What Is The Apple MacBook Pro Good for?

Greem85 on 29/10/2021 - 09:34
Last edited 29/10/2021 - 09:51 by 1 other user

No, this is not a sh*tpost, just a genuine curiosity question. I know Macbooks Pros are considered great for video editing, hence heaps of praise for every new release on YouTube (e.g. this week's M1 Pro/Max versions). On the other hand, while googling I scarcely find so much praise for them in regards to any other tasks.

I know they are neatly designed, and a pleasure to look at. But what leverage do they have over other laptops, which do not attract a premium price tag?

Even I got caught in the hype surrounding the newest release, and had to stop myself in the process of actually booking a M1 Pro version and ask myself: "what am I going to use it for, other than web browsing, and some web dev?".

Computing 14.2inch 14inch 16inch Apple Computer Laptop

Comments

  • Gronk on 29/10/2021 - 09:44
    +17

    Emptying your bank account :D

    • thwarted on 30/10/2021 - 20:15
      -1

      I bought a MacBook Pro and a windows machine in 2012. Just bought a new MacBook Pro and, since the old one is still functioning extremely well (even though it isn't able to run the latest OS) I gave it to a family member who loves it. Meanwhile, the windows machine, which has been problematic for at least 3 years, is being "decommissioned".

      • Gronk on 31/10/2021 - 15:42
        -1

        One of my nephews is still using a windows machine I built roughly 10 years ago, it replaced a mac.. To be honest I don't see how either comment is relevant to the overall discussion

  • Daabido on 29/10/2021 - 09:47
    -1

    Absolutely nothing. Uh ha haa ha. https://youtu.be/ztZI2aLQ9Sw

    For single core work, not much more than a MacBook Air.

    Also, invest in MURAS (Mac Upgrade RAM and Storage) futures. It's like raining money. They are pretty though and will be the only alternative once the Air is redesigned to look like a psychodelic rainbow.

  • BargainCowboy on 29/10/2021 - 09:48
    +5

    Work gave me an M1 Macbook worth $2700. I could have done my job on a $800 Lenovo and on top of that I hate MacOS. I'm sure it's good for the applications you mentioned, but tbh, can't see how it justifies its price, even with the superior hardware.

    • srhardy on 29/10/2021 - 11:19
      -1

      Ok I want your job! but seriously… What you got was awesome batt life when off charge as well as balls that didn't have laptop induced heat sunburn as my everything sucks down power like an alcoholic outside an AA meeting! Not to mention it single handedly contributing to global warming and my balls inability to provide me with a slave in my old age!

      Not enough, well wait a few months and try to sell a non apple laptop, as even the homeless will ask for a 10 year old mac over the intel-shit-box and they will even pay you something for it, while intel-landfill. That goes for all things apple, to be honest and you learn to factor this in when upgrading!

      Now apples not perfect, take all the features they have deprived users of over the past 5 years, only to give them back when it suited them! Then the crap app-store as it has no competition and apples addiction to subscriptions, its a nightmare! But the OS is based on *NIX and is SOLID, they have backward comapatiabilty that makes for a great user experience and now and again VALUE picks, like the MB Air.

      (its better than the mini as it has a kbd/screen and the next version with media codecs alone, will make me not need to spend much for 99.99% of what I need it for)

      I have the iPhone12Max, its got another couple of years life left and will still net me $500-700 easy… Id take a Lenovo for $800 but only with LINUX on it… Windows sucks monekeyballs for all but games and then its 3-4k for a decent gaming laptop so ive grown up, and dont play games now instead

  • mapax on 29/10/2021 - 09:48
    +1

    Based on the behavior of a lot of owners I’m petty sure you can use them in an attempt to impress shallow people and prove that you’re better than everyone else?

    • DashCam AKA Rolts on 29/10/2021 - 09:51
      +4

      Nothing like getting that knowing nod from other like-minded souls in those coffee spots while pretending to work.

      • Daabido on 29/10/2021 - 10:04
        +3

        That's why I'm hanging on to my 2017 Air with the light up Apple symbol ;-)

        • DashCam AKA Rolts on 29/10/2021 - 10:06
          +3

          with the light up Apple symbol ;-)

          Outstanding. 5/7

        • plmko on 29/10/2021 - 10:08
          +1

          Bravo clap clap Bravo

    • srhardy on 29/10/2021 - 11:20

      I do have small hands

  • sien on 29/10/2021 - 09:49
    +6

    Macs are pretty decent for software development.

    I'm not an Apple fan in general. I have a cheap Motorola phone.

    I'm on a last Intel generation Macbook Air and use Nix as the package manager and find it's better for software development than my work Windows machine.

    The battery life is excellent, again, the contrast to my Work issued machine is dramatic.

    I have a Windows desktop that I also use for work, games and personal software development as well. Being able to change the graphics cards and add other hardware and general hardware compatibility makes that a better machine than an iMac.

    The difference in price between a similar specced Windows laptop and my Mac when I bought them was minimal. The Mac's screen is great, the keyboard is good and the vertical integration means things like battery life just work better than the Windows laptops I've used.

    • srhardy on 29/10/2021 - 11:26

      Yeah, saw a deal on a de-gpu dell GAMING and couldnt say no, just added my 2060 and its all good for everything Ive tossed at it. But if XBOX ever gets its act together on browser and apps, im not buying another desktop and this one will just have to do…

    • Zazer on 02/01/2022 - 11:03

      Could you elaborate how Macs are superior for software development? Just curious!

  • starspawn on 29/10/2021 - 09:50
    +7

    As an IT professional and a customer myself, in my experience Macbook's last MUCH longer than windows laptops.

    I had my last Macbook pro 2011 model for 8 years before upgrading in 2019.

    • cuteseal on 29/10/2021 - 09:56
      +5

      Agreed! My Macbook Pro 2013 is still going strong! Although I'm sad to find out they've dropped support for the Monterey OS that was just released.

      As an IT professional though I personally find I'm more productive at work with Windows which is what my work issues us with - whole lot of Microsoft apps etc.
      For home though it's Apple all the way…

    • srhardy on 29/10/2021 - 11:30
      -1

      *** I, herby grant yea the title of THE MOST INTELLIGENT AND PATIENT user award ***

      You are few and far between and apple love to hate you. People like you still own the iPad1 and refuse to upgrade, think watches are for telling time and shouldnt need plugging in as well as keen as you prob sold the mbp and got something for it still!

      • ThithLord on 29/10/2021 - 11:50
        +2

        Yes, Apple really hate people who utilise the longevity of Apple equipment that they spend billions on facilitating….? Like, bro. They don't work for yonks and yonks by pure chance.

  • SF3 on 29/10/2021 - 09:53
    +1

    heaps of praise for every new release on YouTube

    There is your answer, influencers standard equipment.

  • cuteseal on 29/10/2021 - 09:54
    +2

    I think users are drawn to the OS and the Apple ecosystem - iPhones, apple watch, iCloud, music etc. and how they all work together.
    And once you are in the ecosystem some people will naturally want the fastest and bestest, hence the Macbook Pros. Bigger screen helps with productivity too.

    I personally think the M1 Macbook / Air is where it's at…

    • srhardy on 29/10/2021 - 11:31

      Its is, see my post below for reasoning!

  • zonra on 29/10/2021 - 09:57
    +2

    There are no doubts actual pros who can utilize all/most of what these machines can offer, in which case the newly updated line-ups offer pretty good bangs for bucks from what I’ve gathered so far.
    For the rest of us commoners, I suspect the reasons for getting these for general usage are no different than the reasons some of us buy performance cars to use on the streets, pay anything more than $25 for a watch that tell time (I’m guilty of this) or designer clothings etc. That is, simply because you like them, enjoy them and can afford them.
    It seems the haters critics like to bank on the “but you can do all this on a $500 machine”, but this can apply to everything else in life:
    “You can live just fine in a small house/tent”
    “You don’t need fancy food or varieties in your meal, simple nutrients are sufficient”
    “Your cars (engine) shouldn’t be any bigger than 2.5L”
    You get my point.

  • autolux on 29/10/2021 - 10:33
    +1

    i mean obviously its a matter of preference, but the professional ecosystems for things like audio & video production, as well as graphic design and certain dev areas is widely considered as just better or more accepted/standardised or whatever reasoning you wanna apply.

    generally i look at the cost to value ratio with everything, and have always despised apple's extortionate margins and arrogance. maybe the ozbargainer in me, but only ever purchased iphones to abuse the resale ecosystems and have them almost paying me to use them for example. i've had macbook pros through work for the past decade though, and generally enjoyed them. anecdotally they seem generally preferred for a lot of tech stuff, especially web dev and from moneyed/hyped startups especially for many reasons, like the 'cool' factor. but i probably would never buy one myself just on a cost & value basis, even though i mess with a lotta audio/video/graphic production stuff and would benefit. personally, i just don't like poor value so i'd just grab some amd/intel laptop that was sufficient and run win/linux…

    that said i did buy a macbook air in 2011 for specific purposes when working/traveling for a couple years. dualbooted macos & windows and it was absolutely brilliant for everything i needed, not expensive at all and lasted a long long time. i think most x86 laptop makers are still trying to catchup to the macbook air at that point….

    also, the recent move away from intel seems to have them providing way more at a cheaper cost. unusual for apple, so seems only a good thing. the last era of intel macs in 2018/2019 were absolute pieces of shit. the lack of connections, the worst keyboard in human history, the absolute joke of the touch bar etc…. in scrapping those and admitting they were complete trash & a failure, and moving to their own silicon and providing better value, they do seem to be answering the long held value questions ive had with apple products forever. a lot of people seem to be in that boat i think. tbh, i'd certainly consider the latest macbook pros with my own money, as they seem to be responding to competition, whilst leading, so the ripoff comments do seem increasingly dated. especially if you look at the pricing/quality of high end x86 laptops by comparison. the current apple silicon airs look pretty powerful, and seem very well priced to me. particularly interested to see the next macbook air, and if they can pack even more power into that form factor…

    • Namesareapain on 29/10/2021 - 10:47

      "but the professional ecosystems for things like audio & video production, as well as graphic design and certain dev areas is widely considered as just better or more accepted/standardised or whatever you wanna call it."

      At least for audio work that is just not true. Windows has much greater support (e.g more DAWs and audio plugins support it than macOS) and it also has better low latency audio (via ASIO, which coreaudio can not match due to the extra buffer it must use for mixing multiple sources).

      • plmko on 29/10/2021 - 11:13

        Yes this, to this day still no native DSD. Huge deal breaker for me.

  • Watto23 on 29/10/2021 - 10:45
    +5

    I bought one. My previous Macbook Pro was bought in 2014, a base model as well that lasted me 7 years. It was only the battery failing thst I bought a new one.
    Now I only bought nthe base 16" model and if I was a professional making direct income from what I do, I'd be buying a better model, but as it is i do a bit of photo editing, video editing and some 3D modelling. I also do things like astrophotography, and image stacking which is much quicker on the new macbook. A video conversion yesterday that typically takes 2 hours finished in 45 minutes. Everything runs a hell of a lot quicker on this new laptop, except for web browsing and email, so if thats all one does, I'd even suggest a tablet is all you need. The screen is by far the best I've ever seen in a laptop and the audio is so good, i can get away from using decent headphones if I want to.

    For most people, myself included, I probably don't need one, but as already mentioned people often don't need the cars they own, or the size of the house they live in, or to go out to restaurants either.

    They are very good laptops. But don't mistake them for being expensive, because an equivalent windows laptop if available will cost the same amount. You could say the same thing about alienwear laptops or even my $2500 lenovo X1 work laptop which is not even close to being as good as the $3000 14" Macbook Pro just released. Are they expensive? yes, because they cost a lot, but they are priced at where the featuires put it. Other brands aren't cheaper, they just don't offer a comparable laptop and if they do they are similarly priced.

  • Greem85 on 29/10/2021 - 10:57
    +2

    Wow, that is a lot of replies. Thank you, Ozbargain collective main! :)

    I do get a feeling that the general sentiment is slightly more negative in regards to cost/package ratio, and that it appeals more to the customer base which wants to feel special due to having a mac, rather than a windoom laptop.

    On the other hand, they are pwetty to look at, and I indeed do own a excessive car for my needs, just as well as an apartment with more bedroom I require…

    • holdenmg on 29/10/2021 - 11:08
      +3

      The MacBook Air with M1 meets the needs and wants of many, even some Win users.

      You could Uber or drivemycar.com.au so your car is less excessive or AirBNB your spare rooms.

      I think you should trademark the word pwetty

      • Greem85 on 29/10/2021 - 11:14
        +1

        I am pwetty sure Tweety used it waaay before I was born ;)

        • Daabido on 29/10/2021 - 12:30

          Who else rooted for Sylvester? Granny was fierce!

  • srhardy on 29/10/2021 - 11:03
    +2

    Here is a secret, the base MB Air M1 is the best value and will do 90% of whatever you want for $1350 EDU price which anyone can get (add the $299 software bundle) for the casual user and await its M2 update in 2022 thats just around the corner or for the M1pro/max version of the MINI… The current MBP/Max are for for the dedicated media content creator, thats needs it to make a living (and I know thats prob, not you) so its next market is PEOPLE WITH DEEP POCKETS who are the early adopters tax and prepared to pay for a laptop today and another next year!

    thats right the next Mx version will be getting an instruction set upgrade from ARMv8/64bit to the new ARMv9 instruction set thats backward compatible but 30% across the board faster and for the new instruction set data manipulation, many many many times faster! Its possible some of it has been included in the Pro/Max in the codec extensions that was added over the original M1 cpu!

    Apple made a song'n'dance over the v8 64bit back in the day, Im sure they will likewise do this again with the v9 upgrade and they are smart to put this off to 2022 but they will be one of many launching v9 ARM cores as china already has a 128 core v9 server chip for sale! Qualcom and the others have all anounced v9 and Im sure Windows-on-ARM will be optimised as this will be Microsofts BIG push into apples headspace (alas with windows, god this vile beast just will not go away and die until they replace the core with *nix!)

    • autolux on 29/10/2021 - 11:11
      +1

      Yeh for real. I don't like laptops in general, but the macbook air formfactor makes the idea of a laptop work properly for me. Use it at a desk, use it on the couch, use it on a plane, use it anywhere… and 10 years on its still weird to me its not twice the price like everything else apple. surely the best price to value ratio product they've ever made. The next gen m1x ones are looking very promising.

      • srhardy on 29/10/2021 - 11:33
        +1

        SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ~ Apple will hear you!

  • nubzy on 29/10/2021 - 11:06
    +1

    For the majority of people it is completely unnecessary to get the Pro. Get the M1 Air, save a fortune and enjoy the lightweight and thin form factor, long battery life and blazing performance for <$1350 on sale.

    • srhardy on 29/10/2021 - 11:40
      +1

      MATHS… $1350 EDU pricing (+300 software bundle, stupid not to get this!) and keep for a year, then buy the manycolored MBAirM2 and sell your old mac for 70%

      All you want on the new macs, is the encoding chip and im sure it will be on the M2 in the Air!

      The new MacBooks are HEAVY (I didnt notice much saving over the 14 from the 16 to be honest) and while I loved the SCREEN and the speed of encoding stuff, i can wait for that on the next AIR. These MBP are laptops designed for the desktop and NOT the lap and they do get warm if you keep them busy too.

      Next year the old 13" will disappear from the lineup and the 14" will SLIDE down to fit the price point, so early adopters need to make this much back in the meantime to break even or you have just contributed to apples bottom line and caymans account!

      • balloontree on 25/12/2021 - 09:18

        When is the next air coming out? At 1350 price point?

  • zoombie on 29/10/2021 - 11:18
    +2

    Mac are just so much more stable than Windows. I could open 20 tabs, a bunch of different programs, put the computer to sleep and resume work the next day and it felt just like where I left off. With Windows, even on high end machine, put the computer to sleep and waking it up again just makes the whole machine feels sluggish for some reason.

    • srhardy on 29/10/2021 - 11:41
      -2

      STABLE, clean install and uninstall… rock solid

      also batt life now and cool to the nuts, one I personally appreciate!

  • Payne on 29/10/2021 - 11:24
    -3

    Status.

    • srhardy on 29/10/2021 - 11:42

      given the relentless upgrade cycle, that can be expensive! Buy smart, its just the best tool for the job

  • Daabido on 29/10/2021 - 12:39

    With Monterey, resetting the computer for resale is now very easy on post 2018 Macs, like wiping an iPad clean.
    https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/clean-install-macos-montere…

  • Bystander on 29/10/2021 - 19:34
    +1

    "What Is The Apple MacBook Pro Good for?"

    As mentioned by others
    1. M1 chip is fast and power efficient
    2. Macs do last longer. My 11 yo Mac Mini is still going strong.
    3. Resale value is higher
    4. The OS is more intuitive than Windows

    On the downside Macs are way overpriced, always were (I used to work for Apple).

    Nowadays as yet another IT professional I use Chrome OS more than 90% of the time. Faster, more secure, simpler, and to top it off cheaper. In my experience once consumers start using a Chromebook it becomes their device of choice.

    • Karfaffel on 30/10/2021 - 13:03
      -1

      Unless they place any value whatsoever on privacy.

      • Bystander on 30/10/2021 - 14:43

        What does that mean?

        • Karfaffel on 30/10/2021 - 15:05
          -1

          It was a comment on your last sentence. Clearly if privacy is of any concern to someone it would not make any sense to use an OS by a company whose business model makes you the product.

          • Bystander on 30/10/2021 - 17:17

            @Karfaffel: Oh that.

            Well there's no difference in privacy between Chrome OS and Chrome browser and depending on which stats you use Chrome has between 65 and 69% market share. Obviously that includes users on other platforms such as Windows and Mac OS. So there's no advantage there in avoiding Chrome OS.

            Is Chrome less private than Safari or Chromium Edge? It's debateable. Is Chrome more private than fb? Absolutely positively YES! And look at how many people use that service.

            How to mitigate some privacy concerns in Chrome?
            I use Privacy Badger and Cookie AutoDelete. I set the default search engine to be DuckDuckGo.

            Anything else that you do to improve privacy?

  • MontyMacaw on 30/10/2021 - 09:04
    +2

    I was forced into the PC world because of the software way back in the dim dark 90’s and always felt Windows and its clunky operating system that gets so bloated so quickly was like driving with the brakes on after a few months use. When I moved to Macs it was like being able to drive the way I like when I like and the hardware just keeps going and the value stays there. A well looked after Apple computer is gonna last up to 10 years and still have some value second hand whereas a windows computer becomes a throw away item. The extra price you pay is only a factor up front but over time works out cheaper than windows systems and the software is no longer an issue. I want to get rid of my 2015 iMac and upgrade but it is still as good as the day I bought it so another few years and maybe then I will sell it get a new one. Only done one fresh reinstall since I’ve had it. Windows PCs need that once a year. Bite me!

    NB I’ve had to use Windows PCs for work and no matter how often there is a new version it is still inferior for productivity IMHO. The new upgrade for Mohave on my iMac dropped the running temperature by 10degrees too so Apple is finally looking after older machines because they realise useful second hand macs help sell new ones.

  • Hirolol on 30/10/2021 - 09:09
    +1

    Sell a 10 year old MacBook vs 10 year old windows laptop, if it has even lasted that long.

  • H4nd0 on 30/10/2021 - 10:55
    +2

    I purchased a 2020 M1 MBP around 6 months ago to replace my aging 2013 MBP. The upgrade to BigSur on that old model was not a good idea. I've got top-of-the-line Dell XPS and MSI Stealth laptops. M1 is a game-changer. Ultra lower power consumption ARM SoC. The 2020 M1 is easily the best laptop I have ever used in the past 35+ years I've been in computing. My first was an Osborne 1. My first Mac was a Lisa. All the macOS / Windows 11 / Linux stability discussion is a red herring. Get your M1, run Parallels, run Windows 11, and Ubuntu. Inside Windows 11 run Ubuntu too. The latest MBP M1X is even better. Fast as. Screencasting to Apple TV and iPad is great. You can run all your iPad apps on the MBP now plus all your regular productivity applications. I have one tablet app that I have to use for work that I run on the laptop now. Means I can ditch the tablet when on the road. In a nutshell:

    • M1 MBP easily the best laptop ever made right now - fantastic tech - touchpad is flawless
    • macOS BigSur / Monterey is a superb Mach kernel, NeXTSTEP / BSD derived OS for the Unix purists out there
    • Parallels 17 + Windows 11 for ARM allows you to work seamlessly in a combined Linux + Windows + macOS environment on your MBP - the lines are truly blurred
    • ARM64EC avoids all the issues with running legacy x64 code on ARM. Amazing Microsoft tech

    Downsides:

    • Cost - but you are buying Apple so expect a premium - it's the Tesla of the computing world
    • External ports - at least the 2021 MBP makes up for the sins of the 2020 model
    • No touch screen - but that will never happen as it will cannibalize iPad sales
    • Slightly lighter than my old Osborne 1 ;)

    https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2021/06/28/announ…
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_1
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lisa

    Other notes:

    • Dell XPS - I need to compile on native Intel silicon
    • MSI - plus I need to play CoD
    • Windows hate - never understood it. Great kernel and VMS derived OS. Bless Dave Cutler.
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Cutler
  • thegieche on 30/10/2021 - 11:09

    MacBook Pros are really good for software development too. They’re overkill for front end web dev but backend, distributed systems and data science work all benefit.

    Other than the 2016-era ones with the touch bar and terrible keyboard, they’ve been really reliable in my experience. That’s very useful when the machine is used for making money.

    They’re still the only laptops I’ve tried where they touchpad is actually usable. The screen on them is also great, although other laptops are competitive there. Nothing else comes close to the recent MBPs in battery life. The main things I don’t like are recent Mac OS releases seem to be more and more buggy, and window management without using 3rd party tools is crap in comparison to Windows.

    Is that worth the cost if you’re just doing web browsing and a bit of web dev? I’d say no.

  • pjcook on 30/10/2021 - 16:18

    If you have to ask you are not the buyer the MacBook Pro is aimed at.

  • branners on 02/01/2022 - 11:09

    Some good thoughts from Mac and non-Mac users.
    It's a bit like phones. My wife has had iPhones for years and she runs rings around me using that, or her iPad.
    On the other hand, she has not a clue on how to use my Samsung (which suits me just fine…)

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