I know the answer but I am going to ask anyways...

[Hunter5117]

Like I said, I know 99% what answer I am going to get but I am going to ask.

Which should I buy, a 13" I5 16/512 MBP for $999, or a 13" M1 8/512 MBP for about $150 more?

This is my secondary laptop, basically replace my 2018 12.9 IPP, no real heavy lifting as I have a 16" I9 and a 2013 MP as well.

 

[bp1000]

M1 mbp of course. Can’t think what the i5 has the m1 doesn’t.

Then there is of course the mba M1 which really is all most people need

 

[James_C]

To be honest I would go a M1 MBA unless you really need the Touch Bar, which is basically obsolete now that the M1 MBP is the only device that still has it. Next year that will be probably phased out as well.

The performance of the M1 Air is going to be actually the same as the M1 MBP for your use cases as you don't do anything that will cause the MBA to throttle. That way you can get an M1 without the premium compared with the i5. If you look on Amazon you may even find the M1 Air's are discounted. The M1 MBA will run rings around the i5 13" MBP.

 

[fs454]

I wouldn't even consider the Intel machine at this point.

 

[Steve121178]

Like I said, I know 99% what answer I am going to get but I am going to ask.

Which should I buy, a 13" I5 16/512 MBP for $999, or a 13" M1 8/512 MBP for about $150 more?

This is my secondary laptop, basically replace my 2018 12.9 IPP, no real heavy lifting as I have a 16" I9 and a 2013 MP as well.

Just get a M1 MacBook Air as suggested above. It's a better machine as it has a proper set of function keys and almost on par with the Pro performance wise.

 

[Hunter5117]

I should have mentioned that I really like the Touch Bar, was one of the reasons I am looking at either of these. MBA is not an option for me.

 

[dynoto]

what do you use the touchbar for?

 

[Hunter5117]

I have gradually gotten to use it for most of what it does. Basic function keys and especially the extended functions of the function key row aka volume, brightness, mission control etc. I use it to scrub through videos and ads such as on youtube. It would be nice if more apps made better use of it but some do especially Apples apps like photos.

 

[baummer]

Either M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max or bust

 

[Janak Parekh]

I have gradually gotten to use it for most of what it does. Basic function keys and especially the extended functions of the function key row aka volume, brightness, mission control etc. I use it to scrub through videos and ads such as on youtube. It would be nice if more apps made better use of it but some do especially Apples apps like photos.

My expectation/worry at this point is that the functionality of the Touch Bar will stagnate and maybe gradually degrade. I enjoy using Pock on my M1 13" MBP, but I expect it to become too buggy in the future, so at some point, even before I get a new MBP, I'll start weaning myself off using the Touch Bar and re-learn my pre-Touch-Bar muscle memory.

To conclude: I agree with everyone else, M1 is way better than Intel, but if I had a choice between an 8GB Pro and a 16GB Air for the ~same price, I'd pick the latter, no question, even if I loved the Touch Bar. The RAM will be useful for longevity, the Touch Bar less so.