A developer who spent years on an M1 Pro has bought the M4 Pro MacBook Pro 16 and found, in daily work of testing, containers and virtual machines, that the leap is real enough to justify the jump for heavy users, even as he admits most people on M1 need not rush. The machine keeps the familiar aluminum body of the first M1 generation, trading a little weight for screen room he cannot now do without. Its price, which can pass three thousand dollars once memory and storage are sensibly chosen, asks each buyer a quiet question about whether the work truly demands the power on offer.
MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro) review: A strong upgrade case for M1 owners, with steep prices and a few trade-offs
Everyday use almost never passed 10W; the stress test hit 70W and throttled.
Mark
So who is this review really for?
Mimi
M1 owners with heavy workloads. The writer is a developer running containers and virtual machines, and he says only now can he justify upgrading from his M1 Pro.
Luke
Worth noting that's one person's use case. He says most people don't need to go from M1 to M4.
Mark
The price seems to be the big caveat.
Mimi
Yes. The 16-inch starts at $2,499, but 512GB of storage is thin. A usable 1TB setup is $2,699, and 48GB of RAM brings it to $3,199.
Luke
Those are Apple's list prices as the reviewer reports them. Whether 48GB is necessary depends on the work.
Mark
What about the Nano Texture screen?
Mimi
It's $150 and he calls it a game-changer near windows and on trains. He says it's pointless if you work in the dark.
Luke
That's his experience, not a measured result. He also says he can't test color accuracy.
Mark
And the power testing?
Mimi
CPU alone hit 30W, GPU alone 40W, and together they peaked just over 70W before thermal throttling. Everyday use stayed under 10W.
Luke
Fair, but he's using his own script on one unit. And the battery claims, 8 hours with 40% left, are from his workflow, not a standardized test.
Il Polso
- Stress tests pull the combined CPU and GPU past 70 watts, and the chip begins throttling as heat builds, exposing the limit of the sleek body.
- Everyday browsing and video keep draw under 10 watts, so the machine stays cool and the battery lasts a full workday with plenty left.
- A $150 Nano Texture screen option is being embraced as a practical fix for glare near windows and on trains.
- Starting prices of $2,499 for the 16-inch climb past $3,000 once 48GB of memory or extra storage is added, forcing buyers to weigh cost against need.
- The verdict lands firmly: a strong upgrade for M1 owners with heavy workloads, but a costly choice for everyone else.
A developer who spent years on an M1 Pro has bought the M4 Pro MacBook Pro 16 and found, in daily work of testing, containers and virtual machines, that the leap is real enough to justify the jump for heavy users, even as he admits most people on M1 need not rush. The machine keeps the familiar aluminum body of the first M1 generation, trading a little weight for screen room he cannot now do without. Its price, which can pass three thousand dollars once memory and storage are sensibly chosen, asks each buyer a quiet question about whether the work truly demands the power on offer.
The reviewer at XDA Developers bought his 16-inch MacBook Pro in early January 2025, received it days later, and has used it as his personal machine ever since. It carries the 14-core M4 Pro, and he is clear that Apple had no hand in his review. His verdict is direct: it is the best laptop he has ever used, and for someone coming from an M1-series Mac, it may be worth the jump.
He came to this machine as a developer who had bought an M1 Pro soon after that chip launched, and his daily work of testing, containers and virtual machines demands a great deal. Earlier generations never gave him enough reason to upgrade, but the M4 Pro is a large enough step beyond the original M1 Pro that he now feels justified. He is careful to add that most people do not need to leave M1 behind, though anyone still on an Intel MacBook should switch now.
Price is where the story gets uncomfortable. The 16-inch starts at $2,499 with 512GB of storage, and a more usable configuration with extra storage begins at $2,699, rising to $3,199 with 48GB of memory. He calls the starting figures deceptively affordable, while granting that 24GB of memory is a better baseline than Apple once offered, and he thinks the cost may be defensible for a main machine meant to last years.
The design is unchanged from the first M1 MacBook Pros. At 4.7 pounds, the 16-inch is heavier than he would like, but he accepts the weight for the extra screen space. He praises the trackpad, speakers and aluminum build, and finds the keyboard the weakest element, though better than the old Butterfly keys. The ports are generous, and he finds the 14-inch's Thunderbolt 4 holdover puzzling even if it changes little today.
His favorite addition is the $150 Nano Texture display, which softens glare and made working near windows and on trains practical in ways he did not expect. He notes that anyone who works mostly in the dark should skip it.
Testing told a split story. A custom script reading Apple's Powermetrics tool recorded a combined peak just over 70 watts under simultaneous CPU and GPU stress, before heat forced throttling. He has never reached that in real use. Ordinary browsing, music and video rarely pass 10 watts, and a full workday can leave more than 40 percent of the battery. He credits Apple's unified memory design and the TSMC 3nm process for the efficiency.
He closes by arguing that macOS suits power users and that growing gaming support, from the coming Cyberpunk 2077 release to Apple's Game Porting Toolkit, points toward a broader future for the platform. For buyers, the decision rests on whether their work truly justifies a bill that can pass $3,000.
The reviewer at XDA Developers bought his MacBook Pro 16 on January 8th, 2025, received it on the 13th, and has used it as his personal machine since. The configuration is the 14-core M4 Pro. He says Apple had no input in the review, and his verdict is blunt: it is the best laptop he has ever used, and for someone coming from an M1-series Mac, it may be worth the jump.
He writes as a developer who bought an M1 Pro MacBook Pro soon after that chip launched. His work involves a lot of testing, containers and virtual machines. In earlier generations he couldn't justify upgrading. The M4 Pro, he says, is a big enough leap over the original M1 Pro, and the other improvements add enough, that he can now. He is careful to say most people don't need to move from M1 to M4, and that anyone still on an Intel MacBook should make the switch now.
The price is the sticking point. The 14-inch model with a 12-core CPU starts at $1,999 with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The 14-core 14-inch starts at $2,399 with 24GB and 1TB. The 16-inch comes only in a 14-core version, starting at $2,499 with 512GB of storage. Going to 48GB of RAM adds $400, bringing the 16-inch to $2,899. An extra terabyte of storage is $200 on the 16-inch, so a configuration with usable storage starts at $2,699, and with 48GB of RAM it reaches $3,199. He calls those starting prices deceptively affordable, though he notes 24GB of RAM is a better baseline than Apple used to offer, and he argues the cost may be defensible for a main work machine meant to last years.
Physically, the design is unchanged from the first M1 MacBook Pros. The 16-inch weighs 4.7 pounds and measures 14 inches wide and just under 10 inches tall. He chose it for the extra screen space despite the weight. He praises the trackpad, the speakers and the all-aluminum build, and finds the keyboard the weakest part, better than the old Butterfly keys but behind the enthusiast boards he normally uses, the Glorious GMMK 3 Pro HE and the Wooting 80HE. The 16-inch has three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI, an SD card slot, a headphone jack and MagSafe. The 14-inch now matches that port count, though it stays on Thunderbolt 4, an omission he finds confusing even if it makes no practical difference today.
The M4 Pro supports two external displays up to 6K at 60Hz over Thunderbolt, or one 6K at 60Hz over Thunderbolt plus one 4K at 144Hz over HDMI. It also supports a single 8K display at 60Hz or a single 4K display at 240Hz over HDMI.
His favorite addition is the Nano Texture display option, a $150 upgrade that includes Apple's polishing cloth. He says it diffuses light hitting the screen and made working near windows and on train journeys practical in a way he hadn't expected. If you mostly work in the dark or away from light sources, he says skip it. The panel itself is a 16.2-inch Mini LED Liquid Retina XDR display at 3456 x 2234, 120Hz, with 1,600 nits peak and up to 1,000 nits sustained brightness. He has used it for photo editing but couldn't measure color accuracy. He has also grown to tolerate the notch.
For testing, he wrote a Python script that reads Apple's Powermetrics tool. A CPU stress test across all cores drew 30W, and a GPU stress test drew 40W. Run together, combined draw peaked just over 70W before dropping as the machine got hot and began to thermal throttle. He says he has never hit that heat in real use. In everyday browsing, music, Discord and YouTube, draw almost never passed 10W on automatic power mode. A full workday takes about 8 hours and can leave over 40% of the battery. Even under his stress tests, projections showed about three hours of use. He credits Apple's unified memory architecture and the chip's TSMC N3E 3nm process.
He also argues macOS suits power users, pointing out that many tech companies hand developers Macs, and sees Cyberpunk 2077's coming macOS release and Apple's Game Porting Toolkit as signs that gaming is a growing target for the platform. For buyers, the question is whether the workload justifies a bill that can pass $3,000.
Citazioni salienti
The MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro) is the best laptop he has ever used, and may be worth upgrading to from M1.— XDA Developers reviewer
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