Apple's MacBook Pro Models Get a Redesign, New Chips and MagSafe Charging (techcrunch.com) 180
Apple just dropped a new version of the MacBook Pro that draws a much clearer line between the system and its perennial favorite thin-and-light sibling. From a report: The new system is powered by the new M1 Pro and Max, souped up versions of the chip the company unveiled at today's event. The company says the 10-core chip is capable of allowing up to 3x the memory bandwidth and up to of the M1, coupled with a 16 core GPU. The Max, meanwhile, bumps the GPU up to 32 cores. What's clear is that the company is targeting its bread and butter creative pro demographic in ways it didn't with last year's models. Unlike last year's model, the new models, which are available in 14- and 16-inch models offer entirely new redesigns. They also feature built-in fans for high-performance applications, though the company says it will rarely turn on. The system also marks the end of the middling-received Touchbar, with a full function key in its place.
As one feature leaves, an old favorite returns. Magsafe is back. The third-gen charger sports a proprietary port, but users will be able to continue charging via the Thunderbolt/USB-C ports. And, yes, this thing has ports. Three thunderbolt 4, HDMI and an SDXC card slot, to be exact. The bezel has been reduced, instead opting for an iPhone-style notch at the top to house the webcam. The camera has -- thankfully -- been upgraded for these teleconferencing days at 1080p (no 4k, sadly, but an improvement over the long-standing model) with a larger sensor and wider aperture. The 14-inch starts at $1,999, while the 16-inch runs $2,499. The Max version of the M1 is available as an upgrade, adding an additional $200 for the 24-core GPU and $400 for the 36-core version.
As one feature leaves, an old favorite returns. Magsafe is back. The third-gen charger sports a proprietary port, but users will be able to continue charging via the Thunderbolt/USB-C ports. And, yes, this thing has ports. Three thunderbolt 4, HDMI and an SDXC card slot, to be exact. The bezel has been reduced, instead opting for an iPhone-style notch at the top to house the webcam. The camera has -- thankfully -- been upgraded for these teleconferencing days at 1080p (no 4k, sadly, but an improvement over the long-standing model) with a larger sensor and wider aperture. The 14-inch starts at $1,999, while the 16-inch runs $2,499. The Max version of the M1 is available as an upgrade, adding an additional $200 for the 24-core GPU and $400 for the 36-core version.
So much for Humdrum Refreshes (Score:5, Interesting)
Sounds like Apple has listened to a large extent!
Pretty stellar update, IMHO. The performance is simply outstanding; particularly considering the battery life.
Now cue the haters regarding âoeNotchbookâ. Those will be the same people that whined about âoeBig Bezels!â For the past years.
Well, you canâ(TM)t really have both.
Re:So much for Humdrum Refreshes (Score:5, Insightful)
Those will be the same people that whined about âoeBig Bezels!â For the past years. Well, you canâ(TM)t really have both.
They might be different people. The internet is big.
Re: (Score:2)
Does it support multiple displays?
Four external screens with no dongle, so 5 screens total. That's what they said.
Re: (Score:2)
Does it support multiple displays? Why I have held onto my 2017.
Yes up to four, depending on the model.
Re: (Score:2)
Oddly, no other laptop manufacturer has had a problem with fitting a camera in the bezel, and having to carve a notch into the display. They manage it quite nicely. Granted it may not be a 1080p camera, but does everyone really need 1080p cameras for shitty Zoom calls that can't plug in a USB camera that will still be better?
Re: So much for Humdrum Refreshes (Score:2)
Oddly, no other laptop manufacturer has had a problem with fitting a camera in the bezel, and having to carve a notch into the display. They manage it quite nicely. Granted it may not be a 1080p camera, but does everyone really need 1080p cameras for shitty Zoom calls that can't plug in a USB camera that will still be better?
â¦and there it is, right on cue!
YEARS of bitching about the 720p camera. Years!
Now they listened, put in a nice 1080p camera with a decent image sensor (they claim 2X better low-light performance). Great!
Now, here come the complaints saying "Who needs a 1080p camera?"
Make up your fucking minds!
Re: (Score:2)
The old camera really did suck. Especially in a room that didn't have particularly good light. Although, the earlier M1 laptops supposedly did some tricks with the GPU cores that improved image quality, even though the glass was essentially the same. I haven't personally verified that, though.
But I agree ... "who needs a 1080p camera" for "shitty Zoom calls"? My dude, do you have have a job? Where have you been for the last 18 months?
Re: (Score:2)
I have never bitched about the camera built into any of the the Macbook Pros I have been given to use at work. And why would I? It's a damn webcam, and on the rare occasions it gets used, it's for tele-meetings where the image quality is of no importance to me. 1080p? Low light performance? Sorry; don't care. Video in those meetings is a distracting nuisance anyway when there are more than a handful of people involved. I'd much rather have the old camera and not have a notch. Actually, I'd be perfectly fine
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Since the bezel only impacts the menu bar
See that little round green button, third from the left at the top of your application's window? Click it to go into full-screen mode and look for your menu bar.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I seriously doubt they are considering it's extremely rare I hear any complaints about bezel sizes. I don't think I've heard a single complaint in the last ten years about any bezels, let alone Apple's.
Also I know there's only been one laptop, a Dell Lattitude from 2011, I ever felt had too enormous a bezel, and I've never publicly complained about it, and I think the notch is a fucking stupid idea.
The Notch ONLY intrudes into the Menubar area! It doesn't affect content at all!
Apple actually thought this through.
Re: (Score:2)
So Apple have been wasting all that space for years!
Took them long enough to think it through,
I think you forgot the Sarcasm Tag.
Re: (Score:2)
It usually comes up in reviews because other laptops have been reducing the bezels for years. Apple was an outlier in the mid range.
Re: (Score:2)
I seriously doubt they are considering it's extremely rare I hear any complaints about bezel sizes. I don't think I've heard a single complaint in the last ten years about any bezels, let alone Apple's.
Liar.
It has been a rather regular bitch around here for at least half a decade.
Re: (Score:2)
Huge screen update, more plugs, a stupid notch, and $1000 more while ignoring the 13" which is already a year old. The 13" is now basically an air and the pro is pro again?
What in the fuck is Apple doing over there?
Innovating.
What's everyone else doing?
So goodbye intel (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You definitely can via 3rd party retailers (http://gravis.de). No idea if you can via Apple itself. Did not find it with a quick glance.
Interesting, similar i/ and i9 (similar as in size of RAM and SSD) cost _significantly_ more then this two new models.
Re: So goodbye intel (Score:2)
Interesting, similar i/ and i9 (similar as in size of RAM and SSD) cost _significantly_ more then this two new models.
So, in other words, an Apple Tax Rebate!!!
"drop"? (Score:2, Troll)
Does that mean they're not selling it anymore?
Seriously, slang like that (especially slang that makes no sense) doesn't really belong in the summary.
Re: (Score:2)
Bro the scheduled refresh that's been on my calendar for a year just dropped fr no cap shit's :fire: pog
Re: (Score:2)
Does that mean they're not selling it anymore?
Seriously, slang like that (especially slang that makes no sense) doesn't really belong in the summary.
Yea, /. editors often forget a large part of the /. audience was born during the civil war and doesn't keep up with the slang the kids use these days.
Curious choice: 3x USB-C (Score:2)
I guess 99% of us would prefer having one USB-A and two USB-C. I also bet most people will never use more than 1 USB-C at the same time, and the most common use will be charging.
Re: (Score:3)
And it should have a floppy drive and a parallel port too...
Re: (Score:2)
yeah right, nobody uses thumb drive, USB keyboards, mouse, printers. Or they all moved to USB-C, right?
Re: (Score:2)
Oh yeah, I'm sure you'll throw away all your perfectly working USB-A thumb drives and purchase new USB-C ones (which may even cost more). But I was talking about that time someone gives you his USB thumb drive and about that "sorry, I didn't bring my adapter" moment, at which I am sure you'll have 3 different USB-C devices connected at the same time, right?
I just don't see any downside of having only 2 USB-C ports instead of 3 (especially since you'll be charging through that proprietary port anyways). I se
Re: (Score:2)
A single USB A port would mean no dongle required 90% of the time. Then again, no opportunity to sell people USB C versions of things they already own.
Re: (Score:2)
Gee... why does all this whinging sound so familiar?
"A single ADB port would...."
"A single SCSI port would...."
"A single RS-422 port would...."
Re: Curious choice: 3x USB-C (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I see your point, but floppies were already showing their age long before the iMac dropped the floppy drive.
Boy, you sure wouldn't have guessed it from all the pearl-clutching and hand-wringing in the tech-press at the time.
From the sublime to the ridiculous (Score:5, Informative)
Magsafe, SD, HDMI are great additions, and a big improvement on previous models.
But the notch: WTF? This will be smack in the middle of the fucking menu bar, a place that's occupied regularly on my 16" MBP screen, let alone a 13". A screen should be a fully usable rectangle.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Are you running Big Sur?
It collapses several menu bar items into the Control Center, which can free up a good chunk of the menu bar.
Re: (Score:2)
Alternatively, Bartender is great.
But I'm also one of those folks who has a menu bar that is halfway filled with icons, and that's even with Bartender being used to hide a huge number of icons. That said, my 13" MacBook Air is usually being used with two 27" 1440p monitors, so the fact that the icons fill half the 13" screen don't really bother me in the least, especially so since I never see them there (my laptop's screen is just a fullscreen Slack viewer for me).
Re: (Score:2)
It's a very weird flex for Apple to celebrate bringing back the ports they took away.
The notch is an interesting choice. Most non-Apple phones have moved to off centre punch holes. They are less annoying because they can be hidden out of the way by simply moving whatever normally goes in the corner over a bit.
Could be difficult to put a cover over this notch.
Re: (Score:3)
But the notch: WTF? This will be smack in the middle of the fucking menu bar, a place that's occupied regularly on my 16" MBP screen, let alone a 13".
The notch will be smack dab in the middle of space that is currently 100% unusably occupied by a black bezel. Until under-screen cameras are commercially viable in these sorts of products, we can't have it both ways: we either get a notch or a thick bezel.
Because it sounds like you're in Camp Thick Bezel, you may be happy to hear that when you go fullscreen with your apps the OS will black out the space to either side of the notch so that it seemingly disappears, effectively causing it to look the way it do
Dropping the screen? (Score:2)
I wonder how long it's going to take before someone hacks the display driver to drop the top of the screen to just below the notch so that we won't have to watch its ugliness.
Notch, ports disappearing and coming back, and there now being "M1 Max Macs" (Max^2 ??) sound like some major trolling on Apple's part now.
Re: Dropping the screen? (Score:3)
I wonder how long it's going to take before someone hacks the display driver to drop the top of the screen to just below the notch so that we won't have to watch its ugliness
Watch the Keynote. Apple already did that.
Re: (Score:2)
From what I understood, the areas on the side of the notch are "macOS only" for menus and such. And in dark mode, you don't really see it anymore since it's the same height as the menu bar.
I still hope there's no notch and more usable ports on the next MacBook Air, though.
Re: (Score:2)
From what I understood, the areas on the side of the notch are "macOS only" for menus and such. And in dark mode, you don't really see it anymore since it's the same height as the menu bar.
I still hope there's no notch and more usable ports on the next MacBook Air, though.
There are 3 TB4 Ports, a dedicated HDMI Port, an SD Card Slot, and the coveted MagSafe Port and acbeadphone Jack. The last generation had 4 TB 3 Ports and a Headphone Port.
I'd say this is quite an improvement!
Day 1 buy for me (Score:2)
I've been using a 2010 macbook pro since it can out and the situation has gotten pretty dire. I'd been holding off because everything Apple put out had some issue (too slow, not enough RAM, touchbar, etc.) but this generation of Apple laptops caught me hook line and sinker. First time in years that it's been possible to buy a no-compromises Apple laptop (well I'd argue trading a thunderbolt port for an HDMI port is a compromise, but 3 is probably enough for me).
Notch? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'd rather have a bigger bezel than a hole in the screen for a webcam.
I thought the same thing but whatever. That spot in the menu bar goes unused for a great many people, and unless people use a great many full screen apps it's unused pixels. I don't much care either way but if asked on it I'd say leave the notch out of the screen and add those few extra millimeters to the size of the bezel.
There's a lot to like about this laptop... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
They are as repairable as any other laptop.
Or do you mean: repair by yourself?
My 2014 MacBock air got a new Keyboard, new battery, and because they thought they damaged the screen during repairs, they replaced the screen. It looks like brand new and feels like brand new.
Like every 7 - 15 year old Mac - You are just an idiot. Like so often.
Ah, and it got two new fans.
Sticker shock - $3500 starting price?!?! (Score:2)
I was naive enough to hope that dropping the touchbar and introducing their own silicon would contain costs, not hike them. That was foolish of me.
Still missing one very important design feature (Score:3)
Where are the damn FULL-SIZE arrow keys!
No programmer worth that title can use those tiny half-size arrow keys!
Once again, design over function because full-size arrow keys would break the "all the keys make a rectangle" design part.
Re: (Score:2)
The arrow keys are the same like always. I'm pretty used to them.
If I have a laptop with bigger ones, or different arrangement, I make many mistakes.
I guess for you it is just the other way around. A bit more annoying, atm you can not buy them with a mixed Thai/US keyboard :(
Max upgrade comes with 32GB (Score:2)
Saw that when I ordered my 14â minutes after the keynote, was planning for the m1 pro (which to be honest is sufficient for me) with 32gb but decided to go for the m1 max then. Delivery next week!
Still no touch screen! (Score:2)
What are they thinking? I tried going without for a few weeks, and it was like coming home when I went back to touch.
And not full 4k? I mean, do hd, 2k, or 4k. Don't go 3/4 of the way there then drop the damn ball.
Re: MBP 16" M1 Max, 64 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Does it run Linux?
Re: MBP 16" M1 Max, 64 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD (Score:2)
Does it run Linux?
ARM Linux, yes.
Re: (Score:2)
The native ports are... not quite tech demos.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes and no.
The earlier M1 chip based MacBooks and Mac Mini run Linux.
So I guess for this one it is only a matter of time. What I'm sceptical about at the moment is if they have decent hypervisor based VM support. As I would love to run Linux in a VM. I mean a native VM, not an x86 "interpreter".
Re: (Score:2)
The earlier M1 chip based MacBooks and Mac Mini run Linux.
Not really.
I have an M1 MacBook.
You can virtualize, of course, but natively, you can't really run Linux on them. You can boot it, but none of the peripherals will work.
Re: (Score:2)
You can boot it, but none of the peripherals will work. :(
That should have changed meanwhile. Linux 5.13 should at least run so far that it is useable. Hm, seems they are focusing on the Mini atm, probably we have bad luck for a while
https://github.com/AsahiLinux/... [github.com]
Re: (Score:2)
I've done a few test installs.
Graphics are unaccelerated, so framebuffer is mind bogglingly slow at full resolution, and no wifi.
Re: (Score:2)
The best hope would be that Apple themselves offer a decent VM/hypervisor.
I think Parallels runs, but I doubt they run native ARM linux, but a x86 one - with all the side effects.
Re: (Score:2)
The best hope would be that Apple themselves offer a decent VM/hypervisor.
They do, actually!
HVF, it's called... for I assume "Hypervisor Framework" or some such.
QEMU supports it (you can build from Homebrew), and so does UTM (Just a pretty wrapper around QEMU, with all the hard work of building virgl+HVF support done for you
I think Parallels runs, but I doubt they run native ARM linux, but a x86 one - with all the side effects.
Parallels and QEMU+HVF both run native ARM64 binaries via HVF. x86 has to be emulated (which is sad- I'd love to see Rosetta2 operating in the HVF layer so we could have mostly-peppy x86 virts too)
Less and More (Score:2)
$4,299 + $400 AppleCare
Interestingly you have the option of doing a $99 per year AppleCare for as long as you like, so it's cheaper up-front, more expensive long term but it would take care of issues that might crop up on laptop after four years...
AppleCare for the 16" model is $149/year though!
Re: (Score:2)
It's on-package RAM. I don't know why you'd expect that to be cheap. If we're honest, this is smaller rip-off than their RAM normally is, since you could very often buy it from a third-party vendor.
Re: (Score:2)
On the contrary. Apple can charge much more this time, since you can't go shop elsewhere.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The RAM with that bandwidth you can not get anywhere. Perhaps in Supercomputers/Mainframes. But not in a laptop.
If you do not need a Mac for your work: fine for you.
But Mac hating is so childish ....
Re: They "notched" the screen (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: They "notched" the screen (Score:2)
Instead of giving me a notch out of the screen to placate the webcam, let the webcam protrude from the top.
They have arranged it so the only thing that is "protruded upon" is the Menu Bar. Content stays below the notch.
And if you run the Menu Bar in Dark Mode (actually, black), you can't even see it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And if you have something in a full screen mode where the menu bar is hidden but you still get a title bar, now there is a notch in the middle of the label in the title bar. I had a Dell laptop, from the days before webcams were standard, that did what I suggest with a protruding webcam tab. It was nice, a lot nicer than having a notch in the screen.
Have you even watched the Keynote? I think not.
If you had, you'd probably realize how stupid you sound.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Not as stupid as people defending notched screens.
It's not actually a Notch, since User Content NEVER appears in that space, even in Full Screen mode.
The only thing that appears in the same vertical space as the "Notch" is the macOS Menubar.
Since macOS has always had a Menubar at the top of the screen, they are in a very unique UI position to take advantage of that vertical space without intruding on User Content area! This is in stark contrast to iOS, where the Notch really is kind of a PITA, UI-wise.
World of Difference.
Re: (Score:2)
I'll be curious to if applications properly render menus around the thing - if you open Xcode or Photoshop, which have 8+ menus on the bar, does it slide to the right of the notch? I would think that this would drive visual designers fucking crazy, but I'm not one.
Re: They "notched" the screen (Score:2)
I'll be curious to if applications properly render menus around the thing - if you open Xcode or Photoshop, which have 8+ menus on the bar, does it slide to the right of the notch? I would think that this would drive visual designers fucking crazy, but I'm not one.
You call the API, it adds/removes your Menu(s). It has worked that way since The 128k Toaster Mac.
You don't paint your own Menus. The Menu Manager handles that.
Re: (Score:2)
I bought an M1 Macbook Air for my wife last year. It is as fast as my i5-10600 XPS but weight half as much and last all day on one charge, for approx the same price. I would trade my XPS for a MBA any day if Linux was reasonably optimized for it., so chances are your ryzen powered thinkpads don't come close to that deal either.
As for the notch, I don't see what the big deal is. They decided to cram more pixels on the right and left of the cam, so what? You want less pixels now? In full screen those pixels w
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Great until the notch. (Score:2)
The notch lives ABOVE the screen-content; in an area that the Menu Bar now occupies.
Re: (Score:2)
Hmm, if in full-screen mode that part of the screen is blocked out, I would not be against it. My aversion is fuelled by the fact I had to spend a lot of time modifying my full screen iphone apps, because those tiny screen areas around the notch were part of the logical screen and thus part of my app was not visible.
Re: (Score:3)
Hmm, if in full-screen mode that part of the screen is blocked out, I would not be against it. My aversion is fuelled by the fact I had to spend a lot of time modifying my full screen iphone apps, because those tiny screen areas around the notch were part of the logical screen and thus part of my app was not visible.
As SuperKendall pointed out, Application Windows don't intrude into the Notch region. The only thing up there is Menubar.
As he said, think of it as getting the Menubar area "for free".
Face it. They thought this through pretty thoroughly.
Re: (Score:2)
Then they added a fucking notch on the screen. I do use full screen mode depending on the app - thankyouverymuch - which makes it annoying, never mind the occasional movie watching.
Nope. macOS blacks out the pixels to either side of the notch when it's in fullscreen [macrumors.com], leaving behind a standard 16:10 display that packs more pixels than the previous MacBook Pro models (which also had 16:10 displays). More or less, it looks like the same black bezel as before when you're in fullscreen, so it's no more annoying than it is today, but when you aren't in fullscreen you get an extra 74 pixels to each side of the notch that previously weren't there.
In other words, the tops of heads won't be get
Re: (Score:2)
Your cheaper PC laptop does not even come close to the performance
Ya, it does.
battery runtime
Right there. Nowhere even fucking close.
or features of these laptops.
Not sure what that means. About the same, really.
The battery life + performance for that amount of battery life was enough to compel me to get an M1 MacBook Air for work when I'm on the move.
I still have a workhorse ASUS that I use and love, but the MacBook is pretty close performance wise, has no fan, and has insane battery life while actually being used.
For those reasons... I just placed my order for my new 64GB MacBook Pro. It'll be nice to finally
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Complete form over function.
Those things really were piles of shit.
The M1 machines are much nicer. My 16GB M1 just about keeps up with my i9-9980HK (ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo)... and its battery really does last for what seems fucking forever.
They've finally managed to find some processing hardware that actually fits within their design envelope.
Re: (Score:2)
They've finally managed to find some processing hardware that actually fits within their design envelope.
Find?!?
You mean Designed
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Touchbar (Score:2)
Touchbar would be great... in addition to function keys. But not to replace them. At least not for most professionals using actual productivity software.
I always got the feeling that the Touchbar was kind of a high-cost component for Apple.
At least they actually listened to all the complaints about it.
I thought it was kinda cool; but, as a Dev, I understand the desire for Fn keys, tooâ¦
Re: (Score:2)
Touchbar would be great... in addition to function keys. But not to replace them. At least not for most professionals using actual productivity software.
That's the part Apple keeps fucking up on, and I don't understand why.
The Touchbar is an awesome fucking idea. As a function key replacement? It's complete shit.
Re: Touchbar (Score:2)
Touchbars on my office and personal Macs. I seldom touch them where I don't want to go throw something 'cuz I've fucked up.
The Touchbar is the chrome tits on a car with too much chrome already.
Re: (Score:2)
The Touchbar is the chrome tits on a car with too much chrome already.
I have an ASUS with a second screen above the keyboard. 3840x1080 (4K/2?)
Like the Touchbar, I think it's an awesome idea... but ultimately, finding a function that it's actually good at is pretty difficult.
Ultimately, since they didn't do something as fucking boneheaded as replacing the function keys with it, if I don't use it... it just sits there out of the way and minds its own business.
Re: (Score:2)
The touchbar was a high-cost option that never was used for anything that regular function keys can't do outside of some very narrow edge cases. It was an interesting idea, but didn't ever achieve "omg I must have that" status.
High cost + low demand = winner product feature for sure. /sarcasm
Re: (Score:2)
Unlike a lot of people, I liked it. Conceptually, I thought it was really innovative.
Too innovative. Because even remembering that it had a Back button for my web browser was just plain beyond me. I did use it. Just not consistently.
I guess the lesson is that moving control interfaces around all the time is just not intuitive. You want to know where to find stuff.
Re: (Score:2)
Why in the world was this modded as troll? Touchbar is a very cool idea, but it doesn't make a good replacement for physical function keys. So ideally there would be both, with Touchbar doing stuff like showing browser tabs, search boxes, etc above you standard row of function keys. For most professionals using dedicated apps, like XCode, IntelliJ, Adobe products, etc, we need function keys that we can quickly access common commands by feel.
Touchbar is more useful to casual users who don't use those kinds o
Re: (Score:2)
There was no compelling reason to spend more money, because there was no significant difference in features or performance, and the Touchbar sucks ass.
The only difference between my M1 MacBook Air, and the Pro, is that the Pro has fans (and as such can push longer before thermal throttling) and the Touchbar.
I don't suspect we'll see an "M1 Max" in the Air whenever it gets its refresh, so there may be a compe
Re: (Score:2)
But we can wait until next year, hoping for an "M2" MacBook Air which is somewhere around half the power of an M1 Max and less/no specialized cores (Machine Learning and ProRes for example) and still stops at 16GB, maybe?
The M1 Max and M1 Pro are such beasts that you can cut a lot of parts and still have something a lot more powerful than the M1 but targeted at more mainstream users.
Re: (Score:2)
The M1 Max and M1 Pro are such beasts that you can cut a lot of parts and still have something a lot more powerful than the M1 but targeted at more mainstream users.
Oh, absolutely.
I couldn't be happier with my M1 Air.
Any non-Pro M1 refresh is going to be even more awesome, I have no doubt.
Re: (Score:2)
But we can wait until next year, hoping for an "M2" MacBook Air which is somewhere around half the power of an M1 Max and less/no specialized cores (Machine Learning and ProRes for example) and still stops at 16GB, maybe?
The M1 Max and M1 Pro are such beasts that you can cut a lot of parts and still have something a lot more powerful than the M1 but targeted at more mainstream users.
Problem is, it would cost more money for Apple to spin-off another SoC for the relatively small Mac market, than it would to just include those subsystems in the already developed and qualified ones they have finished.
Re: (Score:2)
I do not really care about the touch bar. I assumed they get sane again and sell one with function keys AND a touch bar. However I'm sure i wont miss the fact that it is missing.
But no function keys and especially no ESC key is: a complete no go on a "Unix compatible" computer!
I play games that _NEED_ function keys, and I would not really know to where map ESC for my vi mastery classes.
"You know guys, this is usually done with the ESC key, but alas, I have none, so i have to use the external keyboard, sorr
Re: (Score:2)
I do not really care about the touch bar. I assumed they get sane again and sell one with function keys AND a touch bar. However I'm sure i wont miss the fact that it is missing.
That's what I've said elsewhere. Touchbar is cool... I don't know that I'd ever need such a thing, but it's cool. But replacing the function keys with it? That's asinine. It was the "feature" that drove me to purchase an M1 Air instead of an M1 Pro
I'm actually tempted to get a Pro Max right now, but I'm scared about the typical Apple Kinderkrankeiten.
I ordered mine earlier today, so I'll let you know ;)
I've been using the Air for long enough now that I've got all of my virtualization requirements and software suites worked out, so I'm ready to get my hands on 64GB of RAM.