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Why You Shouldn't Buy the Next MacBook Pro

I'll stick with M1 max for now. Thanks for the advice..lol But had planned to upgrade around M6 or M7. No rush here. Curious about monitors but that's about it this year.
 
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Stop it. There is nothing known about the M6 chip beyond that it’ll be on a superior process node. The M5 has changed how M series chips function. It’s not impossible that the M6 will be another such leap but doing so on a new process node has inherent risks.

I have OLED for my gaming and TV setups (and iPad, obviously) but would hesitate for it on my Mac as there are way more static elements there than on any of my other devices. I’d wait on the M7 generation and/or macOS 28/29 in that case to see what Apple learns about burn in with macOS.

If touch is added is it an option or a “new normal”? If it’s “all in!” Then I’m all out.

/rant over
 
darngooddesign said:
I feel like OLED will be an option.

Touch will be built into the OS so youre probably not going to be paying for it specifically.
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Unless there is a compelling difference in the software, if touch and non-touch screens are offered, I would choose the non-touch screen. Maybe Apple will somehow make this compelling, but it feels like a FOMO feature at this point even though Windows has made it plain that not a lot is being missed out on.
 
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Also: M1 (first!), M3 (raytracing, mesh shading, RAM management and more), and M5 (neural engine per core in GPU) each changed the game. M2 and M4 were straight up performance enhancements of the prior gen chip.

Since Apple hasn’t announced their Mx level chips we don’t know what else the M5 generation will bring to the table nor what it changes in how Apple themselves operate.

Breathe, y’all. Macrumors in particular. Buy it if you need it or want it and can afford it. The rainbow will return the next time it rains in sunshine.
 
SvenLorenz1975 said:
OLED on a MacBook will have burn-in problems, pretending otherwise is just dumb.
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You are behind the times. Burn-in hasn't really been a problem with OLED screens for close to a decade, unless you forcefully provoke it. None of my devices with OLED screen suffers from burn in, and that includes a 5-year old Razer laptop.
 
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zedsdead said:
I am very intersted in the M5 Max Mac Studio because of RAM prices. I want to wait, but if Apple holds the line on RAM for the M5 lineup, I will likely upgrade from my M2 Max earlier than I was going to.

As for the MacBook Pro…I will wait cause the redesign is too enticing….but still very worried what Apple will do to RAM prices.
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It is reasonable. Apple has long lasting contracts so they may be forced to increase prices of RAM later. Other things that as claimed earlier Ultra chip may come in two year cycle. And mention Ultra CPU in 26.3 can mean of course Ultra Mac Studio be realeased soon or some surprice in configuration of CPU/GPU even for MacBooks.
And I have feeling that M6 OLED MBP will be more expensive and be sold along side M5
 
I imagine the vast majority of people don't want a touchscreen Macbook.

Yes there are specific use cases, but for most people it's something they'll rarely use and it'll just leave fingerprints/smudges on the screen.

I mean think about it, for the average keyboard user, how often have you thought "man, being able to touch that screen to press a link or use a gesture to zoom/swipe would be ideal right now!". Not saying it's never happened, but for the average user it's not going to be used daily, if ever.
 
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I do not want OLED in a MBP because I fear the ridiculous and catastrophic screen lottery then also on a MBP

just see

forums.macrumors.com

This years screen lottery (17, 17 pro, 17 pro max and air)

Let see what screens you guys have. I have a LG screen (GVC) on my 17 pro max and has a bad case of screen (green) tinting when moving the bottom of the screen away from my face. Also it has a greenish tint overall when facing straight to my face. It could be because my 13 pro max is 4 years...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com


think of closing the lid of an OLED macbook and all the colors tints in a green hue... huh that would be pathetic
 
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zedsdead said:
I am very intersted in the M5 Max Mac Studio because of RAM prices. I want to wait, but if Apple holds the line on RAM for the M5 lineup, I will likely upgrade from my M2 Max earlier than I was going to.

As for the MacBook Pro…I will wait cause the redesign is too enticing….but still very worried what Apple will do to RAM prices.
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Very good point!

I have a M1 Mac Studio and was thinking of upgrading but the RAM pricing volatility made me more certain to get the M5 Studio.
 
My 2 cents:

  • Do expect (and want) dual OLED like the iPad Pro but brighter and with better QC than we saw in the iPhone 17s (see screenshot lottery thread from the end of last year which was not just pedantry but very real quality issues).I think the people that don’t want OLED are more vocal than those who do, and I trust apple to avoid burn in - think of the returns/legal cases/support hassle/bad press for such high volume premium products.
  • Touch will be an upgrade option on the Pro to squeeze more dough out of app studios and people who like maxing specs or having a talking point. Also think there’ll be something more to it than just a touch screen display, possibly enhanced trackpad or something (some sort of wildcard like the touchbar was). It’s not for everyone but plenty will pay a premium for it
  • Base storage and memory will continue to be insufficient for pro models, and upgrades to a “fair baseline” eg 1TB SSD + 24GB or really 32GB RAM will continue to make the “starting from price” BS
  • Cellular will also be an upgrade option on all laptops including the rumoured lower end A19 model and will entice carriers into selling laptops, and some people will love that because it’s not perceived as “real” financing
Personal wish list:
  • Ideally a super thin, decent (4k) camera in the pro at least, that’s almost invisible in a thin bezel, so as to not have a notch/island and be able to cover for privacy/security (so not an under display camera)
  • Controversial: hope they ditch all the ports most people don’t use most of the time, and you can get cheap-ish adaptors/docks for, and just go with 4x thunderbolt 5 USB C
  • Hope they make the air and pros both thinner and lighter - the M range has felt very heavy in store even the “Airs”
Will I buy the new m5 or wait for the rumourded new design? I will be holding on to my 2017 mbp until there is a “relatively” affordable option for local LLM work/development because that would be a new capability (I don’t do video editing/3d rendering). Preferably with a high quality OLED with white whites and insignificant tilting issues. I say “relatively’ affordable as obviously spec requirements are high. Not quite there yet for me but very close with recent M chips, and if the rumoured redesign inherits the same flaws (IMO!) or has inconsistent OLED panels, then a discounted super maxed out m5 max might be more appealing when my MBP bites the dust (it’s getting close lol).
 
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I don't get the negativity to this article. It is "MacRumors" after all, meaning that most of us are here to find out what IS happening with Apple, and what the "tea leaves" surmise might be happening in the near future, to help us predict what we should anticipate, mostly for the purpose of making sensible buying decisions. In light of all of that, this is exactly the kind of article MacRumors should be posting based on what they know/think at this point.

I have a 16" M4 Max MBP--one year old-ish. I won't be upgrading for at least three years, or maybe more. On the other hand, for me, the one attribute of the new laptop that I like is the touchscreen. I have found myself inadvertently reaching for my laptop screen to zoom in on something, after having just switched from another device (iPad/iPhone), but it isn't a killer feature for me. I imagine having a touchscreen will become something that I later look back on and think, "I can't believe laptops didn't used to have this feature."
 
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My M2 MBP 13" and the M4 mini are seeing me through.

Heck, my daughter's M1 mini is fast as anything.
 
What matters now is RAM, we need more and cheaper RAM. Why? Apple Silicon processor power means a useful machine for many years (I'm still on a M1Pro 10 core) but the rise of on-device AI ML processing (e.g. Ollama, or future Apple privacy-protecting on-device ML) requires a lot of RAM. This paradigm shift seems missing in rumors about future hardware strategy.
 
I bought a used M2 Pro MBP. Excellent machine. Great price. If I needed a new Mac soon, though, I would get the M5 Pro MBP. Too many questions around what pricing will be like for the OLED model, and if RAM and SSD shortages will raise the prices of non-OLED models by then too.
 
Pezimak said:
Even before that hardly anyone has complained of iPhone burn in. And they are single layer panels. Although I expect the use is a lot different to a monitor but still.
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iPhones have a very dynamic screen. Always changing.

MBP has a static screen. Menu bar, dock (if not hidden), windows with edges and buttons.

So it’s a different situation and hard to compare.
 
As a daily user of both a 90Hz OLED-equipped notebook (2944 x 1840, 500 nits, 239 PPI) and an IPS-equipped MBA (2560 x 1600, 400 nits, 227 PPI), I don't find the 'don't buy because OLED' argument particularly compelling.
 
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