MBP M3 vs. quasi "stationary-only" use incl. TB dock => vs. Battery life ?? your thoughts ?

[streetfunk]

Heya,

i have a hard time waiting for a M3 Desktop.
While there are several M3 MBPs to be had with a 13-15% downmargin at amazon (europe).
Which brings the MBP into consideration realm. (from there, i "could" bridge my new desktop until the M4 desktop comes)
What ***really*** holds me back though, are my concerns vs. the battery. (beside the way overpriced RAM and SSD upgrades)
What makes me want to jump *now* for my new M3 is the uncertainity vs. the M3 Desktops.

My usecase would be quasi daily use in the Studio (music). Entirely stationary !
One or more likely two TB Docks *permenanently* connected to it.
I do NOT need a laptop !! entirely not. I just need to have that M3.
The few occasions i´d win on having a laptop rather than a M3 desktop would not necessarily justifie the higher price vs. a desktop. But those 14% or so down are tempting !

my Q:
What ya think vs. battery life ?
How would a clever handling of a entirely stationary setup with a MBP look like vs. the battery handling ?


I run a M1MBAir in the kitchen for music listening and news.
Assoon i had some peripherials (to suck some battery) running, was the battery live quite rapidly way bader.

I do NOT trust in these batterys !
( i run my M2Air to 100% on battery only, and powercycle as required. Thats how i handle it with my M1Air)

M3 MBP for quasi stationary only uses ? your thoughts ?

 

[theorist9]

Since you absolutely don't need a laptop, and want the M3, why not wait two months to see if they announce the M3 Studios at WWDC on June 10? That would be a reasonable time for them to announce it.

I don't know what you mean by "battery live". If you mean battery life, IME from using a Macbook Pro (MBP) as a replacement desktop, you can use it for years without the battery being an issue when it's plugged in. I only experienced an issue once, and that was with swelling rather than performance.

Other considerations, which you're probably already aware of: You waste a lot of money by getting a laptop if you don't need it. Plus a laptop has additional points of failure (battery swelling, screen) that you don't get in a desktop. And a Studio should be quieter under heavy load, and perform better under heavy load, than a MBP. It will also be much easier to find space for the Studio on your desk. And if you're running so many connections that you need to use two docks, you'd find the Studio better there as well, since it offers many more ports than the MBP.

Finally, the Studio can drive one more external monitor than the equivalent MBP, because it doesn't need to drive the MBP's internal display (unless they offer a firmware update to allow you to use the internal display engine for an external display when the MBP is in clamshell mode, like they did for the M3 Air).

 

[streetfunk]

I don't know what you mean by "battery live". If you mean battery life,

yes, life ( i edited it). Thanks !

If you mean battery life, IME from using a Macbook Pro (MBP) as a replacement desktop, you can use it for years without the battery being an issue when it's plugged in.

I´ve read reports that make it look like the battery is becoming quite rapdidly weak when having a MBP plugged in all the time. I mean, the point to buy a MBP would be, that it has to serve me as something mobile, once a M3 or M4 Desktop mac has landed.

why not wait two months to see if they announce the M3 Studios at WWDC on June 10?

I know i should. I mean, i *have* to wait,......somehow, haha.
But i have a feel like they are running the sales *now*, to offload.
And then again in autumn (eurpean market / not as easy as in the US, with apple)

Other considerations, which you're probably already aware of: You waste a lot of money by getting a laptop if you don't need it.

yes, i´m aware of these points. Yes, it would be wasting money !

yeah, it would be no fun to run a MBP in my studio. That´s for sure.
And maybe the main point to just hold on ! It would be a real hassle

Bloody apple. If their upmargins were less ugly, or the base specs one level better, i had allready bought a MBP.

Thanks ! i might reconsider, ...i should wait. It´s so true.

 

[theorist9]

I´ve read reports that make it look like the battery is becoming quite rapdidly weak when having a MBP plugged in all the time. I mean, the point to buy a MBP would be, that it has to serve me as something mobile, once a M3 or M4 Desktop mac has landed.

Their current battery management system should help preserve the battery life even if you keep it plugged in. Plus it should still last longer than if you actually use it since, if it's plugged in constantly, it will remain at zero cycles (or close to that) until the first time you take it mobile. It might help to discharge it to 20% periodically (I don't know what the optimum frequency would be for this, whether weekly or monthly).

But I still think it would be better to wait....

 

[casperes1996]

Food for thought.
M2 Pro Mac mini is cheaper than base M3MBP. Unless you use ray tracing cores the pro chip will generally still outperform the base chip. Then again if you are single thread bound maybe not.
But June is also soon. I’d be surprised if all Macs don’t go M3 then. Maybe with announcements but delayed release of Ultra chips.

 

[streetfunk]

M2 Pro Mac mini is cheaper

i run a MacMiniM2pro allready
15% more SC speed is effectivly crucial enough for what i´m doing to fork out.

But I still think it would be better to wait....

for my main machine, ..Yes !


I´ll grab me a MBP M3 anyway. .......Sooner or later.
That´s where the whole tought was coming from.

The difference is this: if it has to serve temporarily as a main machine replacement, do i have to go for better specs.
The idea of a "longer time period" replacement -with a MBP- is now off the table, i guess.

Just as a 2nd machine can i go with lower specs.
Nothing MBPro with a 1TB SSD at sale ( vs, my country). Which would be a requirement to run a full music installation. So it could serve temporarily as a Desktop replacement.

Thanks for chimming in ! it helped to settle my thoughts

any more feedback vs. battery live and treatment vs. a stationary MBP setup would be welcome still !

 

[theorist9]

15% more SC speed is effectivly crucial enough for what i´m doing to fork out.

Since SC speed is important to you: One other thing to consider—and this is purely speculative, since Apple did not do this on the M1 or M2—is that there's a small possibility the M3 Studio could offer a higher max clock speed than the 4.1 GHz seen on the laptops.

With the M2, the Studio and the 16" MBP Max did have a higher max clock than the other Macs. With the M3, the max clock is the same on everything they've released thus far. So maybe with the M3 they'll still offer certain models with higher clocks than the rest, but this time it will be for the Studios (and Mac Pro, if there is an M3 Mac Pro) only.

 

[streetfunk]

With the M2, the Studio and the 16" MBP Max did have a higher max clock than the other Macs.

True, thanks for mentioning that ! I totally forgot about this !

yeah, nothing is certain.
I mean, it´s even not certain that any M3 desktop will come at all.
But in case it does:

The M3 Max, even allready the M3pro, has overheating problems in the MBP. At least on the 14" ones.
See 14" vs. 16" comparisons.
It´s easily possible that they didn´t wanted to run the CPU to the max in the laptops.
While a "Studio" should allow for more.

 

[theorist9]

True, thanks for mentioning that ! I totally forgot about this !

yeah, nothing is certain.
I mean, it´s even not certain that any M3 desktop will come at all.
But in case it does:

The M3 Max, even allready the M3pro, has overheating problems in the MBP. At least on the 14" ones.
See 14" vs. 16" comparisons.
It´s easily possible that they didn´t wanted to run the CPU to the max in the laptops.
While a "Studio" should allow for more.

...or it's possible the M3 doesn't run well at higher clocks (e.g., can't run reliably at the higher needed voltage, or experiences a too-steep increase in the required power), so they won't offer it. We shall see.....

 

[macphoto861]

Al Dente... lets you specify a charge percentage limit. The OS has its own battery management features, of course, but I prefer to manually set it (I keep mine around 60-70%). Been doing it this way for several years (my laptop is almost always plugged in), and when I sold my M1 Max (which was 2 years old) the battery was still almost like new.

 

[chabig]

How would a clever handling of a entirely stationary setup with a MBP look like vs. the battery handling ?

You will probably think my trick too clever. I leave the MacBook plugged in when it's stationary and unplug it when I need to move it around.

 

[HDFan]

My usecase would be quasi daily use in the Studio (music). Entirely stationary !
One or more likely two TB Docks *permenanently* connected to it.

If it is going to be entirely stationary why would you consider a laptop? On a studio with all of its ports you might not have to attach any docks which can be problematic.

 

[streetfunk]

Al Dente... lets you specify a charge percentage limit.

i run AI Dente on my M1Air. The freeware. It´s not working. So i never payed for the full.
I need to come back to this.

On a studio with all of its ports

Sell me a M3 Studio ?
Otherwise do i share your thoughts

If it is going to be entirely stationary why would you consider a laptop?

buy the M3 laptop to bridge the time until the new desktops are coming.
"Then", later, use the laptop as "that additional computer" in my home/studio, and replace the old M1air with it.


My current music work on my M2pro won´t run anylonger on my M1air.
So, updating my (first days) M1Air is due anyway. And my Eyes degrade. A 16" screen will be better.


Rumors are out:
M4 base MBs are coming end this year ! M4 mini end 24 too, hopefully.
M4 studio is coming mid 2025.

So, no M3 for me. i´ll wait .....