Poll: * The official 2021 14" and 16" Macbook Pro thread (it has an SD slot and everything!) *

fuzzylogic · 27 Oct 2021 at 09:39

Ryan-3 said:
One other thing to note if you're wanting to play anything multiplayer is that not all games will play with their versions on Windows. Often they leave the cross play functionality out of ported games.

Are there any games worth playing on these Macs? I'm not particularly bothered but curious. Any native Apple Silicon ports?

smokedog · 27 Oct 2021 at 09:53

That notch is going to need some optimisation
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/27/macbook-pro-notch-menu-bar-behavior/

Feek · 27 Oct 2021 at 09:57

smokedog said:
That notch is going to need some optimisation

Or perhaps the third party software writers just need to update their apps to support it.

It is an interesting one, if I look up at the menu bar on my M1 MBA, I have stuff in the menu that would be behind the notch on the new machines.

AdamM6 · 27 Oct 2021 at 10:14

Spoke to my friend at UPS, 'Mechanical Failure' generally means a delay due to a missed flight or weather related problems. It usually means an extra 24 hours on any delivery.

We shall see however....

fez · 27 Oct 2021 at 10:39

AdamM6 said:
Spoke to my friend at UPS, 'Mechanical Failure' generally means a delay due to a missed flight or weather related problems. It usually means an extra 24 hours on any delivery.

We shall see however....

Cheers. It didn't update for nearly 2 days after apparently leaving china and then this was the update. All very confusing and frustrating but hey ho. It will arrive when it arrives.

chrismscotland · 27 Oct 2021 at 11:52

blairw said:
I am going back and forth on spec so much on this - I know 16GB would be fine... however I expect this machine to last a long long time and I just feel 32GB serves that much better but holy price uplift batman

Quite a cost for another 16GB!!!

Chris344 · 27 Oct 2021 at 11:53

For those going for the base spec, how do you manage with 512GB storage? Thinking of going 1TB. I do have 1TB of iCloud space but files are local and cloud based etc.

AdamM6 · 27 Oct 2021 at 11:59

Chris344 said:
For those going for the base spec, how do you manage with 512GB storage? Thinking of going 1TB. I do have 1TB of iCloud space but files are local and cloud based etc.

I use external storage ie Samsung T7 drives for large files, or the Cloud for non sensitive day to day material. Not an issue for me...

AdamM6 · 27 Oct 2021 at 13:14

Well I have now had my 14" for 24 hours and on the whole I am blown away with it BUT the sound quality has issues, initially I thought the sound was excellent with good bass.

Now after 24 hours I get the feeling that the bass is being extended via DSP and I am getting vocal clipping on some YT videos even at low volumes. I have searched for some kind of EQ in the OS but can find nothing. Anyone else found this?

Also online Apple Store custom 14" and 16" orders are now showing 5-6 week lead times...

Yesterday the Apple retail store guy told me they are expecting 8 Week+ delivery times shortly.

Get your orders in!

Ryan-3 · 27 Oct 2021 at 14:04

fuzzylogic said:
Are there any games worth playing on these Macs? I'm not particularly bothered but curious. Any native Apple Silicon ports?

Not actually sure if there's anything other than mobile or indie games that are native to be honest! I could be wrong though.

fez · 27 Oct 2021 at 14:06

Sounds like UPS are having some serious issues and my laptop is caught up in that.

smokedog · 27 Oct 2021 at 14:08

blairw said:
I am going back and forth on spec so much on this - I know 16GB would be fine... however I expect this machine to last a long long time and I just feel 32GB serves that much better but holy price uplift batman

The way I see it, if I really need that 32Gb I would sell and upgrade in the next update, would make more financial sense. Hopefully then 32Gb will become more mainstream and more afford. I think the current chip shortages are pushing the prices up.

blairw · 27 Oct 2021 at 14:18

smokedog said:
The way I see it, if I really need that 32Gb I would sell and upgrade in the next update, would make more financial sense. Hopefully then 32Gb will become more mainstream and more afford. I think the current chip shortages are pushing the prices up.

Don't use logic to try and stop me spending money... many have tried (my wife included)

I do think 16GB will be enough and you are right, there may be a sweetspot on the chip cycles that make sense to sell and re buy in... food for thought!

Rilot · 27 Oct 2021 at 14:36

For those who are getting annoyed by the notch, try this: https://topnotch.app/

Works really well

Rilot · 27 Oct 2021 at 14:38

smokedog said:
The way I see it, if I really need that 32Gb I would sell and upgrade in the next update, would make more financial sense. Hopefully then 32Gb will become more mainstream and more afford. I think the current chip shortages are pushing the prices up.

This is where I'm at too. 16GB seems fine for my current workflow but if I need more then I'll upgrade when M2 or whatever comes along in 12 to 18 months.
The thing with MacBooks is that once you have one, the cost to change isn't too bad due to the high retained value.

smokedog · 27 Oct 2021 at 14:39

AdamM6 said:
Well I have now had my 14" for 24 hours and on the whole I am blown away with it BUT the sound quality has issues, initially I thought the sound was excellent with good bass.

Now after 24 hours I get the feeling that the bass is being extended via DSP and I am getting vocal clipping on some YT videos even at low volumes. I have searched for some kind of EQ in the OS but can find nothing. Anyone else found this?

Like I said in the previous post I found the sound had too much reverb and boomy, using Eqmac to adjust the EQ and makes sound slightly better for me
https://eqmac.app/

AdamM6 · 27 Oct 2021 at 14:48

smokedog said:
Like I said in the previous post I found the sound had too much revert and boomy, using Eqmac to adjust the EQ and makes sound slightly better for me
https://eqmac.app/

Thanks I will check that out, sorry I missed your post! :confused:

chaparral · 27 Oct 2021 at 14:49

fuzzylogic said:
Are there any games worth playing on these Macs? I'm not particularly bothered but curious. Any native Apple Silicon ports?

Ryan-3 said:
Not actually sure if there's anything other than mobile or indie games that are native to be honest! I could be wrong though.

I found this while searching google
Why are new AAA games coming to mac? : macgaming (reddit.com)

Why are new AAA games coming to mac?

Discussion
There's a consensus that mac's aren't great for gaming but then shouldn't it be a dead platform. But no there are so many relatively new games on Mac.

Civilization 6

Metro Exodus

Life is Strange: Before the Storm

Divinity: Original Sin 2

Frostpunk

Disco Elysium

Baulder's Gate 3

BO3

Bioshock 2 Remastered

Inside

Life is Strange 2

Farming Simulator

Dirt 4

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Total War: 3 Kingdoms

XCOM 2

Mafia 3

Firewatch

Many many more games

I don't even think Apple is paying these devs big money and devs still ported the games. It seems all Apple has to do is make more graphically powerful Macs and that getting games won't be much of an issue.

JGBR · 27 Oct 2021 at 15:09

This MBP has changed my life and I am enjoying computing again, the first time in such a long time that I have been generally excited about new technology.

It's just a pleasure to use.

fuzzylogic · 27 Oct 2021 at 15:13

JGBR said:
This MBP has changed my life and I am enjoying computing again, the first time in such a long time that I have been generally excited about new technology.

It's just a pleasure to use.

I'm still waiting or something to happen with my damn order! What are the highlights?

Poll: *** The official 2021 14" and 16" Macbook Pro thread (it has an SD slot and everything!) ***

Will you be buying a new MacBook Pro

Yes, 14"

Yes, 16"

No

Poll: * The official 2021 14" and 16" Macbook Pro thread (it has an SD slot and everything!) *