What to expect from Macbook Pro M4 when replacing an iMac Pro

Question

What to expect from Macbook Pro M4 when replacing an iMac Pro

Hello.

My first apple computer was a Macbook Pro late 2013 model. I was amazed by it. Extremely fast when turning on, silent as a cat walking, and in general I had absolutely no complain from it. I didn't ask much from it, but what I asked it could do it silently and fast.

Then I decided to upgrade to an iMac Pro 2017 3,2Ghz 8 core Intel Xeon W with Radeon Pro Vega 56 8GB and 32GB 2666 MHz DDR4 memory. It was a total let down. One of the worst decisions I have ever made (and it cost me a lot too). The iMac Pro was extremely slow when turning it on (as I said I was used to the macbook pro that it needed 10-15 seconds to turn on, almost like an iphone). For the iMac Pro we are talking about 2 or 3 minutes from the moment i pressed the button till I had my home screen ready to use. It was extremely noisy, the fan working ALL THE TIME, regardless of what I was doing. Even when the computer was in idle mode, you could hear the humming of the fan (the old macbook was so silent that you couldnt tell if it was on or off unless you looked at the screen). When I wanted to use some apps or do some multitasking, the fan noise was so loud that I thought it would explode. Furthermore, the iMac Pro was supposed to be one of the best machines to work on videos etc, and it couldn't even play a 4k video shot with a Go Pro hero 7. Regardless of the media player I was using (and i tried many!) the result was always the same. If I didnt downscale the vid to a lower resolution, the video wouldnt play. Just a frozen screen. 4k videos shot using my iphone, exactly the same. Frozen screen.

Anyway, to make a long story as short as possible, I have finally decided to get rid of the iMac Pro (or just leave it in my office to gather dust) since I have been tolerating it for 7 years, and get something new that will live up to it's hype. I am considering the Macbook Pro M4 and specifically the

16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display²
Nano-texture display
Apple M4 Max chip with 16‑core CPU, 40‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
128GB unified memory
2TB SSD storage

The way that I intend to use it is for everyday tasks like browsing online, video chatting, streaming movies, maybe some video editing every now and then.

I need it to be fast! As fast as my first 2013 Macbook Pro. Not only fast when performing tasks. But fast to turn on and off, so I don't leave it on all the time.

I need it to be silent! Dead silent! I understand that if I open 300 tabs in Chrome and edit videos at the same time the fan needs to work to prevent overheating. But in any case I need the most silent computer apple can provide.

Is the Macbook Pro that i described above the right choice?

I understand that it may seem overkill for the use that I want to do, but I dont mind that. Unless there is a chance that a simpler version with less GPU core or with less memory is going to be faster and more silent.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I wish I asked in here before getting the iMac Pro, but at least I am not repeating the same mistake.

iMac Pro, macOS 14.6

Posted on Dec 1, 2024 4:15 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 1, 2024 7:26 AM in response to lunatic_on_the_grass

lunatic_on_the_grass wrote:

...

I need it to be fast! As fast as my first 2013 Macbook Pro. Not only fast when performing tasks. But fast to turn on and off, so I don't leave it on all the time.

I need it to be silent! Dead silent! I understand that if I open 300 tabs in Chrome and edit videos at the same time the fan needs to work to prevent overheating. But in any case I need the most silent computer apple can provide.

Is the Macbook Pro that i described above the right choice?

...

Given the specs, I think your choice of the MacBook Pro to replace the iMac Pro is a good one. The new laptop will run rings around the old iMac. And if you eventually pine for a larger (or multiple) screens then the MBP can do that.

You've chosen a new Mac with a good amount of internal storage and a RAM capacity that would make a momma proud. As you say, it may be overkill for your everyday tasks, but if you have the means then you can never have too much of either of those. The machine will likely run cool and quiet with your use.

Don't forget to add a 4-6GB external backup drive to the package. You don't want to short yourself in that area.

Edit: Startup is very fast on the new machines, and their power consumption is way lower that an old iMac. I suspect you'll likely find yourself leaving it on more than you expect. Sleep really isn't necessary, but will happen when you close the lid.

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Answer 2

Dec 1, 2024 9:02 AM in response to lunatic_on_the_grass

Single core M4 geekbench tests the same Compute speed as the average MULTI-core test of the 2013 MacPro. You will not be disappointed, even if you slightly reduce the RAM to "only" 64 GB.

It sounds like your iMac Pro may have some festering issues. You may want to start new discussion and ask readers about that.

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Answer 3

Dec 2, 2024 2:52 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you for the reply.

If I remember correctly I had created a topic long ago asking about the issues of my iMac Pro but I cannot find it right now.

No solution was given and nobody could understand why it performed like that. I also took it to the local Apple approved service (no Apple shops in my country), and they tested it and insisted that this is the way it should perform and there is nothing wrong with it. I tried to bring the issue to Apple Support via phone calls, but eventually got bored listening to people calling me crazy so I just accepted the fact that it was a bad choice.

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