Hi,
After one year waiting, apple finally release new macbook pro m2 14 model, however, online review claim not significant improvement compared to predecessor model (m1 14 16 RAM base), so how about M1 14 32RAM model vs new one M2 base model, price tag i can see very similar. I don't do gaming, but sometimes do photoshop, editing etc.
my current one is 2017 macbook pro base model, so it's time to upgrade.
Thanks
thanks, i am currently using 8G RAM, every time i use Zoom. team, fan starts spinning so hard and heat, i noticed when opening adobe cc, e.g. express, struggling to render etc.
I have an M1 Pro with 16GB - I'm on zoom all day and never hear the fan and the laptop stays nice and cool.
My older Intel Mac, even with 16GB would get really hot on zoom..
So whichever option you go, it will be a big improvement on your 2017.
Personally I'd go the extra RAM over a slightly updated processor.
You probably won't notice a real world difference between M1 and M2 for light tasks. You will notice RAM difference and wallet difference.
thanks, both price still different, but very close, so can't decide which one is better
The Lowest SSD is also a cheaper/slower variant. Most recommend going one tier up in Storage. But definitely you should get as much RAM as possible. You can't add more Memory later, but you can expand Storage with SD Cards, USB drives, and even fast ThunderBolt drives.
Also have a look at the specs when it comes to the iGPU count, that makes the biggest difference. There's less difference with the CPU counts. And an even smaller difference when comparing the M1 generation to the M2.
So prioritise in this order:
- Price
- GPU count
- RAM size
- CPU count
- Generation (New M2 vs Used M1)
- SSD size
What are you using it for? If After Effects you may appreciate more storage and RAM space than performance when these are already quite performant.
probably illustrator, Photoshop, some video editing( bought dji drone before) as hobby, but would also like to other adobo products, rendering, most of opening multiple sites for searching info, Zoom/ Team meetings etc
I found even base M1 is good enough for Illustrator and Photoshop. A lot of power in these ARM chips. My biggest issue is running out of storage on 256GB. Also render time on base M1 isn't great in After Effects, I should have waited for the M1 Pro.
mine 2017 mac has 256GB also, i think 256G is just enough, and external SSD is a quick option. However, i haven't installed many programs (MS +some cc programs), but now feel 8RAM is absolute not enough, definitely needs go to 16RAM, however, just not sure if needs 32Ram also, as next update probably after 5 years ..
@coast666: 8GB of M series unified RAM is effectively more than 8GB of old fashioned RAM on Intel Macs. But yeah you should get 16GB anyway, especially if you like to use all the Adobe apps at the same time.
@AustriaBargain: It's effectively less RAM if your old Mac has a discrete GPU as the entire VRAM usage is now also contained within the unified memory. Whist there are some reductions in memory usage/footprint on native applications I honestly didn't notice that much of a difference.
@coast666: If your next update is in 5 years, you should consider 32GB. I got a 16GB M1 PRO and I regret not taking 32. RAM fills up really fast even though the memory management is amazing. I never hear the fan spinning and CPU doesn't throttle but my browser tabs often reload by themselves when I do some heavy tasks.
As a refresher:
A14: 2+4 CPU, 4 gpu, 4GB/6GB (great for iPhone)
A15: 2+4 CPU, 5 gpu, 4GB/6GB (great for iPad Mini)
M1: 4+4 CPU, 7/8 gpu, 8GB/16GB (great for iPad Pro)
M2: 4+4 CPU, 8/10 gpu, 8GB/16GB/24GB (great for Macbook Air)
M1p: 6+2 CPU, 14 gpu, 16GB/32GB (meh)
M2p: 6+4 CPU, 16 gpu, 16GB/32GB (great for Mac Mini PC)
M1P: 8+2 CPU, 14/16 gpu, 16GB/32GB (great for 14in MBP)
M2P: 8+4 CPU, 16/19 gpu, 16GB/32GB (meh)
M1X: 8+2 CPU, 24/32 gpu, 32GB/64GB (meh)
M2X: 8+4 CPU, 30/38 gpu, 32GB/64GB/96GB (great for 16in MBP)
M1U: 16+4 CPU, 48/64 gpu, 64GB/128GB (great for MacStudio)
M2U: unannounced
Justification:
For iPhones, the A14-Bionic chipset is good enough. There's nothing to warrant the A15. It is "more efficient" when talking about the top-end performance which is rare for most users.
The iPad Mini does have an A15 option, and its worth picking up. You don't get much options with this model.
The iPad Pro comes with many options, but the base model M1 is fine. It's expected to be supported for a long time, and the M2 doesn't really offer any tangible upgrades. There's not much in iPadOS to take advantage of the M1 let alone the pricier M2.
For the Macbook Air, the upgrade to M2 is more justified due to macOS. This is still a passively cooled device so you're going to hit thermal limits. Street Price between the two is negligible.
For the M2p chipset, I can't justify it anywhere, except the Mac Mini. It's not available on the MBP-13inch which looks like it will be discontinued. The Mac Mini has direct power with a higher thermal limit to allow it to take advantage of that extra performance. The downside is the price, you are getting x3 more performance but you are paying x2 more money.
For the MacBook Pro-14 you go for the M1P chipset. You have a decent thermal headroom, but it does start throttling when going even further beyond. The performance uplift comes with battery hit, like we see with the Macbook Air. So the extra price is not justified here.
For the MacBook Pro-16 get the M2X. This is an expensive device, so it is for a different type of buyer where budgets are more flexible. Here it's worth getting the upgrade. The device has good active cooling and won't throttle.
For the MacStudio, you only have the one option with the M1U chipset. There's somewhat of a performance difference from the Base Model to the Best Model. Overall it is overpriced elite Apple status workhorse, and attracts "money is no object" crowd. The new M2 chipsets have extra-coprocessors which help with video encoding and decoding, useful for professional work. In some cases, the M2X chipset is actually slightly faster than the M1U. So personally I would wait for the M2U variant but there is no telling if that will be announced soon, if ever. Also the M3-family of chips which is to be based on a new architecture and a new lithography, they should give a substantial boost to battery life and performance. But that won't be out until 1-2 years, so it's not a factor for making decisions now.
I would recommend you go for the extra ram over the M2 upgrade - I have the 32GB M1 14" and it's insanely fast - If you are not running anything that is going to hammer the GPU there is no need for the M2 but the extra ram is always going to be useful.