enthralled by the cache/ram architecture, dedicated engines, speedy SSD. That seems like where a lot of performance benefit lies from what I've read? I do wonder if I'd miss out on the battery life of the Air (people seem really pleased about it).

It's a tribute to the MB lineup that this '13 MBPr has lasted this long, but I'm really questioning my prior aims of "future-proofing" as these new models drop and my workflow changes. Maybe just not a sustainable approach. Did a quick mental inventory of time spent with every machine. Average "kept" time ~ 4yrs.

Powerbook 190cs (not the 540 after all) : '95-'97 (a glorious 256 colors!)
Powerbook 1400cs: 97-02 (hotswappable drives!)
iBook 14": 02-06 (weirdly, zero connection made with this one)
G4 12": 06-09 (loved this machine)
13" MBP: 09-13 (well-liked until falling PA speaker sandwiched it)
13" MBP: 13-now (almost like a living part of me at this pt)

I'm looking forward to whatever come next, really. Probably gonna feel like going from a bike to mach 1.

 

[Hankster]

MacBook Pro 14" base model is more than enough. I do almost everything you do but I edit 4k .raw image files. The fan doesn't even kick on. I've had almost 20 120mb-150mb .raw files open at once and the operation is smooth. Zero lag.

 

[ultrakyo]

As you are an avid photographer and sound engineer I would suggest MBP 14 as it has XDR display, much better speaker and studio quality mic which I believe you will appreciate and value more since you will be keeping your macbook for another numerous years anyway.

Other than that the spec out MBA is powerful enough for your use case.

 

[roncliff]

@ultrakyo and @Hankster Thanks so much to both of you for the feedback. This place is such a fantastic community resource. Staying in the queue for the 14"(should be here by Nov 15th or so) and definitely keeping an eye on the battery performance of these new guys in the meantime– though I'm always plugged in for work sessions. "No lag" is a foreign concept to me these days, lol.

Sounds like the thermal improvements also make the 14 a good call. It was just crazy to watch this friend of mine at a Midas M32 console rocking out complex immersive and multiple heavy plugins on that M1 Air. Pretty impressive.