Back to the drawing board & MBP/clamshell vs. Mini v. Studio

[tosolu3]

I've been running a mid-2015 MPB with 16GB memory/250GB storage in clamshell mode with one external monitor for years, and for the last two years have worked from home via Logmein remote desktop to my office Windows laptop. Now permanent WFH. That's all I do on this system, except for additional online work research on my local desktop as needed/web browsing/emails. Work material is all stored on my remote work server. I have a widescreen LG monitor I'm going to pass along, as I've found it's too big for me. 27" seems optimal. (I was using a beloved old 27" Apple monitor, but it has since died.)

Was waiting for the new 27" iMac, but that ship has sailed and I don't want to wait any longer. Was considering Studio or mini, but we have fairly frequent power outages at home and I do have occasional (2x a month max) need for portability. I have an iPad Air for using round the house.

My needs seem pretty minimal compared to others here, but I do want longevity since I keep my system a long time. So I've been reconsidering just replacing the MBP with a new model and continuing clamshell mode. The external monitor and clearest possible text is a priority. I used an adjustable sit/stand desk so the monitor must be adjustable as well.

What would you do? So tired of overthinking this.

 

[clevins]

My needs seem pretty minimal compared to others here, but I do want longevity since I keep my system a long time.

I don't know what a long time is for you but more than about 5 years is the wrong strategy and leads people to overspeccing up front. Assuming that performance (broadly construed) is important to you, a mid-level computer of a given class in 5 years will kick the ass of a high specced one today. That is, the Air in 2027 will be way better than the 2022 MBP 14/16. If you analyze costs, the $/day cost isn't drastically reduced by spending a lot more upfront and holding it for 7-10 years, either. Remember, 3-5 year old Macs resell for a decent fraction of their purchase price. A $1500 Mac will probably get you $5-700 resale in that timeframe so the next $1500 Mac you buy will cost you somewhere around $800-$1000 out of pocket then.

So... what I'd do in your shoes is think about what you need for the next 3-5 years. Unless you have special demands for a Mac (video editing, modelling etc), I suspect an Air would be fine. It gives you i9 level performance right now so it's much faster than your 2015 out of the box. I'd spec it to have at least 2x the storage of what you need stored (if your 2015 has 500G of files on it, get 1T, etc) and I'd probably just get 16G RAM even if you think you might not need it since it's a pretty cheap upgrade.

 

[tosolu3]

I don't know what a long time is for you but more than about 5 years is the wrong strategy and leads people to overspeccing up front. Assuming that performance (broadly construed) is important to you, a mid-level computer of a given class in 5 years will kick the ass of a high specced one today. That is, the Air in 2027 will be way better than the 2022 MBP 14/16. If you analyze costs, the $/day cost isn't drastically reduced by spending a lot more upfront and holding it for 7-10 years, either. Remember, 3-5 year old Macs resell for a decent fraction of their purchase price. A $1500 Mac will probably get you $5-700 resale in that timeframe so the next $1500 Mac you buy will cost you somewhere around $800-$1000 out of pocket then.

So... what I'd do in your shoes is think about what you need for the next 3-5 years. Unless you have special demands for a Mac (video editing, modelling etc), I suspect an Air would be fine. It gives you i9 level performance right now so it's much faster than your 2015 out of the box. I'd spec it to have at least 2x the storage of what you need stored (if your 2015 has 500G of files on it, get 1T, etc) and I'd probably just get 16G RAM even if you think you might not need it since it's a pretty cheap upgrade.

You make great points. The only reason I have had my current MBP for this long is that prior to 2020/COVID, I wasn't using it daily like I do now.

 

[clevins]

You make great points. The only reason I have had my current MBP for this long is that prior to 2020/COVID, I wasn't using it daily like I do now.

Ah, the Before Times. We sing of them around the campfire....

One other thing to watch is how big or small the generation to generation performance gains with Apple Silicon are. If the M2 is 30% faster than the M1 and especially if an M3 is only about 30% faster than an M2, eh. You can likely hold on to machines for longer with not that much lost. But if the M2 is double the M1 performance and an M3 doubles that... you'll want to get something every few years. Interesting times ahead.