r/macbookpro14

Hi everyone,
I’m about to start university next year in either Communication Design, Product Design, or possibly Film.
I’m currently deciding between two refurbished options:
MacBook Pro 14” M1 Pro (32GB RAM, 512GB SSD, excellent condition) — €1150
MacBook Pro M4 base model (24GB RAM, 1TB SSD, premium grade) — €1600
My workload will likely include Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), Figma, and potentially Blender / video editing depending on my course.
From my research:
M4 base is significantly newer, more efficient, and has better CPU performance
M4 also gives me double the storage, but slightly less RAM and a less “pro” GPU setup
My main question is:
In 2026, is the M4 base actually worth ~€400–500 more in real-world creative workflows, or is the M1 Pro still the better value machine for a design student?
I’m trying to balance performance, longevity, and value — not just benchmarks.
Would really appreciate advice from people using either machine in creative work.
Thanks!

Hi guys

Super weird one. I have a Macbook M3 Pro and an Asus PA278QV display. When I connect the Macbook to the monitor directly with an HDMI cable, the monitor goes off standby but then says there is no signal.

My windows laptop (Dell G15) and older intel Macbook (2015) works perfectly with the monitor.

I have tried various HDMI cables. I have tried updating the firmware of the monitor. The Macbook is up to date on its OS. The Macbook connects to another Dell monitor I have as well as my Samsung TV.

I have also tried changing the XDR, Promotion and HDR settings on the Macbook but nothing works.

It seems to be a new M chip based problem.

This is so frustrating and I don't understand why this would be happening.

If you have any advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

I bought a new MPB Pro M5 14" (24GB/1TB if that matters) yesterday and today I'm noticing it overheats terribly even under the most basic tasks. The screen / back of the screen temperature varies from noticeably warm to alarmingly hot and the sides of the keyboard are a bit warm constantly as well.

I've done nothing so far but change settings, personalize, have Apple Music in the background and four Safari tabs open (design app Kittle, Pinterest, Google, Reddit) and it's HOT. I feel like sitting in front of a furness. At the same time I hear no fans sound at all so it doesn't sound like it's working really hard?

The only thing that helped slightly (but not nearly enough) was dropping the screen brightness below 50% but that sucks because it's now too dark, darker than my external monitor. What's the point of paying for such a wonderful display if you have to keep it dark?

Is that alarming or normal? Will it get better? Maybe there are some initial updates going on in the background (I hope)? My last laptop was MacBook Air 13" M1 16GB and I don't remember it ever getting warm under basic workload, let alone hot, and it didn't even have the fans so you'd imagine it would have bigger heat issues.

Thanks for any tips

EDIT: Thanks everybody, a few hours later and the device has calmed down significantly.

I recently ran a phishing GitHub repo and it drained my crypto wallet from my MacBook Pro, will factory reset remove all the wrong doings that it had done or it is recommended to take the device to Apple care and reinstall OS?