Is The Intel MacBook Pro Still Relevant?

LTubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 09:43
Last edited 22/10/2021 - 14:34 by 1 other user

I have a 2019 16 inch i7/512/16gb macbook pro. I bought it at launch and moved from a 2010 21 inch imac. I felt it was step back in performance at the time.

I'm a hobby photographer and use it for lightroom and photoshop. Honestly, it struggles. Been contemplating moving to the 24 inch imac. I feel desktops hold up better than laptops.

Is the m1 imac really that much better? I know the new range of macbook pros have been announced. I still think the 24 inch imac will be enough for me. I'm not a pro. It's only a hobby.

I've got an offer to sell it for 2k. Just not sure if m1 is tgat much better.

Any thoughts would be great.

Edit - It's gone peeps.

Computing Apple Computer Laptop

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 22/10/2021 - 09:56
    +2

    if it's only your hobby then prob not worth upgrading but 2k for an intel is a decent offer I think, so would sell it and get m1 lineups🤣🤣🤣

    • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 11:34

      Yeah. While I’m not one to go for the latest and greatest, the seismic shift brought by the M1 chip has also most made the intel macs obsolete (or so is my view based on YouTube reviews). I also think the M1 may last me longer.

      Cheers mate

  • CrispyChrispy on 22/10/2021 - 09:56
    +2

    Well do you travel around much? Do you bring your Macbook Pro around eg. to your workplace? If not, sure, go for the desktop.

    • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 11:36

      I bought it over an all in one thinking it might be handy for travel, but I haven’t done any travel since. I think have an iPad Pro that i might use for editing photos while travelling. If that doesn’t work, I might get a cheaper MacBook Air which should suffice.

  • modsec802 on 22/10/2021 - 10:03
    +2

    I’d get a M1 MacBook Air - they’re super fast and no fan

    • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 11:38
      +1

      I might get a MacBook Air at a later stage as an additional computer if i need one for travelling. Thanks mate.

      • JSONBourne on 24/10/2021 - 20:37
        +1

        Even though it might seem more portable, it will be more powerful than your current laptop. The M1 is that good.

  • holdenmg on 22/10/2021 - 10:17

    Look at a MacMini
    https://www.apple.com/au/mac-mini/
    pair it to a Monitor, add a Keyboard and Mouse.

    • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 11:37
      +1

      I’ve seriously considered that, but my only hitch is getting a decent monitor with it. I think apple’s displays are in a different league. I also like the glossy display over mat ones. I would’ve like it to be a 27 inch display, but 24 isn’t bad.

      • theo96 on 23/10/2021 - 07:36

        Lack of affordable Apple first-party monitor is a real issue.

    • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 11:40

      I currently have a 27 inch LG 4k display, but i dont think it comes close to the MacBook’s display. I actually edit my photos on the 16 inch screen and have stopped bothering with the LG.

  • YLD1 on 22/10/2021 - 10:41
    +1

    Two of the big issues with me from previous intel macbooks and then swapping to the m1 macbooks
    The intel macbook pros especially get hot underneath where I can't keep the macbook on my lap

    The second issue is battery life

    I have no problem with 4 - 5 battery life, but with my macbook pros intel I was lucky to get 3 hours in the best of cases
    There was also the issue of closing your macbook and opening it later to see your battery drops 10% when doing nothing

    I should note that I am a power user

    Whilst you probably dont need to upgrade, those two points I mentioned are a big deal

    I also have the imac m1 and it is amazing. Very fast, clean look, thin and light
    If you're someone who uses a laptop at home and just moves it room to room, you might find the imac useful

    So many times I will just pick it up and plop it on another desk

    Its like a big ipad

    In short:

    • M1 is much much better
    • Expect to lose a lot of money on your macbook. $2K is a decent price. You might get more you might get less but I personally sold my top of the line macbook air i7 for a 50% loss within 9 months. Macbook air 2020 got released 7 months before macbook air m1 came out
    • iMac m1 will last forever. Even though I'm a pro user, I upgraded my imac to 16gb ram and have no issues. I do graphics design and programming and I dont think the M1 pro/max will have a major performance change to my line of work
    • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 11:44

      Battery life is a huge concern for me too. I almost can’t run photoshop and Lightroom on battery power. It depletes rather quickly. It’s seems to fair well for non demanding tasks.

      I’m hopin an M1 with 16gb ram will last me a few years. Almost like my 2010 iMac that lasted me close to 10 years.

      The MacBook is fine, but lately I’ve been doing startrails and wanting to get into Timelapse’s, that is where the MacBook really struggles. The fans come on (loud), and you can just feel that its working hard to get the job done.

  • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 11:46

    Thanks for your inputs guys. Makes me feel better to let go of the MacBook for 2k.

  • MrThing on 22/10/2021 - 11:47

    Do you spend much time in the local hipster coffee shop writing your novel on your macbook

    if yes: then definitely buy the latest greatest wizzbang gadget to use facebook on

    • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 11:51

      I wish I was that age and demographic mate. haha.

      My MacBook may have left home only a couple of times since I’ve had it.

  • lunchbox99 on 22/10/2021 - 11:50
    +1

    There is no way a 2019 i7 MBP would have felt slower than a 2010 iMac. Sorry but that's just bullcrap.

    https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/compare/10527680?baseli…

    • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 11:56

      Well, define speed? Perhaps quicker to start up and do usual tasks etc. But definitely slower when it came to Lightroom. Any edits I made would take longer to implement throughout the image. I could see them being applied in blocks throughout the image. I know Lightroom isn’t the most optimised software, but that is just how my use case scenario was. I even tried factory resetting…

      Also, the iMac had 16gb ram and I had upgraded the drive to an internal SSD. That made a huge difference.

      • lunchbox99 on 22/10/2021 - 13:47

        I did define speed. Look at the geek bench scores across a variety of metrics. The multicore performance of a 2019 mbp is several times that of a 2010 iMac. I don’t know what you felt it was slower because it should be significantly faster in every possible way.

        Even if you upgraded the hdd, a sata ssd is far slower than an nvme ssd.

        • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 14:09

          I'm not saying there isn't an element of subjectivity in my statement. But definitely the machine isn't lightning faster than the mac I had.

          While I'm not a tech enthusiast, and with the little knowledge that I have, I can only guess the thermals may have something to do with it.

          • raziel2001au on 22/10/2021 - 16:07

            @TubeLight: Software engineer here, I'm with lunchbox99 on this one… there is absolutely no way it would be slower. The storage, CPU and memory are all several times faster than the hardware found in a 2010 iMac. You are literally comparing a 2-core CPU to a 6/8-core CPU that's 9 years newer. Per-core performance is much faster on the 2019 MBP's and it has a lot more of them. As for the GPU, I can't see ATI Radeon HD 4/5xxx graphics outperforming the GPUs in a 2019 MBP. So what you're saying makes no sense. The only case I can think of where it would perform worse is if the software could fully utilise the GPU in the old iMac, but for some reason can't utilise it at all in the newer MBP 2019 and the only option is for the software to fall back to running on a single CPU thread, which would be an issue with the software rather than the hardware.

            • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 16:53

              @raziel2001au: Great… Happy for those who can experience a measurable difference.

              Thanks mate.

              • raziel2001au on 22/10/2021 - 17:22

                @TubeLight: The base M1 chip in the iMac today isn't that much faster than a 2019 MBP 16", it basically offers similar performance in a smaller form-factor. I don't think there's any point for you to even consider a base M1 system as you're not likely to notice a 'measurable difference' there either. Keep in mind that the M1 was designed to be Apple's entry-level chip, it's not a chip designed to beat their higher-end laptops. With that said, for what it is, it offers amazing performance. It's impressive that a chip designed for their entry level systems can offer similar levels of performance to their higher end 16" Intel MBPs. But honestly, I don't know what you're expecting from these systems, given you didn't benefit from a system that's about 5 times faster, I doubt even the M1 MAX would satisfy you.

                • TubeLight on 22/10/2021 - 17:46

                  @raziel2001au: Not expecting miracles. Just don't want it to struggle with 24mp raw files.

                  I was two minded about the base m1. But I don't want to get another laptop with the new m1 pro and Max chips. And there seem to be no rumours in the pipeline about these chips coming to imacs.

                  I might see if I can make do with my m1 ipad pro for sometime. Might open a whole new world of processing if it works.

                  • raziel2001au on 24/10/2021 - 16:56

                    @TubeLight: I suspect when the larger iMac launches they'll likely use the M1 Pro/Max chip. But it's always hard to tell with Apple. If you want my honest opinion, I wouldn't go for the base M1 as it's not going to be that much faster than the MacBook you already have… it's more about efficiency per-watt and being able to squeeze similar performance out of a 13 inch laptop, which is impressive.

                    • TubeLight on 25/10/2021 - 14:51

                      @raziel2001au: Thanks mate. The mbp is now gone. I have to get a computer. But I was looking at the macbook pros just launched and they look tempting. I might delay my decision for a few weeks and see what reviews come out.

                      Used the ipad for a couple of edits in lightroom. That feels snappy. But of course it's on an app native to ipads.

                    • TubeLight on 25/10/2021 - 14:52

                      @raziel2001au: I also think my biggest issue with the mbp was not so much the performance in itself (I mean I didn't like the fact that it took sometime for my edits to be applied across the whole image) but the fan noise which always gave an impression the computer was struggling. I have a quiet study which made it worse.

    • YLD1 on 22/10/2021 - 11:57

      it would be if you compare software from 2010 to 2019

      The feature set in 2010 was much less than what is today so less performance required

  • GordonR on 22/10/2021 - 13:31

    I have the 2020 MacBook Air - the last Intel one - also with 16Gb Ram and an i7 chip.

    Not great timing, but as I didn't have a choice about the timing (previous computer dying), and it's not actually my money (work), I can't complain too much.

    But a quad-core i7 uses so much power and runs so hot that I can't really run anything intensive while on battery power. The fans sound just like a jet engine at that exact moment that you are pinned to the back of your seat as the pilot opens up the throttle for take-off and the plane lurches forward.

    My daughter has an M1 MBA, and she loves it - no fans, so no noise, well over a day battery life etc. I guess it must do some thermal throttling so maybe it still is not suitable for all-day cpu-intensive simulations etc, but maybe you don't need that.

    I'll move to an M1 (or successor) as soon as I can justify retiring or handing down this one.

  • Pelicannn on 22/10/2021 - 18:56
    +1

    I wouldn't consider intel in a Mac right now unless you need it for program specific stuff

  • Thinkscape on 23/10/2021 - 07:54
    +1

    Yes they are. Got M1 air 16gb as soon as it launched.
    In most use cases runs circles around my old upgraded i7 mbp, embarrasses the i9 in most use-cases, while having no fans and being MBP-air thin. Did I mention all-day battery life? And being able to actually use it on your lap without 2nd degree burns?
    All the popular dev tooling has caught up with arm on macOS.

    The only downside is max 16gb ram on air and limited video output bandwidth, but the new M1 pro/max have 32/64gb options.

    • TubeLight on 23/10/2021 - 13:26
      +1

      Cheers mate! Leaning towards the 24 inch imac. But your experience makes me think if I should try out the laptop again.

      • Thinkscape on 25/10/2021 - 07:41
        +1

        It’s funny how the iMac, Air and Mini are almost exactly the same with M1. Mini has no monitor or keys but lower price and more ports. Air is close to iPad-sized but fully featured laptop. iMac is a weird hybrid - almost like iPad on a stand but with no touch.

        Depends if you have a monitor. I’ve got handful of decent 4K monitors so I run my M1 laptops plugged in, clamshell mode, most of the time.

        If you don’t have a monitor, I’d still think twice before getting 24” iMac. The monitor is already small and quite outdated, can’t separate the two, so not sure if it will stay relevant for the 10 years you’ve proposed.

        It was usually my MBPs that lasted me the longest. Still have some 2015s around after 2 battery replacements 🤷‍♂️

        • TubeLight on 25/10/2021 - 14:47

          I don't mind the m1 mini. I'm just too lazy (or scared) to zero in on a monitor. The tech jargon is too much for someone not too much into it. I got a 4k LG monitor at the start of covid thinking it would be the one… But it just didn't cut it against the mbp display. I ended up editing on the small 16 inch display.

          I don't want to end up with another monitor that just doesn't cut it.

          I confess that getting an all in one is a lazy solution.

        • TubeLight on 25/10/2021 - 14:48

          What exactly do you mean my saying that the display is already out dated?

  • wongcr on 23/10/2021 - 09:51
    +1

    Don’t forget to upgrade your software to the ARM versions as the older Intel binaries are run through an x86 emulator.

    • kiitos on 04/11/2021 - 12:26

      This is true, I think the Adobe software had been slow to get M1 versions.

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