Top
Best
New

Posted by secure 10/31/2025

My Impressions of the MacBook Pro M4(michael.stapelberg.ch)
252 points | 397 commentspage 4
petethepig 11/1/2025|
funny i was recently picking between a glossy and nano texture screen and came to the opposite conclusion — the glossy screen’s image was so much more crisp, and i didn’t really see much difference in terms of reflection
shwaj 11/1/2025||
The part about noticing web pages loading (at most) 8ms faster due to the display is total nonsense. Many can notice the difference between 60 and 120Hz when scrolling, but definitely not for a page load. That’s less than 1/10th of the blink of an eye.

If page load seems noticeably faster, it’s far more likely that it’s simply a faster machine. Or imaginary.

13415 10/31/2025||
After 18 years of Mac-abstinence, I just bought a MacBook Air and realized there is apparently no way to change the App Store language without changing region and payment method. WTF? That seems like the most basic thing one could imagine. What has happened to Apple?
Aloisius 10/31/2025||
I was able to switch the App Store language from English to Spanish by changing my primary language in System Settings > Language & Region > Preferred Languages.

It didn't require me to switch my region or payment method.

zrm 10/31/2025|||
That seems like classic Apple, really.
killingtime74 11/1/2025||
Why did you think Apple was user friendly or flexible...it's the Apple way or the highway. Most only stick around because of the currently superior hardware
jillesvangurp 11/1/2025||
I have the M4 Max. The fans never really come on unless I launch something that maxes out the GPUs, which I rarely do. I do have some software projects that use all CPUs and maxes those out while they build (all 14 of them). The fans stay silent.

This is, by far, the fastest machine I've ever had. My previous laptop was a more modest M1 mac book pro. And before that I was on a cheapo intel i5 Samsung laptop - a stop gap solution after my last intel mac died when a loose keyboard key destroyed the screen (yep the generation with the crappy keyboards, worst mac I've ever owned). That intel was of course pathetic and shit. I wasn't expecting much and it disappointed me despite that. The M1 was about 3x faster. The M4 Max is a beast. In terms of build speeds, the i5 was unusable while building and would take 15 minutes. The M1 got it down to 5 minutes (10 CPU cores that are faster than the 4 intel ones). But it didn't have enough memory so swapping slowed it down a bit. The M4 max builds stuff in around 30 seconds. No more swapping and the 14 cores are quite a bit faster than the M1 ones. Same project (but of course with a few years of development). We have more tests now, not fewer.

Otherwise it's a great laptop. Keyboard is fine. Touchpad is best in class in the industry (everything else is pathetically mediocre in comparison; it's not even close), the screen is best in class as well (contrast, colors, resolution, everything). And Apple learned it's lesson when it comes to keyboards. Most windows/linux laptops I'm aware off are a compromise between heating/cooling, lousy input and output devices, performance, design, screen quality, etc. Apple nails all of those things. Nobody else does.

High end Macs are not cheap. But for professionals it's a minor expense. If you lease a car for getting your ass to work every morning, you are probably spending 2-3x more at least than what this would cost you. And the whole point of getting to work is to open your laptop and earn a living with it. It's more important than the damn car. It's what pays for that car. I spend less than what used to be 1 hour of my freelance rate per month on this absolute monster. Maybe it's 2 hours for you if you just got started. That's still nothing on 160ish billable hours per month. Employers tend to be less enlightened of course. But if it's your choice, don't be frugal and buy the laptop you need. If a simple browser is all you need, of course get something decent looking like a mac book air or whatever. But otherwise, get the best you can afford. I've compromised once with that Samsung. I did not enjoy that.

pcdoodle 10/31/2025||
We used to sell conversion kits to shoehorn a pixel qi display into the thinkpad x230. Since apple has put in 1,000nit displays on the pros, we don't bother anymore. The nano texture sold me and it performs wonderfully outdoors. I hate giving apple money but here I am.
lisbbb 10/31/2025||
It's because Apple sucks the least. They still suck, though. They could build decent computers that are upgradeable, but they refuse because they want your $$$$ in large amounts.
commandersaki 11/1/2025||
Honestly I hate giving money to Lenovo, they're one of the worst companies I've had to deal with at least when it comes to support.
koiueo 11/1/2025||
+1 to that. Simply horrendous post-purchase support. Company representatives on all levels, from a simple technician to head of Linux support department, will be lying straight in your face, just to scam a few thousands bucks out of you.

But their keyboards are still the best, and trackpoint is unmatched. As soon as System76 or Framework or any other vendor offer that, I'm giving them my money.

kapone 11/3/2025||
[dead]
drnick1 10/31/2025||
[flagged]
amelius 10/31/2025||
[flagged]
sunaookami 10/31/2025|
macOS does not have auto update. In fact it doesn't bother you with any updates which lead to me behind patches behind because I was accustomed to Windows nagging me for updates every week.
hexbin010 11/1/2025|||
> In fact it doesn't bother you with any updates

Patently false on modern MacOS. I get a reminder about Tahoe every week or two. Plus a persistent red "1" dot in the Settings app that you can't dismiss. And a huge info/advert panel in the 'Software Update' section of Settings about Tahoe, that you can't dismiss.

javier2 11/1/2025||||
Its usually just a persistent red dot on system settings and the menu that there is an update.
hexbin010 11/1/2025||
Pro tip: remove 'Settings' from the dock, create a shortcut to the 'Settings' app, and put that in the dock.

Now you just have an annoying tiny black arrow instead of a red dot.

signa11 11/1/2025|||
mine seems to be doing just that pretty religiously.

how do you avoid the nagging ?

p0w3n3d 11/1/2025||
The nagging might be enabled by the IT support of the company you work in. Mine is also not nagging but the company one used to do it quite often
adastra22 11/1/2025||
It nags by default. There is a plist setting to turn it off though.
signa11 11/1/2025||
please do let the mere mortals and linux refugees know ! thank you !
signa11 11/3/2025||
ok, finally got a chance to look at it in some detail, and here is the scoop:

let's see what the values are ?

    % defaults read com.apple.SoftwareUpdate
this gives me:

    {
        AvailableUpdatesNotificationCountKey = "-1";
        AvailableUpdatesNotificationProductKey = "MSU_UPDATE_24G90_patch_15.6.1_minor";
        MajorOSUserNotificationDate = "2032-12-31 23:22:47 +0000";
        UserNotificationDate = "2032-12-31 23:22:47 +0000";
    }
ofcourse those are modified values, which is done like so:

    % defaults write com.apple.SoftwareUpdate AvailableUpdatesNotificationCountKey -1
    % defaults write com.apple.SoftwareUpdate UserNotificationDate -date "2032-12-31 23:22:47 +0000"
you get the idea.

with this, i don't see the nags just yet, but probably it is a bit early to conclude ?

adastra22 11/3/2025||
Sorry I didn't see this earlier, but yes, that's the settings I was referring to.
anonymous344 10/31/2025||
why is it getting hot?

i noticed my ola macbook pro was connected to my router even when it was sleeping.. probably sending some private info periodically to apple and cia

jlund-molfese 10/31/2025|
If you'd like to change that, you can go to System Settings → Battery → Options → Wake for Network Access

Or just search for "Power Nap" (what it used to be called). They usually wake up intermittently for Time Machine backups, wake-on-lane and other stuff.

ProllyInfamous 11/1/2025|||
I have mine set to `NEVER` [wake for network access] and yet it still makes DNS requests often while asleep.

Curiously, it is able to maintain network connection even through the 1/4" steel of the safe it's stored within. The older Intel MBP doesn't and cannot.

javier2 11/1/2025|||
I have done this, yet every now and then my macbook still wants to connect to my bluetooth headphones from my backpack.
jlund-molfese 11/2/2025||
Hah, sounds like OS X! I have every possible Universal Control setting turned off, yet the process continues running and slurping up CPU cycles. It's impossible to kill or really disable unless you turn off SIP, and I'd prefer not to do that.
kome 10/31/2025|
i'll never understand picky preferences about monitors... i still use an LG flatron wide that's old enough to vote... and when i slack at the apple store, it's not like i notice some life-or-death difference. a monitor is a monitor.

ok, i guess for graphic designers it might matter more?

Tagbert 11/1/2025|
Or people who read text.
skylurk 11/1/2025|||
Some old LCD displays were quite crisp. Sure, you can see individual pixels. The mouse tail has a clear zig-zag. But I find these nice on the eyes in their own way. I suspect because eyes autofocus more easily.

New super high-res displays are also nice on my eyes. The displays in between, those from the last decade or so, have been hit or miss for me.

kome 11/1/2025|||
that's me, and it really doesn't matter