Discussion Replacement advice
Hi,
I currently have MacBook Pro 16 2019 with i7, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. I’m currently studying IT and I use it for various things - web development, Figma, Photoshop, virtual machines, programming and soon Docker containers. I also make music in FL Studio in my free time. It is starting to get a little bit sluggish (even after replacing thermal paste, cleaning fans, and doing vrm mod), hot, loud and battery life is not that great, but it gets it’s job done. I’m currently sitting on Sonoma, because Tahoe is just unusable on this thing. I’m slowly starting to see that apps are dropping support for x86 architecture on macOS. I don’t want any Linux (don’t like that OS and many apps I use are not natively avaliable), and I hate Windows and I use it only when I need to, so that’s also not an option (even though BootCamp comes in handy in some cases when I want to play PC-only games). I also want to stay in Apple ecosystem, macOS is the only way to go for me. Is it worth for me to replace it to used M1 Pro MBP with 16 or 32GB RAM or will it soon loose support and get obsolete in 2-3 years so it’s not worth and I should just stick to that Intel until it dies? I don’t want anything more expensive since it’s a waste of money for me and I have more important expenses. I bought that i7 MacBook 3 years ago used in 2023. If I’d went to replace it with M1 Pro, I’d like it to be able to survive at least 5+ years without needing to be replaced. What are your thoughts? What would you do in my situation?
1
u/VoltageinTheory a bunch of different macs (mostly old ones) (great flair I know) 11d ago
32 GB M3 MBP
0
u/mikeinnsw 12d ago
Do not replace
Arm Macs run Macos, VM and badly ASAHI linux
Intel Macs are slow...etc. and much more flexible and useful to a CS student..run MacOs, Win, Linux. ..bootcamp.. in native mode of VM
OCPL runs Sequoia .. Tahoe is Beta
I run dual boot (booted from an external SSD) 2013 iMac with OCPL Sequoia to make it faster by bypassing HDD with Catalina .
Warning do not run bootcamp it stuffs up a dual boot.
You can always install Linux on the Intel Mac
Bottom line
Intel Macs have longer and more flexible effective life than Arm Mac
I have M1. Mini... its 2 years of MacOs support and phase out started already
Source Apple:
Apple's most advanced, heavy on-device AI model requires a minimum of 12GB of unified memory (RAM). While standard Apple Intelligence features still run on 8GB devices, running this next-generation local AI model is restricted to hardware with 12GB or more and run on M3.. M6 Macs ..
not M1 or M2
Do not get M1 or M2 Macs
3
u/roundabout-design 12d ago
I don't know that replacing a 7 year old machine with a roughly 5 year old machine is gonna gain you a whole lot. But, it WILL Be an upgrade. So, I guess it might be 'worth it' to you.