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Should I wait until the new 16" Apple Silicon MacBook pro?

tonyr6

tonyr6

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 13, 2011
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Brooklyn NY
I am currently using the 16" MBP Intel which runs fine. It's fast even though doing lite web browsing it gets a little warm. I want a M1 MacBook but 13" is too small and only 2 thunder port ports is not enough.

Is it a good idea to use my current 2019 16" MBP then when the new one comes out later this year I can give the one I am using now to my father because his current Dell Windows laptop is from 2010, and it is quite slow. Also, him adapting to macOS is not that difficult from Windows.
 
Welllllll it depends how long you're willing to wait. If Apple releases them in mid-March is that too long to wait? What if they don't come out until next fall?
 
My current MacBook is running fine. I just want the improved battery life and speed of the upcoming M2. I am happy with at least 16 GB of RAM.
 
robco74 said:
I'm holding on to mine. I much prefer the larger display. Since travel is out of the picture for a while, the size, weight, and battery life aren't really an issue right now.
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I agree. I always liked and gotten laptops with at least 15" or higher. I don't mind the extra weight or size I just prefer a bigger screen.
 
I have the 2019 15" MBP as my work machine--it's very slim and sleek and I love the larger screen, but it is a pretty heavy machine. Not the most portable notebook I've ever had, for sure.

I went ahead and grabbed the M1 MacBook Air because it's replacing a 12.9" iPad Pro. For the tasks I did with my iPad Pro, this is a comparable sized screen with a more pleasing aspect ratio.

Side note--I'm really glad they got rid of the butterfly switches for the M1 machines. I am a fairly quick typer, and I do NOT like those keys as far as feel or durability. Feels like typing on a table top.
 
No reason to upgrade yet. The current offerings are entry level machines. You are not replacing an entry level machine. If you can get by with the new M1, then maybe you bought too much machine in the 16?
 
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Zazoh said:
No reason to upgrade yet. The current offerings are entry level machines. You are not replacing an entry level machine. If you can get by with the new M1, then maybe you bought too much machine in the 16?
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100% agree with this statement, and I am waiting for the refresh of the higher end pro machines. The entry level machines seem to be a compromise to me over what I need. When on a desk, my 16” is perfect [a bit warm on the lap though].
 
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thadoggfather said:
definitely.

if you don't want the size and can't deal with lack of port quantity, waiting seems best.

a 13" won't be a 16" substitute for a 16" opting person, with or without M1
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If he primarily uses the internal display he should wait. I estimate mid-year for the 16”. It’s going to be awesome and I believe it will introduce a screen technology upgrade too.
 
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If you have cash to set aside maybe. I am running a 15” 2015 pro, but I got M1 Air for evaluation purposes. I am planning to wait out the first M1 16” due to possible first-gen syndrome (rumored re-design) and wait until 2nd or 3rd revision of that redesign.
 
tonyr6 said:
I am currently using the 16" MBP Intel which runs fine. It's fast even though doing lite web browsing it gets a little warm. I want a M1 MacBook but 13" is too small and only 2 thunder port ports is not enough.

Is it a good idea to use my current 2019 16" MBP then when the new one comes out later this year I can give the one I am using now to my father because his current Dell Windows laptop is from 2010, and it is quite slow. Also, him adapting to macOS is not that difficult from Windows.
Click to expand...
Yes you should wait, these 13” models are nice, but they’re far from perfect.

I have the 16” and now the new 13” M1 myself.

The M1 has some serious issues, like…

Battery drain while it is sleeping (20% gone while it is sleeping), 20 hour battery life becomes 16 at that point, and those reporting 20 hour were only testing video. I do not believe the 13” Pro M1 I have is anywhere near 20 hours when other tasks are being done on the laptop.

Bluetooth disconnects every time it goes to sleep and sometimes it won’t reconnect.

Restoring it isn’t as simple as it was on the Intel based Macs, now you need a second Mac to restore it, that’s not going to work for me.

My LG Monitor looks perfect on my 16” MBP, but it is extremely washed out on the new 13” M1 and yet I could find no HDR setting to turn off.

Is it faster? Yeah it really does appear to do more with the M1 and 8 Gigs of RAM, than the Intel can do with 16 Gigs. Is the battery life better? I would say about 3 to 4 hours better for sure. Is there anything else I find better about it? one thing, the weight! These new MBP feel insanely light to me and it’s pretty impressive, but it just isn’t a clean sweep for the new M1 laptops.
 
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Pmperry said:
Yes you should wait, these 13” models are nice, but they’re far from perfect.

I have the 16” and now the new 13” M1 myself.

The M1 has some serious issues, like…

Battery drain while it is sleeping (20% gone while it is sleeping), 20 hour battery life becomes 16 at that point, and those reporting 20 hour were only testing video. I do not believe the 13” Pro M1 I have is anywhere near 20 hours when other tasks are being done on the laptop.

Bluetooth disconnects every time it goes to sleep and sometimes it won’t reconnect.

Restoring it isn’t as simple as it was on the Intel based Macs, now you need a second Mac to restore it, that’s not going to work for me.

My LG Monitor looks perfect on my 16” MBP, but it is extremely washed out on the new 13” M1 and yet I could find no HDR setting to turn off.

Is it faster? Yeah it really does appear to do more with the M1 and 8 Git’s of RAM, than the Intel can do with 16 Gigs. Is the battery life better? I would say about 3 to 4 hours better for sure. Is there anything else I find better about it? one thing, the weight! These new MBP feel insanely light to me and it’s pretty impressive, but it just isn’t a clean sweep for the new M1 laptops.
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Great assessment and is basically what we have experienced on our test M1 MBP.
Plus there is the fact that all apps are not native or run well on M1’s yet - mine sure don’t.
 
Pmperry said:
Yes you should wait, these 13” models are nice, but they’re far from perfect.

I have the 16” and now the new 13” M1 myself.

The M1 has some serious issues, like…

Battery drain while it is sleeping (20% gone while it is sleeping), 20 hour battery life becomes 16 at that point, and those reporting 20 hour were only testing video. I do not believe the 13” Pro M1 I have is anywhere near 20 hours when other tasks are being done on the laptop.

Bluetooth disconnects every time it goes to sleep and sometimes it won’t reconnect.

Restoring it isn’t as simple as it was on the Intel based Macs, now you need a second Mac to restore it, that’s not going to work for me.

My LG Monitor looks perfect on my 16” MBP, but it is extremely washed out on the new 13” M1 and yet I could find no HDR setting to turn off.
Click to expand...
I haven’t had any of those problems. Have two displays and multiple Bluetooth devices. When you say your machine has problems the correct way to state is is ‘My configurations of devices and software has problems’.

And I’ll never understand people trying to ‘restore’ a brand new machine. It’s a clean install out the box. The only additions are iWork apps and GarageBand which can be deleted in two seconds.
 
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Pmperry said:
Yes you should wait, these 13” models are nice, but they’re far from perfect.

I have the 16” and now the new 13” M1 myself.

The M1 has some serious issues, like…

Battery drain while it is sleeping (20% gone while it is sleeping), 20 hour battery life becomes 16 at that point, and those reporting 20 hour were only testing video.

Bluetooth disconnects every time it goes to sleep and sometimes it won’t reconnect.

Restoring it isn’t as simple as it was on the Intel based Macs, now you need a second Mac to restore it, that’s not going to work for me.

My LG Monitor looks perfect on my 16” MBP, but it is extremely washed out on the new 13” M1 and yet I could find no HDR setting to turn off.
Click to expand...

Not my experience, but have seen a few in the forum. For me image on LG 4K external is perfect.

No, Bluetooth or battery issues. I have reset using this method, just as an experiment, twice.

1. Power off the M1
2. Press and hold the power button to enter recovery mode
3. Click the Options icon and then press continue
4. In the upper left corner select Recovery Assistant
5. In that drop down menu, select Erase Mac
6. Follow the on-screen steps from there

Requires WiFi. And to know logon ID.
 
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I let GAS get the best of me and picked up the M1 MBP (16GB/1TB) to COMPLEMENT my 16" maxed out MBP.

At the end of the day... both machines are FAST. CPU is effectively a wash between the two, GPU (5600M) geek benches over twice as fast on the 16" MBP.

The 16" is my main machine. But yeah, it does get warm, the fans can be loud... but it's FAST, and has specs the M1 can't touch. I can drive my two 4K displays with blazing speed. I have 64GB of RAM for lots of virtualization. As a developer, I need Docker and Parallels/VMWare. I think M1 will get there fast, though (even for X86 emulation).

But the 13" is sure a nice complement. It's so compact and light, perfect for around the house general computing tasks. And since it didn't cost $6500, I don't feel so scared to use it as an actual laptop!

Obviously, most people don't need two laptops :)

Truth is, it's just another computer, and it's the applications and things that you do with it that matter.
 
ArPe said:
I haven’t had any of those problems. Have two displays and multiple Bluetooth devices. When you say your machine has problems the correct way to state is is ‘My configurations of devices and software has problems’.

And I’ll never understand people trying to ‘restore’ a brand new machine. It’s a clean install out the box. The only additions are iWork apps and GarageBand which can be deleted in two seconds.
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You would if you were having these issues and wanted to see if it was just a bad install. But, now I have to load up Apple configurator 2, because I did try the local reset and Apple is very much aware that restore doesn’t work.

As for bluetooth, you’re lucky if you’re not experiencing that, because there is a large group of us that are.

Anyway, everything I said is accurate and they are things I was experiencing before I tried the restore.
 
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Zazoh said:
Not my experience, but have seen a few in the forum. For me image on LG 4K external is perfect.

No, Bluetooth or battery issues. I have reset using this method, just as an experiment, twice.

1. Power off the M1
2. Press and hold the power button to enter recovery mode
3. Click the Options icon and then press continue
4. In the upper left corner select Recovery Assistant
5. In that drop down menu, select Erase Mac
6. Follow the on-screen steps from there

Requires WiFi. And to know logon ID.
Click to expand...
Yeah, nice try, but that is broken on the M1 Mac, so whatever you do, don’t Erase your HD, or you will be using the Apple Configurator 2, just like I have to.
 
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I am probably waiting until 2022'ish maybe 2023 and get whatever 16" varient they have then.
Any MacBook Pro this year for me would be strictly a want just for the sake of wanting a new model.

It still could happen but as of this thread I am on the wait train.

See ya'll around summer when those models typically are released and I'll know much more.
 
Your 16” is still fine. A good laptop.

Given Covid etc. Those who are suffering with a slow and old laptop/computer should consider the m1.
 
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