Purchasing Advice

[Gh0ul]

Hi all, I am looking at purchasing a MBP and I am looking for advice please.

14" Options:

• M5, 32GB RAM, 1TB = £1980
• M5 Pro (15/16C), 24GB RAM, 1TB = £2080
• M5 Pro (15/16C), 48GB RAM, 1TB = £2740
• M5 Pro (18/20C), 24GB RAM, 1TB = £2390
• M5 Pro (18/20C), 48GB RAM, 1TB = £2920

16" Options:

• M5 Pro (18/20C), 24GB, 1TB = £2520
• M5 Pro (18/20C), 48GB, 1TB = £2970

Use case: getting into web programming (angular, react, JavaScript, using VS Code, JetBrains, etc)and may go into other languages too, web browsing, emails, admin, general day to day stuff. It will be a personal laptop, not work. So I'll only be doing personal web development and learning really.

I know the 32GB/1TB base M5 would suit my needs well, but I've heard the base M5 can overheat and throttle under load, and with only one cooling fan, I have been in doubts about getting that version. It is a shame they don't offer 32GB on the M5 Pro.

Screen size - I am currently leaning towards the 14", although I will mainly be using this laptop connected up to 2 2K monitors. When it is undocked, it will be used around the house, so have no plans on taking it out so far. Unless anyone has suggestions of purchasing the 16", but I have heard it is heavy.

I'd like for the machine to last me a good 8-10 years like my last Intel MBP did. So should I spend the extra and get 48GB RAM? Seems like quite a big price jump, although with this AI memory crisis, I only see it getting worse.
Or, should I save and not buy the 48GB and use that money on upgrading later on? Which isn't normally my motto.

 

[ClaraStahlbaum]

For a personal laptop I would suggest the M5 32GB RAM, 1TB and trade in whatever current device you have. If you are doing light stuff, I think the other options would be overkill.

 

[Gh0ul]

For a personal laptop I would suggest the M5 32GB RAM, 1TB and trade in whatever current device you have. If you are doing light stuff, I think the other options would be overkill.

Thanks Clara. But what about the thermal throttling, or has that been taken out of proportion? Plus, I like the idea of the Pro version having two fans, although, maybe I'm being silly about that.

Sorry, forgot to also mention, I'm purchasing this through my works Apple supplier as we can use them for personal purchases, so we get the company discount, so can't do trade-in

 

[m1maverick]

Another vote for the base M5, 32GB, 1TB option.

 

[mercedx]

Unless you're doing some really intense stuff I believe the base M5 should run cooler than the M5 Pro. I have that 32gb M5 and it's a fantastic machine. I believe you're right that the M5 vs some prior chips may run hotter but I think it's more going to show up on the Air since it's passively cooled. The one fan has been totally fine in my case and I'm not sure I've ever heard it. Get the M5 Pro if you want more headroom on the processor or ram but I don't think I'd go that route just for an extra fan personally.

 

[Gh0ul]

Thanks all! It sounds like there is a uniformed decision, I'll be going for the M5 32GB/1TB and putting the order through shortly.
I get 4 years hardware warranty with the supplier too, but I'm tempted to also purchase AppleCare+ just in case a screen was to break or such. Would that be worth it too? The 3 year plan seems to be £279. But after the 3 year plan is over, can I extend it on a monthly basis?

 

[capamac]

Base model Air could do what you want.

 

[taphil]

For a machine you want to last 10 years, you're talking about an extra 100 per year to get the M5 Pro 48GB.

 

[Gh0ul]

For a machine you want to last 10 years, you're talking about an extra 100 per year to get the M5 Pro 48GB.

You do make a valid point, and I had thought about that. But if I bought the 32GB base M5, I could reassess my situation and maybe upgrade in 5 years, although, that isn't normally what I tend to do with laptops. So you have thrown a curve ball. Although, there is an AI memory crisis going on, which I also don't see disappearing for a while.

 

[okkibs]

Let me give you another view from someone who bought the first gen 14" MBP 5 years ago. I maxed out SSD and memory because I wanted to keep it for as long as possible.

Now 5 years later the M1 Max is still plenty fast and I am running the Golden Gate beta now which is basically the snappiest this Mac has ever felt. My SSD is filling up faster than I thought it would but the 64GiB of RAM are plenty, all I know is that 32GiB would cut it way too close now but 48GiB would definitely be just fine too (that wasn't an option back then, it was either 32 or 64).

If I had not upgraded the SSD it would be painful now to keep copying files back and forth. And if I hadn't upgraded the memory either I would have 100% replaced this Macbook with the M5 version the week Apple announced this summer's significant price hike.

But because I spent the extra money back in 2021 I decided I could get another 5 years out of this machine if necessary. Never before have I kept a Mac 5 years let alone significantly longer. I even have AC+ on this Mac still and got a free battery replacement out of it this year so battery life is restored.

If I didn't have that Macbook right now and I needed to buy one I'd go for 64GiB/2TB with the M5 Pro but I recommend at least 48GiB/1TB. That seems the most cost-effective option, anything above that is quite expensive. Maybe prices will fall within the next 5 years and you could upgrade earlier but why bother? That M5 Pro runs circles around my M1 Max and will hold up even better over time.

I would also make sure to get the nanotexture display as it is easier on the eyes. This is the most significant downside of not upgrading sooner for me, I am missing out that small quality-of-life improvement. And possibly one or two more such things as the time goes by.

I recommend against the M5 base model. It might have the same issue that the M3 base model has nowadays: You do anything remotely CPU/GPU intense like playing a game or compiling that runs for more than a minute and that single fan will be noisy. My wife has a 14" M3 MBP with one fan and it kicks on very audibly where my older Mac with 2 fans still stays whisper quiet. I can sometimes hear it when it's connected to my displays on the desk and it's running a Photoshop batch process/export but it comes on slowly and never ramps up to full speed.

One last thing to consider is that the "Macbook Ultra" with a much better Tandem OLED display is supposedly releasing next year. No matter how much or how little you spend on your purchase now, I bet you'll want that new model. So maybe you are better off with a lower spec Mac right now that you can sell in a year to buy that new model. But it will cost a lot. You can add 2 more 20% price hikes on top of the current prices to get an idea. (The current miniLED display has some issues that were never fully resolved since 2021. Slow response times and thus ghosting/blurring with fast animations or quick movements with video, as well as what's known as blooming when it comes to HDR content.)

I'm tempted to also purchase AppleCare+ just in case a screen was to break or such.

It's not going to break unless you break it, I found my 14" MBP to be durable.

But after the 3 year plan is over, can I extend it on a monthly basis?

You can extend it on a yearly basis but it looks like Apple might retire that option sooner or later. You'll likely have to buy the monthly Applecare One subscription. It's more pricey but it covers 3 devices so it makes the most sense if you have 3 more expensive devices that you'd want to cover like that Macbook, an iPhone, and an iPad. Or whatever other combination of devices you might own. You can scroll down here to get an idea about pricing: https://www.apple.com/uk/applecare/

Personally I wouldn't extend coverage past 3 years. I only did it for my Mac because the battery was already failing and now I won't renew it anymore. But definitely plan to replace the battery eventually as it will degrade significantly over so many years.

 

[Gh0ul]

Let me give you another view from someone who bought the first gen 14" MBP 5 years ago. I maxed out SSD and memory because I wanted to keep it for as long as possible.

Now 5 years later the M1 Max is still plenty fast and I am running the Golden Gate beta now which is basically the snappiest this Mac has ever felt. My SSD is filling up faster than I thought it would but the 64GiB of RAM are plenty, all I know is that 32GiB would cut it way too close now but 48GiB would definitely be just fine too (that wasn't an option back then, it was either 32 or 64).

If I had not upgraded the SSD it would be painful now to keep copying files back and forth. And if I hadn't upgraded the memory either I would have 100% replaced this Macbook with the M5 version the week Apple announced this summer's significant price hike.

But because I spent the extra money back in 2021 I decided I could get another 5 years out of this machine if necessary. Never before have I kept a Mac 5 years let alone significantly longer. I even have AC+ on this Mac still and got a free battery replacement out of it this year so battery life is restored.

If I didn't have that Macbook right now and I needed to buy one I'd go for 64GiB/2TB with the M5 Pro but I recommend at least 48GiB/1TB. That seems the most cost-effective option, anything above that is quite expensive. Maybe prices will fall within the next 5 years and you could upgrade earlier but why bother? That M5 Pro runs circles around my M1 Max and will hold up even better over time.

I would also make sure to get the nanotexture display as it is easier on the eyes. This is the most significant downside of not upgrading sooner for me, I am missing out that small quality-of-life improvement. And possibly one or two more such things as the time goes by.

I recommend against the M5 base model. It might have the same issue that the M3 base model has nowadays: You do anything remotely CPU/GPU intense like playing a game or compiling that runs for more than a minute and that single fan will be noisy. My wife has a 14" M3 MBP with one fan and it kicks on very audibly where my older Mac with 2 fans still stays whisper quiet. I can sometimes hear it when it's connected to my displays on the desk and it's running a Photoshop batch process/export but it comes on slowly and never ramps up to full speed.

One last thing to consider is that the "Macbook Ultra" with a much better Tandem OLED display is supposedly releasing next year. No matter how much or how little you spend on your purchase now, I bet you'll want that new model. So maybe you are better off with a lower spec Mac right now that you can sell in a year to buy that new model. But it will cost a lot. You can add 2 more 20% price hikes on top of the current prices to get an idea. (The current miniLED display has some issues that were never fully resolved since 2021. Slow response times and thus ghosting/blurring with fast animations or quick movements with video, as well as what's known as blooming when it comes to HDR content.)


It's not going to break unless you break it, I found my 14" MBP to be durable.


You can extend it on a yearly basis but it looks like Apple might retire that option sooner or later. You'll likely have to buy the monthly Applecare One subscription. It's more pricey but it covers 3 devices so it makes the most sense if you have 3 more expensive devices that you'd want to cover like that Macbook, an iPhone, and an iPad. Or whatever other combination of devices you might own. You can scroll down here to get an idea about pricing: https://www.apple.com/uk/applecare/

Personally I wouldn't extend coverage past 3 years. I only did it for my Mac because the battery was already failing and now I won't renew it anymore. But definitely plan to replace the battery eventually as it will degrade significantly over so many years.

Thanks for providing your experience with your MBP M1 Max, sounds like a beast, and definitely sounds worth that you spent the extra early on for the storage and memory upgrades.

If I didn't have that Macbook right now and I needed to buy one I'd go for 64GiB/2TB with the M5 Pro but I recommend at least 48GiB/1TB. That seems the most cost-effective option, anything above that is quite expensive. Maybe prices will fall within the next 5 years and you could upgrade earlier but why bother? That M5 Pro runs circles around my M1 Max and will hold up even better over time.

Unfortunately the 64GB version is out of budget at the moment, but 48GB is doable. Like you said earlier, it might be worth spending that extra today, rather than later down the line.

I would also make sure to get the nanotexture display as it is easier on the eyes. This is the most significant downside of not upgrading sooner for me, I am missing out that small quality-of-life improvement. And possibly one or two more such things as the time goes by.

Doesn't this offer a grainy texture on the display? I will be connecting this to an external display most of the time, so will be only indoors mainly when using the glossy screen.

I recommend against the M5 base model. It might have the same issue that the M3 base model has nowadays: You do anything remotely CPU/GPU intense like playing a game or compiling that runs for more than a minute and that single fan will be noisy. My wife has a 14" M3 MBP with one fan and it kicks on very audibly where my older Mac with 2 fans still stays whisper quiet. I can sometimes hear it when it's connected to my displays on the desk and it's running a Photoshop batch process/export but it comes on slowly and never ramps up to full speed.

That is dearly noted, thank you. Although, from my use cases, I don't think I will be hitting the CPU or GPU hard, although, please correct me if I am wrong.

One last thing to consider is that the "Macbook Ultra" with a much better Tandem OLED display is supposedly releasing next year. No matter how much or how little you spend on your purchase now, I bet you'll want that new model. So maybe you are better off with a lower spec Mac right now that you can sell in a year to buy that new model. But it will cost a lot. You can add 2 more 20% price hikes on top of the current prices to get an idea. (The current miniLED display has some issues that were never fully resolved since 2021. Slow response times and thus ghosting/blurring with fast animations or quick movements with video, as well as what's known as blooming when it comes to HDR content.)

I did think about this coming out, but it will be quite expensive, and I would rather not pay another price hiked laptop.
I didn't realise there were issues with the current mini-LED screens though.

Personally I wouldn't extend coverage past 3 years. I only did it for my Mac because the battery was already failing and now I won't renew it anymore. But definitely plan to replace the battery eventually as it will degrade significantly over so many years.

Yeah I think I am just paranoid about screen cracks although I am quite careful with my devices. But then again a battery replacement would be ideal too, although, could pay for that privately anyhow.

 

[OldNewMBP]

...Unless anyone has suggestions of purchasing the 16", but I have heard it is heavy...

I think they are forgetting the weight of the Intels. So I would agree that it might be heavy, but not all that heavy.

Also, MB's are not as repair-friendly now than the 2012 MB's or any Windows laptops. But the choice is your's.

 

[capamac]

16" MBP is 4.7 pounds (2.14 kg)
14" MBP is about 3.5 pounds (1.60 kg)
15" Air is 3.3 pounds (1.51 kg)
13" Air is 2.7 pounds (1.23 kg)

- Apple spec pages.

My 2015 Intel MBP 13" is 3.48 pounds (1.58 kg) for random comparison.

My first Apple, an Apple IIc, weighs 7.5 pounds without monitor, and the IIc was considered "portable" in its time. :^)