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M1 MacBook Pro 13" owners: are you upgrading?

petvas

petvas

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 20, 2006
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Munich, Germany
I was wondering how you all feel about today's MacBook Pro related announcements. I personally feel that my M1 MBP is perfect, especially after seeing what the new models bring to the table.

For me there are some significant regressions that make me think that there is absolutely no reason to upgrade to the 14" model:
  • Battery life is worse than on the 13" M1 MBP
  • The laptop is thicker and heavier
  • The notch is unnecessary and makes the 14" MBP have a usable space around the same as the 13" M1 MBP
  • There is no Touch Bar
On the other hand the new models do bring some significant improvements:
  • Support for up to 64GB of RAM
  • 7,4Gbps/sec Read speed for the SSD!!!
  • ProMotion display!
  • Better Display with support for HDR. Much brighter than before
  • Faster CPU and GPU
For most people that do nothing CPU intensive the M1 model is great. What are your thoughts?
 
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I would add many more useful ports, better keyboard, MagSafe charging, significantly bigger display for slightly bigger form factor, much better camera and much better speakers. it’s a no brainer to me.
 
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petvas said:
  • The notch is unnecessary and makes the 14" MBP have a usable space around the same as the 13" M1 MBP
Click to expand...
This is only really true If you do significant amounts of work in full screen.

otherwise you have the additional screen space previously used by the menu bar. The space to the sides of the notch is NEW space, not existing space that has been invaded by the notch.
 
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I’m a little confused now as to where the 13” sits in terms of use cases.

Must be a pretty narrow band of uses where you’d want the 13 Pro over the Air AND where your workflow wouldn’t be improved by the 14
 
TopToffee said:
I’m a little confused now as to where the 13” sits in terms of use cases.

Must be a pretty narrow band of uses where you’d want the 13 Pro over the Air AND where your workflow wouldn’t be improved by the 14
Click to expand...
True, I think the best mix of portability and battery life is probably where the 13" sits
 
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TopToffee said:
I’m a little confused now as to where the 13” sits in terms of use cases.

Must be a pretty narrow band of uses where you’d want the 13 Pro over the Air AND where your workflow wouldn’t be improved by the 14
Click to expand...
Perhaps the next MacBook Air will be a consolidated version of the current M1 MacBooks. No longer offer an entry level MBP but a suped-up version of the MacBook Air. I’m guessing that one is probably going to be a better fit for my computing needs and budget. Let’s just hope they continue to offer a gray/silver option and not just the ‘fun’ colors found on the iMac.
 
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petvas said:
  • The laptop is thicker and heavier
Click to expand...
Although it certainly doesn’t look it due to the lack of curvature on the bottom of the case, the 14” is actually marginally thinner than the 13” M1 MBP.

I am personally upgrading from my M1 to the M1 Pro. The M1 was a great stop-gap computer, but I’d like more RAM (only had 8GB) and the better CPU/GPU will be welcomed when using Xcode for iOS development. Also really looking forward to mini LED and ProMotion - think they will be massive quality-of-life improvements.
 
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TheRdungeon said:
But then there's still the very strange battery life difference between the 13 and 14 inch pro (17 vs 11 hours of wireless web)
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Yeah, but if battery life not power is your thing then surely you’d go for the Air.

yes it’s SLIGHTLY shorter than the 13 Pro, but not so much that anyone would notice, plus it’s lighter and cheaper.

As I said, 13 Pro feels like a product with a VERY narrow niche at this point.
 
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TopToffee said:
Yeah, but if battery life not power is your thing then surely you’d go for the Air.

yes it’s SLIGHTLY shorter than the 13 Pro, but not so much that anyone would notice, plus it’s lighter and cheaper.

As I said, 13 Pro feels like a product with a VERY narrow niche at this point.
Click to expand...
The screen on the 13" Pro is definitely better than the Air, so perhaps if you're into photography and want decent battery life it could be an option
 
Yes. Trading my M1 MBP for 32GB 14" M1 Pro. I agree the that the 13" M1 MBP is an incredible machine but in my case, I just need more memory. I really like the other choices that were made as well (like removing touchbar, 120Hz display, bigger/higher res display, better webcam, faster cpu/gpu, ports, normal non-butterfly keyboard (although the M1 2020 MBP had that), faster SSD, thunderbolt 4, etc)

I'm okay with a little thicker and a little heavier and less battery for faster performance/bigger display. Not sure about the notch but I'll give it a try. Thats about the only thing I'm not crazy about. Maybe I'll warm up to it and even get one of those Samsung mock "notch" haircuts. LOL. Prolly not.
 
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Yes, because I was dumb and got the 8gb 13". I need 16gb so it makes sense to just order the 14" now.

The 16gb m1 mac mini I bought will get moved to the server room and the 14" will go back to the same duty that my 16" i9 MBP held on to for a while
 
TopToffee said:
I’m a little confused now as to where the 13” sits in terms of use cases.

Must be a pretty narrow band of uses where you’d want the 13 Pro over the Air AND where your workflow wouldn’t be improved by the 14
Click to expand...
The 13“ MBP has better display than the Air and better battery life.
 
TopToffee said:
I’m a little confused now as to where the 13” sits in terms of use cases.
Click to expand...
Price.

The 13" has 4 TB ports, better cooling, better screen than the Air. Retailers are constantly throwing deals on the 13" MBP meaning it can be had for $800 less than the 14".

For the average user, they'll see no difference between the 14" and 13" in terms of performance.

The 13" M1 MBP is the 2012 non-retina MBP all over again.
 
120hz promotion alone makes it worth it. Keyboard, ports, impedance sensing headphone so no need for a separate dac. Higher res. Mini led oxide tft display is insane. Faster ssd, better speakers, better webcam, so many positives.
 
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SeenJeen said:
Price.

The 13" has 4 TB ports, better cooling, better screen than the Air. Retailers are constantly throwing deals on the 13" MBP meaning it can be had for $800 less than the 14".

For the average user, they'll see no difference between the 14" and 13" in terms of performance.

The 13" M1 MBP is the 2012 non-retina MBP all over again.
Click to expand...
It definitely *doesn’t* have 4 ports.

Regarding the bold bit, that’s also true of the Air.
 
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I think it’s for people who want to demonstrate to the world that they’re ‘pros’, but aren’t actually professional. Students, bedroom music producers etc.

edit - I was replying to something that said “what is the 13” macbook pro for”
 
All this BS hating on the 13” pro is unnecessary. it was and still is a fantastic speedy computer and paved the way forward for Apple Silicon.
All the talk of trading in the M1 MBP is also laughable. I checked what apple would give for my 13” M1 Pro with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD - a measly £500! May as well give it away!!

If you already have an M1 and your workflow isn’t suffering, i'd say keep it.
 
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