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Having lived through two toddlers, I understand your concern, but also see lots of options. Personally I’d get a decent 4K monitor and wall-mount it with an Ergotron arm that will allow you to raise it up about 30 cm. You could stick an Apple TV to the back of it and let it double as a television.

If you want it higher, just mount a shelf you could lift it up to when it is not in use.

If you really do not want electronics left there, there are easily movable options:


I still think a good 24”+ is still the only reasonable choice, much more so then suffering an Intel MacBook for a measly 2” increase.
 
so am I crazy leaning towards buying intel macboolk pro now??

I have a feeling the 14" is still going to have more screen resolution than the 16". Please check specs and check the machines side by side at a store comprehensively.

You are not crazy to lean towards the Intel for the kind of use you have.
 
You really need to test in the store. I did the same debate since an M1 MB Air would have been *just* enough power for my needs, but for my workflow that extra 2" really made a HUGE difference--a difference worth paying for.
 
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Guys, 14incher makes no sense, already got some 14inch ****** win laptop, i can go straight to mb air instead on mb pro 14 inch (for less than half of the price)… 16inch at least gives me more screen space
then wait for the 17" or 16" MacBook pro models that will be released in the future.
or get a 17" square magnifying glass and place that on the 14" MacBook.
problem solved!
 
Another vote from me for the Dell XPS line - just got an XPS 13 myself after giving up on waiting for Apple's redesigned MBA, and I absolutely love it! It has a very nice modern design and definitely feels premium. It sounds as though you need Windows at some point, but have no need for Mac OS so should make your life easier going for a Windows device. The XPS 15/17 will give you a lot more screen real estate too, and they've got newer processors than what I assume you're going to get from an Intel MBP. And anyway the Intel MBPs seem to have very poor heat management if the posts on this forum are anything to go off.
 
I'd save a little more $$ for an Apple Silicon Mac.

Lots of deferred credit deals going on too as well , you're still better in the long run paying over time for the M1 Pro than an Intel Mac.

In the end the Intel Mac's are Apple's mid-market $1100-$1998 offering for 2021 while Apple works on next gen silicon. Its on blowout for a reason...
 
My work let me choose a MBP before the new M1 Pro/Maxes came out. Had no hesitation asking them to get me a refurbished 2020 Intel MBP 13’. I have an eGPU at home to plug it into and I need Intel to run Windows in parallel. Work was happy I went with a cheaper refurbished laptop and it was a win win. Using it daily for months now and don’t regret it at all.

Looks like you prefer a larger laptop - there should be a lot of used 15’ or 16’ MBPs out there - nope no 16s at the moment.
 
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I would not get the intel macs unless you have a specific need for it.

You can’t beat the battery life and the coolness of the M1.

If you need the size, I would pony up for the 16 inch m1. I don’t want the toaster that is the intel.

I would think long and hard about the dell XPS. They look nice, but again they have a hard time time dealing with the heat of those intels. I have had two of the 15 inch XPS and the fans keep going and going and going.

The 17 inch XPS does look interesting and I wonder if they would be able to handle the heat better.

Still, for mobility, the M1s are the top right now and it’s not close.
 
If the intel fits your needs, it fits your needs. I would also suggest combing the new and refurbished items as well.

if you really want to save cash, check out unclaimedbaggage.com … luggage and contents that are unreturnable are cleaned up and resold. I got a magic keyboard for my iPad at half the price of new.
 
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A quick question: I can grab a second hand Intel macbook pro 16 for $1000 CAD ($750 US).

Is it worth to get it ? The same price as a second hand M1 air.
 
Hi guys,

I am trying to solve my Homeoffice situation. Long story short, identified 2 scenarios:

- buying macbook air and external display - seemed as perfect solution to me, unfortunately got no dedicated room for office, so I just made little onwall table in bedroom - and idea of having external display mounted on wall (in bedroom, where we do sleep with little toddler) does not make me too much confident about this option (I do not prefer having electronics in bedroom and place where monitor would be mounted is too low to be safe from toddlers)

- stay on macbook without external display - in that case, would prefer as big screen as possible - so obviously macbook pro 16 (this one has several advantages - portable big screen - when need to leave bedroom, when leaving home for several days - bigger screen would be with me), but of course, it aint 27incher:) but what really bothers me is pwm (in first scenario I would have flicker free dell monitor).

So, if I will go scenario 2, I know then intel is dead and so on, but now I can get new intel i7 16incher for the price of 14incher M1. I dont need any extra power, all i do is:
- ms excel heavy liftung and ordinary outlook/word processing/presentations.. nothing special

Actually, I may use windiows from time to time on intel macbook (and maybe play some games, form time to time)... even pwm freq on intel one is much higher than on m1 one...

so am I crazy leaning towards buying intel macboolk pro now??
There’s lots more options for what you need that is not Apple.
 
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A quick question: I can grab a second hand Intel macbook pro 16 for $1000 CAD ($750 US).

Is it worth to get it ? The same price as a second hand M1 air.
Depends. Do you need an Intel Mac for any reason? What are you hoping to use it for that you couldn’t achieve on an M1 Air?
 
Another vote from me for the Dell XPS line - just got an XPS 13 myself after giving up on waiting for Apple's redesigned MBA, and I absolutely love it! It has a very nice modern design and definitely feels premium.
My Dell XPS 9380 13" was a great buy and is a great laptop.
just windows 11 hates the battery.
and i hate the icons in 11
anyways
we had a "jump  ship" thread here in 2018-19 and had over 100 pages of movers and shakers.
but again if anyone want to stay with apple, they need the m1 or what ever M chip in their  thing.
that is just a wise decision on their present and future.
 
If you were thinking of wall mounting have you considered a VESA 24” iMac M1?
https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa

You can mount it with any standard VESA mount and since the kb/mouse are wireless you can put them away when not in use (away from your toddler).

The 24” M1 iMac weighs less than the older 21” intel iMac and the VESA version should be even lighter.
A standard monitor with an M1 Mac Mini would also work, but you’d need to mount both of them in that case.

Unless you need windows that might be a better choice.
 
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