What will be your first ARM MAC?

[UBS28]

I am thinking of an ARM MAC mini to use for my 4K television. Apple always sells trash Mac Mini’s, so I am kinda hoping that the ARM Mac mini will be somewhat descent.

I can live the ARM limitations for my 4K TV as I will use it as an Apple 4K TV replacement.

 

[subjonas]

My first arm Mac will also probably be a mini. I only use my current mini as a file+media hub and iOS/ipados device manager (with time machine backups) and for miscellaneous pedestrian use, so I‘m sure all of that will be immediately doable on an arm Mac. And my current mini is slow so I’ll probably be replacing it soonish.

My MBP, however, is used for my work software which will likely take its time transitioning to arm. Since I plan on upgrading to a new intel 16” MBP within a year or two, then keeping it for at least another 5 years, that means the earliest I’ll be buying an arm MBP will be in 6 years, but likely longer.

 

[Boil]

I am hoping Apple decides to make a new Cube, of the Mac Pro variant:

32 P cores / 4 E cores / 64 GPU cores / 16GB HBM2e Tile Memory

128GB DDR5 RAM / Unified Memory Architecture / Four 32GB DIMMs

4TB NVMe storage / Two 2TB NAND Blades / RAID 0

Six USB4 (TB4) ports / Two 10Gb Ethernet ports

450W Platinum-rated PSU

Expansion slot for optional Apple Silicon GPGPU card (Apple-ified MXM?) 64 GPU cores / 16GB HBM2e Tile Memory

Apple Low-Profile Mechanical Keyboard

Apple Magic Mouse 3D

Apple 30" Display / Mini-LED IPS Panel / 4k Webcam / Stereo Speakers (same panel as the 30" iMac / iMac Pro)

US$4,999.00 (including GPGPU expansion card)

;^p

 

[JohnnyGo]

I’ll either go for a new MacBook 12” / MacBook Air or a 14” MacBook Pro. I will definitely wait for both to be available (end of 2021).

It will be my main computer and the smaller screen may or may not affect my usage if I use an external monitor. I want the best battery life possible.

If the MBP comes with mini-led and touchscreen, under 3.6lb, and a 12 hr battery... I will have no better choice.

Speed wise it will be a monster: Faster CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD + better brightness/contrast/resolution.

My current MBP will be 5 years old on Nov 2021. Time to upgrade !

 

[dogslobber]

I won’t be buying one.

 

[jinnyman]

If proven in performance, I plan to start with Mac mini. I'd like to test how Arm Mac ecosystem will work out with least amount of money paid.

Even if Arm Mac's performance is more than 16" MBP, I will probably pass the first gen until all those awkward software changes is somewhat ironed out after a year.

Eventually, if Apple silicon, of same generation to whatever intel and nVidias are offering, is performing better, I plan to add a high performing Arm desktop. But we will have to see about this.

as you can see, it's all about the performance for me. Regardless of all the marketing hype from Apple, the transition will not be 100% smooth, and I should have a real compelling reason to switch to Arm.

Oh one more thing. If Apple introduces a whole new product, such as a Mac Pad, I'd be sold.

 

[xraydoc]

With the improvements iPadOS has been adding, along with the new Magic Keyboard, I may not need another laptop.

But if the ARM-based MacBook Air replacement has a touchscreen (and since it will also run iPadOS apps), then all bets are off!

 

[Azrael9]

iMac 24 inch?

Or maybe the iMac 30 inch? (32inch?)

A Mac ARM Mini may be a far more compelling proposition if it gets the AS14 with 8 performance cores (plus 4 low power ones...) and actual decent iGPU! That might be the machine to watch... I expect it to toast the current Intel model.

Azrael.

 

[nick9191]

My first arm Mac will also probably be a mini. I only use my current mini as a file+media hub and iOS/ipados device manager (with time machine backups) and for miscellaneous pedestrian use, so I‘m sure all of that will be immediately doable on an arm Mac. And my current mini is slow so I’ll probably be replacing it soonish.

My MBP, however, is used for my work software which will likely take its time transitioning to arm. Since I plan on upgrading to a new intel 16” MBP within a year or two, then keeping it for at least another 5 years, that means the earliest I’ll be buying an arm MBP will be in 6 years, but likely longer.

I wouldn’t wait too long if you want a new MBP. Apple said the transition would take 2 years last time but the PPC line was killed from one WWDC to the next. There might be some good deals on Intel refurbs after though.

I too will buy the new Mini when it comes, I need a new day to day device and already have a nice monitor it can plug straight in to.

 

[kazmac]

That depends on performance, app compatibility, thermals and internals.

Looks like the app compatibility will be very good (several apps I use now), but I hope for better thermals and gpu performance.

I’d love a Mini that has great thermals, gpu and the WiFi & Bluetooth fixed.

I hope my 2013 iMac hangs on until Apple are done with the transition, but we’ll see.

 

[AppliedMicro]

Jumping on the Mac mini bandwagon. Though I have already been using a Mac mini as my only Desktop computer for the last few years. And I haven't owned a MacBook either, instead preferring an iPad on the go or for travelling.

That said, if Apple release a worthy successor to the 12" MacBook, I'd be tempted. I've kind of wanting to get one for years, for its size and portability. First, its relatively high price put me off. Also the lack of ports (I don't need much, but felt at least a second USB-C port lacking). After trying it out, the feel of the keyboard - and then the issues with stuck keys cropping up.

This would be my wishlist:
- small and lightweight (1kg / 2.2 lbs)
- solid battery run-time (10hrs)
- keyboard with reasonable tactility
- affordable price (sub-$1000)
- two USB-C ports

 

[Danny82]

I will go for mbp 14" if it comes with a mini led.. i will wait out till mini led to launch.. i believe there will be significant improvement for the 14" compared to the weak 13" and maybe less improve from the 16" since the 16" is already powerful to begin with.. most importantly it need to run RSA securID to my work windows machine..

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I run a small business and ready to upgrade both my mobile and desktop machines.

So, I’m thinking I’ll update the iMac first since I won’t be running iOS apps on there and the guaranteed virtualisation is good, and wait until the ARM MacBook comes out.

I’m real excited!

 

[19SK91]

Probably a new iMac, since macOS support for mine has been dropped.

 

[MacRazySwe]

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Intel-years. I remember the PowerPC-era very well, when popular apps were missing on the Mac, and even many of the apps that did exist were severely crippled.

Intel-era was so liberating! Finally most if not all apps were ported to the Mac. The Mac became a viable option for most enterprises, schools and so on. You could even use Boot Camp to play high quality games on it.

I know Apples market share is very much different these days and much of the software is cloud-based, but so far I‘m not sold on the transition.

I guess I just haven’t seen the value that an ARM Mac would bring, just yet.

 

[KPOM]

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Intel-years. I remember the PowerPC-era very well, when popular apps were missing on the Mac, and even many of the apps that did exist were severely crippled.

Intel-era was so liberating! Finally most if not all apps were ported to the Mac. The Mac became a viable option for most enterprises, schools and so on. You could even use Boot Camp to play high quality games on it.

I know Apples market share is very much different these days and much of the software is cloud-based, but so far I‘m not sold on the transition.

I guess I just haven’t seen the value that an ARM Mac would bring, just yet.

Porting is easier now than most programs don’t directly access the hardware. Plus ARM and Intel are both “little endian.”

 

[ipponrg]

I am thinking of an ARM MAC mini to use for my 4K television. Apple always sells trash Mac Mini’s, so I am kinda hoping that the ARM Mac mini will be somewhat descent.

I can live the ARM limitations for my 4K TV as I will use it as an Apple 4K TV replacement.

I will wait to see how it all pans out. I plan on getting an Intel MBP refresh in Sept/Oct for the 16” to replace my shoddy 2016 MBP. If the app support for it regresses to the PPC days, that would not be a good thing and would influence my purchase in 3-5 years thereafter

I thought about setting up plex on a ARM Mac Mini, but will have to see how Plex transitions to supporting it.

 

[KPOM]

To the original question, I’ll get the first MacBook assuming it is a 12-14” Pro or Air.

 

[iindigo]

Probably either a 27"/32" iMac/iMac Pro OR Mac Pro depending on how powerful, quiet, etc each of those options are. I would just go for a Mini or Mac Pro, but third party manufacturers keep dropping the ball on non-gamer-oriented monitors (P3 500nits 5k has been a thing on iMacs for coming up on a decade now, and yet outside of Apple only LG makes anything remotely comparable and even that's mediocre… seriously, wtf) and the XDR is too pricey, so the display on the iMac is a strong selling point for me.

 

[infelix]

It will probably be a Mini, or possibly a ~30" iMac.

 

[subjonas]

I wouldn’t wait too long if you want a new MBP. Apple said the transition would take 2 years last time but the PPC line was killed from one WWDC to the next. There might be some good deals on Intel refurbs after though.

I too will buy the new Mini when it comes, I need a new day to day device and already have a nice monitor it can plug straight in to.

Yeah I’m planning to get whichever is the last updated intel 16“ MBP. I’m fairly certain there will be at least one more update before the end of the transition.

 

[burgerrecords]

Assuming there's a sub USD1400 macbook option at launch, i'm buying at launch.

 

[pldelisle]

It’s going to be the first iMac I can buy on AS.

 

[iFan]

Looking for something to replace my 2015 MacBook (which has been slow since day 1.)

Also need a replacement for a 2011 top of the line iMac (miss that employee discount.)

2021 will be interesting.

 

[johannnn]

as you can see, it's all about the performance for me. .

And this is gonna take years I believe. Rosetta is good, but still slows down the app. And I don’t care how fast TextEdit and Keynote opens, I care about heavy 3rd party apps. And I’m sure it will take a long time until these are transitioned to ARM. And many apps will likely never be updated.