Apple Silicon - Round 2: Choosing a new laptop

A few weeks ago I wrote about my pre-empted first foray into using Apple Silicon. After eight months of using the M1 Mac mini (16Gb / 512Tb) as my primary machine, I am well and truly hooked. I hinted that I was going to swap out my 2017 15” MPB for a new M1 laptop and I have now made good on that decision. But before I spill the beans on what I eventually purchased I want to reflect on the decision making process.

Apple Harvest Prague office set-up

I’ve been using Macs since 2007 when I was finally driven out of the Windows stable. I was working in Oslo in Norway, and my personal laptop at the time was an ASUS R1F, one of the first machines that doubled as a laptop and tablet. The computer itself was fine and I really liked using it, but it was the time of Windows Vista and at one stage it seemed that every time I switched the computer on I had an hour’s worth of updates to deal with before I could do any work. 

I made the switch to a 15” MacBook Pro just after the release of OS X Leopard and have never looked back (that machine still boots up and works perfectly well!). Since then I’ve owned a couple of iMacs, a couple of MacBook Airs in addition to the current kit. I think carefully about every machine I buy. I think about my specific use case and do my research to align my purchases to my needs. Like most people, I set a budget to work with, although I’m fortunate enough that, as my own boss, I can be flexible within reason.

Since the newest 14 and 16 inch M1 laptops were announced I’ve seen countless questions from people asking complete strangers for advice on what to buy. For every question, I’ve seen dozens of useless answers and incorrect comments. I’ve come to the conclusion that no one does any real work anymore. Everyone who uses a MacBook seems to be doing professional video editing for a living and therefore need to buy the highest specification laptop regardless of how sensible that may be. Despite the numerous vloggers and tech reviewers reporting how even the basic M1 MBA, Mac mini and 13” MBP make video editing a relative breeze, the recommendations still come in to buy 16” M1 Max MBP with 32Gb of RAM and 2Tb SSDs regardless of how “over the top” this is for many people. 

I suspect that anyone recommending a minimum of 32Gb of memory still doesn’t understand that unified memory works in a different way to memory in an Intel architecture. I also suspect that most people who claim to be doing professional video editing perhaps make a few adjustments to their 30 second iPhone videos taken in the pub on a Saturday night and push them out on TikTok when they’ve sobered up sometime on Sunday afternoon. But mostly I suspect that many of the people recommending these high-level machines to everyone and his dog, don’t actually possess one, but make people think they do, by posing as an ‘authority’ on the subject. Basically, amongst the Facebook classes, buying a Mac has become something of a pissing contest! It reminds me of my slightly eccentric late uncle who used to buy top range HiFi equipment and then buy crappy 99p cover compilation albums from Woolworths!

Anyhow, this was my use case:

1. I’m potentially leaving Prague for good this year so I wanted to move the Mac mini and 2017 MBP back to the UK and get a single M1x laptop

2. The laptop will normally be used as a desktop, and there are already Thunderbolt 3 and other hubs in place so no need for lots of extra ports, and there is a Dell 24” monitor in place to act as the primary display

3. When the laptop does get used as a laptop I want it to be small, light and usable on aeroplane and train tables. I already have a variety of multi-port dongles

4. The specification only needs to be as good as the M1 Mac mini, since the work I’m doing will be the same - although a larger SSD might not be a bad thing as my photos library continues to grow and I’d prefer it not to live on an external drive

5. I’d still like the Touch Bar because I do use it and will continue to use it and maybe will use it even more than I currently do

6. The delivery date needed to be before 12th March at the very latest to align with my travel plans

When I looked at the best options I really have three choices - an M1 MBA, an M1 MBP 13” or the 14” MBP M1 Pro. I know I don’t need the power or ports on the 14” although it does provide a better display. The MBA doesn’t have the ToolBar, so by default I opted for the 13” MBP, but I decided to go for the 1Tb SSD option.

Fate has a habit of disrupting plans, however. I finally made my decision whilst in the airport waiting for my flight back to the UK. The Mac mini was in my hold baggage and I’d adjusted my office set-up in Prague to accommodate a new laptop. The delivery date for my option was the next day, so it would be in Derby sometime on Saturday. 

By the time I arrived home and was ready to submit the order, the delivery date for all non-standard builds from Apple was in three weeks' time - a week after my return to Prague. Checking around, the story was the same everywhere - no one could deliver the 1Tb option before the 12th March - my drop-dead deadline. Eventually, I found a supplier who could deliver by the 8th March but only the 2TB option so I decided to go with this rather than face having to take the Mac mini back to Prague. It’s more than I intended to spend but sometimes you have to take what’s on offer. And before you start telling me that for £200 more I could have got a 14” MBP with a 2Tb drive, those weren’t shipping until even later in March. Other folks may be thinking that I should have waited until the Apple Peek Performance event but let’s face it, there’s no guarantee of what may be revealed at that session or when these models may be shipped. 

The nature of the computer/tech business is such that every piece of kit is liable to be superseded within days of us purchasing it. We just need to accept that inevitability and teach ourselves that buyer’s remorse is equally futile. I know that when my new laptop arrives, I shall have addressed my needs for now and the next few years. 

UPDATE: Since I first drafted this piece, the new laptop has arrived and is all set up and running perfectly. In the end, it didn’t arrive as expected but a day later - it took DPD 24 hours to ship the box from their Birmingham depot to the one in Leicester (about 40miles up the road!). I’ve had stuff arrive from Shanghai in less time! And since the rumours of the M2 13” MPB were completely scotched at the event I feel totally vindicated in my decision.

A First Foray into the Realm of Apple Silicon

Sometime in the autumn of 2020, my beloved 2017 MacBook Pro started doing something horrible. As soon as the machine went into any form of sleep mode, even just launching the screen saver, a white light started flashing at the right end of the Touch Bar. It would stop as soon as I started using the computer, but immediately it started to idle, the flashing resumed. Initially, the intensity and frequency of the flashes weren’t too bad, but over time the problem worsened. 

Searching for potential solutions brought only bad news. It wasn’t an uncommon problem, although it was rare, it looked like the only fix was to take it to a service centre and potentially required a new motherboard. This was seriously bad news. Not only was it going to cost a load of cash but we were in the second phase of lockdowns in Prague and getting the fix could take a serious amount of time. And without the computer I was helpless. So, I did the only sensible thing - I put a cloth over the end of the Touch Bar and buried my head in the sand.

I managed to get back to the UK for Christmas in 2020 and the problem vanished for a short while but started up again just before I was due to return to Prague. My trip was too short to get the machine into a service centre in the UK, and besides, I was in quarantine for all but one day! But to add to the misery, the battery was also now showing signs of failing…

In July I decided to bite the bullet and take decisive action. So I bought an M1 Mac mini. I’ve never used a Mac mini before and to be honest I’ve been a bit sceptical about them in the past. I didn’t need/want another laptop. I wanted a cheap replacement that would be able to help me continue to operate while I finally took the MBP in for repair (by this time the service centres were operating again and I decided that the fix had to be done whatever the cost…)

I went for the M1 Mac mini, 512Gb/16Gb combo which worked out at £1,050, slightly cheaper than in the UK! I already had a Dell 24” monitor set up along with all the peripherals I needed so I only had to buy the unit which helped keep the costs to a minimum. I could probably have managed with the 8Gb version, but I figured I’d saved a lot of money while the pubs were closed, so what the heck…

It was a breeze to set up the Mac mini using a Time Machine backup of the MBP and from unboxing to having a working computer probably took no more than a couple of hours. The biggest issue was rearranging the desk so I could now accommodate three computers (including my work laptop). From a connection perspective, all I needed to do was swap the cable from my iTec TB 3 hub from the MBP to the mini and everything was immediately accessible. Simple - just the way Macs are supposed to be!

The current Apple Harvest configuration (Feb 2022)

The M1 (called Kampa) is an absolute joy to use. It’s absolutely silent and apart from a couple of pieces of software that I could no longer use there was little impact on my workflow. The biggest downside was that I could no longer use TotalSpaces from Binary Age (and TotalFinder from the same stable) which meant having to learn how to use Mission Control properly - more on that another time). I purchased a Satechi hub to complement the Mac mini - the one that sits under the mini and connects via USB-C and provides 6 extra ports (non-SSD version).

But what of the MacBook Pro? A few days after getting the M1 setup and functional, I trudged down the road to the iStyle service centre on Revolucni in Prague’s New Town. I explained the problem and they took away my baby and told me they’d need to run some tests and come back to me with a quote. A few days later they sent me an email with the cost of the fix - for both the hardware issue and a replacement battery - under £240! I was stunned. I was expecting to have to pay a minimum of £500, and probably closer to £1,000. I agreed to have them perform the repairs before they could change their minds, and two weeks later I collected the fixed computer (it took a little while for them to source the correct battery).

Like many long time Mac users, I’m now struggling a little with the Intel-based MBP. When it’s sitting alongside the M1 Mac mini I really notice it huffing and puffing while doing very little real work. It feels old, whilst before this whole story started it was my pride and joy. So it begs the question of what next? And that, dear reader, is a question I can’t currently answer, although I’m tempted to go for an M1 13” MacBook Pro. It would meet my needs for a laptop, fit nicely into my workflow and besides, despite the pain, it’s caused me, I still love the Touch Bar!