Time to upgrade or wait for M4?

[JCarmona]

I have a MacBook Pro 16-inch, 2019; 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7.

I want to move to a 14 inch MBP; but I'm hesitant if I should wait for M4 or just go ahead with an M3 Pro. Is still working very nicely, sometimes the fans are a bit loud and OneDrive a bit unresponsive. I'll use it for the basics, but also I want to get into photo editing and maybe video.

I'm tempted because I'd get almost 30% from Trade-in that I'd get now, the newest hardware is beautiful (for work I just received a 13 MacBook Air M2).

Any thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[Apple_Robert]

If you want an M3, go ahead and get one. Waiting for some unannounced product that no one knows anything about is illogical. There is always going to be a new product being released.

 

[flashflood]

First, some context: I have had the latest maxed-out version of every MBP for probably 10 years now. As a developer and founder, time is money, so anything that makes the compile/test/debug cycle go faster pays for itself very quickly.

From Sandy Bridge onward, there wasn't much performance difference in updates to the x86 models. The jump to M1 Max, however, was staggering -- literally 2-3x faster for what I do, which is mostly CPU/memory and very little graphics. Going from M1 Max to M2 Max was a nice 20% bump across the board. M2 Max to M3 Max, honestly, has been disappointing -- I expected that going from 5nm to 3nm would be a big deal, but apparently most of those extra transistors have been dedicated to stuff I don't care about (i.e. gaming).

So if you're coming from anything x86-based, absolutely make the jump to anything in the M-series. It's so much faster, and you'll never hear the fans again.

 

[Flash1420]

The M3 Pro plenty powerful, considering your current CPU. We are not sure when the next versions come out since they just released the M3-series. However, if you machine is still going strong, then it wouldn't hurt to wait. I personally upgraded to the 16-inch M3 Pro, and its been amazing particularly battery life. A lot of people say that the M3 Pro isn't a huge upgrade in terms of performance, but it is a big upgrade for battery life.

 

[Iwavvns]

If you want an M3, go ahead and get one. Waiting for some unannounced product that no one knows anything about is illogical. There is always going to be a new product being released.

Agreed, no matter what you buy or when you buy it there’s always going to be a better product in six months. I always do my research and make a purchase for what I need now, I don’t even worry about what might be on the table in six months.

 

[bradman83]

I have a MacBook Pro 16-inch, 2019; 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7.

I want to move to a 14 inch MBP; but I'm hesitant if I should wait for M4 or just go ahead with an M3 Pro. Is still working very nicely, sometimes the fans are a bit loud and OneDrive a bit unresponsive. I'll use it for the basics, but also I want to get into photo editing and maybe video.

I'm tempted because I'd get almost 30% from Trade-in that I'd get now, the newest hardware is beautiful (for work I just received a 13 MacBook Air M2).

Any thoughts?
Thanks!

I'm on a 2021 14" MBP with M1 Pro and I spend considerable time in Lightroom, Photoshop, and other heavy duty photography apps and this machine at 2 years old never misses a beat. Based on your described workflow an M3 Pro MBP will be faster than your current needs and will scale nicely to your likely needs in the next 5 years. Just be sure to give serious thought to your RAM and storage needs, especially if you get into photo and video editing.

 

[netsped]

I just upgraded my 16” MBP with the same specs as yours, 16 GB of RAM I assume. Bought the base 16” in Space Black, couldn’t be happier.

Apple Silicon really is great, have been on holidays this past days but been trying some of the apps I mostly use and there is a great difference. Affinity Suite really flies.

Can’t wait to do some real work next week on it

 

[Miltz]

Do It, it's a massive upgrade.

 

[AHDuke99]

I am on the fence too. I also have the same Intel Mac you have and am considering upgrading to the M3 Pro 14", but I am not sure it's necessary right now considering the Intel does all I need it to do. I don't do heavy work though and use it 90% of the time to web browse with the occasional Blizzard game, which is not supported on the M series Macs.

That said, I probably don't know what I am missing out on given all I know is the Intel Mac. But if you need an M series, get it now. It may be a while before the M4 is out.

 

[JCarmona]

I am on the fence too. I also have the same Intel Mac you have and am considering upgrading to the M3 Pro 14", but I am not sure it's necessary right now considering the Intel does all I need it to do. I don't do heavy work though and use it 90% of the time to web browse with the occasional Blizzard game, which is not supported on the M series Macs.

That said, I probably don't know what I am missing out on given all I know is the Intel Mac. But if you need an M series, get it now. It may be a while before the M4 is out.

Thanks! Is not that I need it, is more the I want it.

Waiting might also make it more expensive as, the trade in value will decrease.

I guess is the pulling the trigger what’s stopping me, all very good points in this thread to just go and do it.

 

[AHDuke99]

Thanks! Is not that I need it, is more the I want it.

Waiting might also make it more expensive as, the trade in value will decrease.

I guess is the pulling the trigger what’s stopping me, all very good points in this thread to just go and do it.

The trade in is also something I am considering. Right now, Apple is offering $645 for my machine, which is basically what I'd get if I tried to sell it on eBay/Swappa without the hassle. That alone may be the thing that makes my decision to pull the trigger easier.

 

[M3Stang]

First, some context: I have had the latest maxed-out version of every MBP for probably 10 years now. As a developer and founder, time is money, so anything that makes the compile/test/debug cycle go faster pays for itself very quickly.

From Sandy Bridge onward, there wasn't much performance difference in updates to the x86 models. The jump to M1 Max, however, was staggering -- literally 2-3x faster for what I do, which is mostly CPU/memory and very little graphics. Going from M1 Max to M2 Max was a nice 20% bump across the board. M2 Max to M3 Max, honestly, has been disappointing -- I expected that going from 5nm to 3nm would be a big deal, but apparently most of those extra transistors have been dedicated to stuff I don't care about (i.e. gaming).

So if you're coming from anything x86-based, absolutely make the jump to anything in the M-series. It's so much faster, and you'll never hear the fans again.

I hear my fans pretty often on my base model 16”. I do mostly game on it though.

 

[cbdilger]

Going from 2019 Intel to 2023 Apple Silicon? No brainer. DO IT!

 

[Populus]

I have a different approach on this, although you should probably hear the other users instead of me. But, if I’m not mistaken, 2019 Intel macs are still fully supported by macOS Sonoma and, probably, will be by 2024 macOS 15.

If the device works for you… I’d keep it a bit longer, maybe until the M4. However, if you find the 16” laptop heavy and uncomfortable to carry around, and you definitely need to move to a lighter 14” MBP, then now it is a good time to get the M3 Pro MBP.

 

[JinxVi]

The only thing you gain from waiting is to learn that you shouldn't have waited and whether inflation is still a thing in 2024.

 

[ksj1]

M2 Max to M3 Max, honestly, has been disappointing -- I expected that going from 5nm to 3nm would be a big deal, but apparently most of those extra transistors have been dedicated to stuff I don't care about (i.e. gaming).

I agree with the other parts of your perspective as I am also a dev. I'm using those transistors to run a local LLM (deepseek-coder-33b-instruct), so personally I think they were well used.

The M3 Max isn't a lot faster at it than an M2 Max, but it just came out so there are no optimizations as yet. I'm hopeful performance will improve further, though it puts out faster than I can type already (8-12 tokens/second).

 

[Beau10]

Going from M1 Max to M2 Max was a nice 20% bump across the board. M2 Max to M3 Max, honestly, has been disappointing -- I expected that going from 5nm to 3nm would be a big deal, but apparently most of those extra transistors have been dedicated to stuff I don't care about (i.e. gaming).

Odd take. It's a significantly bigger jump in compute from M2 Max -> M3 Max than M1 Max -> M2 Max. You may not be noticing this from what you do but benchmarks bear this out.

 

[MajorFubar]

Not wanting to pop your bubble but what exactly are you going to do with an M-series Mac that you currently can't with your Intel Mac? What problem are you wanting it to fix? If you can't think of anything, it's probably worth giving this hype train a miss until your computer becomes truly obsolete (e.g.: can't download the latest OS, and so on). And I'm saying that as an M1 Studio User, so it's not as though I have Intel carved in my bone-marrow like Blackpool Rock.

Though likely you will still buy one because I suspect you really have already decided you want a new toy and you just came here to have the decision vindicated by committee. Which is fine, we all do that sometimes

 

[Ocnetgeek]

I have a MacBook Pro 16-inch, 2019; 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7.

I want to move to a 14 inch MBP; but I'm hesitant if I should wait for M4 or just go ahead with an M3 Pro. Is still working very nicely, sometimes the fans are a bit loud and OneDrive a bit unresponsive. I'll use it for the basics, but also I want to get into photo editing and maybe video.

I'm tempted because I'd get almost 30% from Trade-in that I'd get now, the newest hardware is beautiful (for work I just received a 13 MacBook Air M2).

Any thoughts?
Thanks!

The M3 Pro was just released a couple months ago. I doubt you will see an M4 MacBook Pro in 2024 or before Q4 at the earliest

 

[steve123]

Did you do the upgrade? If not and you have a secondary motivation, say, to pass along your existing laptop to a family member who needs an upgrade then go ahead and upgrade to the M3 Max. You will definitely appreciate the gigantic performance improvement. Otherwise, plan to wait another 5 years until about 2029. These things last a long time and you have many years of life left.

 

[AHDuke99]

Not wanting to pop your bubble but what exactly are you going to do with an M-series Mac that you currently can't with your Intel Mac? What problem are you wanting it to fix? If you can't think of anything, it's probably worth giving this hype train a miss until your computer becomes truly obsolete (e.g.: can't download the latest OS, and so on). And I'm saying that as an M1 Studio User, so it's not as though I have Intel carved in my bone-marrow like Blackpool Rock.

Though likely you will still buy one because I suspect you really have already decided you want a new toy and you just came here to have the decision vindicated by committee. Which is fine, we all do that sometimes

Not the OP, but I am considering doing the same as he is. The only thing that would make a difference right now is the trade in value. Right now, Best Buy is offering $675 for my Intel MBP. In a few years, I would likely get a fraction of that, and I have no reason to keep two machines. Otherwise, the Intel MBP does all I really need it for right now.

 

[loopi77]

It’s easy. Be honest to yourself. Do you want or need to upgrade? Do you need more power? Do you want a new device?
I did the switch from the i9 16incher to the M3 Max 14incher. Because the software I use requires power. Graphics, music, coding. And I wanted a smaller device, I carry it all day. So I decided I got the maximum value and 4 nice years usage out of the money i paid for the i9, to me it was about time and the right moment to upgrade.
No hesitation if it would be worth or not.

I had no regret for just a second. Coming from intel it’s a blow. Happy and satisfied. Not a single thing I could imagine what waiting for the next M would make sense, these are beasts already, no matter what I throw on it. I am not sure if there is a fan built in, since I never heard one.
Go for it - there is nothing yet worth waiting for.