How future-proofed in the new MBP?

[ItsAdventureTime]

Thanks for this thread. I decided to search if the Mac mini M1 that I got is worth it and is ready for the future. So far, so good, it blew my mind away, coming from MacBook Pro 13" Late 2013. This is more than enough for what I needed. And even though I am a little frustrated with 8 GB of RAM, I wanted to order and get the product without waiting for weeks. That is why I got the 8 GB edition instead of the custom-built 16 GB RAM. Moving forward, I can't believe I can now watch 4K movies and run a lot of apps simultaneously without any impact on its performance. It is worth the wait and investment.

 

[macjunk(ie)]

No point future proofing. I got the base 14 with RAM upgraded to 32GB plus AppleCare. I am gonna sell it after 2-2.5 years with the new owner still having atleast a 6 month warranty from Apple and I will buy the next Apple laptop with AppleCare again.

At this point, it is like an Apple subscription for laptops for me and that is exactly how I view my purchase. After 2.5 years, if I sell my laptop for 60% of its cost, this means I spent around a grand on the laptop for 2.5 years of use.. .that is like a little over a dollar a day for what was Apple's newest machine when I bought it. Not bad at all...

 

[pshufd]

I got the M1 PRO 16. The CPU/GPU is probably twice what I need for my workflow. The main reasons for buying it are getting 32 GB of RAM, ports, and screen. This is Apple's first generation products so stuff will get bigger, better, faster. I personally can't imagine that I'd need 2xM1 MAX or 4xM1 MAX in the next decade.

I still use my 2015 MacBook Pro 15 for watching videos and doing email in the basement and it does a fine job at that.

My approach to computing is to add to what I have if I need more compute for something specific.

 

[Beyonder88]

My opinion is that if financials permit, just get what you want and when the next gen MacBooks arrive, sell the current one off.

Figured that you may lose abit but you won’t need to worry about future proofing and the current MacBook depreciating to the value of “a bag of chips” or cost of repairs/battery change several years down. Hell, you can even forget about apple care (unless you are careless).

You will still have to spend a fortune down the road if you choose to keep current MacBook (after several generations change). Don’t have to look far and see what the much older intel ones are selling now…

Might as well lose some but always have the latest and the greatest. Some would also had had their work paid off / company paid or sponsored the current MacBook by the time next generation drops.

 

[nick42983]

Historically there there has only been one spec that future proof a Mac, RAM.

The poor people who bought any of the the 4GB non-upgradable Macs when they came out,
they basically got a computer that was more or less useless within a year or two regardless of the rest of the specs.
Customers who spent the $99-$199(?) extra for 8GB could probably still be using their machines a decade later.

RAM can still be a good idea to upgrade (if you're already approaching the upper limit),
but the 10% increase in cost for a 500% increase in lifespan don't really happen anymore

We're still along way from 16GB on AS not being enough for most workloads.
Even further away from it not being enough to do basic everyday tasks.
IMHO, unless you know for sure that 16GB won't be enough in the next 2y,
it's probably not worth the money to upgrade.

CPU/GPU upgrades tend to provide very poor ROI when it comes to "future proofing",
a few years from now it won't matter if your CPU/GPU can deliver 50%, 60% or 55% of the latest chips on the market.
It's still in the same category of "old" and "slow" by tomorrows standards.

I made sure to opt for 8GB on my 2013 Haswell Macbook Air, it lasted a solid 7 years before I had to replace the battery. It still works fine though Catalina is the last OS supported, the best all around laptop I've ever owned. I simply chose to start using a 2015 MacBook Pro (16GB now) that a family member didn't need.

If I could humbly suggest one more "spec" to help lengthen the lifespan of your Mac, it's buying one with a "Pro" label. Whether or not it's really a hardware limitation, Apple's Pro Macs get at least a few more years of OS updates than their Air or other non-pro counterparts.

 

[kasakka]

While nothing is truly futureproof, the current Macs have a couple of drawbacks that make them clearly not future-proof.

• Only a HDMI 2.0 port. With more displays coming out with a 1xDP + 2x HDMI 2.1 configuration, you will need to either sacrifice a TB port for your displays or be limited in resolution/refresh rates to what HDMI 2.0 supports. It sucks considering Apple has been often replacing/removing ports way before that was appropriate.
• SSD is not easily replaceable. Does Apple provide a replacement option? What about changing to a bigger size drive while copying your data over? For expanding you will be limited to TB drives.
• RAM is not replaceable or expandable. 16 GB and above will be good for a long time. I've been using 16 GB on my desktop PCs for various purposes for probably a decade at this point. Only for pro workloads it has been truly useful to have more than that.

 

[nastynick]

Interesting thread…

(Besides an iPad and older iPhone) I still own a MBP 13 mid-2014 as well as a Lenovo X1 Carbon 5th which i got as I work mostly with a windows only software, and neither Parallels nor VMWare gave satisfying results. (Never any issue with it, at leats 8 hours of daily use for almost 5 years during weekdays.)
I now do a lot of photo editing in my free time and the Lenovo can’t handle deblurring and denoising well… Takes ages. As for the MBP, i just updated it from High Sierra to Big Sur to be able to run my main photo editing software (DxO PhotoLab).
When I buy a computer, I almost max out the specs to make it useable for a long time.
My Mac (purchased in March 2015) still runs great. Battery health is at 78%, which is not bad. Only the screen had to be replaced under warranty quite early because its coating went off. But it’s also limited for photo editing.

I now consider either a 2022 Lenovo Legion 7i (2200 CHF with pro discount) with Intel 12th gen processor and 32 GB RAM (expandable to 64 according to tests) but with poor battery autonomy or a MBP 16 Pro or Max with 1 TB and 32 GB RAM… for about 3500 CHF (3900 for M1 max) and the need for Parallels or VMWare again (therefore 32 GB RAM). And DxO PhotoLab still running through Rosetta.

I’m pretty sure I’d keep the Mac longer. But are the $$$$ (75% more expensive) worth it.
Lack of HDMI 2.1 and WiFi 6 in the Mac likely to be a bigger issue than I might think?

I‘d really love to go back to Mac as my daily computer though.

Any (objective) thoughts? (Please no stoning because I mentioned a Windows notebook)

Cheers.

 

[Matt Leaf]

I can see something like the VR technology being a minimum spec that could cut certain versions of Mac out of the mix. For instance, to develop on RealityOS, one needs at minimum an M2 Max machine. Instantly, M1 products are made old and people will upgrade to the newer model for that feature if they need it.

I do wonder how long M chip machines will be supported via the OS. Intel seems to be getting burned off pretty quickly, 2017 MBP should hit the chopping block next year. Will Apple be kinder to their own silicon products? Hard to tell.

 

[sublunar]

I can see something like the VR technology being a minimum spec that could cut certain versions of Mac out of the mix. For instance, to develop on RealityOS, one needs at minimum an M2 Max machine. Instantly, M1 products are made old and people will upgrade to the newer model for that feature if they need it.

I do wonder how long M chip machines will be supported via the OS. Intel seems to be getting burned off pretty quickly, 2017 MBP should hit the chopping block next year. Will Apple be kinder to their own silicon products? Hard to tell.

As it stands the M1 Air and Mini are still supported for a minimum of 5 years by convention as they have not been discontinued, the M1 Pro MacBook Pro has been discontinued so the clock is running on the 5 years on that machine. They will then get 2 years of security updates to the last officially supported OS - so it's got a fair amount of time on it.

 

[vasim]

As it stands the M1 Air and Mini are still supported for a minimum of 5 years by convention as they have not been discontinued, the M1 Pro MacBook Pro has been discontinued so the clock is running on the 5 years on that machine. They will then get 2 years of security updates to the last officially supported OS - so it's got a fair amount of time on it.

So if someone bought M1 PRO seems to be in a more difficult position as the M1 Air buyer. M1 Air is still on production but the more expensive PRO is down-counting

 

[sublunar]

So if someone bought M1 PRO seems to be in a more difficult position as the M1 Air buyer. M1 Air is still on production but the more expensive PRO is down-counting

Sorry, meant the M1 MacBook Pro (13”) which was completely replaced by the M2 model, the 14” M1 Pro MacBook Pro is still on sale.

 

[vasim]

Sorry, meant the M1 MacBook Pro (13”) which was completely replaced by the M2 model, the 14” M1 Pro MacBook Pro is still on sale.

Yes, we speak about the same model.

 

[Hessel89]

Sure, next year there’ll be something that’s even faster, but the M1 Max is one beast of a CPU/GPU which will last you for the coming 5 years atleast. I think you made the right call getting 32 gbs of ram.

 

[DavidChoux]

Tired AF with this whole "future proof" concept.

I'm pretty sure anything you buy new from Apple today will work perfectly for the next 7 years or so. Makes much more sense to use it for that amount of time, sell it and buy something new in 2030 or whatever.

A big part of being future proof is when Apple will stop supporting it for new OS releases. AFAIK it doesn't matter if your 2022 Pro has 16 or 32GB, a Pro or Max SoC, 512GB or 2TB, either way it's the 2022 model and model years are what Apple uses to define the cut off point.

 

[jav6454]

Sorry, meant the M1 MacBook Pro (13”) which was completely replaced by the M2 model, the 14” M1 Pro MacBook Pro is still on sale.

I believe that poster spoke of the M1 Pro, not the M1 MBP. These acronyms confuse anyone at times.

 

[ChrisA]

What makes Macs never future proof" is that after time, Apple releases a new version of mac OS that does not support the old hardware. Then new software you want to run requires the new OS. This forces you to buy new hardware.

 

[sublunar]

What makes Macs never future proof" is that after time, Apple releases a new version of mac OS that does not support the old hardware. Then new software you want to run requires the new OS. This forces you to buy new hardware.

That’s the upsetting bit but even Microsoft will so this too. Windows 10 support is ending in October 2025, and windows 11 requires 7th or 8th gen Intel CPUs.

 

[lepidotós]

Linux does too -- they just removed support for AMD's 3DNow! this year, meaning K6-2 and Athlon users will have to live without SIMD. They'll have to upgrade to Athlon XP, unfortuntely. But hey, at least M1x and M2 are now supported. There's even a working if unfinished GPU driver.
In any case, I wouldn't worry about being left in the dust. Us over on the PowerPC forum get by just fine with our PowerBooks and iMac G5s, whether we use Debian, MorphOS, or Mac OS X. Some of us even daily drive them -- my Hi-Res G4 comes with me every time I'm at risk of staying at a hotel room and does me right every time, at least until I've got my M2 MBP in my hands.​

 

[kyriostrife]

Tired AF with this whole "future proof" concept.

I'm pretty sure anything you buy new from Apple today will work perfectly for the next 7 years or so. Makes much more sense to use it for that amount of time, sell it and buy something new in 2030 or whatever.

A big part of being future proof is when Apple will stop supporting it for new OS releases. AFAIK it doesn't matter if your 2022 Pro has 16 or 32GB, a Pro or Max SoC, 512GB or 2TB, either way it's the 2022 model and model years are what Apple uses to define the cut off point.

Agreed completely. I'm going on 8 years at the end of this year with my mb pro. It's about due for an upgrade. No further updates to the OS. Battery not as good anymore. Not as fast but still works. I plan on my next purchase lasting me until exactly that... 2030.