I bought a 16" Pro thinking I would need it and realized I never do anything other than simple photo/video editing, occasional VM usage and browsing the internet. Returned it and used the $1000~ savings to book a vacation to the Caribbean instead.
I had fallen for the future proof fallacy when even than, the savings could have been used to buy another new MacBook Air in 3-4 years which would be newer than whatever ‘future proofing’ I can do now. I would rather buy a new and updated MacBook Air every 4 years with the savings than budget for a Pro model every 7-9 years.
I noticed no difference between using the Pro and Air at all, at least not worth $1000. This sub convinced me that the Air is what 99% of the population would need and is very powerful as is!
That’s a cool way to think. I think going the extra mile to buy a future proof laptop is sorta useless now you mention it. It’s not like you could swap components. I’m also thinking on getting the MB Air with the M2. But the fanless design makes me uneasy.
Base M2 Air is more computer than most people need. I have an M1 Pro for work and an M2 Air asa couch/personal computer and they subjectively feel the same. I know benchmarks can tell them apart but literally nothing that I do in my normal day feels different.
Super random, but where did you go?
How is that “super random” when he talks about the vacation in the post? Super random would be asking him about his dick size.
He’s going to the Caribbean, that’s a relevant question
I think about this a lot. And I’ll still be thinking about it till I die.
There is a difference between future-proofing for 200 dollars and an upgrade creep for 1000 dollars (no judgment here).
I hope you’ll enjoy your vacation!
Good decision. If i have the budget, MBA M2 15 for work and iPad Pro for media consumption.
My exact setup! But i watch YouTube a whole lite more on my 13 Mini than the iPad. Go figure.
Impossible not noticing 120hz to 60hz and vice versa
Yeah but that way you’ll have 2 different mediocre (apple level mediocre:)) laptops vs 1 good one for the same duration.
I’d go with the 1 good one, with the dope screen & dope speakers, plus much better performance in the first 2 years.
This is an isolated decision of course, not including vacations and other factors. Just 1 laptop vs 2 laptops.
I think about this whenever I’m buying a new piece of tech–whether to spend more to future proof and have it last or to spend less and shorten the life span. I’ve generally opted for the latter.
Because most people conflate “buying a more powerful computer” with “future proofing”, which is wrong.
I future proofed when I built my desktop in 2017. We knew am4 was going to be supported for several more cpu architectural generations, so I knew that I’d have an easy upgrade path ahead of me, for cheap. And I did. I went from a 1600x to a 5700x, and from an rx 480 to an rx 6700xt. I fully intend to get another couple years out of this pc, and it’s looking like I’ll be able to get possibly a full decade of useful life out of it. That’s future proofing, and pretty cost effective.
On the other hand, had I bought the best available at the time, which was Intel 8th Gen coffee lake, it would feel so much more outdated and I’d already be in need of another upgrade.
In any case, I’m not sure there’s any such thing as a future proofed MacBook. Aren’t they pretty limited in terms of upgrade options?
They last a long time because the build quality has been excellent, historically, and also because 99% of the user base never runs an application heavier than a web browser. But then, my decade old windows laptop is also fine for web browsing.
Could’ve gotten a windows laptop and booked 4 vacations 😭
Could have bought a Chromebook and booked 8 vacations.
Could have used their previous laptop and booked 9 vacations
could have used pencil and paper, stayed home & watched Netflix
Like someone said in an exactly same post two weeks ago, why dont u return the macbook too and buy a window laptop and book another flight? 😂
😂😂😂
Dang it, now you’ve got me seriously reconsidering my 16-inch MBP purchase. It arrives on Wednesday. I’ll be deliberating this until then.
Nahh the 16-inch MacBook Pro is an amazing machine, the Air is a thermal throttling mess and the Pro is just way better in every single way.
99% of my use on my Air is browser based so no thermal throttling there lol
Yeah fr lol, I guess I’m just comparing the Air with my use and extreme tasks like photo/video editing and music production lol😂😂
Thanks… I feel a bit better now. 😊
Since you got the Air, have you done any video editing? Recently I was about to get a Pro as well but decided to go with the Air because the Pro was out of stock where I live and I didn’t wanna wait. Plus, I think can save a bit of money because I may not be able to fully use it.
I’ve gone the other way compared to “future proofing” and started buying the minimum I think can get the job done and do it well. Best Buy had a deal on M2 MacBook Airs and I bought one of them with the base 8GB of RAM but upgraded the SSD.
I do some development work and was learning MAUI at work and my old 2012 MacBook Pro couldn’t upgrade to MacOS 11 required to run the development tools for that.
I figured if I hit something I couldn’t do with the MacBook Air within 30 days, I could take it back to Best Buy and upgrade. If I need to upgrade after the 30 days, I figured I can find a buyer and step up to a 14" Pro.
So far, this little M2 Air has taken everything I’ve thrown at it. I’m starting to tinker with building apps/games in Unity and am wanting to get into Mixed Reality on the Quest 3. I may need to upgrade sometime next year, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
I think the main thing is that you don’t need the RAM and the screen. Those MacBooks are for people who run serious video editing setups (as you admitted to realizing) and who would see a benefit from color correction on the display with HDR content. I assume you do none of this, so good on you for saving the money and enjoying it in a way that makes you feel better.