MacBook Pro 16 M4 Reddit Verdict: Worth It or Overkill?

It's fucking awesome. I am absolutely blown away by the premium feel and build quality. No screen jiggle and the keyboard feel and sound is satisfying. My previous laptop was a Lenovo 14" so I was a bit afraid that the screen size would feel huge and awkward, but after a few hours I'm very happy with it. It is a bit hefty so if I were traveling a lot I might be slightly discouraged, but it doesn't feel that bad to me. All the talk about the speakers being great? It's absolutely not an understatement.

Pretty good deal for an amazing laptop imo. Ended up getting the M4 Pro version with the same specs for about $250 more from Microcenter a couple of weeks back.

I was worried it was overkill so I got the 14in. Returned the 14in and got the 16in, very glad I changed course and went with the 16

Welcome to the Mac family. I recently got a very similar MBP as well (if not the same, mine is 16" M4 Pro with 48gb ram). The 16" size and the quality of the screen really got me blown away (switched from 13" M1 MBA). There is plenty of screen space for me now, the 13" just wasn't enough for me.

Tbf unless you're rendering animation for Pixar you're probably not stressing an M4 chip all that much.

I've a fully loaded M4 Max 16 inch, 128GB RAM and 4TB SSD. I run local LLMs and do photo/8k video editing on the side for a couple of my other businesses. My Mac is a business investment as one of several devices powering my AI research institute.

I'm doing the opposite.... just returned the 16in, and I'm planning to reorder the 14" because even 16 is a small screen for development with two windows, so I'll buy a monitor.

Tips: Use it, go outside, don't obsess over the battery life it's a tool not a totem. Don't put anything between the screen and the keyboard when the screen is closed (keyboard covers particularly are bad here). Get a Window manager, coming from being on Windows for decades my first realisation was how bad Macs are at the job of managing windows. 16" gives you the chance to side by side.

Since you're asking if it's overkill? Yes. I am actually a software engineer and the M4 Pro is even overspec for me. I don't think I've ever made this thing sweat in my workload, supposedly there's fans but I've never heard them.

IMO, if your MacBook is your main/only computer and you don't plan on docking it, get the 16". If you are using it as a travel computer or planning to dock it, get the 14".

Non-pros are bad at graphics. This m4 will lose to an m1 pro, that's really my only consideration. If all you want is CPU then better to go with an M3 for the savings.

I just got mine (16" M4 Max 36Gb/1Tb) less than two weeks ago, after having a top of the line Zephyrus G15 for 4 years, and I am so happy. Asus wanted 4.5K for a new Zephyrus equivalent to mine, so I just said "LOL". After having had to repaste everything, change the battery, and the hideous Asus software, the MBP is such a huge change. Everything just works. And the battery...oooh that is just incredible. I've never been so comfortable working away from a plug.

M4 Pro seemed like the most substantial update since M1, M5 won't be a huge leap.

No, buy what you need now and save your $... unless money is actually no object. Specs like that are generally only worth the price if you're making $ because you're doing something for a living that actually improves your workflow significantly. In 3-4yrs the latest models will be significantly faster with new features and that MacBook, as loaded as it is, will be a slower less capable machine worth a fraction of the original purchase price.

The M5 chips is probably not going to be an extraordinary upgrade. And recent rumors also suggest that we won't get a redesigned chassis like previously expected. Moreover the new chip will probably release early next year and not late this year. So another 4-6 months. If you get a decent deal on an M4 I don't see any reason why you should wait if you desperately want to upgrade.

I went with 16" M4 Pro with 48GB Ram 1TB Storage. Why? I wanted it. Overkill, you bet. Life is short. I feel constrained with a small screen. I even sidecar my 13" IPad Pro also. I don't know what my hobbies will be in the future so I like to be prepared.

I'm a low light, corporate events photographer. My Windows desktop takes 5 mins per photo to do this one process which means 300 pics is about 24 hours but it would crash out and never complete the job. My new MBP does the 300 photos in about 35 mins or 7 seconds a photo. This process is GPU intensive so that's why I have a Max with 40 GPU cores. It was crazy expensive but worth it with the delivery times I have.

I'm using an M4 Mac Mini daily now and haven't looked back. Windows 11 was so bad it got me to switch back to Mac and I now only use my windows PC for gaming exclusively.

I recently picked up a refurbished M4 Max, 16-Core CPU and 40-Core GPU, 64GB RAM and 2TB SSD. With such an expensive computer, I think this saved me maybe 700 bucks and seemed like a good idea. I have been doing fairly serious photography for over 20 years, and I have also been doing Astrophotography for about 10 years. Both of these can tax a machine heavily, but especially when doing them simultaneously or with a lot of supporting apps open.

14 inch with 48G of RAM and a 2T SSD. I teach EE at a university. I do want to play with some LLM stuff so wanted more than the M4 Air. I also have the 13 inch M4 Air, that machine is lower cost and will be my travel machine. The home machine is a Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra.

I went for a used M2 Max 32 gb instead because of the solid memory bandwidth vs M3 (next gen upgrade). I couldn't justify the M4Max because I am cheap. I take a lot of photos (tens of thousands a year) in raw, 24 or 45 mp and shoot and edit video. This machine absolutely crushes everything. Super impressed. I bet the M4Max is way better, too.

The M series is just too good so it'll always be overkill tbh. You'll be more than satisfied. And that's coming from an M4 Max 48GB user that uses this device as the greatest YouTube/Hulu viewing powerhouse.

Honestly, this is a good deal. I have an M2 MacBook Air 15" and I check RAM usage often to see if memory pressure is getting high. Even with multiple Excel, Word, Outlook, Safari tabs, Notes, WhatsApp, Photos, Notes, Discord, etc. all open at once, it rarely ever goes above 24GB of RAM usage and rarely ever uses swap memory.

64gbs is plenty future proofing imo. Unless you're doing cutting edge AI stuff (which actually is weird cz you should rather use cloud GPU servers for that), 128 gb is OVERKILL. Ps. I'm in grad school doing AI.

I had a 2015 15" Macbook pro and then got a 16" M4 Pro, just like you are thinking about. I use a 14" M3 MacBook Pro at work. I am very glad I have the 16" for my personal machine. I use it mostly around the house and not at a desk with a monitor. The larger screen is awesome and it is easy to carry round the house.

I have the exact one in tb, with one tb as only upgrade, is it overkill? Maybe, but it is a damn nice laptop that is for sure, don't regret buying it at all!

Nope, it's perfect. I have both the M1 Max 64Gb 16" and M4 Pro 48gb 16" - the M1 Max is as good still today as the day I got it. Def get the best spec you can at the time. 16" is perfect. Big beautiful screen with plenty of real estate to get any work done.

My Apple laptops last 10 years. The one I'm typing on right now is a 2016 15"er. Back then, I tried to get the max spec I could with my budget knowing that I'd want to future proof it as much as possible. It worked! The ONLY reason I bought a new machine is b/c of tariffs! I'm future proofing my house with big ticket items right now.

Depending on the game its definitely worth it, i just got this exact model a week ago and i love it. i use it as my primary device for gaming and my workload.

It might be overkill right now but as computer performance steadily increases over the years, purchasing a high-end machine now actually pays off in the long run as it will hold up better against newer laptops. For example, my i9 16-inch MacBook Pro only recently started lagging behind and will not be supported soon by the newest macOS release.

Don't be dumb you are spending so much money and getting the smallest storage? Get minimum 1tb. I have 512 and it filled up.

Based on my experience 512 gb is not enough. At least 250gb will be reserved for system, cloud and swap files. I've got 1tb + 2 x 2tb external ssd. It's a perfect set for any possible personal/work things like development/video editing etc.

Personally I would go with at least 32GB RAM and at least 1TB (as modern day software development also often involved LLM and Emulator/VM devices). Depending on what you are working with, 512GB will be very limited. As frameworks etc. take a lot of storage sometimes. And if you also plan on gaming on it, 512GB will for sure be too little.

24G should be fine if you are not rendering video. I would switch out 512G for 1TB (in fact I did). Storage can go fast, and I am not a fan of unencrypted added storage.

Congrats on your first Mac. Been using Mac's and pcs for years and this is peak Apple. I have the same machine except in 24GB config purchased new for business. I would have loved to have that extra ram though for 90% of my workload 24 is fine.

I'm using it for animation and compositing. At home I use in conjunction with a big Wacom, on the road an iPad pro. The previous daily driver was a 2013 MB Air -- 8GB ram, i7 chip. It still runs After Effects and Nuke and Blender, but lack of RAM had become crippling at times. I went for absolute max amount of RAM, hoping to get 12 years out of this one.

Same as creative_techguru....got a full loaded M4 Max 16inch, 128GB and 2TB with the nano screen coating but mine is refurbished model. I use it for local LLMs, AI development, gaming and couple of side projects also developer by trade. Previously was rocking a 2013 8gb i7 GT650m for the last 10 years and retired it.

Yea I have the MacBook Pro M4 Max chip 16in big boy, the most base one, and it works like a freaking dream. I'm an intensive gamer and I create social media content for several companies. Many of these companies are going the future route with 3d model ai advertisement and content. As well as video/photo editing where nothing excels at like this beast.

I have the same one. My RAM is always at 80%. It's my first macbook, work Notebook. I am not really happy about the keyboard. Mac has so many shortcuts but only few are on keyboard. As Windows User it was difficult to remember those. Performance? Yes it works fluently. But i have to restart it much often. Even in comparison to my colleagues it is a strange thing. Some apps starting to freeze after couple of days usage.

Wait until you discover that if you keep the battery drained for more than like 3 or 4 days then your laptop will software lock the recharge forcing you to buy a new battery. I call this pro-consumer commitment just to be a little ironic.

Not worth under at least 36GB of memory (everything under 32GB should not even be offered anymore). Got one with 96GB, was worth it. You still have to use the worst OS available, MacOS, but the device is great.

When you install the entire Adobe suite and then fill it up with files you might run out of space for Adobe to use its scratch disks so if you're not carrying around an external hard drive you might want to go for 1TB but Apple charges absolutely ridiculous prices for upgrades. The base models are good deals but once you upgrade them they become expensive.