General Apple Megathread

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

The design is extremely dated. Poor design in general, boards do not fit properly. Way to heavy. And really, for what you get for that cost you can get a really good Windows laptop or two. Boss's laptop was $6900. Not worth nearly that much maybe half. Most laptop users do not need the power that is packed in there anyways. Most people are buying them for desktop use.

M based chip performance is fantastic though. For $900 the M1 Mini is a bargain.

I just don't see a Windows laptop that is anywhere near it. For software engineering and running a bunch of local crap, the M1 just sits there silently, completely responsive, cool to the touch with a battery that lasts a full work day. Anything x86 is a fans blasting cooking hot mess of struggle when pushed hard.

[Galakanokis]

ARM based SOCs are great and the M chip falls in line. I just cannot see that much, $2k-$4K difference in a well equipped 13th gen i7-i9 CPU. Added benefit of better and more GPU's. I have two MacBook Pro Max and they are far from cool and can struggle like any other laptop. We are pushing them pretty hard and they are not meant to run 3 monitors but they still struggle. They are definitely quieter though. In my mind if you are pushing a laptop that hard you move to a desktop.

I love the ARM chips. M2 was not a great leap but what I get out of my Studio Ultra for $7K is fantastic. I will buy some of the new Pro's especially if they will finally handle added GPU's.

It does blow the previous MBP i9 out of the water though.

[bax]

Looking for some advice here. My 2015 MacBook Pro has finally died so I’ll be picking up a replacement this week. I’m looking at two options here, would love to hear some opinions on which is the better deal:

M1 Pro 16 inch MacBook Pro with 16GB ram and 1TB SSD - $2,000 USD

M2 Pro 14 inch MacBook Pro with 16GB ram and 512GB SSD - $1,750 USD

My use case is pretty basic. Office work, web browsing, photo editing, some 4k video editing, but nothing at a professional level.

Thanks in advance!

[photon]

For me personally I'd consider how mobile I am with the device when choosing between the 14" and 16". Constantly taking it everywhere? 14" might be better, but I've never seen the 16" in real life and afaik it's not that much bigger than the 15" and the 15" that I use at work is pretty easy to carry around to meetings (when I used to attend meetings in person). So maybe just whichever screen size you like more.

[Diemenz]

As someone who had the 16 then got the 14 mobility was the biggest factor. That 16 is huge and heavy. Way too heavy for me to move it around all the time.

Oddly enough the MacBook Air is my go to 95% of the time because it’s so small and portable. But for video editing the pro is a much better machine. Get the 14.

[bax]

Thanks to you both!

I think I’ll enjoy the 14 inch form factor a bit more so might as well go with the newer chip. If 512 isn’t enough storage I can always use an external device.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by bax

Thanks to you both!

I think I’ll enjoy the 14 inch form factor a bit more so might as well go with the newer chip. If 512 isn’t enough storage I can always use an external device.

I personally would go with the 14 and then have a nice screen or two via a $200-300 dock set up. Don't buy a ####ty dock. Dell has some really nice docks that don't over heat, don't lag, plenty of extra USB ports etc.

It's also nice to not have to plug/unplug a ton of stuff. Just the one cable from the dock to the laptop.

[photon]

Yeah a good dock is not that cheap but it's worth it IMO. A single cable that breaks out all my needed connections AND charges is great.

[Galakanokis]

If portability is a concern definitely go with the 14". I find the 16" just too bulky and heavy as a daily commuter laptop. Even my older MBP which is not quite as big and heavy as the new M ones is a bit much. There is not a huge performance difference between the M1 and M2 chips in the laptops, less than 20% and then even only on certain tasks so buying the M1 version is still a very good option and saves you some money.

I have some Dell docks and they are nice and really do not break the bank. Dell makes a nice 27" 4K USB-C Hub monitor now for around $600-$700. Great monitor with a built in dock.

I have had really good success with Wavelink and a couple of their 4K Dual TB 3 docks. Running for two years now with no issues.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I just don't see a Windows laptop that is anywhere near it. For software engineering and running a bunch of local crap, the M1 just sits there silently, completely responsive, cool to the touch with a battery that lasts a full work day. Anything x86 is a fans blasting cooking hot mess of struggle when pushed hard.

Home: 2022 Lenovo Legion 7 w/ Ryzen 9 & RTX 3080 - hot, loud, battery lasts 2 hours

Work: 2021 Macbook Pro (M1, A2442) - cool, quiet, battery lasts 8 hours

I made the switch to working on the Mac after being a PC user since the 90s and I know which one I want to flip open and use for just about everything that isn't gaming. There's probably an Intel 13th gen efficiency core windows notebook out there that will give a similar experience to the Mac but I bet it won't feel as refined.

The combination of two systems gives me the best of both worlds.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

If portability is a concern definitely go with the 14". I find the 16" just too bulky and heavy as a daily commuter laptop. Even my older MBP which is not quite as big and heavy as the new M ones is a bit much. There is not a huge performance difference between the M1 and M2 chips in the laptops, less than 20% and then even only on certain tasks so buying the M1 version is still a very good option and saves you some money.

I have some Dell docks and they are nice and really do not break the bank. Dell makes a nice 27" 4K USB-C Hub monitor now for around $600-$700. Great monitor with a built in dock.

I have had really good success with Wavelink and a couple of their 4K Dual TB 3 docks. Running for two years now with no issues.

USB-C hub monitors are the way to go for simplicity IMO instead of buying a separate USB-C hub dock but we recently tried using an M1 with a USB-C hub Dell ultrawide and there were a lot of compatibility problems.

[Galakanokis]

Monitors on Mac's suck in general. Typically LG monitors work well since they make all of the Apple displays in the first place and Apple opens up a little more for them. . Brightness and volume control typically work out of the box with LG.

For other monitors something like the DisplayLink drivers might help or Monitor Control.
https://www.synaptics.com/products/d...ownloads/macos
https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl

The Dell hub monitors I have only tried with Dell laptops but I will test out the mac to see how they go. This is what I bought for the Dell's.
https://www.dell.com/en-ca/shop/dell...hspecs_section

[Galakanokis]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Home: 2022 Lenovo Legion 7 w/ Ryzen 9 & RTX 3080 - hot, loud, battery lasts 2 hours

Work: 2021 Macbook Pro (M1, A2442) - cool, quiet, battery lasts 8 hours

I made the switch to working on the Mac after being a PC user since the 90s and I know which one I want to flip open and use for just about everything that isn't gaming. There's probably an Intel 13th gen efficiency core windows notebook out there that will give a similar experience to the Mac but I bet it won't feel as refined.

The combination of two systems gives me the best of both worlds.

I am not a gamer but there looks to be progress in the Mac gaming department.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/7/23...ws-games-macos

I use a macbook and an ASUS (the ASUS with an OLED screen is a fantastic laptop) and use Barrier as a software KVM to control them both. I use to use just the Mac with a Windows VM but that with multiple monitors sucked the life out of the Mac.

[Flabbibulin]

Sorry, that mother nature ad was plain awful.

[photon]

I kinda like the sharper edges of my current iPhone, but I do like the titanium of the pros.

I'll likely skip this generation again, but I may get a 15 for my wife.

[Flames0910]

Been waiting for this update. Have always been an "S" year upgrader. I'm on an XS at the moemtn and my wife and I have a little one due in about a week so we're well overdue for a camera upgrade. "One less cable" to forget is going to be important too.

Was expecting USB-C and the action button, but am pleasantly surprised by the Pro's telephoto lengths and the "every photo is a portrait mode" photo update -- that's a big usability improvement that will pay off for years to come, I'm sure.

Now if I could just convince the office to upgrade my MBP with the touch bar disaster...

[TorqueDog]

I'll wait for a little bit to hear what bugs and oddities come out of the woodwork before jumping on the 15 Pro to replace my 11 Pro. Also, waiting means there will actually be cases and screen protectors available for the phone when I do pull the trigger.

[bluejays]

Phones in general are becoming so incremental in their updates. Year after year I think to myself, "that's it???". This year hasn't changed that feeling at all. I'm at my upgrade year coming from the 12 mini, so I'll probably see what's offered black friday or boxing day but I don't think there's a huge difference between the 14 and 15. For a few years now these updates have not fully been worth their marketing. "Ohh, the dynamic island". You know when they start talking about that it's going to be mediocre.

[underGRADFlame]

I was hesitant a few months back as I was upgrading my Apple Watch and splurged and got the Ultra. I was really scared they would update the Ultra 2 and blow away the 1st gen.... I'm glad I didn't wait, it wasn't much of an upgrade.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by Flames0910

Been waiting for this update. Have always been an "S" year upgrader. I'm on an XS at the moemtn and my wife and I have a little one due in about a week so we're well overdue for a camera upgrade. "One less cable" to forget is going to be important too.

Was expecting USB-C and the action button, but am pleasantly surprised by the Pro's telephoto lengths and the "every photo is a portrait mode" photo update -- that's a big usability improvement that will pay off for years to come, I'm sure.

Now if I could just convince the office to upgrade my MBP with the touch bar disaster...

Congrats!

I'm purely speculating here, but there is a chance that we look back on one of the more important introductions here being the spatial video on the Pro. I realize the Apple Vision Pro headset thing might be an absolute bomb, but it could also be the first entry into a new line of products that we're all using within 5 years.

Back when it was announced there were a few hands-on impressions from people that the 3D video experience was legitimately moving. Now it was also insane because at that time, you had to take the videos with the headset, and who's going to wear that while their kid blows out a birthday candle? You'd look like a sociopath.

This way though? Acceptable and frictionless. My kids are getting older now, but I can imagine experiencing a birthday party or a first-time-without-training-wheels moment in a heightened video experience could be highly meaningful.

Like I said, maybe the headset bombs and Apple abandons the idea... but I feel this is the first step towards us all becoming a crying Tom Cruise watching hologram videos of his son in Minority Report (hopefully without the... y'know...).