I wanted to buy my dad the new macbook..

[Kyle Xu]

Alright, as the title says I want to treat my dad to the new M2 max macbook. I've worked really hard last year making money doing side hustles and my dad is still rocking a 2019 intel macbook pro. When the m1 launched, he said that a lot of apps don't support the ARM architecture or smt? I was wondering if support has gotten better for cloud computing stuff. I currently have the M1 max 14 inch so I know its a good laptop but I was just wondering if all the initial ARM support problems are generally resolved. 

[da na]

If he's got a 2019 Macbook Pro that is surely powerful enough for anything he's doing... resist the "buy a new device every 2 years" mentality. 

[CyberneticTitan]

It's been over 2 years since Apple Silicon first launched and apps are slowly moving towards ARM native. Rosetta 2 is also great for the odd app that hasn't received any updates.

 

If you know what apps your dad uses you can check out these websites: https://doesitarm.com/ https://isapplesiliconready.com/

 

What you should really do is have a conversation with your dad (be discreet about it) and ask him about his thoughts of the new macbooks. Maybe take a jab and make fun of his slow laptop. 

 

Other things to consider:

• Is your dad's macbook provided to him by his employer? If so you're kinda out of luck.
• If your dad does local compilations, docker builds, etc. chances are he will need some sort of Intel machine. This can be a remote server, but that might require him to change his workflow.
• Maybe be up front with him, and tell him that you want to treat him to a Macbook. Be open about it, and then go buy a refurbished Macbook from Apple. Have him use it for about 2 weeks, and return it. This gives him a chance to see what it's like using Apple silicon and to identify any showstoppers. I say here to buy the refurbished one to test because buying new and returning it would make the new device a refurbished unit, kind of a waste.
• Lend him your laptop?

[BondiBlue]

2 minutes ago, Mel0n. said:

If he's got a 2019 Macbook Pro that is surely powerful enough for anything he's doing... resist the "buy a new device every 2 years" mentality. 

A 2019 MacBook Pro is nearly 4 years old at this point, and they were plagued with issues. The most notable issue was the butterfly keyboard (unless it's a 16" MBP), and that alone is a good reason to upgrade. 

 

@Dk SPYder Can you clarify what exactly he does with this computer? Is there any specific reason the 2019 MBP isn't meeting his needs (butterfly keyboard issues come to mind)?

[da na]

Just now, BondiBlue said:

A 2019 MacBook Pro is nearly 4 years old at this point, and they were plagued with issues. The most notable issue was the butterfly keyboard (unless it's a 16" MBP), and that alone is a good reason to upgrade. 

 

@Dk SPYder Can you clarify what exactly he does with this computer? Is there any specific reason the 2019 MBP isn't meeting his needs (butterfly keyboard issues come to mind)?

Ah, I'm used to my 10 year old PC laptops being perfectly usable.

 

It all comes down to what he does on the machine. Check what applications he uses, as aforementioned the compatibility list with Apple Silicon is ever expanding.

[Action_Johnson]

19 minutes ago, Dk SPYder said:

Alright, as the title says I want to treat my dad to the new M2 max macbook. I've worked really hard last year making money doing side hustles and my dad is still rocking a 2019 intel macbook pro. When the m1 launched, he said that a lot of apps don't support the ARM architecture or smt? I was wondering if support has gotten better for cloud computing stuff. I currently have the M1 max 14 inch so I know its a good laptop but I was just wondering if all the initial ARM support problems are generally resolved. 

Generally resolved for sure, but does he need an M2 Max?! Even an M2 MBA would be faster than his i9..

 

I use an M1 Max MBP for work, and even it's a bit overkill...

[BondiBlue]

1 minute ago, Mel0n. said:

Ah, I'm used to my 10 year old PC laptops being perfectly usable.

Most MacBooks hold up well over time (I've been using a 2010 13" white MacBook for various tasks today without issue, and it still has the original battery), but the 2016-2019 13" and 15" MacBook Pros were notoriously bad. Personally I owned a 2017 13" MBP from late 2018 until March 2022, and Apple completely replaced the entire top case assembly three separate times because the keyboard kept breaking from normal use. They ended up replacing it with a free 2020 13" M1 MBP.

 

2 minutes ago, Action_Johnson said:

Generally resolved for sure, but does he need an M2 Max?! Even an M2 MBA would be faster than his i9..

Yeah, I didn't even think about that at first. I also own an M1 Max (16"), and for most people it would be extreme overkill. It's more than I need for most things, but I needed the display support. 

[da na]

Just now, BondiBlue said:

Most MacBooks hold up well over time (I've been using a 2010 13" white MacBook for various tasks today without issue, and it still has the original battery), but the 2016-2019 13" and 15" MacBook Pros were notoriously bad. Personally I owned a 2017 13" MBP from late 2018 until March 2022, and Apple completely replaced the entire top case assembly three separate times because the keyboard kept breaking from normal use. They ended up replacing it with a free 2020 13" M1 MBP.

My only experience with modern Apple products is my roommate's 2017 MBP running at 105c under load and my dad's iPad Pro snapping in half along the magnetic keyboard connector lol. But the 2012 unibody MacBooks, I must admit, are nice machines to service.

[BondiBlue]

Just now, Mel0n. said:

My only experience with modern Apple products is my roommate's 2017 MBP running at 105c under load and my dad's iPad Pro snapping in half along the magnetic keyboard connector lol. But the 2012 unibody MacBooks, I must admit, are nice machines to service.

Lol, the thermal performance of some of the recent Intel MacBook Pros was terrible. My 2017 13" had a low end U-series CPU and it still ran ridiculously hot under any sort of sustained load. My 13" M1 MBP doesn't get warm under the same loads, let alone spin the fan up to full speed. The fan almost never turns on. I'm using it for some research right now, and the CPU is sitting at 26° while having multiple Chrome windows open across multiple desktops...

 

My 16" M1 Max runs warmer, and the fan does occasionally run under normal loads, but hearing the fan ramp up at all is a rare event. 

[Kyle Xu]

17 minutes ago, Mel0n. said:

If he's got a 2019 Macbook Pro that is surely powerful enough for anything he's doing... resist the "buy a new device every 2 years" mentality. 

it only has 512 storage and he doesnt like to use my nas. He doesn't really care about tech so I buy him stuff with my own money that I make for trading stocks and side hustles 

[Kyle Xu]

1 minute ago, BondiBlue said:

Lol, the thermal performance of some of the recent Intel MacBook Pros was terrible. My 2017 13" had a low end U-series CPU and it still ran ridiculously hot under any sort of sustained load. My 13" M1 MBP doesn't get warm under the same loads, let alone spin the fan up to full speed. The fan almost never turns on. I'm using it for some research right now, and the CPU is sitting at 26° while having multiple Chrome windows open across multiple desktops...

 

My 16" M1 Max runs warmer, and the fan does occasionally run under normal loads, but hearing the fan ramp up at all is a rare event. 

yeah i noticed that. That is with the apple silicon right? cus my max spec 14 inch runs quieter than the almost base intel macbook my dad has 

[da na]

1 minute ago, BondiBlue said:

Lol, the thermal performance of some of the recent Intel MacBook Pros was terrible. My 2017 13" had a low end U-series CPU and it still ran ridiculously hot under any sort of sustained load. My 13" M1 MBP doesn't get warm under the same loads, let alone spin the fan up to full speed. The fan almost never turns on. I'm using it for some research right now, and the CPU is sitting at 26° while having multiple Chrome windows open across multiple desktops...

 

My 16" M1 Max runs warmer, and the fan does occasionally run under normal loads, but hearing the fan ramp up at all is a rare event. 

the fan rarely turns on on my first gen i5 ProBook on which I have a potentiometer and some other analog circuitry to control the fan speed heh

[BondiBlue]

Just now, Dk SPYder said:

it only has 512 storage and he doesnt like to use my nas. He doesn't really care about tech so I buy him stuff with my own money that I make for trading stocks and side hustles 

Is storage the only issue he has with it? If he doesn't care about tech that much then what does he need the M2 Max for? That's just a waste of money unless he can take advantage of it. 

[da na]

1 minute ago, Dk SPYder said:

it only has 512 storage and he doesnt like to use my nas. He doesn't really care about tech so I buy him stuff with my own money that I make for trading stocks and side hustles 

A better course of action might be to upgrade the storage instead of a new laptop, if that's the only concern

[BondiBlue]

1 minute ago, Mel0n. said:

A better course of action might be to upgrade the storage instead of a new laptop, if that's the only concern

The SSD is soldered on all 2019 MacBook Pros. The last model with a non-soldered SSD was the 2017 13" non-Touch Bar MBP. All Touch Bar models have soldered storage. 

 

3 minutes ago, Dk SPYder said:

yeah i noticed that. That is with the apple silicon right? cus my max spec 14 inch runs quieter than the almost base intel macbook my dad has 

Yes, I own a 2020 13" M1 MBP and a 2021 16" M1 Max MBP (32-core GPU). Both run cooler and quieter than all of the Intel MacBooks I have ever owned, and I've owned a lot of them. I don't see a need for you to buy the M2 Max though. 

[Kyle Xu]

53 minutes ago, BondiBlue said:

A 2019 MacBook Pro is nearly 4 years old at this point, and they were plagued with issues. The most notable issue was the butterfly keyboard (unless it's a 16" MBP), and that alone is a good reason to upgrade. 

 

@Dk SPYder Can you clarify what exactly he does with this computer? Is there any specific reason the 2019 MBP isn't meeting his needs (butterfly keyboard issues come to mind)?

he does some pretty advanced stuff he has NDAs on but it involves a shit load of servers, machine learning and cloud computing

[Kyle Xu]

47 minutes ago, BondiBlue said:

Is storage the only issue he has with it? If he doesn't care about tech that much then what does he need the M2 Max for? That's just a waste of money unless he can take advantage of it. 

he has 2 pro display XDR's and everytime I walk into his office it is always so loud.

[BondiBlue]

8 minutes ago, Dk SPYder said:

he has 2 pro display XDR's and everytime I walk into his office it is always so loud.

The M2 Pro can handle both of those just fine. I don't want to imagine how bad that must be with a 2019 MBP...

[igormp]

On 1/24/2023 at 2:21 AM, Kyle Xu said:

he does some pretty advanced stuff he has NDAs on but it involves a shit load of servers, machine learning and cloud computing

Depending on what he does, then a M1 might not be useful.

 

Honestly, I can't think of anything straight out of my head meant for cloud that wouldn't work on a M1/M2, unless he enjoys doing local builds and later running those on an x86 server.