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Um, now I'm confused. Buy a maxed out 13' pro (Apple silicon) or last years 13' maxed out.

A

audirs5

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 20, 2014
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As the title states.

I just saw that the new MBP 13' only has 2 Thunderbolt ports and it can only go up to 16gb of RAM.

I know these are not in the wild, but does that even compare to the 32gb I can get on the older model? I'm a bit disappointed here, especially with the drop of two thunderbolt ports.
 
I am now stuck in a similar dilemma.

Only 2 ports and 2TB?

I needed 4 ports and 4TB.

I'm kicking myself because I recently ordered a brand new 4 port 4TB 13" Mac that was supposed to be delivered this week and I cancelled it to wait for this one. I should not have cancelled it.

So now either I rebuy that same Intel I just cancelled or I wait for 16" refresh.

I will probably buy Intel because I don't want to wait months for 16" refresh and then they cut the storage SSD options again like they did today. I need boot camp anyway.
 
I can't wait months for a 4 port. I'm a bit livid here. Especially since my laptop usually sits on the left when its plugged into my monitor.

But my biggest concern is the performance. Is this really a big deal or what should I do here? I run mostly browsers with severals tabs displaying different charts, live feeds, etc...
 
yanksrock100 said:
I went with a maxed out Apple Silicon model. With Apple moving off intel, I can't get myself to buy a new intel Mac. It does suck to lose 2 ports for apparently no reason though.
Click to expand...

Buying a new Intel based Mac is to knowingly purchase an obsolete computer, also one can always purchase a USB hub if the need be. I am confused between MacBook Air and the 13 inch MacBook Pro, 'cos I don't see any difference between the two.
 
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markiv810 said:
Buying a new Intel based Mac is to knowingly purchase an obsolete computer, also one can always purchase a USB hub if the need be. I am confused between MacBook Air and the 13 inch MacBook Pro, 'cos I don't see any difference between the two.
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Thanks, that's a good point. But, that's another port to be had. And I genuinely liked having two ports on each side, at least for charging sake.

As for your question. Same. What's the difference here besides a fan?
 
It's also less expensive than the 16GB Intel. And the microphone thing is nice, if they don't become a future Replacement Program. That makes it obviously a better buy, even if you're never really going to be rendering a 3D bla bla bla 5x faster on it if you're waiting for swap (even presuming Big Sur M1 swap will be fast).

But, it's perplexing. Apple goes through so much trouble for eight years to force us to buy their $25/GB RAM upgrades across the line, but suddenly caps how many $25 GBs we can buy?

Is there something about M1 that's not ready for 32GB? I wouldn't touch it with a stick......
 
audirs5 said:
Thanks, that's a good point. But, that's another port to be had. And I genuinely liked having two ports on each side, at least for charging sake.

As for your question. Same. What's the difference here besides a fan?
Click to expand...

I am writing this on MacBook 2015, which not only has a horrible keyboard but also has pretty bad cooling. I have had random/ abrupt shutdowns when compiling or during Teams meeting. The MacBook gets really hot as MacBook does to have active cooling (fan)
 
brianmowrey said:
It's also less expensive than the 16GB Intel. And the microphone thing is nice, if they don't become a future Replacement Program. That makes it obviously a better buy, even if you're never really going to be rendering a 3D bla bla bla 5x faster on it if you're waiting for swap.

But, it's perplexing. Apple goes through so much trouble for eight years to force us to buy their $25/GB RAM upgrades across the line, but suddenly caps how many $25 GBs we can buy?

Is there something about M1 that's not ready for 32GB? I wouldn't touch it with a stick......
Click to expand...
Someone pointed out in another thread that they made it a point of saying this is the beginning of the transition and all of the devices they targeted were low end consumer type devices. We will probably see more RAM available on the M whatever they decide will be powering the more Pro level devices
 
Ocnetgeek said:
Someone pointed out in another thread that they made it a point of saying this is the beginning of the transition and all of the devices they targeted were low end consumer type devices. We will probably see more RAM available on the M whatever they decide will be powering the more Pro level devices
Click to expand...
Right but that doesn't explain not even leaving the door open for price-gouging. Both here and on the Mini, which updates more slowly.
 
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lol, I initially missed the bit about memory moving to the SOC

That explains the economics. They didn't expect enough 32GB interest to warrant another kink in the M1 supply chain. The revenue from potential upgraders willing to pay an 800 percent markup on memory doesn't outweigh the depressed margin on the 8 and 16GB sales. Still cutting corners on the Macbook "Pro" wherever they can. Too bad the Mini has to get kneecapped for who knows how many years along the way.
 
With having control of their own chips, Apple could start updating hardware on a more regular basis, no more waiting on Intel...! So maybe we start to see YEARLY updates to the internals of Apple silicon-based Macs...!!!
 
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Boil said:
So maybe we start to see YEARLY updates to the internals of Apple silicon-based Macs...!!!
Click to expand...
I’m wondering if this is the plan actually....I know most people don’t seem to update their phones annually anymore (from anecdotal evidence if nothing else) but I can see Apple trying this with macs, at least we’d know when new ones are coming! Much as I like the new Air (ordered one) there’s a lot more to be done, camera, Face ID etc...

Not that people would start updating a Mac every year...but with the right marketing and new things added every year who knows, Mac purchases could get more frequent
 
Why don't you just wait until Apple replaces the 13" high-end Macbook Pro?
You're clearly shopping for a high-end 13" Macbook Pro so you should either buy the Intel one now or wait until it gets it's high-end replacement. They're not going to put their entry level M1 SoC into a high-end laptop.

The 13" Macbook Pro model that Apple replaced (1.4Ghz 4 core i5) capped at 2TB/16GB/2Ports which is exactly what this model caps at.
 
Boil said:
With having control of their own chips, Apple could start updating hardware on a more regular basis, no more waiting on Intel...! So maybe we start to see YEARLY updates to the internals of Apple silicon-based Macs...!!!
Click to expand...
That was already the case for MBPs. It's just that the delta between each year's new Intel became incremental in the retina era. For AS I imagine Apple can keep adding transistors and cores forever. The question might be, is the M1 already at the thermal limit of the Macbook enclosure, and what will Apple do about it if it is.
 
bobmans said:
Why don't you just wait until Apple replaces the 13" high-end Macbook Pro?
You're clearly shopping for a high-end 13" Macbook Pro so you should either buy the Intel one now or wait until it gets it's high-end replacement. They're not going to put their entry level M1 SoC into a high-end laptop.

The 13" Macbook Pro model that Apple replaced (1.4Ghz 4 core i5) capped at 2TB/16GB/2Ports which is exactly what this model caps at.
Click to expand...
Apple care is replacing my 3 year old laptop due to constant issues. So I need to pick one. Only thing for me is 32gb of RAM which I've never had, but possible want and 4 TB ports. Dont use it often, but I liked having ports on both sides. Not sure what to do right now. I want to get the blazing fast speed and benefits of the new chips. I mostly (95% of the time) live in browser based apps. So not sure.
 
audirs5 said:
Apple care is replacing my 3 year old laptop due to constant issues. So I need to pick one. Only thing for me is 32gb of RAM which I've never had, but possible want and 4 TB ports. Dont use it often, but I liked having ports on both sides. Not sure what to do right now. I want to get the blazing fast speed and benefits of the new chips. I mostly (95% of the time) live in browser based apps. So not sure.
Click to expand...
I would go for the M1 two port 13" MacBook Pro, and when something better comes along (M1B quad port 13" MBP) you can trade up...?!?
 
flyguy5 said:
I could live without 4 ports but I was filled with dread when I saw max option was 2TB.

Will AS even get a 4TB option in the future?
Click to expand...
There is a lot of FUD going around right now.

In the fullness of time ARM Macs will span the full range of configurations and performance variants.

The low-end Macs that got the M1 chip are not representative.
 
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aednichols said:
There is a lot of FUD going around right now.

In the fullness of time ARM Macs will span the full range of configurations and performance variants.

The low-end Macs that got the M1 chip are not representative.
Click to expand...
Exactly.
The MacBooks this one replaced also only went up to 16GB/2TB.
People seem to think that M1 is all Apple will have to offer but it’s literally their low-end chipset.
If you want a 4 port, 4TB, 32 GB ram 13” Macbook Pro then wait until that one gets its Apple Silicon replacement (powered by M10 chipset or w/e) or buy the Intel version now.

The base Macbook Pro 13” that got replaced wasn’t the real Macbook Pro 13”, it’s the one that “they just kept around to keep the starting price low”.

Here’s an example of how Apple’s lineup of chipsets might look like with some example devices:

M1: low end chipset (macbook air, the low-end base 13” pro, low-end mini) - iGPU
M10: mid chipset (the real 13” pro, the low end 16” pro - 6 core intel) - iGPU
M100: high end chipset (the high end 16” pro - 8/10 core intel) - coupled with AS dGPU
M1000: xeon chipset replacements - coupled with AS dGPU
 
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audirs5 said:
As the title states.

I just saw that the new MBP 13' only has 2 Thunderbolt ports and it can only go up to 16gb of RAM.

I know these are not in the wild, but does that even compare to the 32gb I can get on the older model? I'm a bit disappointed here, especially with the drop of two thunderbolt ports.
Click to expand...

Think of it this way. Prior to this week, you had three 13" Mac notebook lines:

1. MacBook Pro 13-inch with Two Thunderbolt 3 ports and lower-calibur U-series 8th Generation Intel Core i5/i7 CPUs

2. MacBook Pro 13-inch with Four Thunderbolt 3 ports and mid/high-calibur U-series 10th Generation Intel Core i5/i7 CPUs

3. MacBook Air with Y-series 10th Generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7

They replaced 1 and 3 with models that have M1 instead of Intel. 2 hasn't technically made the transition to an Apple Silicon model yet; it wasn't updated at all today. Compare today's MacBook Air to the one that came out earlier this year. Compare today's 13" MacBook Pro to the 2-port Intel 2020 version with 8th Generation Intel that just got discontinued with today's launches. Both outgoing Intel models maxed out at 16GB of RAM. So does their M1 replacements!


flyguy5 said:
I am now stuck in a similar dilemma.

Only 2 ports and 2TB?

I needed 4 ports and 4TB.

I'm kicking myself because I recently ordered a brand new 4 port 4TB 13" Mac that was supposed to be delivered this week and I cancelled it to wait for this one. I should not have cancelled it.

So now either I rebuy that same Intel I just cancelled or I wait for 16" refresh.

I will probably buy Intel because I don't want to wait months for 16" refresh and then they cut the storage SSD options again like they did today. I need boot camp anyway.
Click to expand...

If you need Boot Camp, get Intel. The M1 (or at least what we saw of it in the Air, mini, and 13" Pro) seems to not offer more than 16GB of RAM. If you need more, it sounds like you either need Intel today or you need to wait for a better Apple Silicon option.
 
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I would prefer to have to option to switch OS when needed rather than be locked to Apple only OS, plus Apple will support the Intel Mac for at least another 5 years SO I recommend to go with max Intel Mac.
 
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audirs5 said:
Thanks, that's a good point. But, that's another port to be had. And I genuinely liked having two ports on each side, at least for charging sake.

As for your question. Same. What's the difference here besides a fan?
Click to expand...
It's exactly the same as what we had up until yesterday! All Apple have done is replace the MBA and replaced the 2 lower spec'd MBP 13's. No doubt when they have whetted the appetite with these models, pro users and others will see how good these are, and then Apple will release the MBP 16 range, and the higher spec'd models in the MBP 13. I doubt they will be upping the RAM much beyond 32GB, as we see in the iPad Pro's, they are very good with the little RAM they have.
 
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