M1 Max MacBook Pro still good?

[MBAir2010]

only if your dGPU is still good. I loved my 2012 MBP 15 retina. I didn't love it's frequent logic board failures.

mine is a 13" and forgot to include that vital part in the message,
somehow these 13" models evaded the treacherous of what the 15" faced last decade.

 

[JustAnExpat]

Apple will have to provide security updates/software updates for the functioning of the device. It’s a legal obligation if the device is listed. They can do what ever after the device becomes vintage, HW or SW. if Apple doesn’t provide updates, they will have lawsuits.

No they won't - UNLESS it's the law in the country where you live. I'm American, living in Thailand. There is no legal requirements for Apple to continue to maintain products until it reaches "vintage" (or whatever).

Got a source for your claim? If you tell me to Google It, I'll just block you.

 

[calderini]

Considering the fact that where Apple REALLY STICKS IT TO YOU is in ANY RAM or Storage upgrade, I figured that to replicate my current config, Also a B&H Buy-M1 MAX 64GB-4TB for $2799 on Black Friday, on the M3 would be close to 5Grand or more. Yeah. The M3 may be better, but I'm not sure it's $3000 better. Since my work is VERY RAM intensive, graphics with having to have a TON of programs open at once, it was a no brainer for me. And I'm USUALLY first in line for the biggest brightest shiniest. (I hear you calling Vision Pro). After a month I am still one happy satisfied camper. The machine has FAR exceeded my expectations, the screen is to die for, and it blows the doors off my work issued 14 inch M2 Pro 16/1TB configuration. (Lack of ram was killing me) Good luck in your decision. Hope my experience helps in one way or another.

 

[imaginex20]

I just purchased the M1 Max 16” with 1TB SSD and 32GB ram. I figure for this price it was a no brainer purchase. The same laptop in m3 would cost well over $4k.

My young daughter will get my hand me down base 2017” i7 15” MBP.

 

[mdhaus72]

Like I said I personally won’t waste 2500 bucks on something that stops getting updates and security patches sooner than later. I value security, coz I am not couch browsing on my M1 Max, it has valuable info. I would totally get an M1 Max with AC if it was selling on Craig’s list or FB market place for 1000-1200 bucks. And I personally wouldn’t want to run third party firmware upgrades for something I paid lot of money.
If you don’t keep your laptops longer than 5 years it doesn’t matter. I keep mine longer.

If $2500 is a great deal for the machine, then yes, he should buy it...regardless that it's now a couple generations old. Why? Because it offers the best value for him! Fun fact: You can "value security" and still run old machines. The odds of something happening are extraordinarily remote and even if there was a critical hole, there is almost always a work-around if it's that big of a deal.

 

[mdhaus72]

I would say this is 75% correct.

1. Most of the software security patches are to stop spare phishing attacks against an individual. The days of connecting to the Internet on an unpatched machine and getting hacked are long long gone.

2. Over time, if a machine isn't updated, websites will stop working. They will stop working because either the rendering won't correctly happen because new standards are always being introduced, or security protocols will change (breaking banking and financial websites).

3. Eventually new wifi standards will be implemented, preventing the machine from being able to connected to wifi networks. Try getting a Powerbook 1400c connected to wifi these days.

Once a machine is no longer being patched and updated, EXPECT to get another 2 years of updates from the main web browsers (i.e. Firefox and Chrome), and probably another 5 years of updates after that for long term enterprise support versions of web browsers, and then another 5 years after that for connecting to most wifi networks.

I think if the MacBook Pro Max M1 is taken care of physically, it should continue being able to be used until the late 2030's/ early 2040's.

I know several people who are running 10-year-old and older Mac computers....my father being one of them. And there have been zero security concerns with any of them. And zero problems with any website surfing.

This same kind of hysteria is seen on the iPhone forums. My daughter is just now getting a new iPhone for Christmas, an upgrade to an iPhone 13 from an iPhone 8 that was handed down to her when she was first allowed to have a phone. And the main reason we're doing it is that the screen is in bad shape now and the battery needs to be replaced - Items that make it more efficient to buy another phone.

Is it nice to get software upgrades forever? Yes. But millions of people use old machines every single day - And it works out totally fine.