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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

#351

Post by treesknees »

omni wrote: post #317
gcr wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bullshit. I shelled $3k for my MBP M1 back in 2021 and I intend to use it until I can’t anymore. It depends on the person and the use case. Different personalities etc

That's not particularly rational given how quickly computers progress in both performance and cost, a current-gen $1k Macbook Air will run circles around your M1. You'd probably be much better off spending the same amount of money on cheaper machines with a more frequent upgrade cadence. And you can always sell your old ones on eBay or something.

There are other factors to consider such as screen size, storage and RAM, connectivity and ports, active versus passive cooling (thermal throttling), and speaker quality. Additionally, the M1 Pro GPU benchmarks still outperform the latest M4 Air.

For example if I spec out a 13" M4 MBA to match my current 14" M1 Pro MBP, which with tax came to ~$3k in 2021 (32GB RAM, 1TB storage), that $1k MBA ends up being ~$1900. Now that more frequent upgrade cadence doesn't make as much sense financially. After one purchase and one upgrade, you've exceeded the cost of the M1 Pro MBP purchase.

Overall I don't disagree with your sentiment, especially for more casual use cases, but progress will never stop. There will always be a newer laptop with better specs coming out. I personally would rather beef up a machine and then drive it until it dies or can no longer perform the tasks I need it to.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#352

Post by VladVladikoff »

jhbadger wrote: post #326
asdff wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I don't think you can say that -- I paid about that for my 2021 M1 Max with 64GB and I'm still using it four years later as my main machine. There's an argument to be made to buy an expensive computer every 5 years or so rather than a cheaper one that you need to replace every 2 years because it's become unbearably slow.

My laptop is still a 2012 MBP. Granted I don’t use a laptop as my main computer, I use a hackintosh desktop. I might finally buy a new laptop in 2026, 14 years is not bad. If my new laptop can last that long I see no problem maxing out the specs at time of purchase.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#353

Post by BeFlatXIII »

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.

Just wait until they see the price of of a 300/2.8 lens or quantum-tuned rocks to isolate power cables from the floor.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#354

Post by aucisson_masque »

jofzar wrote: post #214

> I don’t notice going back to 60 Hz displays on computers. However, on phones, where a lot more animations are a key part of the user experience, I think 120 Hz displays are more interesting. I'm always so jealous of these people, 60hz is just so bad for me now and even make me a bit motion sick. I can see it in everything, moving the window, scrolling, the cursor.

I regularly switch between Android 120hz and iPhone 60 hz. It's bad for maybe 2 or 3 minutes then the brain get used once again to it.

There is nothing groundbreaking about 120hz.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#355

Post by jasomill »

jhbadger wrote: post #326
asdff wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I don't think you can say that -- I paid about that for my 2021 M1 Max with 64GB and I'm still using it four years later as my main machine. There's an argument to be made to buy an expensive computer every 5 years or so rather than a cheaper one that you need to replace every 2 years because it's become unbearably slow.

Same here: I paid about twice as much for my 2013 Mac Pro that I’ll probably keep using until I replace it with an M5 Mac Studio at some point next year, which I’ll then plan to use for at least 5 years.

As for camera lenses, I expect my collection of manual focus F-mount Zeiss primes to have a longer useful life than their owner.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#356

Post by jama211 »

vbezhenar wrote: post #304
jofzar wrote: post #214

> I don’t notice going back to 60 Hz displays on computers. However, on phones, where a lot more animations are a key part of the user experience, I think 120 Hz displays are more interesting. I'm always so jealous of these people, 60hz is just so bad for me now and even make me a bit motion sick. I can see it in everything, moving the window, scrolling, the cursor.

I've made a test for myself. Screen split into two parts, two small squares moving and bouncing. First square moves every frame, second square skips every second frame, but moves 2x. So basically one half of the screen is full FPS, another half of the screen is half FPS. And I implemented it as a "blind test", so I could make a guess and then check it. For screen with 60 FPS, the difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS…

You can’t write it off as a marketing gimmick just because you and a few others personally can’t see the difference, many people demonstrably can.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#357

Post by greggh »

filoleg wrote: post #25
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.

> There are so many base features that are inexplicably relegated to 3rd party apps. > Like a better finder experience. > Or keeping screen on. Do you mind linking or naming which tools you use for those 2 purposes? Asking out of pure curiosity, as for keeping the screen on, I just use `caffeinate -imdsu` in the terminal. Previously used Amphetamine, but I ended up having some minor issues with it, and I didn't need…

Default Folder X is a huge improvement to Finder, specifically open and save windows. It's in SetApp too.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#358

Post by esseph »

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…

There is a large visual difference between 60hz/120-144hz.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#359

Post by greggh »

radicality wrote: post #105
flyinglizard wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s an awesome app called Vivid which just opens the HDR max brightness. I use it all the time with my M3 Pro when working outside and I believe it also works on earlier models.

I would personally be afraid of using that in case it causes damage long-term to the screen either due to temperature or power draw or something. Idk if there are significant hardware differences but in this case I would guess there’s a real hardware reason for it?

I've used vivid nearly every day since the week the first m1 MacBook Pro came out, no damage to my screen at all.

Re: My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4

#360

Post by nradov »

eastbound wrote: post #242
Onavo wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try general aviation as a hobby. It will be eye opening

Thinking it’s a hobby is an american thing. I’ve never met anyone who do it, but for Kobe Bryant, Harrisson Ford, Tom Cruise it seems normal. Most people save $400 per month tops, that they spend on holidays.

It's sad that more countries outside of North America haven't actively developed their general aviation industries. It's never going to be cheap (or safe) but there's no good reason to impose the high taxes and regulatory constraints that keep it should be out of reach from regular upper-middle class people in many countries.
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