My 2017 MBP had a kernel panic this morning. I didn’t think too much about it until I noticed that the battery was draining even though plugged in. I just got off the phone with Apple Tech. Support. The battery needs replaced.
This may be a good excuse to replace it with a new MBP, have this one repaired and then repurposed.
Those of you who have been using an M1 Air or Pro, based on your experience thus far, is there any reason why I would NOT want to go ahead and purchase an M1? My only concern from a purchase perspective is I just “know” that Apple will come out with a new 14” and then I’ll be ticked!
ASIDE from that, is there any reason based on your experience for me NOT to buy the M1 and instead purchase an Intel machine? NOTE: I do not run any specialized applications so this will not be an issue.
Absolutely no reason. I was excited to buy mine, and it has surpassed my expectations.
In my opinion, with precious little real knowledge, I’d say the M1 Air is the best computer ever made.
The only problem I’ve found is Studio One is buggy on it, but I still choose to use it rather than my 2018 Mini as it is so nice to use. It’s lovely.
Get the 2017 repaired, then trade it in for the M1 Air, not the Pro. My 2017 MBP (15") was an even money trade and I got rid of an inferior machine. When you get your new battery installed, then you can expect your keyboard to fail. Don’t repurpose it, get rid of it. After the trade-in, you will have a new M1 Air that does everything your MBP did without the worry of imminent failure and it did not cost you little if anything. With no extra money invested, you can buy that 14" MBP in the future and repurpose or sell the Air.
As Mac people, we are always used to keeping our devices as long as possible, repurposing them when replaced, etc… THAT does not apply to the 2016-2018 laptops. They were garbage. These devices deserve no loyalty.
By the way, my 2017 MBP had a swelling battery. I had it repaired and it arrived back the week before the M1 was released. I laughed when I saw I could dump it back on Apple for a “free” M1 Air…
Normally, that would be excellent advice but in this case my organization is purchasing the laptop. The one I’m using belongs to them and they will repair and repurpose.
I’m debating between the Air and Pro. The Air is enticing but since I have an iPad Pro 12.9” and use the MB mostly on a desk plugged in, I’m inclined toward the Pro. I keep these 3-4 years so I like the somewhat greater processing potential of the Pro, even though my use case may not require it.
I’m also one of those who actually likes the Touch Bar.
WOW, that sucks you had such a bad experience. My 2016 MacBook Adorable is still running strong as my daily driver. I did have the keyboard replaced once but otherwise it’s been super solid machine for me.
I’m very happy with my M1 MBP!
I’m impressed with its responsiveness, instant on, Touch ID (something my 2015 didn’t have), keyboard is nice (and I’m a keyboard snob).
I’ve used the Touch Bar a couple of times to change the screen brightness, other than that, I haven’t had a need for it.
Thanks for the quick input. Given the long delivery times, 4-5 weeks, I’m going to go ahead and order. Here is the expected configuration:Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 8‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine, 16GB unified memory, 512GB SSD storage, Apple Care+.
It looks like I’m going to be iPad Pro only for about 4-5 weeks. I could get a “loaner” from my employer but it is not worth the trouble of downloading all of apps, etc., so I’ll just use the iPad Pro. I use it for a substantial amount of work anyway.
There are well known reasons for not purchasing an M1 based Mac: Their RAM and storage options are limited; they support a maximum of 2 displays (for the notebooks the internal counts as one); there is no good way to run Windows applications; Linux virtualization and Docker are not yet officially supported. If none of those things are concerning to you and a 13" notebook is what you want, then the current M1 machines are fantastic. I love my Air.
@ACautionaryTale I have to say that your alias matches your wise counsel in your response.
That said, I had 16GB RAM on the 2017 and will order the same on the M1. I only use one display and I never use Windows apps or Linux. And as I understand it, M1 RAM requirements and usage may be sufficiently different that our normal way of assessing RAM needs may be different than what we have experienced with Intel based computers.
Some complex use cases are not supported on the new M1. Mainly those who are installing specialized software like database engines and web servers.
The Air or Pro support single external monitor in addition to the built-in. The Mini supports two.
Virtualization is not fully supported. Parallels for example is still in beta for M1. And the VM operating system has to be ARM. So Win 10 itself is still in beta. Also Docker is still in preview.
My recommendation is to wait a bit for the 14” as it’s expected to have higher memory.
@mina thanks for the advice. The issues you outline above are important but in my case, are none issues. I use “standard” applications and only run MacOS. I also only use one monitor. The biggest issue, as I noted in my original post, is that I will be ticked if they come out with a MBP in June-Sept. A 14” would be ideal! If that happens, I might pull rank or beg or do both with the IT department and buy the 14” and give the M1 to another member of my SLT, or use it to bribe my head of IT!
Seems like an easy solution – get the battery replaced now and hope it continues to run until June. Then trade it in on the 14". Second generation M1 designs are bound to have many improvements over initial release products.
+1. My MBP had a number of issues, screen stopped working a long time ago and that silly keyboard is terrible. Essentially using is as a Mac Mini hooked up to external monitor and keyboard. Fan noise is annoying too.
