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Non-professional use 2021 MBP - how to configure it?

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wreck21

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 18, 2021
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For those of us that aren't professional users, the MBP is overkill - but some of us still want one even if it's simply for regular office/web browsing use.

With that said, for the 14" model, is the base configuration more than enough?

Storage aside, if one were to upgrade something, for non professional use, which would be more noticeable? 10core CPU, 32GB Ram, 16 core GPU (for gaming?)?

Thanks!
 
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For office/web browsing (along with photo editing and modest movie editing), I reckon that the 16gb/512gb "base model" will be more than enough.

That's what I'll be buying. Going to wait for the initial rush to pass, however.
I sense we could see some $100-200 discounts before too long...
 
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I ordered the base model for personal use even though the marketing definitely pushes you to the 10 core / 16 GPU version - I use a MacBook Pro 16in from work with an i7 processor, 16gb of memory and 512 gb about 80% of the time and that won't change and it's plenty powerful although it hiccups every now and then.

I could probably settle for a similarly configured M1 Macbook Air but I wanted the mini-LED screen for entertainment and I hate buying apple products in the middle of their lifecycle. I look at it as combining a MacBook Air and an iPad Pro 12.9in with Magic Keyboard vs just buy the MacBook Pro.
 
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More RAM never hurts anything but your wallet so if you're willing to spend more, I'd go for that.
But I actually find all the configuration options very confusing, despite being a tech-savvy person, since I don't have much real-life experience with M1 Macs or even newer Macs in general. I have no idea how the machine will perform in my use (pro-amateur musician/sound designer). But on the other hand I'm willing to spend more just for futureproofing.
 
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Got the base model for my wife and I too. one with the 512GB HD and one with 1 TB as I needed more storage. Splurged for the bigger charger at $20 each even though that pushed the config out a week.

I'm a big multi-talker with dozens of tabs open at once, MS Office apps, etc. I make my current MBP scream like a pig sometimes. I still feel like this new M1 chip with base model will serve us well.
 
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wreck21 said:
For those of us that aren't professional users, the MBP is overkill - but some of us still want one even if it's simply for regular office/web browsing use.
Click to expand...

Lol, why? Can you not hold off a couple more months for the MacBook redesign?
 
JLOAKS said:
Lol, why? Can you not hold off a couple more months for the MacBook redesign?
Click to expand...
you mean the Macbook Air?

a couple more months is January, whos to say the new Air won't come out till Q2/Q3 2022?
 
wreck21 said:
you mean the Macbook Air?

a couple more months is January, whos to say the new Air won't come out till Q2/Q3 2022?
Click to expand...
Also, the current rumours are that the new Air will come in the same range of colours as the new iMac which.... ugh..
 
If you aren't going to utilize the full performance of a Pro Laptop, I'd say save your money and get an M1 laptop or get the best Pro Laptop you can afford, focusing on storage upgrades and memory. That way you won't have to buy a new laptop for a very long time. I would expect these new Pros to be powerful enough and relevant to a non-pro user for 5-7 years, at least.
 
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Education pricing is $1850

AND apple is giving me $480 for my 2014 mbp 15 trade in

you guys think 16gb ram is enough for the next 5-7 years?
 
Ordered the 16” base model to replace my 2018 15” i7. Plenty of power for my need.
 
wreck21 said:
For those of us that aren't professional users, the MBP is overkill - but some of us still want one even if it's simply for regular office/web browsing use.

With that said, for the 14" model, is the base configuration more than enough?

Storage aside, if one were to upgrade something, for non professional use, which would be more noticeable? 10core CPU, 32GB Ram, 16 core GPU (for gaming?)?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I would get the 13" MBP. It has much better battery life and has no notch. It's a great laptop and you will love it. Get the M1 Pro models only if you absolutely want to have the new display and do not care about the battery life regression. The M1 13" MBP gets 17 hours of web browsing while the 14" M1 Pro model only 11 hours. I can confirm that on my M1 13" MBP I get up to 20 hours of normal usage! This is just amazing and for me much more important than the performance of the new models.
 
petvas said:
I would get the 13" MBP. It has much better battery life and has no notch. It's a great laptop and you will love it. Get the M1 Pro models only if you absolutely want to have the new display and do not care about the battery life regression. The M1 13" MBP gets 17 hours of web browsing while the 14" M1 Pro model only 11 hours. I can confirm that on my M1 13" MBP I get up to 20 hours of normal usage! This is just amazing and for me much more important than the performance of the new models.
Click to expand...
With all of the news of these 14" and 16" MacBook Pro models, I had completely forgotten about the 13" Pro.

Lots of choices now, maybe more than Apple has ever had previously (4 different MacBook configurations now being sold)?
 
Fishrrman said:
For office/web browsing (along with photo editing and modest movie editing), I reckon that the 16gb/512gb "base model" will be more than enough.

That's what I'll be buying. Going to wait for the initial rush to pass, however.
I sense we could see some $100-200 discounts before too long...
Click to expand...
you are going to get the 8c base model?im very curious about its performance honestly
 
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