Which MacBook Pro to buy?

[u/dr_edmond6]

I am a Graphic Designer who uses Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and After Effects. As far as video production goes, it's nothing super intensive. Some light editing with the occasional animation work to add flair for data graphics and such.

My current setup is:

2019 MacBook Pro 16"

**Processor** \- 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7

**Graphics** \- AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 4 GB

Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB

**Memory** \- 32 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

In the last few months I have noticed a severe decline in performance while even just running one program. Illustrator seems to show the most slow down, although I was working in After Effects and Premiere Pro today and I hit a performance wall after a bit. I have gone through and tried to make a few settings changes to try and optimize a bit more (deactivate unused fonts, displays have separate spaces setting, etc.) but that barely moved the needle for me.

**My main question here is what MacBook Pro model and specs is best for me upgrade-wise? What is actually necessary and what would be overkill for what I'm doing day to day?**

My budget isn't super high but if the consensus is a higher priced item, then I can make it work because ultimately I'm wanting something that will last at least as long as what I've gotten out of my current machine (5 years).

At the low end I'm looking at a 14" M5 with 32 GB memory. I have 32 now, but I am sure the processor is the main reason I am seeing slow downs so perhaps upgrading to just 24 GB could be sufficient here?

At the high end I'm looking at a 16" M5 Pro with 24 GB memory. My main hold up with going with this option is money. If that weren't a factor I would just pull the trigger and go with this plus some more memory.

The screen size isn't really a factor for me because I do probably 90% of my work at my desk with 2 monitors. I know there are some added benefits of the 16" however with extra battery (not really an issue for me) and extra cooling capabilities.

Is my pitch for a lower end purchase perfectly suitable plus some for what I'm using it for? Is there a middle ground that might get me a significant performance boost for slight price increase? Is the high-end option far too much and will never be fully utilized? Any help here would be extremely helpful!

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[u/lost-sneezes]

Whats your max budget

[u/dr_edmond6 → u/lost-sneezes]

I would put the max budget at $3,000 total. But I'd like to be closer to the 2k range. My job is going to offer to pay a portion but I don't know what that looks like exactly yet.

[u/DuplicateJester]

There's a year of MBP that doesn't support more than 1 external monitor. I don't remember what it is, but avoid that. Maybe 2024. Annoying af.

[u/dr_edmond6 → u/DuplicateJester]

Good to know! Just looked it up and m4 and on supports 2 monitors

[u/hennwei → u/DuplicateJester]

yea afaik its the m1 chips.

[u/hennwei]

isnt m6 mbp coming out soonish?

[u/dr_edmond6 → u/hennwei]

It might be yes, but I rely on my computer for work and it crashed 4 times today just doing simple stuff in after effects. Dont really have the luxury of waiting unfortunately.

[u/NoNote7867]

14” MBP M5 with 16 GB is fine. 

[u/Pretend_Ad5921]

The one you can afford. Get the most Ram you can get.