Did future-proofing pay off for you?

[Luftkopf]

I buy as much computer as I can afford.

My maxed out 2012 11" MacBook Air served me well for a decade, and I was glad I didn't have the i5 in it too. When I upgraded, a base 13" M3 MacBook Air would have done what I needed it to, but I would already be thinking about an upgrade if I'd got that. I ended up with a base 14" M3 Pro, because that's what I could afford. Since I no longer spend an hour on the train, and instead work from home most of the time (with a 200m walk to work when I go in), I would have got a 16" with more RAM if I could have.

I intend this M3 Pro to last until the new OS won't work on it, and then we'll see what I can afford.

 

[MallardDuck]

Inspired by this post from @Steelhead1957 I decided to put together a poll for those who had purchased a higher end configuration for the purposes of future-proofing to see if that decision paid off. I'd like to limit responses from those who primarily purchased a higher configuration for the purposes of future-proofing.

So what say you? Did buying more than your current needs pay off? You bought more than you needed and with you hadn't? Something else?

​

100%. Getting the M4 max with 128GB of RAM allows me to run real LLMs. Didn’t even consider that when I bought it - and replacing it with an M5 max is almost twice as much money.

 

[Zwhaler]

Yes, but earlier in my career. I rocked a 5,1 Max Pro 12-core and beat the hell out of it. That made a major difference in my creative career. Nowadays, I can get by with much lower firepower. I’m also not full-time video editing and producing, either.

My last Mac purchase was a $599 M4 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and 256GB onboard storage (I’m plugged into an OWC 1U4 so I can easily expand to 80TB+ in only 4 bays and a 1U rack size).

This Mac Mini has been the best computer I’ve purchased since the Mac Pro. This thing can edit some pretty serious video, too. Rendering / exporting speeds is where the Pro and Max chips really make a difference and I’m not doing enough exporting to remotely require it.

Funny going from the highest end to the lowest end and being completely happy with both! My logic was that I’d rather just buy a new base Mac Mini in a few years for the same $600 (now $800) that I could have spent on upgrading the first one and I’ll probably end up with a better computer.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Yes. Buying 16GB of RAM on a base M1 when it was still cool to tell people that 8GB is more than enough "because Apple Silicon is different" (as though RAM wasn't still RAM) DID pay off.

Because 8GB of RAM was still a low amount of RAM despite the users of these forums largely not understanding how RAM works.

My only regret was that I couldn't buy more than that.

 

[ThomasJL]

I voted yes. I would buy the lowest spec Mac, remove the stock RAM and hard drive, and then max it out with third-party RAM and a third-party hard drive.

But now Tim Cook has removed that ability by soldering the RAM and hard drive to the motherboard so they can never be replaced. Cook has insatiable corporate greed, and wants customers to replace their entire computer if they run out of RAM and/or hard drive space. That way, Tim Crook can maximize profits.

 

[one more]

I think Macs are future-proof out of the gate. When I bought my baseline MBP 13” in early 2015 for its then excellent Retina display, it was great. It still works fine, yet cannot officially support any macOS after Monterey. So it still serves me well after 11 years despite me not doing anything special to future-proof it (no extra RAM or storage space).

 

[Juanchi007]

My senior year of college, I bought an M2 Pro Mac Mini upon its release and a refurbished Studio Display. Both were splurges, and together were double the price of an M1 iMac which realistically could’ve done everything I use a Mac for.

However, more than three years later, my Mac Mini is chugging along and never breaks a sweat. The Studio Display is gorgeous, expansive, and professional. I feel like I do better work on both, and I’m comforted knowing that my Mac Mini has many years of life left in it. I feel an M1 iMac would already be showing its age.

When my Mac Mini does finally kick the bucket, I’m glad that I’ll be able to simply swap it out without having to replace my display and peripherals. In the long run, I’m much happier than I would’ve been had I cheaped out, and I think the extra time between replacements means it all comes out in the wash.

 

[henkie]

M1pro 14. Found a refurbished 1TB + 16Gb. I wanted 16Gb and more disk space. For way less than a new m2 pro MBP would have costed me. Runs like a champ. I have a work issued m4 air, but somehow the m1pro feels “snappier”.