Waiting for and/or enjoying my M1 Pro/Max MBP thread…

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I feel sorta tempted to get a 16" because I think the screen could really be helpful for work. A few questions came up recently:

1. I'm wondering how the lowest light setting compares to the old MBP/MBAs? I've been historically having to cut the extra light emission using Flux when I use the machine in the bedroom.

2. How fast is the SSD on these machines? I had a difficult time finding benchmarks on this.

3. Any opinion about the speakers? All I need them for is to play some Miles Davis in my office without distortio when I feel like it. My MBA can't do that really... These web reviews sometimes have these ridiculous expectations for small form speakers to defy physics.

4. Any concerns re the touch pad. Some claimed the touch pads were different compared to the 2020 series?!
 
Cmaier

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P_X said:
I feel sorta tempted to get a 16" because I think the screen could really be helpful for work. A few questions came up recently:

1. I'm wondering how the lowest light setting compares to the old MBP/MBAs? I've been historically having to cut the extra light emission using Flux when I use the machine in the bedroom.

2. How fast is the SSD on these machines? I had a difficult time finding benchmarks on this.

3. Any opinion about the speakers? All I need them for is to play some Miles Davis in my office without distortio when I feel like it. My MBA can't do that really... These web reviews sometimes have these ridiculous expectations for small form speakers to defy physics.

4. Any concerns re the touch pad. Some claimed the touch pads were different compared to the 2020 series?!
Click to expand...

Seems to me that the lowest light setting is approximately the same as the lowest on my 2016 15” MBP, but the contrast is much better at that setting because the screen is black and not a dull gray.

As for the SSD, it’s faster than any other Mac afaik, but I didn’t benchmark it.

The speakers are definitely the best ever on a MacBook. It actually sounds like a decent low end bookshelf speaker.

Touchpad is fine - no difference at all from 2016MBP, 2018MB, or 2020MBA that I can tell.
 
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Cmaier said:
Seems to me that the lowest light setting is approximately the same as the lowest on my 2016 15” MBP, but the contrast is much better at that setting because the screen is black and not a dull gray.

As for the SSD, it’s faster than any other Mac afaik, but I didn’t benchmark it.

The speakers are definitely the best ever on a MacBook. It actually sounds like a decent low end bookshelf speaker.

Touchpad is fine - no difference at all from 2016MBP, 2018MB, or 2020MBA that I can tell.
Click to expand...
Thanks! This all make sense. I'm getting increasingly frustrated about the quality of reviews lately, but maybe it's just me using DuckDuckGo and not Google with "inferior" search results.


I've had a 2017 "15 for work and it felt too big, but TBH with my kids around I no longer can get work done off my couch, so I doubt size would make a difference anymore.
 
Cmaier

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P_X said:
Thanks! This all make sense. I'm getting increasingly frustrated about the quality of reviews lately, but maybe it's just me using DuckDuckGo and not Google with "inferior" search results.


I've had a 2017 "15 for work and it felt too big, but TBH with my kids around I no longer can get work done off my couch, so I doubt size would make a difference anymore.
Click to expand...
Coming from the 2016 15”, the 2021 16” is definitely much bigger and heavier. Reminds me of the old 17”, though not quite as big and heavy.
 
chengengaun

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P_X said:
2. How fast is the SSD on these machines? I had a difficult time finding benchmarks on this.
Click to expand...
There's a summary of SSD speed for the various capacity at the other place. The read/write speeds are above 5,000MB/s except for the base 14" model, I think.

3. Any opinion about the speakers? All I need them for is to play some Miles Davis in my office without distortio when I feel like it. My MBA can't do that really... These web reviews sometimes have these ridiculous expectations for small form speakers to defy physics.
Click to expand...
The speakers are really good. I use it to listen to classical music without distortion. The low-frequency bass coming from these small speakers is remarkable.

4. Any concerns re the touch pad. Some claimed the touch pads were different compared to the 2020 series?!
Click to expand...
The touch pad is again fine and I do not feel any difference between the new one and the previous models.
 
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chengengaun said:
There's a summary of SSD speed for the various capacity at the other place. The read/write speeds are above 5,000MB/s except for the base 14" model, I think.
Click to expand...
Insane!!! I think i'll pass on the 32Gb RAM then. This SSD is probably faster than RAM few years ago (ignoring latency), so I'll just get a 2TB machine.

chengengaun said:
The speakers are really good. I use it to listen to classical music without distortion. The low-frequency bass coming from these small speakers is remarkable.
Click to expand...
This I'd be happy about.

chengengaun said:
The touch pad is again fine and I do not feel any difference between the new one and the previous models.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I have no idea why people said it is different.


Cmaier said:
Coming from the 2016 15”, the 2021 16” is definitely much bigger and heavier. Reminds me of the old 17”, though not quite as big and heavy.
Click to expand...
The 17" takes me back to some exciting times. That was one remarkable machine...and huge, LOL. I'll probably have to go with 14".


Thank you all, this has been very helpful figuring things out.
 
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P_X said:
Insane!!! I think i'll pass on the 32Gb RAM then. This SSD is probably faster than RAM few years ago (ignoring latency), so I'll just get a 2TB machine.


This I'd be happy about.


Thanks. I have no idea why people said it is different.



The 17" takes me back to some exciting times. That was one remarkable machine...and huge, LOL. I'll probably have to go with 14".


Thank you all, this has been very helpful figuring things out.
Click to expand...
The screen on the 16 is great. Unless you’re going to travel with it all the time, I think it’s worth the little bit of extra weight; it’s not huge like the old 17. The trackpad might have a slightly stronger force-touch? I’ve got the 16” Intel from work to compare it, and I can actually hear the force touch on the new 16”. The screen looks brighter and clearer to my eyes. It doesn’t keep your lap warm like the Intel one.
 
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SuperMatt said:
The screen on the 16 is great. Unless you’re going to travel with it all the time, I think it’s worth the little bit of extra weight; it’s not huge like the old 17.
Click to expand...
It's a dilemma... In the past, I used to be the most prolific on trips, I can finish a writing a full paper, a poster, or read a novel on a transatlantic flight. So even if trips happened every few months only, these were absolute homeruns and this is why I got a 13" MBA. But with kids, the only realistic expectation is stay sane.

SuperMatt said:
The trackpad might have a slightly stronger force-touch? I’ve got the 16” Intel from work to compare it, and I can actually hear the force touch on the new 16”. The screen looks brighter and clearer to my eyes. It doesn’t keep your lap warm like the Intel one.
Click to expand...
I hated the first iterations of force touch as I was using the mechanical one on my 2014 MBP until 2020. I had a 15" 2017 from work and I disliked it, but I think the 2020MBA's (virtual) travel may be a little deeper. The physical touchpad was better for drag and drop used concurrently with 3-finger gestures. I'm also baffled that PowerPoint is the only software I use that uses the feedback feature of the touchpad.
 
Nycturne

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P_X said:
The 17" takes me back to some exciting times. That was one remarkable machine...and huge, LOL. I'll probably have to go with 14".
Click to expand...

Just to add, this machine is more like the 2015 15” MBP in size than the old 17”. A little thinner, a little less wide, but a little deeper than the 2015.
 
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Though I'm 100% satisfied with my M1 MBA, the 14" MBP sure is tempting. Especially as I seem to be LR processing photos a lot more lately with my MBA, and a step up in display would be nice. The better sound would also be a nice plus.

Speaking of touchpads... Apple certainly nailed that with their haptics. Every great once in a while I look at it when pressing just to see if can catch it moving. :)
 
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Cmaier said:
Coming from the 2016 15”, the 2021 16” is definitely much bigger and heavier. Reminds me of the old 17”, though not quite as big and heavy.
Click to expand...
My mom had a 17" G4 back in the day. Seems to me that that one had the speakers on the sides as well. Personally, I would prefer they make the keys a mm smaller to squeeze a keypad in, and maybe move the speakers down or something. Or at least offer a wide keyboard option.
 
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citypix said:
Speaking of touchpads... Apple certainly nailed that with their haptics. Every great once in a while I look at it when pressing just to see if can catch it moving. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have to agree on this. While I’m not a fan of the deeper force press (and turn it off), every time I have to use a Windows laptop, I keep getting reminded just how good Apple’s trackpads are.

Considering Apple has been selling them this way since 2015 (and still had industry leading designs before that), I’m surprised that I haven’t found a competitor in the same ballpark yet.
 
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Agent47 said:
Seems the Dutch are done with Lara. Its now the East Germans (Leipzig) playing her. Tracking still claims it‘ll be delivered tomorrow which would be surprising. Fingers crossed
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Wir haben Ihren Computer und wir spielen gern mit er. Sie können ihn haben nur wann wir sagen Sie ihn haben können.
 
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Cmaier said:
Wir haben Ihren Computer und wir spielen gern mit er. Sie können ihn haben nur wann wir sagen Sie ihn haben können.
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Zusätzlich, Lara Croft ist geil.
- Herzlichen Glückwunsch. Die Zoll Volk

(or something like this)
 
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