New 14‑inch MacBook Pro with M6

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Apple’s new 14‑inch MacBook Pro with the base M6 chip is seen as a solid incremental upgrade, but many question its value versus older M5 Pro/Max models, especially given its 32 GB RAM ceiling and lower memory bandwidth for local AI/LLM workloads. Commenters highlight that M1–M2 era Macs still feel fast and durable, making it hard to justify expensive upgrades when performance gains are modest and prices—especially for high‑RAM configurations—have climbed sharply. Broader concerns center on Apple’s software direction, UI changes like “Liquid Glass,” the lack (so far) of touch/OLED on this model, and growing interest in alternatives such as Asahi Linux or remote servers for heavy compute.

Battery life and Intel comparisons

  • Debate over Apple still marketing gains vs old Intel Macs; some find it “embarrassing,” others note many Intel holdouts remain and are valid targets.
  • Several claim Apple still leads in laptop battery life; others counter that recent Intel Core Ultra laptops (e.g., Framework 13 Pro) can beat recent Macs in some tests, often using larger batteries or more aggressive throttling.
  • Consensus: Apple still strong on efficiency and single‑core, but competition (Intel, Qualcomm) is now close on perf/W in some scenarios.

Performance, longevity, and upgrade timing

  • Many users on M1/M1 Pro/Max/M2 report machines still feel “new” after 4–6 years for dev, browsing, and media, often saying upgrades are hard to justify.
  • Biggest real-world pain points: RAM capacity and SSD size, not CPU speed.
  • Several plan to wait for rumored M7/M8 generations, especially for better local AI performance and cheaper high‑capacity RAM/SSD.

Local LLMs, memory bandwidth, and RAM caps

  • For serious local LLM inference, commenters favor M5 Pro/Max or used M1 Max/Ultra due to higher memory bandwidth (e.g., ~600+ GB/s) and larger unified memory.
  • The M6 base chip’s 170 GB/s bandwidth and 32 GB RAM cap are widely seen as limiting for bigger models; good for “small private chat,” not heavy agentic workloads.
  • Comparisons with RTX 5090 and DGX Spark emphasize bandwidth and VRAM size as core bottlenecks.

Product positioning and naming confusion

  • Confusion and annoyance that “MacBook Pro with M6” is weaker in some ways than older “M5 Pro/Max” machines; “Pro” in laptop name no longer implies a Pro‑class chip.
  • Some see the M6 14" as a mid‑tier “Pro with fan and better screen/ports” between Air and true Pro/Max models.

UI/OS, Linux, and remote workflows

  • Strong dislike from some for macOS “Liquid Glass” UI (visual noise, accessibility issues, wasted space), though others say it’s tolerable.
  • Multiple users report moving Macs to Asahi/other Linux or to remote dev on beefy Linux boxes, using Macs or other laptops mainly as thin clients.

Hardware design, ports, storage, and reliability

  • Praise for M‑series Air/Pro build quality, screens, speakers, and especially longevity.
  • Complaints about limited ports (no USB‑A), lack of LTE, and non‑removable storage; several horror stories of total data loss when a CPU or soldered SSD dies.
  • Thread strongly reiterates need for real backups (Time Machine, cloud, multiple copies), regardless of removable vs soldered storage.