Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro Chip 24GB RAM 512GB SSD – Space Black

I upgraded from a 2019 Intel MacBook Pro (the last Intel MBP Apple made). What really motivated the change was how slow Adobe’s Lightroom Classic photo-management application had become. (Yes, I had tried several how-to-speed-up LrC tips.) Just flipping through images in loupe view often incurred a one- to two-second delay between images. My library isn’t event that big: about 100,000 images. I had 1:1 previews pre-built from raw images.With the new MacBook Pro, I can hold down the left-arrow key, and the images blaze past faster than I can perceive. CPU-intensive operations like denoise, sharpen, and blur are also substantially faster.Another datapoint is that when I transcode videos using software updated to take advantage of the M4 Pro’s video-transcoding ... MoreI upgraded from a 2019 Intel MacBook Pro (the last Intel MBP Apple made). What really motivated the change was how slow Adobe’s Lightroom Classic photo-management application had become. (Yes, I had tried several how-to-speed-up LrC tips.) Just flipping through images in loupe view often incurred a one- to two-second delay between images. My library isn’t event that big: about 100,000 images. I had 1:1 previews pre-built from raw images.With the new MacBook Pro, I can hold down the left-arrow key, and the images blaze past faster than I can perceive. CPU-intensive operations like denoise, sharpen, and blur are also substantially faster.Another datapoint is that when I transcode videos using software updated to take advantage of the M4 Pro’s video-transcoding on-die engine, the speed is multiple times faster than my old MacBook Pro, AND, the fans are OFF. They are not spinning according to iStatMenus.I had to upgrade both the RAM and SSD, and Apple’s upgrade prices are outrageous, so there’s that, but the machine itself is quite powerful. I'm docking it one star due to the price.

I wasn't sure whether to buy the 14-inch or 16-inch model - there's quite a considerable price difference considering you're getting the same specs as the 14-inch M4 Pro, but I'm ultimately very happy I paid the extra cash and got the 16-inch. This is my first experience with a brand new Apple product and it really surprised me - I can’t see myself ever going back to a Windows PC.It looks great and is very light considering how large it is. The screen is gorgeous and incredibly high resolution. The battery life is unreal, usually lasting between 12 and 24 hours of solid use, plus it will go from flat to fully charged in about 1 and a half hours thanks to the 140w power supply and larger battery array the 16” comes with. What makes this laptop really special in my ... MoreI wasn't sure whether to buy the 14-inch or 16-inch model - there's quite a considerable price difference considering you're getting the same specs as the 14-inch M4 Pro, but I'm ultimately very happy I paid the extra cash and got the 16-inch. This is my first experience with a brand new Apple product and it really surprised me - I can’t see myself ever going back to a Windows PC.It looks great and is very light considering how large it is. The screen is gorgeous and incredibly high resolution. The battery life is unreal, usually lasting between 12 and 24 hours of solid use, plus it will go from flat to fully charged in about 1 and a half hours thanks to the 140w power supply and larger battery array the 16” comes with. What makes this laptop really special in my opinion are the little things that you take for granted - for example, you can open it with only one finger, you don’t have to secure it to the desk with your other hand like a lot of other laptops. It boots up and shuts down in seconds making it very easy to come and go. The keys all feel the same, regardless of the size: for example, the space bar doesn’t rock back and forth and it has the same action as any other key. Coming from a Windows PC, these kind of things are such a breath of fresh air. It probably sounds silly, but it genuinely makes all the difference and you feel like you have a quality product every step of the way. Plus it's made almost entirely out of aluminium so it feels incredibly robust and solid. The first time I played music out of it my jaw almost hit the floor. The speakers are unbelievable - great stereo width and a very wide frequency range (i.e., a lot of the bass content comes through). The 16" has a better speaker array than the 14" and if you listen to a lot of music out loud I'd say it's another reason to consider the larger size. They sound genuinely incredible considering how thin the laptop is.I’m using it purely for audio work and it is incredibly powerful for this. No matter what I throw at it, the CPU usage for any given application never exceeds 5%. It is seriously powerful, probably a little too powerful for what I’m using it for! I have only experienced the ‘beach ball’ loading icon once, and it was when I was moving stuff around between the MacBook and 2 external hard drives, plus I had 2 or 3 high-intensity programs open at the same time. It is lightning fast and never misses a beat.It’s just an incredible laptop all around. I would highly recommend spending the extra cash to get the 16” version, especially if you’re a tall person like myself. I was worried about it being too big or too heavy, but it’s neither. The size is perfect and it’s surprisingly light, but it might be worth considering to 14” version if you’re not particularly tall. If I was a bit smaller, I’d probably prefer the 14”. Very solid product, well worth the price in my opinion.

This is, by far, the best laptop I have ever owned. The battery life is exceptional, and I have zero worries about it entering sleep mode or draining the battery over time. The performance is very good, and all applications run great. It also performs very well for gaming when running games from the App Store or Windows-based games using Crossover (though your mileage will definitely vary on those). The display is bright, the lid hinge is solid, and the port selection is good. The trackpad is, as always, great, and the keyboard is very good. There are very few times that I hear the fan kick on, and it's mostly during gaming. I can't think of any noticeable issue aside from personal feelings about the notch and the weight of the laptop. I would definitely recommend ... MoreThis is, by far, the best laptop I have ever owned. The battery life is exceptional, and I have zero worries about it entering sleep mode or draining the battery over time. The performance is very good, and all applications run great. It also performs very well for gaming when running games from the App Store or Windows-based games using Crossover (though your mileage will definitely vary on those). The display is bright, the lid hinge is solid, and the port selection is good. The trackpad is, as always, great, and the keyboard is very good. There are very few times that I hear the fan kick on, and it's mostly during gaming. I can't think of any noticeable issue aside from personal feelings about the notch and the weight of the laptop. I would definitely recommend it if you have the funds for it, but lower-specced options will give you a great experience for sure.