Has anyone upgraded from a newer MacBook Pro to the latest version, and do you think it was worth it?

[Hieveryone]

I decided awhile ago not to upgrade my 2019 15" base model MacBook Pro. This machine works really well, and I have no issues with it. I enjoy the thinness, touchbar, and yes even the keyboard. I don't mind the notch on the newer MacBook Pros, but hey I'm glad not to have one.

THAT BEING SAID,

I'm strongly considering upgrading because of the new screen. I'm a huge screen-quality kind of guy. I really appreciate them. Something that is crisp and has beautiful vibrant colors always inspires me and is something I really enjoy.

I would also love the bigger 16" screen.

I would get some money for my current MacBook Pro if I trade it in. I was also thinking of waiting for a re-furbished model to come to the Apple refurb store.

Does anyone who upgraded, who really didn't need to because they have a newer model, feel like it was worth the upgrade?

Please tell us what features makes you feel like it was worth it and what you enjoy most about the upgrade.

 

[dallegre]

I went from a 16" 2019 to a 14" 2021. Definitely didn't NEED to and was on the fence about it. What's really nice about the new models is that you get big 15"/16" performance in the smaller model now. That wasn't the case with the previous 13" models.

My biggest reasons to upgrade:
-Needs have changed and I prefer the smaller form factor now
-Ports
-Silence (no fans)
-Performance/Battery life

I really enjoy having a relatively small, relatively powerful, almost silent device with nice battery life. It's a very well balanced machine for what I do.

 

[Chevysales]

I went from a 16" 2019 to a 14" 2021. Definitely didn't NEED to and was on the fence about it. What's really nice about the new models is that you get big 15"/16" performance in the smaller model now. That wasn't the case with the previous 13" models.

My biggest reasons to upgrade:
-Needs have changed and I prefer the smaller form factor now
-Ports
-Silence (no fans)
-Performance/Battery life

I really enjoy having a relatively small, relatively powerful, almost silent device with nice battery life. It's a very well balanced machine for what I do.

same here... didn't need to and I actually stayed with 16" and went from 32gbs to 64gbs of ram. Didn't really need to but I could so I did... Apple Marketing loves customers like me.

speaking strictly financially if it presents any type of hardship whatsoever I would say pass and just wait till next greatest thing.

 

[CalMin]

I also went 2019 16" to 2021 14" M1 Pro.

Now has the upgrade given me anything new that I couldn't do before? Is my workflow better or more efficient? The answer to all of these questions is NO.

Basically, for my uses, a Mac is a Mac. I'm blown away by the hardware with all the same observations as others, but my work is mainly MS Office type stuff and all of that ran just fine on my old machine. I would argue that if you hid away the hardware in another room so that I couldn't see or hear it, it would be hard to tell. In fact the only discernible difference is 1-bounce app launches on the M1 Pro vs. 2 or 3 bounces on Intel! I do light video work, but I wasn't really pushing it on the old machine with only 1080p footage.

But I am really glad I made the upgrade. The battery is superb, the machine never runs its fans and the screen is an absolute marvel. In truth, I only spent the money because my business did really well this year and I wanted to reward myself somewhat.

 

[CalMin]

One other thing. I also thought I should upgrade to get the value out of my Intel sooner rather than later. Right now there is parity, but in a year or two's time we will start to see Apple Silicon only features and Intel will start to get left behind.

It was already hard to sell the Intel machine - I literally got no offers at Apple's diminished trade-in price. That's only going to get worse over time.

 

[fwmireault]

I decided awhile ago not to upgrade my 2019 15" base model MacBook Pro. This machine works really well, and I have no issues with it. I enjoy the thinness, touchbar, and yes even the keyboard. I don't mind the notch on the newer MacBook Pros, but hey I'm glad not to have one.

THAT BEING SAID,

I'm strongly considering upgrading because of the new screen. I'm a huge screen-quality kind of guy. I really appreciate them. Something that is crisp and has beautiful vibrant colors always inspires me and is something I really enjoy.

I would also love the bigger 16" screen.

I would get some money for my current MacBook Pro if I trade it in. I was also thinking of waiting for a re-furbished model to come to the Apple refurb store.

Does anyone who upgraded, who really didn't need to because they have a newer model, feel like it was worth the upgrade?

Please tell us what features makes you feel like it was worth it and what you enjoy most about the upgrade.

I was in the same situation than you. On the fence in the past two months about replacing my MacBook Pro 15 (2019), and I finally pulled the trigger two weeks ago. I definitely didn’t need to upgrade, but for me, the jump in battery life and performance and the way better screen alone were enough to at least try it. Everything is so snappier on ARM compared to Intel Mac and the screen is so beautiful, I didn’t want to go back. Happy with what I have, but if you have a working machine and are happy with it, maybe you’ll want to wait for the next Gen MBP before upgrading. The 2021 MBP will not disappoint that said

 

[Hieveryone]

I was in the same situation than you. On the fence in the past two months about replacing my MacBook Pro 15 (2019), and I finally pulled the trigger two weeks ago. I definitely didn’t need to upgrade, but for me, the jump in battery life and performance and the way better screen alone were enough to at least try it. Everything is so snappier on ARM compared to Intel Mac and the screen is so beautiful, I didn’t want to go back. Happy with what I have, but if you have a working machine and are happy with it, maybe you’ll want to wait for the next Gen MBP before upgrading. The 2021 MBP will not disappoint that said

I am very happy with my current setup. I have the 2019 15" base model, along with 2 LG Ultrafine Thunderbolt 4K displays I had bought from the Apple store.

I use a black magic mouse (love it lol) and 2 homepod minis in stereo sound.

Knock on wood but it all works fine.

I have an iPhone dock connected via thunderbolt to my MacBook Pro to keep my iPhone charged.

Overall, it is a good setup.

I'm still on the fence. I may work out the exact math with trade-in and if the cost is reasonable then I may give it a shot. Otherwise I may just wait for the next gen.

 

[CalMin]

I am very happy with my current setup.

This is key. A new MBP won’t get you anything in terms of new capabilities. Once the newness of it wears off you will hardly notice.

The new machines are nice but it seems that this would be an unnecessary expense in your case. And - the fact you are giving it this much thought is that the cost is non-trivial to you and there are better uses for it.

I’d say stick with it. If the new Mac itch becomes unbearable in the future you can always scratch it then. Oh, and stay off these forums! I swear they are run by Apples sales team at times!

 

[andy89]

I've been thinking about upgrading my secondary machine (an old mid-2012 MacBook Pro with Retina display) but can't decide whether to get a refurbished 2019 model or the new 2021 model. Not being able to run x86 VMs is a bit of a drag.

 

[Hieveryone]

I've been thinking about upgrading my secondary machine (an old mid-2012 MacBook Pro with Retina display) but can't decide whether to get a refurbished 2019 model or the new 2021 model. Not being able to run x86 VMs is a bit of a drag.

For me it would depend on the deal I was getting. I have a 2019 model and it's all good. Of course, my use case is very generic. Meaning, I don't do video editing and all that. I do push my machine but with normal applications. Mainly live data feeds and multiple live video streams. It works great. It's no slower then when I just have notes open haha, BUT it is hotter. The machine gets hot but I don't care at all about that.

If I could get the new model on a refurb discount from the Apple store, then maybe that new screen would be worth it for me. I'm sure that 16" is AMAZING

 

[Hieveryone]

This is key. A new MBP won’t get you anything in terms of new capabilities. Once the newness of it wears off you will hardly notice.

The new machines are nice but it seems that this would be an unnecessary expense in your case. And - the fact you are giving it this much thought is that the cost is non-trivial to you and there are better uses for it.

I’d say stick with it. If the new Mac itch becomes unbearable in the future you can always scratch it then. Oh, and stay off these forums! I swear they are run by Apples sales team at times!

Awesome, thanks. Yeah I agree that the newness factor would wear off. I don't see myself using any of the new features- not even the re-addition of old ports. The screen yes, but not even the speakers. The homepod minis is what I use as a laptop speaker "replacement." I even place them right beside my 15" MacBook's speakers. I even went all-in on USB-C because I figured there was no fighting it ha.

I think I would eventually upgrade, but I think I could wait for now

 

[adamjackson]

Anyone with a 2016 and newer MBP who upgrades, it's night & day. Everything is better except the weight & thickness. Everything else is an upgrade.

 

[SHKLMRE]

I decided awhile ago not to upgrade my 2019 15" base model MacBook Pro. This machine works really well, and I have no issues with it. I enjoy the thinness, touchbar, and yes even the keyboard. I don't mind the notch on the newer MacBook Pros, but hey I'm glad not to have one.

THAT BEING SAID,

I'm strongly considering upgrading because of the new screen. I'm a huge screen-quality kind of guy. I really appreciate them. Something that is crisp and has beautiful vibrant colors always inspires me and is something I really enjoy.

I would also love the bigger 16" screen.

I would get some money for my current MacBook Pro if I trade it in. I was also thinking of waiting for a re-furbished model to come to the Apple refurb store.

Does anyone who upgraded, who really didn't need to because they have a newer model, feel like it was worth the upgrade?

Please tell us what features makes you feel like it was worth it and what you enjoy most about the upgrade.

I went from a 2018 15” to the new 16” (and now a 14”)


Within the first few minutes of using it, I was immediately impressed by the screen and the keyboard. To me, those two are made it worth it. After using it a bit, everything runs so well on it. The camera is much better. Overall using it has been much more enjoyable.

 

[Quu]

I went from a high end Core i9 16" Intel to the new M1 Max 16" Apple Silicon. (The one with 32 GPU Cores, 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD).

Performance wise in how apps feel, like browsing the web, opening applications all that feels the same. No difference. Video editing however the M1 Max is in a whole other league it's like just vastly superior in experience to being shocking. But this is mostly down to the hardware acceleration Apple added.

Battery life, the M1 Max kills my Intel i9 model. I'm getting double the battery life with max brightness screen, 15-20 applications open all the time, Chrome, Discord and other background battery hogs active etc

The screen is way better. The black level on this thing is literally as black as the bezels. My 16" Intel would never produce blacks that dark. It's a very noticeable difference especially when watching movies, shows and even YouTube. This deep black isn't only noticeable in HDR content by the way, plenty of SDR stuff that shows a true black section of a scene is represented as such on this display and it's astounding how beautiful this panel is.

The 120Hz I'm not noticing much. Maybe more apps need to be updated to trigger it since it's not on all the time it's sort of adaptive etc

The speakers are a bit better it's not a huge difference compared to the display but you can notice it's a bit better if you concentrate, so minor difference here.

Graphics are more impressive on this system. I use an external 4K monitor set to a 5K HiDPI resolution and my 16" Intel would find it hard to drive that display under certain scenarios with graphically intensive 2D software (think a browser with a very graphically intensive website could be a bit laggy and not hit 60 FPS etc). That isn't so with my M1 Max. The GPU doesn't seem to be straining at all, just has huge amounts of legroom.

Noise. The M1 Max just mops the floor with my Intel system. The fans in this thing rarely turn on and when they do they're spinning so slowly you can't hear them. By contrast my Intel system had the fans on all the time, they never ever switched off, Apple never allowed them to even if you had a low load so there was always some level of noise being produced.

Overall I'd say if you have a 2019 16" it's not worth upgrading unless you know for sure you'll use something the newer machines offer. Be it the screen, the battery life, the performance in a specific application you know will run way better etc

Absolutely love mine, best computer ever made in my opinion. It does cost a pretty penny but I'm not making any comparisons based on price, this is purely a feature comparison.

 

[LinkRS]

Howdy,

I replaced my 2019 16" i9 MacBook Pro 5500 8GB with a "high" 2021 16" M1 MAX MacBook Pro (32 GB of RAM, 32-core GPU, 1 TB SSD). I did it primarily to maximize my trade-in value, as I was on the fence too. I am 2-weeks into the new machine, and here are my observations so far:

Speed - For the most part, this seems to be a wash. For my workload (Xcode, Unreal Engine, basic office productivity, etc..), I don't notice any difference. I did notice that when rendering a movie in iMove, the new machine is approximately 4-times faster, which is significant. I don't do this often though.

Heat/Noise - Doing normal productivity, the new machine is silent and does not even get warm to the touch. With the old system, anything that activates the discrete GPU, kicked the fans on. So far, I have not heard the fans on the new one, even in scenarios that spun them up on my old one (running Unreal Engine pretty much meant constant fan noise). As for heat, the new one doesn't get warm very often, but when it does (playing Diablo 3) it gets very hot. I don't have any temp monitoring software installed, but my fingers hovering over the 1,2,3,4 keys definitely feel it. It isn't uncomfortably warm, but I do notice it. I should also note, that even when this happens, the fans have not become audible.

Compatibility - So far, everything I need, works fine on M1. This includes a Windows 11 (ARM edition) VM, for that one pesky app I have to have Windows for. I am running more Rosetta 2 apps than I would like, but everything runs fine. What's funny, is apps I had assumed (because it should be easy) to port to Apple Silicon, are still running under Rosetta. Specifically I am talking about Adobe Creative Cloud (individual Apps are native, just not the launcher) and Battle.net. Despite this, I have had 0 compatibility issues.

Screen - The new Mini-LED screen is AMAZING!!! This is by far the best thing about the machine. I did not think it would be this noticeable of a difference. You have to see this in person, no pictures of video reviews do it justice. I use a high-refresh rate display on my Windows desktop (165Hz), which makes a world of difference, but so far, I have not noticed Pro-Motion making a difference with anything I do. The screen looks amazing, but it does not (yet?) feel like a high-refresh rate display.

Size/Weight - This new machine feels both thicker and heavier than the 2019 model it replaced. Based on numbers, I didn't expect it to be noticeable. However, it is pretty obvious that this is a physically larger and heavier machine. I personally think this is primarily due to the fact of the squared-off shape. Regardless, of the difference, I don't take this as a positive or negative, just a fact.

Overall, although I am enjoying my purchase, I can't really say it was worth it. It wasn't as much of an upgrade as I expecting (based on all of the reviews and positive articles). It is a better machine, but I can not honestly say it is $1800 better than the model I replaced (cost after trading in the old one). You should look at your current workload and see if all of your apps are supported, before making a purchase. However, if you base the success of this upgrade off of getting the best trade-in value for a 2019 16" MacBook Pro, it is an unmitigated success!

Rich S.

 

[Miltz]

I don’t think upgrading for the screen alone is worth it. It’s not life changing and I’m a photographer/videographer. I have to turn down the brightness anyway. Now there’s a lot of other reasons to upgrade yes. Just not the screen alone.

 

[Hieveryone]

Wow thank you all for the feedback! Believe it or not, the itch was getting to me, and I really wanted to start the new year right. So I was actually on the apple site about to order, but I came here first. Thank you for the honest feedback. I think I will hold off. There's plenty of other things I could buy that would be more worth it to help me start off the new year right than this laptop. I ordered an oculus, hopefully that's as awesome as some people say.

 

[fa8362]

I decided awhile ago not to upgrade my 2019 15" base model MacBook Pro. This machine works really well, and I have no issues with it. I enjoy the thinness, touchbar, and yes even the keyboard. I don't mind the notch on the newer MacBook Pros, but hey I'm glad not to have one.

THAT BEING SAID,

I'm strongly considering upgrading because of the new screen. I'm a huge screen-quality kind of guy. I really appreciate them. Something that is crisp and has beautiful vibrant colors always inspires me and is something I really enjoy.

I would also love the bigger 16" screen.

I would get some money for my current MacBook Pro if I trade it in. I was also thinking of waiting for a re-furbished model to come to the Apple refurb store.

Does anyone who upgraded, who really didn't need to because they have a newer model, feel like it was worth the upgrade?

Please tell us what features makes you feel like it was worth it and what you enjoy most about the upgrade.

I upgraded for the longer battery life and cool running. Both are significant benefits for me. The longer battery life is especially important. Personally, I'd never upgrade for a screen.

 

[Micka88]

2021 M1 Pro or Max are the very first truly professional and civilised Apple laptops ever. I had quite few of the previous MacBook Pros but they were all incredibly annoying hair dryers. This one is the first MacBook that is truly silent and you can do some professional work on it. Strange that it took more than 20 years for Apple to do it .. (and I started with the old roaring G3 and G4).