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How is the base MacBook Pro 14?

H

H-B0mb

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 15, 2012
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I’ve finally managed to reserve one for in store pickup. I was surprised about how bad the availability was for this model.

Can anyone with this tell me what it’s like? My use cases is general use with plans for photo editing in Lightroom. The only thing playing on my mind is whether I should go to 10 core? I don’t need the extra storage as I use iCloud

thanks
 
Bought 14’’ base model, just a week ago. Was planning to get a 32gb with M1 Max for the “future proof” but boy was it hard to find it anywhere. So I decided to take a plunge and get the one that was available. My workflow includes writing and occasional photo editing. Even coming from last year’s Intel Macbook 13 I must say it’s a joy to use. I’m actually quite surprise by the difference
 
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Alexander_im said:
Bought 14’’ base model, just a week ago. Was planning to get a 32gb with M1 Max for the “future proof” but boy was it hard to find it anywhere. So I decided to take a plunge and get the one that was available. My workflow includes writing and occasional photo editing. Even coming from last year’s Intel Macbook 13 I must say it’s a joy to use. I’m actually quite surprise by the difference
Click to expand...
Thanks. I was tempted by the 16 max because 1 popped up in Orlando but I knew it was overkill.

I can’t wait to get mine!
 
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Good luck! I’m sure you’ll love it. If your workflow process includes a lot of typing then you’ll appreciate the keyboard. Again, coming from 2020 MBP it feels like a solid upgrade
 
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I absolutely love mine.
I don't find the scrolling to be SUPER smooth (like an iPhone 13 Pro smoothness) but that's another issue.
I mainly use mine for Youtube and Netflix. I know I could've made due with an iPad but I prefer a keyboard and Mac OS.
 
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Poverty pack machine. It’s not really an M1 pro, it’s a broken one taped together to run. Probably cannot ever disclose to anyone your specs is the biggest draw back?
 
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I have a base 14" MBP, works great for Lightroom and Photoshop photo-editing. Faster than my 2020 iMac.
You don't need more cores. The only time more cores will help is slightly faster importing, rendering 1:1 previews, and batch exporting. It is already fast enough.
The only thing is that Lightroom uses a lot of RAM. This is not a problem unless you frequently edit very large photos, like panorama stitches, ~200 megapixel photos, etc, in which case it lags slightly. If you do this frequently then 32GB RAM might be an advantage. This video demonstrates the extreme cases where 32GB would be better. For normal photo-editing it is fine.
If I were to upgrade, I would choose 32GB RAM before more cores.


Photo-editing benefits from a big screen, though (bigger than any laptop size)
 
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Alexander_im said:
Good luck! I’m sure you’ll love it. If your workflow process includes a lot of typing then you’ll appreciate the keyboard. Again, coming from 2020 MBP it feels like a solid upgrade
Click to expand...
Oh really? Better than the 2020 M1 pro model keyboard?

I’m replacing a 2017 MBP. I must be one of a few who actually liked the butterfly switches.
 
Ballgag said:
Poverty pack machine. It’s not really an M1 pro, it’s a broken one taped together to run. Probably cannot ever disclose to anyone your specs is the biggest draw back?
Click to expand...
It doesn’t bother me too much. I couldn’t get the 10/16 anywhere. Plus I’m picking it up from the USA which will save me some money
 
wilberforce said:
I have a base 14" MBP, works great for Lightroom and Photoshop photo-editing. Faster than my 2020 iMac.
You don't need more cores. The only time more cores will help is slightly faster importing, rendering 1:1 previews, and batch exporting. It is already fast enough.
The only thing is that Lightroom uses a lot of RAM. This is not a problem unless you frequently edit very large photos, like panorama stitches, ~200 megapixel photos, etc, in which case it lags slightly. If you do this frequently then 32GB RAM might be an advantage. This video demonstrates the extreme cases where 32GB would be better. For normal photo-editing it is fine.
If I were to upgrade, I would choose 32GB RAM before more cores.


Photo-editing benefits from a big screen, though (bigger than any laptop size)
Click to expand...
I’m only going to be editing ProRaw photos off my iPhone 13 Pro so it should be fine for that I think.
 
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H-B0mb said:
Oh really? Better than the 2020 M1 pro model keyboard?

I’m replacing a 2017 MBP. I must be one of a few who actually liked the butterfly switches.
Click to expand...
Over the last three years I have used MBP 2017 (Butterfly second gen), MBP 2020 (Magic keyboard) and my old and beloved MBP 2015, which is often reffered to as “God’s Macbook”. All of them I used every day for 7-10 hours in a row. For my taste — and that came as a huge surprise for me as well — the keyboard on my new 14” knocks it out of the park. It’s easily the most pleasant keyboard I ever used.
 
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Last edited:
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wilberforce said:
I have a base 14" MBP, works great for Lightroom and Photoshop photo-editing. Faster than my 2020 iMac.
You don't need more cores. The only time more cores will help is slightly faster importing, rendering 1:1 previews, and batch exporting. It is already fast enough.
The only thing is that Lightroom uses a lot of RAM. This is not a problem unless you frequently edit very large photos, like panorama stitches, ~200 megapixel photos, etc, in which case it lags slightly. If you do this frequently then 32GB RAM might be an advantage. This video demonstrates the extreme cases where 32GB would be better. For normal photo-editing it is fine.
If I were to upgrade, I would choose 32GB RAM before more cores.


Photo-editing benefits from a big screen, though (bigger than any laptop size)
Click to expand...
Anyone know where the wallpapers are from on the thumbnail
 
Alexander_im said:
Over the last three years I have used MBP 2017 (Butterfly second gen), MBP 2020 (Magic keyboard) and my old and beloved MBP 2015, which is often reffered to as “God’s Macbook”. All of them I used every day for 7-10 hours in a row. For my taste — and that came as a huge surprise for me as well — the keyboard on my new 14” knocks it out of the park. It’s easily the most pleasant keyboard I ever used.
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting. I have the MBP 2015 as well - ports! But it was bought used and is lagging - a little, not a lot. Are you happy with the battery life on your machine? As you probably know, there is much testing and quoting about M1 Pro vs M1 Max on the new 14" MBP.
 
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H-B0mb said:
I’ve finally managed to reserve one for in store pickup. I was surprised about how bad the availability was for this model.

Can anyone with this tell me what it’s like? My use cases is general use with plans for photo editing in Lightroom. The only thing playing on my mind is whether I should go to 10 core? I don’t need the extra storage as I use iCloud

thanks
Click to expand...

I don't have base, but one step up (the 1TB model).

For most people, 99% of the time doing interactive stuff, I suspect you'll see no difference with base performance, as a lot of the time its running on the efficiency cores only, or just the E cores plus first 3-4 performance cores.

If you're doing rendering/exports/etc. obviously the missing 2 cores will come into play, but in general use I don't think you'll be disappointed - these are FAST machines.
 
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dark_skies said:
Thanks for posting. I have the MBP 2015 as well - ports! But it was bought used and is lagging - a little, not a lot. Are you happy with the battery life on your machine? As you probably know, there is much testing and quoting about M1 Pro vs M1 Max on the new 14" MBP.
Click to expand...
I can hardly tell anything about M1 Max but coming from last year’s Intel my 14” is a hell of an upgrade. I am yet to test it out in the wild (outdoors), but even indoors results are impressive. Intel MBP would allow me to work around 4-5 hours, depending on brightness. I finished my 7 hour working day yesterday and still had something around 20%
 
If you're coming from an Intel-based MacBook then definitely a great upgrade. If you're coming from a 2020 M1 13" model, you might second-guess yourself upgrading to 14".
 
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madat42 said:
If you're coming from an Intel-based MacBook then definitely a great upgrade. If you're coming from a 2020 M1 13" model, you might second-guess yourself upgrading to 14".
Click to expand...
I come from an M1 13” and it’s a huge upgrade.
 
Vazor said:
I come from an M1 13” and it’s a huge upgrade.
Click to expand...
Sweet. I’ve just collected it.

I’m coming from a 2017 MBP 13, however I use an M1 MBP for work. Hope it is a big jump.
 
I had the base 14” and it’s a brilliant machine. I decided I needed to increase internal storage, so I returned for the 10/16/1Tb (the other stock model). I’ve not noticed any increase in perfomance for my usage (photo editing, gaming, office etc). Let us know how you get on.
 
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