What it generally boils down to for me is one of three things: Portability, reliability, and occasionally performance.
Portability: I have too many laptops that I use regularly for different things. I have one laptop that I use for teaching and one main laptop at home, then several other laptops at home for various uses and fun. For my school laptop, I have an M1 Air because I needed something light to tote between home and school and I needed something with long battery life given how I use it at work. For home, I have a 13" 2015 MBP as my main machine, a 2015 11" Air as my main machine to tote outside the house with me because it's so small, and a 15" 2010 MBP that I use primarily for writing these days due to the large screen and pleasant typing experience.
Reliability: For my work computers, I want something boring and blandly reliable. My M1 Air and 2020 27" iMac fill those roles beautifully. For home, I adore computers that need constant tinkering, hence the mix of computers between 8-14 years old that I regularly use. I enjoy restoring and working on computers, and keeping a collection of older machines running is a ton of fun to me.
Performance: Most of what I do is office productivity and light 3D modeling. I have a decent PC for gaming and don't play much more complex than World Box on my Mac. My work computers, the 2020 iMac and M1 Air, are both extreme overkill for my uses but I appreciate that they're snappy and do everything I need without having to wait. When it's me and 38 middle schoolers, there's no time to wait. For my home use, my main desktop is a 2013 27" iMac that does everything I need and more and my 2015 13" MBP has never failed to keep up with me.
Most of it is going to come down to preference for people, what they can afford, and what they want to afford. Could I buy a new Mac every couple of years? Probably, but I save a ton of money keeping notably behind the curve and the balance between saving and performance works for me.
Portability: I have too many laptops that I use regularly for different things. I have one laptop that I use for teaching and one main laptop at home, then several other laptops at home for various uses and fun. For my school laptop, I have an M1 Air because I needed something light to tote between home and school and I needed something with long battery life given how I use it at work. For home, I have a 13" 2015 MBP as my main machine, a 2015 11" Air as my main machine to tote outside the house with me because it's so small, and a 15" 2010 MBP that I use primarily for writing these days due to the large screen and pleasant typing experience.
Reliability: For my work computers, I want something boring and blandly reliable. My M1 Air and 2020 27" iMac fill those roles beautifully. For home, I adore computers that need constant tinkering, hence the mix of computers between 8-14 years old that I regularly use. I enjoy restoring and working on computers, and keeping a collection of older machines running is a ton of fun to me.
Performance: Most of what I do is office productivity and light 3D modeling. I have a decent PC for gaming and don't play much more complex than World Box on my Mac. My work computers, the 2020 iMac and M1 Air, are both extreme overkill for my uses but I appreciate that they're snappy and do everything I need without having to wait. When it's me and 38 middle schoolers, there's no time to wait. For my home use, my main desktop is a 2013 27" iMac that does everything I need and more and my 2015 13" MBP has never failed to keep up with me.
Most of it is going to come down to preference for people, what they can afford, and what they want to afford. Could I buy a new Mac every couple of years? Probably, but I save a ton of money keeping notably behind the curve and the balance between saving and performance works for me.