With how well the M1 is performing, are Intel Macs just DOA at this point?

[s66]

The ASi macs using the same design/aesthetics/keyboards/trackpads etc.
Has the benefit of
- having those elements as proven items that will not cause problems in an otherwise first-gen machine
- focus on just one change: Intel -> Apple Silicon and show off just how much better the entry level M1 is compared to an entry level Intel based mac

I doubt Apple cares about selling you multiple machines by giving more iterations: First off those who would buy that would buy for the next CPU upgrade anyway, and secondly those "old" machines end up on the second hand market and will reduce new machines sales by their presence and the market anyway.

 

[j_in_tx]

There is some unhealthy fetish with having a laptop that generates no heat. Apple isn't restructuring science here. They are innovating by creating an infrastructure that runs the same programs using less power draw. That could not be done under the design of intel chips.

You can't change the laws of thermodynamics. You can however work around them.

People need to stop looking at heat as some evil. It is necessary for any sort of higher energy state.

Once Apple begins trying to imitate higher tier GFX cards it will be interesting to see how little power draw they are able to establish while matching equal performance.

Let's see one of you guys push an XDR in bootcamp running SolidWorks or ANSYS with an M1. Not happening.

These recent chips have their place. They are able to read video codecs well, and they can run office apps. Aside from that, it is just a bunch of Apple fan boys on here justifying their purchase. However I find it humorous it requires one to now render their intel useless.

If that isn't the most prime example of toxic consumerism then I don't know what is.

not unhealthy. I've been disappointed with the heat and fan since forever, but I never considered windows an alternative due years of hate for it. I've had 2013 15", 2016 15", 2018" 15", and now 2019 16". Each time I upgraded I hoped the heat/fan would get less bad. Never happened. It actually gotten worse with the whole throttling thing. Despite all that, I was never going back to Windows.

I can't wait for my M1 Macbook Air to come. I'll just have to suffer without my 3 screens (not going to do displaylink) and I'll have to live with 13". Prior to M1, I didn't know it was possible to get of rid of that fan.

 

[j_in_tx]

Who buys something like a computer based on "used market" knowing full well it gets updated often to begin with?
I bought the same 16" 2.4/32gb/5600-8gb/2Tb and no matter what the market is will likely dump it in 2-3 years max.

Contrary to popular belief among fans of Apple (us) intel chipset isn't DOA in our current machines nor is its demise coming anytime in the immediate future. At least until you see each and every large user based piece of software and/or hardware to be as widely adopted/adapted as current market.

Likely by late Gen 2 or Gen 3 of the M1 chip. I base this on just what Ive read nothing more.

Unless one bought base model we all spent upwards of lower $4k for our machine and its no different than a car.. don't buy it as an investment cause it isn't and never was intended as such.

enjoy the heat and the fan

 

[gnasher729]

Just wondering if people think the Intel Mac's wont have a market later on.

You'll have to wait until some time in March to June (my estimate) until there is a Silicon Mac available that is as good or better than your 16" MBP. So you can sell it or return it, but what are you going to do until June 2021? There will be a market. Prices will go down a bit, but nobody forces you to sell.

 

[Chevysales]

enjoy the heat and the fan

Don't use external monitor and don't experience either but thanks I do.
We've had fans and heat on laptops forever I'll live.

 

[arche3]

The 16/5600m is the fastest mac laptop now. Until it is not I will use it. Going slower with a m1 macbook pro is a ridiculous idea.

 

[Invisible Elf]

Noone is buying my 16" 1TB i9 5500M. It's currently out on my countries local "craigslist" at 66% of new price, yet nobody's biting.

 

[j_in_tx]

many are unemployed like myself

 

[jjahshik32]

Sorry but this thread is ridiculous. Intel Macs won't be obsolete right away, it will take years. Just use and be happy with the Mac you currently have and upgrade a few years later.

I personally picked up the 16" 6 core MacBook Pro from Microcenter for $1,499 and its the best laptop I've ever owned. I could care less about the M1 right now as it does everything I want to do, I'll upgrade to the M1X or M2 or whatever is out in 4 years time.

 

[JosepPont]

Sorry but this thread is ridiculous. Intel Macs won't be obsolete right away, it will take years. Just use and be happy with the Mac you currently have and upgrade a few years later.

I personally picked up the 16" 6 core MacBook Pro from Microcenter for $1,499 and its the best laptop I've ever owned. I could care less about the M1 right now as it does everything I want to do, I'll upgrade to the M1X or M2 or whatever is out in 4 years time.

Well, you need to understand the people (including me) that do not spend only 1500$ but 4500 or 5000$. Of course we will have a laptop for years but....

 

[jjahshik32]

Well, you need to understand the people (including me) that do not spend only 1500$ but 4500 or 5000$. Of course we will have a laptop for years but....

I understand if you drop 5k for a Mac to get the absolute best performance to save a few minutes in rendering time for work but otherwise if it works its fine.

 

[Chevysales]

Noone is buying my 16" 1TB i9 5500M. It's currently out on my countries local "craigslist" at 66% of new price, yet nobody's biting.

Why would they anything more than 50% is too much.
Mine was like $4300 and I’d take $2000 in a heartbeat (one year later) but I’m not selling it just looking at reality. Many years in retail will do that to you.

Of course to you and I it’s worth a lot more as we are the sellers not the buyers. What we paid for a product has nothing to do with what it’s market is one year later.

With regards to current M1 I have no intention of getting 1st gen on M1 I’ll wait it out as I have not 1 complaint on my current laptop. Not does a smaller screen do anything for me.

Resale technology is all in the same boat at this time. Especially top end stuff in the $4k range.
Speaking for USA there just is not a market for high end used tech unless it’s a bang up giveaway. And 16” isn’t going to be a giveaway for anything other than base configuration or someone wanting to just blow out their laptop and take anything

It has very little to do with M1 as it was the case 2 months ago before M1 hit. And check back here in a year and look for the same thing on M1. You can bet your life on it.

 

[Deanster]

I would also be more willing to toss the 5600M if I knew my XDR would run well on an M1 air....feedback has been mixed.

I think the current M1 configuration simply isn't set up or spec'd to take over from the discrete-graphics MBP's, so this is kind of a moot point. The reality that they're as competitive with the max-spec late-model MBP's as they are is a huge eye-opener.

The entire idea of running an XDR effectively off a base-model MacBook Air should be ludicrous, and it's a vast achievement for the M1 to even be able to do that to mixed feedback.

I'm also running a 16" MBP i9, though with the 5500m gpu, and IMHO, it's still what I need today, but it's a dinosaur watching the pretty lights of a huge meteor strike. Resale value is dropping like a rock, its expected service life is short, and I'm looking forward to replacing it with a future Mx ASi variant that won't spin its fans like an aspiring hovercraft every time I ask it to transfer a large file.

I bought it because I was due for an upgrade and thought a late-model intel MBP might be a good hedge against a painful ASi transition. But the mix of power/heat/battery life/form factor isn't optimal for my needs, and my shiny new M1 MacBook Air is beating it on many fronts (not all, of course) in a $1K fanless rig that's not yet running critical apps like Handbrake in native mode.

I think your earlier comments about heat are misguided. Heat in itself isn't inherently a bad thing, but in a portable device the mix of power consumption, cooling, size and battery life are absolutely critical. A portable device that has high TDP uses a lot of power to create the heat, even more power to cool the hot bits, and forces some very challenging trade-offs in battery size, total enclosure size, noise, etc.

Even for a desktop tower design, heat/power consumption/cooling system noise can't be completely ignored - there are tons of gaming rigs/workstations that are hot and loud enough under load that they're actively unpleasant (in some cases intolerable) to have nearby.

The current M1 offerings are an absolute revolution in that set of trade-offs, and it will be fascinating to see how future ASi M1/Mx offerings take advantage of the opportunities to balance performance/heat/cooling/battery/form factor that the ASi's frankly unbelievable performance/watt ratio offers, and how that plays out in terms of discrete graphics options.

 

[mactracker75]

I sold off my 16 inch off that I got in May and am waiting for my M1. Many people say you have to hook it up to an external monitor to get it piping hot. That was not my experience. Opening Lightroom and editing made mine very hot and hot enough at times that I would actually break a sweat if the room wasn't really well cooled in the summer. Using it on my lap was a nonstarter. Just way too hot. I also didn't care for the very poor battery life I got while off the charger. This defeated the portability potential of the laptop.

I was actually expecting to see only modest improvements in a few specific situations with these new M1 MacBooks. I did not expect these affordable and seemingly low end on paper machines eviscerate a whole host of Intel Macs in so many different tasks. This is an amazing accomplishment.

That being said, I do not think the current 16-inch pro is going to hold onto its value as long as we expect. Nor do I think the support for them will go on for as long as we think. I'm giving it 3 years. You're going to see a very quick adaption of these machines once the high-end M1X chips are deployed.

This is why I chose to get out of my 16 inch Intel now. Who is going to buy this thing second hand two years from now? The switch from PPC to intel was gradual but you also didn't have such a leap in performance. It was a somewhat lateral move. A business decision more than a technological leap forward. Everyone looking to eventually sell their 16-inch models should be watching both Apple and the used market closely and make the move before you take too much of a hit. If you plan on hanging onto it till the bitter end, then that's another story. Stay where you are and make the most of it.

 

[FilmIndustryGuy]

I sold off my 16 inch off that I got in May and am waiting for my M1. Many people say you have to hook it up to an external monitor to get it piping hot. That was not my experience. Opening Lightroom and editing made mine very hot and hot enough at times that I would actually break a sweat if the room wasn't really well cooled in the summer. Using it on my lap was a nonstarter. Just way too hot. I also didn't care for the very poor battery life I got while off the charger. This defeated the portability potential of the laptop.

I was actually expecting to see only modest improvements in a few specific situations with these new M1 MacBooks. I did not expect these affordable and seemingly low end on paper machines eviscerate a whole host of Intel Macs in so many different tasks. This is an amazing accomplishment.

That being said, I do not think the current 16-inch pro is going to hold onto its value as long as we expect. Nor do I think the support for them will go on for as long as we think. I'm giving it 3 years. You're going to see a very quick adaption of these machines once the high-end M1X chips are deployed.

This is why I chose to get out of my 16 inch Intel now. Who is going to buy this thing second hand two years from now? The switch from PPC to intel was gradual but you also didn't have such a leap in performance. It was a somewhat lateral move. A business decision more than a technological leap forward. Everyone looking to eventually sell their 16-inch models should be watching both Apple and the used market closely and make the move before you take too much of a hit. If you plan on hanging onto it till the bitter end, then that's another story. Stay where you are and make the most of it.

I see your point but I love the screen size and the speakers. Its more productive than the 13. I got a 32 inch 4k monitor and I barely use it. I may just keep it for years since I mainly use it around the house and just plug in a spare plug into walls. I plan on getting the upcoming iMac with M1 and then a 12 inch M1 whenever those come out. I used have a MacBook Pro 15 and the MB 12 and I never took the Pro out of the house due to size. The 12 inch went everywhere. Since the M chips perform so pro, Im fine with a 12 inch on the go. I had this 16 inch ready to sell and was offered $1700-$1800 but decided to dump the 12 inch instead since the virus keeps me inside. I jsut dont see how anyone can drag this 4 lb thing everywhere. its too big for airplane tables and even with a slim laptop backpack, it feels heavy for longer carry. But if you must only have one laptop for your desk then I see your point.

 

[JustAnExpat]

I just spent $4k in September, on a 16" MBP, i9 with 32GB and 5600m and I'm concerned that this device will just tank in value when the M1 or M2 take fully over. I'm debating if I should ask Apple to return or sell this machine before they become obsolete. I thought it was good idea to max out the last intel MBP given that it might retain it's value since it can run Bootcamp etc... but I just feel like maybe I overspent on a machine that will easily be decimated in stats by a cheaper computer in a years time.

Also, yes, I know I can use this computer and it'll be a great machine and I'm not that worried about the value, but I am wondering if maybe I should wait and pick up the M1 / M2 16" when it comes out and will decimate this machine.

Just wondering if people think the Intel Mac's wont have a market later on.

My opinion:

1. Speed wise, this should last you for a long time. I would replace it when the battery drops below 80% of capacity.
2. If you're using Windows for anything, then this will be valued.
3. The Apple M1 Macbook AIr and Pros have 13" display, yours is much much larger.

My opinion: Keep it if your workflow requires intel, or a large screen.

 

[BeatCrazy]

This is why I chose to get out of my 16 inch Intel now. Who is going to buy this thing second hand two years from now? The switch from PPC to intel was gradual but you also didn't have such a leap in performance. It was a somewhat lateral move. A business decision more than a technological leap forward. Everyone looking to eventually sell their 16-inch models should be watching both Apple and the used market closely and make the move before you take too much of a hit. If you plan on hanging onto it till the bitter end, then that's another story. Stay where you are and make the most of it.

Plus, people have different expectations today because we interact with iPhones/iPads so often.

When you open up an app on the 16” MBP and you can count to 4 before it starts, it’s pretty annoying when you’re used to something opening in 1 second on an iPad. And now people can get that same ‘snappy’ performance via M1 machines.

 

[gpat]

This is why I chose to get out of my 16 inch Intel now. Who is going to buy this thing second hand two years from now? The switch from PPC to intel was gradual but you also didn't have such a leap in performance. It was a somewhat lateral move. A business decision more than a technological leap forward. Everyone looking to eventually sell their 16-inch models should be watching both Apple and the used market closely and make the move before you take too much of a hit. If you plan on hanging onto it till the bitter end, then that's another story. Stay where you are and make the most of it.

Luckily I was able to sell my 16" rMBP for about 85% of the price I paid it.
If I waited for the ASi 16" to launch, I would've been lucky to get away with 50% of the original price for the Intel.
Now I'm happy with a superior machine overall (13" M1 Air) and also I've decided to upgrade at every single revision from now on.
Exploiting the various discounts and rebates, I should be able to lose about 10% of the discounted price every year if planned correctly. That's much better than keeping an aging machine and risking it to crap out after the warranty expires for some reason.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

My opinion:

1. Speed wise, this should last you for a long time. I would replace it when the battery drops below 80% of capacity.
2. If you're using Windows for anything, then this will be valued.
3. The Apple M1 Macbook AIr and Pros have 13" display, yours is much much larger.

My opinion: Keep it if your workflow requires intel, or a large screen.

It seems like most people who switched from 16" Intel to 13" AS never needed the 16" in the first place. While the CPU is faster, in the 16" the GPU is still faster, more memory and a bigger, brighter screen. For the usual tasks like web-browsing, emails and cutting some videos an iPad would do the job just as well. For those who work with large amount of data that is not video files, the memory might be a limit on AS. Same for running VMs, plus the state of VMs is unusable. It remains to be seen how a VM guest OS can actually utilize the internal AS GPU and Neural Engine, if that ever happens. The whole brew community is not there yet. Basic stuff works, the rest is work-in-progress and the community confirmed it will take months. Things will probably be better in 2021/2022 and until then, the AS machines seem to be best suited for the creative folks running out-of-the-box apps.