Is your MacBook Pro your favorite Apple product?

[Hieveryone]

So, I'm deep into Apple products. Overtime I've had many and they've just added up. I would say my favorite by far is my 2019 15" MacBook Pro base model. This thing is a beast and a joy to use. I absolutely love love love this laptop. The screen, the thinness, the convenience of USB-C, the dimensions of the screen as well and the overall design, and YES even the keyboard!!! I love this keyboard too. The way it feels, the backlighting, everything about it. The OLED touch bar is admittedly not the MOST useful feature I've used, BUT it looks VERY VERY cool IMO and I am a fan. It makes the device look expensive. I also love the fingerprint unlock. Feels very futuristic and high tech. The speakers COULD be better, yes, but this leads me to my 2nd favorite Apple product...

The other Apple products I have are all great and I love them all, but if I had to pick a 2nd it would be my 2 homepod minis in stereo- WOW do these sound GOOD!!! I sit them on my desk right beside my laptop speakers almost as a "replacement" for my laptop speakers. They sound like a dream.

What about you all?

EDIT: Yes this machine gets hot as heck, but I don't care. It doesn't bother me, and I literally notice zero performance reduction. It still runs amazing

 

[redheeler]

Over the long term it has probably been my high-end Late 2015 5K iMac. I was an early adopter of the 5K screen / PCIe SSD in an iMac and every other desktop I've used since seems old fashioned and archaic. I wish it had more internal storage (something keeps eating it up and I've yet to figure out what) but I hope it officially gets next year's MacOS despite Apple's planned obsolescence strategy hitting the iMac just one model prior.

My 16" MacBook Pro is also solid especially as I spend more time away from home with the worst of COVID now behind us. I usually go for bigger devices (iPhone 13 Pro Max, 27" iMac etc.) but with the MBP I've been thinking about downsizing to one of the M1 models at some point - and also limiting the amount of apps / tabs I have open more than I current do. Having an Intel-based Mac still seems a bit preferable to M1 for CS though.

 

[svenmany]

My 2018 15" MacBook Pro is yucky. I'm on the third logic board. Due to the heat, it's unpleasant to use when I have to use the internal keyboard. The USB is generally unreliable when I have a lot of stuff plugged in; I get disk ejects and very long mount/unmount times. (I got much worse with the latest logic board.) Also, I find MacOS to be C+/B- level work in terms of user-facing functionality (i.e. it's buggy).

Don't get me wrong; I would expect worse from a Windows laptop in terms of bugs. I use a desktop with Windows 10 Pro and I'd give that a C-/C.

My favorite device is my iPhone 12 Pro Max. It beats out my Apple TV and Watch in terms of utility and pleasurability.

 

[Ray2]

I no longer have a Pro. Over the years, too many problems. Switched to Airs which have been solid. Though I now need a laptop and looks like it will either be an M1 Air or wait a bit for an M1X Pro — with a subscription Applecare contract.

 

[pshufd]

My favorite laptop is my 2014 MacBook Pro 15. I like my 2015 as well but I bought it damaged (dings, dents, scratches and things don't line up perfectly) and the 2014 runs cooler. My 2008 MacBook Pro 17 was my favorite before that. I've played around with the M1 MacBook Air, though, and that gives it a serious run for the money. I needed a laptop that could drive external displays pre-pandemic.

I am waiting for the M1X MacBook Pros and am inclined to get the 16 inch. That should be my favorite for at least 7 years.

 

[richinaus]

2019 16" maxed out MBP with 5600 GPU - simply the best computer I have ever owned.
Gets a little too hot for lap use, but on the desk this thing flies.

 

[pshufd]

2019 16" maxed out MBP with 5600 GPU - simply the best computer I have ever owned.
Gets a little too hot for lap use, but on the desk this thing flies.

I built a Windows desktop because Intel Macs just have terrible thermals. I can put in a variety of CPUs, GPUs (well, before the pandemic), a huge air cooler, a bunch of case fans; and optimize for efficiency. They only way to do that in the Apple world is to get a Mac Pro. I like the ability to drive two 4k monitors with a laptop. Maybe that will be possible with the M1X MacBook Pros. Fans get too noisy with the Intel stuff.

It's a piece of cake on a proper desktop.

 

[4743913]

My macbook pro 16 replaces my commodore SX-64 as my favorite portable of all time.

It is tied with my imac 2020 as my second favorite machines of all time.

the commodore 64 is the greatest machine of all time so it is #1.

 

[richinaus]

I built a Windows desktop because Intel Macs just have terrible thermals. I can put in a variety of CPUs, GPUs (well, before the pandemic), a huge air cooler, a bunch of case fans; and optimize for efficiency. They only way to do that in the Apple world is to get a Mac Pro. I like the ability to drive two 4k monitors with a laptop. Maybe that will be possible with the M1X MacBook Pros. Fans get too noisy with the Intel stuff.

It's a piece of cake on a proper desktop.

Hey @pshufd you may remember from my comments on other threads that I have done the same with a PC build . Got a 16 core Ryzen, 64gb ram and a 3080ti in it for all heavy work - and yes a better set up for me than a Mac Pro And half the price. The fans are getting a little annoying on this though and the amount of heat it puts out is insane.

However I love my MBP and dont love the PC - its a tool.

The fans have been very good on my MBP recently - dont know if it was an update or not, but I have been more than impressed with it.
I think we have been a little hard on the MBP on these forums, having experienced similar level PC workstation laptops.

But yes, if the M1X is equal or better to it in terms of GPU, I will get the 14” and most likely keep the MBP as a windows only machine [pending reviews of the surface laptop studio….]

 

[pshufd]

Hey @pshufd you may remember from my comments on other threads that I have done the same with a PC build . Got a 16 core Ryzen, 64gb ram and a 3080ti in it for all heavy work - and yes a better set up for me than a Mac Pro And half the price. The fans are getting a little annoying on this though and the amount of heat it puts out is insane.

However I love my MBP and dont love the PC - its a tool.

The fans have been very good on my MBP recently - dont know if it was an update or not, but I have been more than impressed with it.

I got the 10700 instead of the 10700K to keep the heat down. It's not that much of a performance difference. I would have been better off with a 10900 as spreading the workload over more cores is always better than running at higher frequencies. The 5950X is the king of the desktop hill right now though the i9-12900 sounds impressive from the benchmarks out so far. I expect that CPU to use more power than the 5950X. I'm running three case fans, a big air cooler and it's quiet. Sometimes there is warm air coming from the system when I'm doing video editing but it's barely audible at its loudest. It's also only an issue during the summer. In the winter the heat is a plus as I have to run a space heater anyways.

I use an M1 Mac mini for my desktop office and leisure stuff and the Windows desktop for my work stuff. I'd rather it be on a Mac but Apple Silicon isn't there yet.

I'm still making do with my 2015 MacBook Pro. The heat can be annoying - I have to put something between my legs and the MacBook Pro as it can otherwise get too hot. The problem is that I know about the M1 Air - knowing about something a lot better makes you look at what you already have a bit more critically.

 

[richinaus]

I got the 10700 instead of the 10700K to keep the heat down. It's not that much of a performance difference. I would have been better off with a 10900 as spreading the workload over more cores is always better than running at higher frequencies. The 5950X is the king of the desktop hill right now though the i9-12900 sounds impressive from the benchmarks out so far. I expect that CPU to use more power than the 5950X. I'm running three case fans, a big air cooler and it's quiet. Sometimes there is warm air coming from the system when I'm doing video editing but it's barely audible at its loudest. It's also only an issue during the summer. In the winter the heat is a plus as I have to run a space heater anyways.

I use an M1 Mac mini for my desktop office and leisure stuff and the Windows desktop for my work stuff. I'd rather it be on a Mac but Apple Silicon isn't there yet.

I'm still making do with my 2015 MacBook Pro. The heat can be annoying - I have to put something between my legs and the MacBook Pro as it can otherwise get too hot. The problem is that I know about the M1 Air - knowing about something a lot better makes you look at what you already have a bit more critically.

I will be adding the M1X mini to the studio set up once released [the M1 didnt cut it].
My 16" just stays at home for WFH situations and also if I need to go to client meetings for presentations which dont happen often now.
But the 16" is so nice on a lot of levels to work with, and I do feel is the best mac ever [only the 5600m mind, the rest maybe not ]