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Anyone 'upgrading' from MBP 16 to new MBP13 M1?

S

SMC23

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 15, 2019
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I got a pretty common spec'd out MBP16" (i9, 32Gb, 1TB, 5500M) and am seriously considering replacing it with the new MBP13 w/ M1 and 16Gb ram and 1TB drive.

My reasoning is more for increased convenience with the 13" form factor. I feel the added performance of the M1 will make it an easier upgrade, plus i feel here on out Apple will be focusing their development efforts on their own silicon. Hopefully i dont lose much on the depreciation.

Anyone else thinking of 'upgrading'?
 
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SMC23 said:
I got a pretty common spec'd out MBP16" (i9, 32Gb, 1TB, 5500M) and am seriously considering replacing it with the new MBP13 w/ M1 and 16Gb ram and 1TB drive.

My reasoning is more for increased convenience with the 13" form factor. I feel the added performance of the M1 will make it an easier upgrade, plus i feel here on out Apple will be focusing their development efforts on their own silicon. Hopefully i dont lose much on the depreciation.

Anyone else thinking of 'upgrading'?
Click to expand...

I was thinking to buy the 16”, but this 13” Pro it’s absolutely amazing or at least it seems.

But, one of the reason that I thought to buy 16” was the larger screen, because no always I can use a external monitor. Maybe... I have to buy one
 
2 weeks from now...

45V1Vhz.png


We'll see how it compares against my 16". The only reason why I went with the 16" in the first place was due to poor graphics performance with the 13". Looks like Apple will be able to achieve pretty good performance with the M1.
 
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Not personally. I just recently purchased a 16 inch because of the pending release of Apple Silicon.
 
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I need a 16 so I'm waiting patiently in the background for the refresh. I expect it'll happen in the background over the next week and it'll just be slightly bumped specs with otherwise samey components.
 
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I was fully planning to switch my 15” MacBook Pro for the new Apple Silicon 13” Pro or Air. However, they only support one external display. That is a major dealbreaker for me. A total non option now. I’m super disappointed. I love my 15” but I was super excited for Apple Silicon. I guess I’m either waiting for a second gen 13” that supports multiple displays or maybe the next 16” will do it. I don’t understand why they would kneecap these devices like this. Even my i3 Mini is arguably better than the new Apple Silicon one.
 
One interesting point would be to see if the new silicone will support existing TB3 docks. I have the caldigit TS3+ and hope it works with the 13”
 
Definitely a downgrade though.
M1 graphics is better than 13" integrated graphics, but can it touch your 5500m??
Also I believe they were also comparing the M1 to the low end 8th gen 13" chip. Comparing that to the 16" i9, another downgrade to the M1.

Also depending on what software you use, you might be using the M1 on Rosetta which brings down performances even more.

And your going from 32gb ram to 16gb ram.

Huge downgrade is what it looks like to me.
If you didn't need the graphics card in your 16" and you would have been fine with a step above 8th gen intel integrated graphics then that's another story.
 
AshGuy said:
I need a 16 so I'm waiting patiently in the background for the refresh. I expect it'll happen in the background over the next week and it'll just be slightly bumped specs with otherwise samey components.
Click to expand...
That's not going to happen.

Intel is late to deliver again, and there is no upgrade path available for the Core i9 in the 16" yet. Based on current estimates, even if Apple wants to silently update the 16", they'll have to wait until February or March next year.

So you are looking at 4-5 months out.

If you need a 16" now, buy now.
 
I'm actually doing this downgrade, but I'm going even further. I'm going from 16"/2.4 i9/32 GB/2 TB/5500M 8 GB to the new Air. The thing is I never liked the 16" form factor and I rather sell while these things are still top dollar. I will hold onto the Air until a more powerful 13/14 (or reduced size 16). In the meantime I'll recoup most of my investment in my 16" which I already got a year out of. Plus it will be good to get rid of the Touch Bar and have no fan when I'm doing lighter stuff/better battery life.

I do video editing and programming work but I'll live for 6-12 months until better Apple Silicon arrives.
 
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I cant speak for your needs but for mine its enough of a downgrade to earn an im not even going to try it status.

1: can only do a pair of external displays due to GPU limitations
2: no e-GPU to support that or for GPU renderings now or in future
3: 16GB ram limit .... multitasking is multitasking no matter the platform
4: rosetta/emulation for needed applications .... sorry boys im not dealing with a 20:1 performance hit, not even 10:1
5: loss of ports again.....
6: 10x times faster than previous intel integrated ..... thats cute 10x faster than a go cart with a broken axle is still slow for many things.

once I see actual hands on reviews ( not day 1 kinds of crap ) and not synthetic benchmarks I may revisit one as a play thing but not until then.
 
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Kung gu said:
the 4port model update is next year
Click to expand...
Maybe ..... and that solves one issue. And I was looking for some new gear in before the end of January, and none of this fits so I will see if things look better in 8 months when some of us need to look at the hardware refreshes at work for the next 5 years.
 
Only reason I am looking to do this while keeping my 2020 16” pro is for portability. I don’t want to carry my 16” around and can use the 13” as a mobile device for light work and also let my wife use it for her business.
 
I'm upgrading from a 16" MBP to a 13" full specced M1 Air (16GB, 2TB). The 16 is HEAVY, boringly ugly, the thing gets hot for no reason, then the fans drive me insane to cool it down and while I like the large screen size, there is nothing else I like. I miss my 12" Gold Macbook and as that's not available anymore I went for the new Air in Gold.
 
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davecom said:
I'm actually doing this downgrade, but I'm going even further. I'm going from 16"/2.4 i9/32 GB/2 TB/5500M 8 GB to the new Air. The thing is I never liked the 16" form factor and I rather sell while these things are still top dollar. I will hold onto the Air until a more powerful 13/14 (or reduced size 16). In the meantime I'll recoup most of my investment in my 16" which I already got a year out of. Plus it will be good to get rid of the Touch Bar and have no fan when I'm doing lighter stuff/better battery life.

I do video editing and programming work but I'll live for 6-12 months until better Apple Silicon arrives.

If you want to buy my 16" that I'm downgrading, you can here.
Click to expand...
Are you me? so funny. Exact same 16" model, same downgrade to the fully specced Air now! Good choice.
 
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SMC23 said:
I got a pretty common spec'd out MBP16" (i9, 32Gb, 1TB, 5500M) and am seriously considering replacing it with the new MBP13 w/ M1 and 16Gb ram and 1TB drive.

My reasoning is more for increased convenience with the 13" form factor. I feel the added performance of the M1 will make it an easier upgrade, plus i feel here on out Apple will be focusing their development efforts on their own silicon. Hopefully i dont lose much on the depreciation.

Anyone else thinking of 'upgrading'?
Click to expand...
I am waiting to see if they bring out a 14". I find my 16" too big to carry often and bought a 13". I think a 14" would let me go down to a single laptop.
 
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calstanford said:
I'm upgrading from a 16" MBP to a 13" full specced M1 Air (16GB, 2TB). The 16 is HEAVY, boringly ugly, the thing gets hot for no reason, then the fans drive me insane to cool it down and while I like the large screen size, there is nothing else I like. I miss my 12" Gold Macbook and as that's not available anymore I went for the new Air in Gold.
Click to expand...

You just precisely described my 16” MBP [except I dont think it is ugly and boring]. Sit there with barely anything open and the thing is super hot.
Mine is on the shelf right now and hardly gets turned on anymore.
It is off to Apple very soon to get a sticky palmrest fixed then sold.

Just thinking I will get the Air / base 13 pro as my home laptop and sit on the sideline to see where Apple is going for real Pro machines [and how the apps pan out].
 
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davecom said:
I'm actually doing this downgrade, but I'm going even further. I'm going from 16"/2.4 i9/32 GB/2 TB/5500M 8 GB to the new Air. The thing is I never liked the 16" form factor and I rather sell while these things are still top dollar. I will hold onto the Air until a more powerful 13/14 (or reduced size 16). In the meantime I'll recoup most of my investment in my 16" which I already got a year out of. Plus it will be good to get rid of the Touch Bar and have no fan when I'm doing lighter stuff/better battery life.

I do video editing and programming work but I'll live for 6-12 months until better Apple Silicon arrives.

If you want to buy my 16" that I'm downgrading, you can here.
Click to expand...
My plan exactly. The value of the 16" will plummet once the next one is announced. An MBA will probably do me fine in the meantime.
 
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Originally ordered the 13” M1 but after reading several posts it looks like it won’t support dual monitors so will be cancelling mine.
 
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