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Upgrading 2018 MacBook to new model


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Posted

Trying to decide between which MacBook Pro to get -- one with M4 or upgayed to M4 Pro. I use the MacBook as my primary home computer for work/fun -- it's plugged into two 27-inch monitors via HDMI cables so I have three screens going. I'm still using Parallels to run Windows. This appears to drain the current laptop's computing power. The M4 Pro chip version is about $360 more but offers Thunderbird 5 capability vs Thunderbird 4 on the M4. Both have 24GB RAM and 1TB SSD. The M4 has 10-core CPU/GPU while the M4 Pro offers 14-core CPU/20-core GPU.

Posted (edited)
16 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I'm still using Parallels to run Windows. This appears to drain the current laptop's computing power.

What are you using windows for? IMO you'd be better off buying a cheap NUC or laptop for whatever windows stuff and just let your macbook do mac stuff. Emulating x86 Windows inside an ARM-based virtual environment is gonna be worse performance than most cheapo windows laptops, even on an M4 pro.

In terms of extensability and driving external displays, I'd go for M4 pro all day. Thunderbolt 5 has way better bandwidth and can daisy chain more devices per port than Thunderbolt 4

Spoiler

Unless you're looking for a Thunderbirds-based IO protocol, and then you'll prolly need to go Linux

Thunderbirds (TV Series 1965–1966) - Episode list - IMDb

edit: or are you using ARM Windows? You might try that instead of x86 and see if you get a performance uplift

Edited by Captainant
Posted
57 minutes ago, Captainant said:

What are you using windows for? IMO you'd be better off buying a cheap NUC or laptop for whatever windows stuff and just let your macbook do mac stuff. Emulating x86 Windows inside an ARM-based virtual environment is gonna be worse performance than most cheapo windows laptops, even on an M4 pro.

In terms of extensability and driving external displays, I'd go for M4 pro all day. Thunderbolt 5 has way better bandwidth and can daisy chain more devices per port than Thunderbolt 4

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Unless you're looking for a Thunderbirds-based IO protocol, and then you'll prolly need to go Linux

Thunderbirds (TV Series 1965–1966) - Episode list - IMDb

edit: or are you using ARM Windows? You might try that instead of x86 and see if you get a performance uplift

I'm pretty set on having one machine to do all the things. Mainly, the PC emulator is to run sports sim games that I dick around with. They only run on PC machines. Not very graphic-intense at all. There might be another PC-only application I'm not immediately thinking of.

 

22 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

For you, definitely upgayed.

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Posted
On 4/3/2025 at 1:41 PM, C-Man said:

I'm pretty set on having one machine to do all the things. Mainly, the PC emulator is to run sports sim games that I dick around with. They only run on PC machines. Not very graphic-intense at all. There might be another PC-only application I'm not immediately thinking of.

Thunderbolt doesn’t matter at those speeds unless you are doing some seriously heavy film editing or FX work.

I currently have an M2 MBA (15-inch) with 24GB memory, and a 2TB drive ( I paid the Apple tax but got it refurbed so it was not as painful), running Windows 11 ARM under Parallels, and it’s fantastic (no heavy games, but all my Windows apps and games run like a breeze and barely ramp up the CPU).  I do wish I had just waited and gotten the 14-inch Pro with 32GB because it would have given me some breathing room, plus extra ports, but I get by just fine.

If it’s in the budget, get the Pro for the cores, but no matter what, get 32GB at least.

If your games run fine under Parallels now on the Intel machine, they should run even better under Windows 11 ARM on an M4 or M4 Pro.

Check Apple’s refurb store (bottom of the Apple.com website).  They have same warranty and I’ve never had a problem.  

Posted (edited)
13 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

If your games run fine under Parallels now on the Intel machine, they should run even better under Windows 11 ARM on an M4 or M4 Pro.

What's the software support like for windows on ARM? I was worried there would be poor library compatability 

Edited by Captainant
Posted
34 minutes ago, Captainant said:

What's the software support like for windows on ARM? I was worried there would be poor library compatability 

They emulate the entire ISA so it has complete compatibility the performance is just whatever. 

You should absolutely be buying a miniPC for sub 150 dollars for this as what you are describing is a perfect usecase for it. 

The real answer in the Mac ecosystem is buy as much as you can stand/afford and that's what you get. 

Posted

Just getting back to this -- busy weekend. I wound up ordering a 14-inch M4 Pro with 24GB and 1TB SSD. As best as I can tell, you cannot get more than 24GB memory unless you jump to the 16-inch version. I didn't want the larger screen. The M4 Max comes with 36GB memory on the 14-inch screen but it's $1000 more than I'm paying (11% off on Amazon). This will be a substantial hardware upgrade over the current MacBook (8GB, 256 SSD hard drive) so I think it should check all the boxes I need.

However, it was supposed to be delivered by Amazon by Saturday and it's been delayed to at least today. Stay tuned.

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