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My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

michael.stapelberg.ch

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Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#81

Post by BoorishBears »

asdff wrote: post #76
BoorishBears wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glossy vs matte has started to matter less as the peak brightness goes up. When your screen can do 1,600 nits, daylight isn't as much of a problem

Yeah this m3 pro isn't really doing 1600 nits. Marginally brighter than my 2012. To get to actual 1600 nits you need to use scripts. https://github.com/SerjoschDuering/macbook_1600nits Not sure the impacts to display health or battery running the screen full bore like this.

I use Lunar and have used it on my Pro Display XDR and every MBP with XDR I've owned with 0 issues.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#82

Post by asdff »

criddell wrote: post #50
dr_pardee wrote: post #42

> I still don’t like macOS and would prefer to run Linux on this laptop. But Asahi Linux still needs some work before it’s usable for me (I need external display output, and M4 support). This doesn’t bother me too much, though, as I don’t use this computer for serious work. “I don’t use this computer for serious work.” Dropped $3K on MBP to play around with. Definitely should have gotten MBA

If you are going to start making a list of expensive hobbies, $3K for a computer isn't going to be anywhere near the top of the list.

The type of person shelling out 3k for a computer is not running it until the wheels come off.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#83

Post by daymanstep »

asdff wrote: post #71
LeoPanthera wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Historically, traditional matte screen finishes exhibited poor optical qualities by scattering ambient light, which tended to wash out colors. This scattering process also affected the light from individual pixels, causing it to refract into neighboring pixels. This reduced overall image quality and caused pixel-fine details, such as small text, to appear smeary on high-density LCDs. In contrast, well-designed glossy…

I used to have a 2006 macbook pro with the matte screen. It was glorious. None of these issues were present or really noticeable. Maybe you'd notice it in lab setting but not irl. Kind of like 120hz and 4k; just useless to most peoples eyes at the distances people actually use these devices. I've only owned matte external monitors as well and again, no issues there. The glossy era macbooks otoh have been a disaster i…

120Hz is absolutely a noticeable improvement over 60Hz. I have a 60Hz iPhone and a 120Hz iPhone and the 60Hz one is just annoying to use. Everything feels so choppy.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#84

Post by asdff »

deaddodo wrote: post #51
whycome wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are so many base features that are inexplicably relegated to 3rd party apps. Like a better finder experience. Or keeping screen on. Or NTFS writing.

Finder is the number one reason it boggles my mind that people claim macOS as head and shoulders above other OSes "for professionals". Finder is a badly designed child's toy that does nothing at all intuitively and, in fact, actively does things in the most backwards ways possible. It's like taking the worst of Explorer (from Windows XP), and smashing it into the worst of Dolphin or Nautilus; and, to top it off, then…

It has been more or less the same as long as I've used it (20 years or so). Familiarity is a plus. It is a pretty simple and straightforward tool. I'm not sure what you might find perplexing about Finder.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#85

Post by lisbbb »

I couldn't really trust the author of the review after he established his preference for "quiet computers" having no cooling slots or whatever he called them. Okay, fine, you're placing aesthetics above actual performance, then. The Pro laptops are the only ones viable for any really hardcore work because if you push the Air too hard it is going to just slow down in order to stay cool and that's not what you want if you are doing graphics work or in my case, I was running a bunch of containers in K8s. I never bought an Air because it was too similar to an iPad.

The thing that mostly irks me about Apple these days is soldered in RAM and non-upgradeable storage. Apple is still the best thing going for doing most pro development work, but it's just so irritating that they shit on us like this. I did buy an M4 Mini and expanded it some. My 2019 MB Pro is siting here on the desk, mostly unused these days. The Intel Macs are basically dead now--still great computers, but no longer desirable. My daughter is doing Graphic Arts in college and is using another 2019 Pro for that. I've used Macs continuously since at least 2014.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#87

Post by lisbbb »

pcdoodle wrote: post #24

We used to sell conversion kits to shoehorn a pixel qi display into the thinkpad x230. Since apple has put in 1,000nit displays on the pros, we don't bother anymore. The nano texture sold me and it performs wonderfully outdoors. I hate giving apple money but here I am.

It's because Apple sucks the least. They still suck, though. They could build decent computers that are upgradeable, but they refuse because they want your $$$$ in large amounts.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#88

Post by brulard »

IshKebab wrote: post #61
criddell wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are going to start making a list of expensive hobbies, $3K for a computer isn't going to be anywhere near the top of the list.

I think it actually would be quite near the top, in terms of ranking. Most hobbies are a lot cheaper. Of course, not near the top in terms of money because there are a few hobbies that cost vastly more.

What do you mean "in terms of ranking" vs "in terms of money"?

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#89

Post by danielbln »

j_bum wrote: post #9
danielbln wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I upgraded from M4 to M5 MBP because I broke my M4's screen and so my company ordered a replacement M5 while the M4 is being repaired. I can't really notice a difference at all. It's an absolute work horse, but so was the M4. I _did_ spring for the nano texture display this time around, and that is definitely nice (but nothing to do with the M5)

Do you think you’ll have any regrets about the nano texture display? I was torn between nano and regular glass, but opted for the regular glass.

No, I love it. I had non-matte glass screens in my MacBooks since 2012 and I didn't realize how much better it is to no longer see lights reflected in there all the time.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#90

Post by flyinglizard »

deaddodo wrote: post #56
inference-god wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's crazy is that Vivid app...costs money!

Welcome to the Mac ecosystem. Where basic functionality is gated behind apps that Apple fans will tell you "are lifesavers and totally needed in Windows/Linux/etc)" for $4.99-14.99/piece. And, when they get popular enough, Apple will implement that basic functionality in its OS and silently extinguish those apps. And that's when they let you modify/use your OS the way you want.

I don't mind that. 3rd party Mac utilities are nice: well designed, explained and do what they're supposed to because someone makes a living of it. I'm happy to pay these prices.
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