MBP M4 Buying Advice:

[PO2345]

All,

I decided to wait for the M4. This is my current machine.

I don't see myself buying for another 10 years or so (unless new machine fails) so could anyone provide advice on the below?

1. I'm considering buying the $2399 M4 PRO 14' inch, but unsure if the memory will be enough for future proofing? It has 24, but considering upgrading to 48GB. What would be the better move for long term performance? M4 Pro chip with 48 GB memory or M4 Max 14 core chip with 36GB memory? If the later is chosen, is the max chip better on the 16 inch?

These are the things I have been thinking about lately & I can't seem to decide what to do, so any opinions are appreciated.

Thank you for your time. Happy launch day!

 

[vtgeek]

I bought and probably will return a 14 Max with 36GB ram 1TB $3199 configuration as it's just maybe more than I need and I wish I got the nano coating..... I have an 2021 M1 14 inches.

I think the best config is the 14 Pro 12Core CPU, 48GB ram 1TB & Nano Coating for $2750. Add another $200 for the 14 core CPU Pro if desired.....

 

[M4pro]

Nano coating is a game-changer.

Go see it person.

 

[LogicalApex]

Future proofing is a fools errand right now. It just doesn’t make any sense to over spend hoping to make the machine last longer. Save the money and upgrade when you feel the machine isn’t fast enough.

Apple is making massive YoY performance gains for Apple Silicon chips...

But more importantly Apple is already making AI a key part of the product line going forward. We don’t yet know what that means. Will Apple gate AI features based on NPU performance? AI may not matter today because Apple hasn‘t yet delivered a compelling feature. But that could change in a year or two.

 

[UnifiedMelody]

As a newbie who acted as a casual user walking in... Nano Texture is a No Brainer. Was relatively sharp enough for my eyes even on apple's sample 16" model. If it was a larger display [27" and higher] i'd take the glossy then since the dpi is far less.

 

[PO2345]

Thanks all. Yeah just trying to figure out if the RAM is more important or the chip, as in where I would see the most difference in performance.

 

[cassmr]

Thanks all. Yeah just trying to figure out if the RAM is more important or the chip, as in where I would see the most difference in performance.

The max is better at gpu tasks, it has more gpu cores. So ai, gaming, 3d modelling, video exporting. It also has extra media encoders/ decoders which helps significantly for video.

The top max is also faster at cpu but that’s not a model you are considering.

For most users I don’t think 48gb ram over 36 would provide meaningful benefits. Perhaps specific ai tasks where you need to run models of a certain size. Some extreme photo /video work might benefit from the ram but even then the max should still be faster in most cases.

Max also has better external display support.

However if you aren’t doing many gpu intensive tasks then the pro could be a better buy.

We don’t know enough about thermal performance of m4 max in 14 inch. However, even if it does throttle more than 16, it should still perform better than the pro chip. Given you’ve lasted 10 years on your old chip I doubt you would be stressing the 14 inch enough to meaningfully notice the thermal throttling enough if it did exist.

Honestly you’ll be perfectly happy with both. I think the max 36gb is a better all rounder for similar money but pro is perfectly valid and would perform the same in most day to day tasks.

 

[UnifiedMelody]

Future proofing is a dumb concept. Technology moves fast year over year especially in Apple Silicon, this is not intel whom crippled consumers for too long.

Buy what you need now. That's it. M3 to M4 is exceptional YoY jump (all chips), M2 to M3 is exceptional YoY jump (max chip)

 

[blufrog]

Nano display is good if reflections are a PITA for you, but otherwise contrast, color suffer, and the screen leaves everything looking like it is textured.

Source: got to see a MBP 14" in person with nano, alongside two gloss 14" for comparison.

 

[raythompsontn]

Nano display is good if reflections are a PITA for you, but otherwise contrast, color suffer, and the screen leaves everything looking like it is textured.

I deal heavily with photographs. The nano screen would adversely affect my view of pictures so I opted to save a few dollars. I really only use my device in controlled lighting conditions so glare has never been a problem.

 

[PFox78]

All,

I decided to wait for the M4. This is my current machine.

View attachment 2448561

I don't see myself buying for another 10 years or so (unless new machine fails) so could anyone provide advice on the below?

1. I'm considering buying the $2399 M4 PRO 14' inch, but unsure if the memory will be enough for future proofing? It has 24, but considering upgrading to 48GB. What would be the better move for long term performance? M4 Pro chip with 48 GB memory or M4 Max 14 core chip with 36GB memory? If the later is chosen, is the max chip better on the 16 inch?

These are the things I have been thinking about lately & I can't seem to decide what to do, so any opinions are appreciated.

Thank you for your time. Happy launch day!

I just upgraded from the same mid-20212 MBP computer, except that I had the i7 instead of the i5 processor. Let me tell you this: the difference is mind-blowing. I got the base M4, 16GB and 1TB with the nano-texture display. If you can still manage with a 2012, save yourself the money and get the base. You don't need all the extra horsepower unless you do graphic-intensive work. And if you were in that situation, you wouldn't have held on to this machine.

The one thing you may want to splurge on is the nano-texture display. It's absolutely incredible.

If you're worried about longevity, I would presume all the M4 series chips would lose support at the same time. And that won't be for a very long time.

 

[cassmr]

I just upgraded from the same mid-20212 MBP computer, except that I had the i7 instead of the i5 processor. Let me tell you this: the difference is mind-blowing. I got the base M4, 16GB and 1TB with the nano-texture display. If you can still manage with a 2012, save yourself the money and get the base. You don't need all the extra horsepower unless you do graphic-intensive work. And if you were in that situation, you wouldn't have held on to this machine.

The one thing you may want to splurge on is the nano-texture display. It's absolutely incredible.

If you're worried about longevity, I would presume all the M4 series chips would lose support at the same time. And that won't be for a very long time.

I think this is good advice to people in general. If you have managed to survive using a 7+ years old machine without much issue, then its unlikely you need a pro unless your workload is likely to significantly change. The difference between 10x performance increase and 11.3x performance increase is unlikely to be something you notice.

Another commentator said that future proofing is dumb, and it particularly is if your that person that has already lasted that long. Most use cases are not requiring more and more computing performance and the increase is gradual. Many components contribute to computer performance, and while extra ram may make the difference its unlikely to actually keep up with what's out there. It's very unlikely that spending an extra $500 today on a better model will give you meaningfully longer life.

Even if we accepted the premise that you can some how predict the exact upgrade (over your reasonably forseeable computing needs in the next 2 years), what if it breaks 3 years in, or is stolen or damaged. You've lost any chance to take advantage of that improvement. Many macs last 10 years, but its hardly all of them. Your $500 saved today, invested conservatively, is likely to do much more for you when you go to upgrade than it will today.

That all being said, buy what you want, it's not always the same as what you need and that ok if you can afford it and want to. Computers are fun.