What would make you upgrade to the M4 Macs?

[MrGimper]

I have a feeling Apple's sales of the M3 family, base to Max, are not doing well, or not as well as the M1 and M2 lines. I've never seen Apple discount machines as quickly as they have with the M3 line.

The last powerful Mac that I bought was the 2019 Intel MBP and boy do I regret that decision. I was planning on upgrading to the M3 Max MBP but the rumors on M4 Macs started coming out.

One of the main reasons for me is WiFi 7. I bought a WiFi 7 TP-Link router a few months back and it has already increased performance on my older machines. Here's the speed on my 2020 M1 Macbook Air:
View attachment 2370637

I'm waiting to see what the speed will be on a Mac that actually has WiFi 7. Performance wise, I think the M3 Max is more than enough for me.

What would make you want to upgrade to the M4 line, especially if you're already on M1 or M2?

I bought the intel i9 in May 2020, and then the M1 was announced. I kept it and used it until a fortnight ago. I then got an M3 Max from Apple Refurb. Saved £800.

So I'd not buy an M4 until they were on refurb, and that's a year away probably, so I'll stick with my M3 Max

 

[MrGunny94]

Too bad they killed the 12“ because it would be insane with the M4, a lightweight machine

 

[DLary]

A large increase in performance with Topaz AI software over the M2 Ultra.

 

[JRobert@macrumors]

I'd upgrade if it comes with a iMac 27" wrapped around it.

I've had iMac-27-Intels for years. New iMac-24"-M3 is great! .. except for the part about 24" screen. I made good use of that 27" real-estate - for

• 2 (or more) reference documents plus one I'm working on;
• an IDE, a standalone editor for serious editing, a couple of terminal windows, and often a browser;
• editing an image;
• watching video;
• zooming far in to find a tiny detail.

The last 3 are OK, or ~OK, on 24 inches. The first two: uh-uh :-( A 12" iPad side-car helps a little for the first two but it isn't seamless.

 

[Tdude96]

All it will take is for Apple to release the M4 Studio Ultra. Or a 27+" iMac Ultra. Then they can have my money on day 1.

 

[Boil]

• M4 Ultra Mac Studio (base)
• 27" Studio Display (standard glass & stand)
• AppleCare+ (for above two items)
• Apple Magic Keyboard
• Apple Magic Mouse
• $6,214 total (before taxes)

So if Apple decides to be extra generous, a 27" M4 Ultra iMac might cost a minimum of $5.000; might need to tack the "Pro" moniker to the iMac title to help justify that high price tag...

 

[PsykX]

M2 Pro Mac Mini here, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD with a 2 TB external NVME.
Maybe if I can get 2X the performance, on the refurbished store.
Which would mean at least an M4 Max Mac Studio or something like that.

 

[thebart]

M4 is looking pretty good. I'll upgrade when M5 comes out and I can pick up M4 refurb with upgraded RAM and SSD

 

[mr_roboto]

I'd upgrade if it comes with a iMac 27" wrapped around it.

I've had iMac-27-Intels for years. New iMac-24"-M3 is great! .. except for the part about 24" screen.

I don't understand why anyone holds out hope for a new 27" iMac. It's quite clear that Apple views the 27" Studio Display as a replacement - you buy it and whatever Mac you want to pair with it. Doesn't have to be a Mac Studio, it can be a Mini if you want to pay less, or a laptop if you want the flexibility of taking it with you when you're not at your desk.

This does raise the price of entry level 27" Mac setups, but that's how it is. On the plus side, you get to reuse the display next time you upgrade the computer.

 

[Boil]

27" Studio Display (standard glass & stand, AppleCare+)
Magic Keyboard
Magic Mouse
$2,050

Base Mn Mac mini (AppleCare+)
$700

Base Mn Pro Mac mini (AppleCare+)
$1,400

Base Mn Max Mac Studio (AppleCare+)
$2,170

Base Mn Ultra Mac Studio (AppleCare+)
$4,170

So base 27" iMac would be $2,750, and a max spec 32" iMac Pro would be $17,000; if Apple were feeling generous we might see those at $2,500 and $15,000...

And with the AIO form factor, when you want to upgrade, you would also need to pony up for another included display...

Sorry folks, I fear the days of lower cost 27" iMacs are a thing of the past, and any 32" iMac would be quite expensive...

 

[pshufd]

I have an M1 Max Studio and an M1 Pro MacBook Pro 16. Both are fine for my needs right now and likely for the next couple of years.

What would get me to upgrade to an M4 device?

A 27 inch iMac Pro.

A 14 inch M4 Pro that's a lot more efficient than my M1 Pro. I don't really need more computing horsepower but would always welcome more battery life.

It's possible that I just keep what I have for another 5 years too.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Stop gouging everyone for the RAM & SSD upgrades would do it for me

 

[hovscorpion12]

Stop gouging everyone for the RAM & SSD upgrades would do it for me

Given that Microsoft just did exactly that with their ARM Surface laptop yesterday with even more insane prices, Apple's RAM and SSD prices are acceptable.

 

[hovscorpion12]

After close to a week of pushing the M4 to the limit, I can safely say the M4 Pro/M4 Max are going to be insane.

 

[l0stl0rd]

Given that Microsoft just did exactly that with their ARM Surface laptop yesterday with even more insane prices, Apple's RAM and SSD prices are acceptable.

MS prices are a bits nuts for the Surface Laptop especially compared to Lenovo or Asus with 32 GB and 1 TB, about 1000 bucks difference.

 

[EugW]

I’d likely buy an M4 MacBook Air if it got 12 GB RAM base with no price increase.

Too bad they killed the 12“ because it would be insane with the M4, a lightweight machine

Even A series performance would have been great. Could you imagine the battery life of a 12” MacBook with A18? A18 would easily whip M1 & M2 and maybe beat M3 too in single-core, and would be within spitting distance of M1 for multi-core.

 

[hoodlum90]

Lightroom is now using the Neural Engine for the AI Denoise. If the M4 MacBook is able to complete the denoise task a lot quicker, then I will consider the upgrade.

 

[salamanderjuice]

Given that Microsoft just did exactly that with their ARM Surface laptop yesterday with even more insane prices, Apple's RAM and SSD prices are acceptable.

Aren't they basically the same insane prices? $200 to go from 256GB to 512GB, $400 to go from 256GB to 1TB, $400 to go from 16GB to 32GB RAM (same as M2 Pro mini for example), $400 to go from 32GB to 64GB (same as M2 Studio). Only thing Apple does slightly better is be a tad more flexible with configs like get 32GB RAM with a 512GB SSD but they're still pretty unflexible.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Re: upgrade component pricing..
I found this interesting..


The word "removable" in the photo below from the specs page

(the footnote claims it's not "user serviceable", but I'm sure they are just covering themselves or they wouldn't be pointing out that it is indeed removable)

 

[hovscorpion12]

Re: upgrade component pricing..
I found this interesting..


The word "removable" in the photo below from the specs page

(the footnote claims it's not "user serviceable", but I'm sure they are just covering themselves or they wouldn't be pointing out that it is indeed removable)

View attachment 2382504

It's removable only via a service technician. When I had my Surface laptop Studio upgraded to 2TB from 1TB, I had to take to a service center

• [27] This device does not contain user serviceable parts. Hard drive is only removable by an authorized technician following Microsoft provided instructions.

 

[salamanderjuice]

It's removable only via a service technician. When I had my Surface laptop Studio upgraded to 2TB from 1TB, I had to take to a service center

• [27] This device does not contain user serviceable parts. Hard drive is only removable by an authorized technician following Microsoft provided instructions.

Yeah, that's what Microsoft claims. But it's doable, just not the easiest. Or at least it was on past Surface Laptops (https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Microsoft+Surface+Laptop+5+(13.5-inch)+SSD+Replacement/157206). What is laughable is they make the same claim on recent Surface Pros when the SSDs are literally a sim eject tool away.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It's removable only via a service technician. When I had my Surface laptop Studio upgraded to 2TB from 1TB, I had to take to a service center

• [27] This device does not contain user serviceable parts. Hard drive is only removable by an authorized technician following Microsoft provided instructions.

You can do it yourself
It's not much more complex than doing the same thing on my 2015" MBP

Not a big deal at all if one is at all tech inclined
I'm just happy it's not soldered down!

 

[EugW]

You can do it yourself
It's not much more complex than doing the same thing on my 2015" MBP

Not a big deal at all if one is at all tech inclined
I'm just happy it's not soldered down!

Perhaps a bit harder (?) on the 2015 MBP since you need an adapter and an OS update.

 

[AL2TEACH]

I don't understand why anyone holds out hope for a new 27" iMac.

Because "we" really like em. I understand people getting something else but I will hold on to my 2015 iMac until it dies because the only interesting thing in the eh "updated OS's" is Stage Manager to me. I'm sure the newer machines blow the doors off the 2015 iMac as far as speed but I don't mind waiting a few seconds/minutes. I'm sure there are people that get all excited about the incremental updates with the chips and etc...but wake me when the software gets an eh upgrade. I'm sure the OS's have been upgraded to some extent. I've been using Macs since the performa and the PR has long worn out on me. I do understand others will eh "think different" like 8 of ram and 256 of storage is okay and etc...have at it . We use to be consumers now we are the product.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing Apple but I will hold on to this sometimes painfully slow puter until it dies.

 

[turbineseaplane]

@AL2TEACH

Absolutely spot on!

It’s one reason I keep and continue to love and use both of my 2015 15” MacBook Pros

I simply love the device