Micro Center has
Apple 14.2" MacBook Pro Laptop (Late 2024 Model) on sale for
$1349.99. Select free store pickup where available.
Thanks to community member
jcrandall6 for finding this deal.
Note: Availability for pickup may vary by location
Colors Available:
Specs:
- Apple M4 chip w/ 10 CPU cores, 10 GPU cores, and 16 Neural cores
- 14.2" Liquid Retina XDR 3024x1964, 120Hz, 1000nits sustained display
- 16GB Unified Memory RAM
- 512GB Solid State Drive Storage
- Wi-Fi 6E 802.11ax 2x2 MU-MIMO + Bluetooth 5.3
- 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View
- 6-speaker high-fidelity system with Force-cancelling woofers
- 3-mic studio-quality array with high SNR and directional beamforming
- Backlit magic keyboard w/ Touch ID & Force touch trackpad
- Ports:
- 3x USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports
- 1x SDXC card slot
- 1x HDMI 2.1
- 1x Headphone/mic combo
- 1x MagSafe 3
- macOS operating system
- 72.4 Wh Lithium-Polymer battery w/ 70W USB-C power adapter
- 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61" (3.4 lbs)
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Top Comments
Otherwise, the M4 will have an extra year of support (most likely), a slightly improved display with the quantum-dot tech, runs cooler under load, and has better battery life. The M3 Pro has two fans instead of one so it's a little quieter under load, and it's $100 cheaper.
Honestly, it's splitting hairs at this point. The M3 Pro is probably a better deal since it's $100 less (if that were an option when I was buying I probably would have gone for it), but I can also understand wanting the newest machine that will run cooler and have longer battery life.
M3 Pro battery is around 18 hours, M4 non-Pro battery is around 24 hours.
The M3 Pro deal for $1,250 on clearance at Costco is long gone from most locations. Some have been able to price match at Best Buy, but that is becoming less likely by the day given there is no stock left at most Costco's.
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If M4 Air is hobbled by bad thermals, base M4 Macbook Pro might be the sweet spot in the lineup for price/performance. At this price, why bother paying hundreds more for more ram or another 512gb of storage. M4 Pro though is a big leap with 4 extra performance cores and the MC price on it is not bad.
Even better will be the Open Box MC prices. They usually are about 10% less than MC's retail price so you might be able to snag a base M4 MacBook Pro open box for $1215!
If M4 Air is hobbled by bad thermals, base M4 Macbook Pro might be the sweet spot in the lineup for price/performance. At this price, why bother paying hundreds more for more ram or another 512gb of storage. M4 Pro though is a big leap with 4 extra performance cores and the MC price on it is not bad.
Even better will be the Open Box MC prices. They usually are about 10% less than MC's retail price so you might be able to snag a base M4 MacBook Pro open box for $1215!
The benefits are:
Higher resolution / higher brightness screen
Better sound (noticeable)
Additional Ports (HDMI, SDXC, not sure if the new MBA will have two or three thunderbolt/USB)
Fan for cooling (desirable for even moderate workloads)
Bigger Battery (24 hours on the MBP, I'm guessing MBA will be around 20)
Possibly better webcam but I think a good chance the MBA gets that upgraded
Faster charger (70w vs 35w)
Downside: Heavier and thicker
Better Keyboard maybe (at least I've read reports that the pro keyboards are better)
The benefits are:
Higher resolution / higher brightness screen
Better sound (noticeable)
Additional Ports (HDMI, SDXC, not sure if the new MBA will have two or three thunderbolt/USB)
Fan for cooling (desirable for even moderate workloads)
Bigger Battery (24 hours on the MBP, I'm guessing MBA will be around 20)
Possibly better webcam but I think a good chance the MBA gets that upgraded
Faster charger (70w vs 35w)
Downside: Heavier and thicker
Better Keyboard maybe (at least I've read reports that the pro keyboards are better)
1. Unified Memory Architecture (UMA)
Apple Silicon uses a Unified Memory Architecture (UMA), where the CPU, GPU, and other components share a single pool of high-speed memory. This has several advantages:
• Eliminates Redundancy: Data doesn't need to be copied between separate memory pools (e.g., CPU RAM and GPU VRAM), reducing overhead.
• Higher Efficiency: All components access the same memory directly, minimizing latency and maximizing performance.
In contrast, Intel systems often have separate memory pools, requiring more RAM to handle the same workload efficiently.
2. Memory Bandwidth
Apple Silicon chips feature extremely high memory bandwidth, particularly in higher-end models like the M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M2 Ultra. This allows them to move data quickly even with smaller amounts of RAM:
• Faster Data Access: High bandwidth compensates for smaller memory capacity by ensuring data flows faster.
• Efficient Resource Utilization: The combination of bandwidth and UMA allows Apple Silicon chips to use every bit of RAM more effectively.
3. Hardware-Software Optimization
Apple designs both the hardware and software (macOS and iPadOS) to work seamlessly together:
• Optimized Memory Usage: macOS is fine-tuned for Apple Silicon, managing memory more efficiently than general-purpose systems like Windows.
• Better Caching: Apple Silicon's architecture relies on large, fast caches, reducing the need for frequent memory access.
• Task-Specific Design: Many tasks are offloaded to specialized cores (e.g., Neural Engine, video encoders) that use less RAM.
Intel-based systems often rely on third-party operating systems, which aren't as tightly integrated with the hardware.
4. System-on-a-Chip (SoC) Design
Apple Silicon chips integrate multiple components, including the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, and I/O controllers, on a single chip. This integration improves performance and reduces memory requirements:
• Lower Latency: On-chip communication is faster and more efficient than between discrete components.
• Reduced Overhead: The SoC design eliminates some of the inefficiencies found in systems with separate components.
5. Advanced Power Management
Apple Silicon is highly energy-efficient, which impacts memory usage:
• Efficient Memory Access: Reduced power consumption means less need to load and unload data from RAM frequently.
• Background Task Optimization: macOS intelligently prioritizes active and background tasks, reducing unnecessary memory usage.
6. Swap Memory Performance
Apple Silicon leverages fast SSDs and optimized swap memory management:
• Efficient Swap Usage: When physical RAM is full, macOS uses SSD-based virtual memory more efficiently, mitigating performance drops.
• Fast SSD Speeds: Apple's high-speed NVMe SSDs make swap memory almost indistinguishable from RAM in many tasks.
Conclusion
Apple Silicon chips require less RAM than Intel-based competitors because of their unified memory architecture, high memory bandwidth, efficient hardware-software integration, and advanced chip design. This enables better performance and resource utilization, making tasks that would traditionally need more RAM on an Intel system run smoothly with less memory on Apple Silicon.
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Surprised no one's called everyone sheep yet.
1. Unified Memory Architecture (UMA)
Apple Silicon uses a Unified Memory Architecture (UMA), where the CPU, GPU, and other components share a single pool of high-speed memory. This has several advantages:
• Eliminates Redundancy: Data doesn't need to be copied between separate memory pools (e.g., CPU RAM and GPU VRAM), reducing overhead.
• Higher Efficiency: All components access the same memory directly, minimizing latency and maximizing performance.
In contrast, Intel systems often have separate memory pools, requiring more RAM to handle the same workload efficiently.
2. Memory Bandwidth
Apple Silicon chips feature extremely high memory bandwidth, particularly in higher-end models like the M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M2 Ultra. This allows them to move data quickly even with smaller amounts of RAM:
• Faster Data Access: High bandwidth compensates for smaller memory capacity by ensuring data flows faster.
• Efficient Resource Utilization: The combination of bandwidth and UMA allows Apple Silicon chips to use every bit of RAM more effectively.
3. Hardware-Software Optimization
Apple designs both the hardware and software (macOS and iPadOS) to work seamlessly together:
• Optimized Memory Usage: macOS is fine-tuned for Apple Silicon, managing memory more efficiently than general-purpose systems like Windows.
• Better Caching: Apple Silicon's architecture relies on large, fast caches, reducing the need for frequent memory access.
• Task-Specific Design: Many tasks are offloaded to specialized cores (e.g., Neural Engine, video encoders) that use less RAM.
Intel-based systems often rely on third-party operating systems, which aren't as tightly integrated with the hardware.
4. System-on-a-Chip (SoC) Design
Apple Silicon chips integrate multiple components, including the CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, and I/O controllers, on a single chip. This integration improves performance and reduces memory requirements:
• Lower Latency: On-chip communication is faster and more efficient than between discrete components.
• Reduced Overhead: The SoC design eliminates some of the inefficiencies found in systems with separate components.
5. Advanced Power Management
Apple Silicon is highly energy-efficient, which impacts memory usage:
• Efficient Memory Access: Reduced power consumption means less need to load and unload data from RAM frequently.
• Background Task Optimization: macOS intelligently prioritizes active and background tasks, reducing unnecessary memory usage.
6. Swap Memory Performance
Apple Silicon leverages fast SSDs and optimized swap memory management:
• Efficient Swap Usage: When physical RAM is full, macOS uses SSD-based virtual memory more efficiently, mitigating performance drops.
• Fast SSD Speeds: Apple's high-speed NVMe SSDs make swap memory almost indistinguishable from RAM in many tasks.
Conclusion
Apple Silicon chips require less RAM than Intel-based competitors because of their unified memory architecture, high memory bandwidth, efficient hardware-software integration, and advanced chip design. This enables better performance and resource utilization, making tasks that would traditionally need more RAM on an Intel system run smoothly with less memory on Apple Silicon.
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They are both very good laptops overall and powerful enough for most users.
I personally think this M4 is a better deal for the improved battery, upgraded camera, slightly improved display, and +1 year of updates.
But if you are primarily using it docked as a workstation the battery, camera, and display upgrades don't matter as much, so might be better to save the $100.
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