The M3 looks like a good jump.
I like the look of the black MBP.
My biggest issue is them sticking with a 24" iMac only! They should have a 27" model. Or ideally, a 32" with M3 Pro / Max options.
24" is just too small in my opinion for a desktop computer. I would want to connect a larger display. At which point, a MBP makes more sense to me.
Am I crazy?
Also, looking at the config page for the new iMac. A $300 AUD difference to go from 256gb to 512gb! The fact that they still sell a computer with only 256gb of storage is bad enough. But such a high upgrade cost is crazy.
I know this isnāt a like for like comparison, but I purchased some 12tb HDDās recently for $280 each. I also purchased some 2TB, Gen 4 NVME drives for $170. Itās unlikely the storage in the iMac is much faster than a Gen 4 NVME drive (~7000 mb/s read/write speeds). Ridiculous they charge so much for so little.
Fully specced 16ā MacBook Pro - $11,699!
I agree that:
But when was it that Apple prices were ever reasonable?
I would love to have an M3 powered iMac, but my existing 2019 27ā Intel iMac with 512GB SSD and 24GB of RAM is still powering on. I suspect it will last another 5 or 6 years before I replace it. Appleās prices are reasonable if you can achieve 10 years of useful life.
Ouch at the 16" MPB Price!
My wife loves her 13" M1 MBP with Touchbar, sad to see it go away as an option. Hers runs 16GB RAM and 512GB storage so should see her for a few more years to come.
In theory the MBP 14" is the replacement, although at a massively increased price point. The MBA 13" is probably the real correct answer although (at least currently) being a generation behind leaves a sour taste.
My personal laptop of choice would be a 16" 18GB/512GB unit which means itās also over $4k and getting scary close to (or over) $5k for anything up from there. (Again the correct choice is probably the MBA version for only $2,799!).
Apple really are pricing themselves out of the market more and more.
Iāll probably grab a 15" Air one day. Not sure I will ever buy a desktop again (last iMac was from 2009) and I donāt need a Pro laptop . My 2017 MacBook Pro 13" will probably suffice for a little while longer.
My main mac is a 2017 MBP these days. Nothing special, but I donāt use it a lot. As an enthusiast, I always want to go high spec. But I fill a lot of that void with my PC systems I have. On the mac side, itās really just to have something for managing the Apple ecosystem devices around the house and the odd task. Anything that is intensive, such as working with virtual machines, converting media, or gaming is all done on my PCās. I will eventually upgrade the MBP, but it will be a struggle internally to settle for a lower end unit, or to pay the ridiculous upgrade prices that they charge today.
Looks like Tim is taking Apple back to the bad old days of ātoo bloody expensive for Joe averageā. Elitism, thy name is Apple.
Then, thereās this. Hereās what Apple means when it says its event was āshot on iPhoneā - The Verge
You didnāt expect them just to use an iPhone 15 & an old torch did you? 
I have to say (Iām actually looking at buying a hybrid mirrorless camera at the moment to do more, better quality video) the specs & results of the iPhone 15 are pretty impressive, especially if you are using something like the new, free Blackmagic app.
My last iMac cost just on $5000 and was bought 8 years ago when I wasnāt retired. That seemed like a crap load of money back then but now Iām retired itās simply not in my budget.
Iād like a MacBook Air to go with the iPhone and iPad but Iām thinking my next purchase might be an Apple watch (SEā¦ more budget friendly lol).
Ummmā¦no. But Joe average who knows nothing about videography might think it was done on an iphone with no extra help and theoretically that would boost sales. Oh well, whatever.
From what I have seen now it appears that Apple certainly werenāt trying to hide how the whole thing was producedā¦
Sigh, I shelled out $5k for my MacBook Pro in May, something I wouldnāt have done if I knew M3 Pros were around the corner. I hate Appleās unpredictability, I based my decision on there not being M3 Pros till at least mid 2024. They took forever to go from the M1 to the M2 with the MacBook Pro, then two updates in the same year - makes no sense.
I guess I know how the iPad 3rd gen buyers felt when the iPad 4th gen came out in the same year.
8GB of ram in a $2700 machine is greedy beyond belief.
[quote=āOldmacs, post:14, topic:5903ā]
I hate Appleās unpredictability, I based my decision on there not being M3 Pros till at least mid 2024.[/quote]
I have to agree. I was about to upgrade my M1 Mac mini to a M2 Pro but I wonāt be now unless I can get a good deal on a 2nd hand or refurbished one but there are precious little of them aroundā¦
I agreeā¦ that is ridiculous, otoh thereās an accountant running the show, and he will continue to maximise profit. Iāll still be using iphone, ipad and watch but I shanāt be getting a new Macā¦everā¦ I do most of my stuff on iPad these days, anyway, so no real point.
Hi Oldmacs
What spec did you get for $5000
14" MBP with M2 Pro, 32GB ram and 4TB SSD. My 2012 MBP that my M2 MacBook Pro replaced already had 16gb of ram and 2TB of SSD storage and there was no way I was paying over $3000 without jump in storage and ram, given I hope to keep this machine for at least as long as I kept my 2012 MBP for.
I wouldnāt have too much buyers remorse having your M2 over a similar spec M3. The cheapest you can get an M3 pro chip with 36GB and 4TB is AU$5899.
According to leaked benchmarks itāll only beat yours by about 14% single core and 6% multi core.
You may have actually got more bang for your buck but no option for space black.
Apples upgrade pricing is horrendous as you move up at all, especially for products that provide zero upgradeability in the future making you choose more now (or face upgrading sooner rather than later).
$300 for 256GB storage or 8GB RAM? They could at least buy you dinner first!
I watched a video this week about Apples āladder pricingā which makes you say to yourselfā¦ well, I already upgraded this much, whatās a little more before you end up spending waaay more than the āstarting fromā sign that got you in the door.
Donāt get me wrong, plenty of other laptops start with too little RAM and storage, but at least they come with a price to match.
In many respects, it seems we have all agreed that 16GB RAM and 512GB storage is about right for most peopleā¦
ā¦although as more and more people opt for laptops and everyone (including grandmas) have gone digital for photos and video I do wonder where people store all this stuff. Clearly Apple want to sell you iCloud, Google want Google Drive and Microsoft want OneDrive, but getting a 1TB of photos (let alone video) is getting easier and easier. And call me crazy, but I donāt trust anyone to keep my photos in iCloud (or anything else) and not on my computer. I want a copy here, in my house that I can touch.
Apple could have expanded the TimeMachine to do this as a local backup of iCloudā¦ but thatās sort of un-Apple-like to need a thingā¦ or maybe itās not when they could charge you for it?
I donāt know, Iām just extra grumpy today.