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Who Needs the M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro?
The 13" laptop is still the best choice in the lineup for me
Apple has done the unthinkable: they listened to the users and released a lineup of machines for Pros. For years, the MacBook Pro lineup suffered criticism on many fronts, from lack of ports to modest CPU performance. The disappointment from users boiled down to one thing: “Pro” users could not sustain their workflows on the weak, uncompetitive Intel-powered generation of MacBook Pros.
In last 2020, everything changed for Mac users. The M1 MacBook Pro revolutionised the portable computing industry with the first generation of Apple Silicon, a new, powerful chip shipping in a familiar chassis.
Thus, are this year’s redesigned and updated Macs worth buying over the old M1 MacBook Pro?
So What Were the Complaints?
In 2016, the 13" MacBook Pro got three controversial updates. Firstly, Apple decided to drop all the ports (including an SD card reader, an HDMI port, USB-A ports and MiniDisplay ports) in favour of USB-C only. Secondly, they introduced the Butterfly keyboard which turned out to be vulnerable to mechanical faults. This prompted Apple to provide full repair services to over 16 different laptop models with Butterfly keyboards, for free. Thirdly, they replaced the F keys with the Touch Bar, which was widely regarded as gimmicky and lacking functionality.
The resulting machine was lighter and thinner than ever. However, this came at a cost in performance. The 2016 MacBook Pro and its subsequent upgrades remained susceptible to thermal throttling and were often underperforming in computationally intensive tasks.
Moreover, Apple consistently fell behind on updating the new MacBook Pro models with the latest generation of Intel chips. They would release a brand-new laptop with previous year’s chips while the PC competition was strutting ahead. To make matters worse, the base MacBook Pro shipped with modest (if not laughable) configurations: 128 GB of storage and 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, when most competitors had moved on to faster DDR4 RAM.
All of this, sold to “Pro” users at infamously high prices. It was a tough time for Mac enthusiasts.
