DON'T Do This When Buying a New Mac...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 มิ.ย. 2024
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"Future-proofing" is something you've probably heard before, but is it something you should take into consideration when buying a new Mac? Let's discuss what it means and how it might not be the best strategy (and might even waste your money...).
Helpful videos I mentioned:
⮕ 8GB vs 16GB vs 24GB of RAM: • M2 MacBook Air - How M...
⮕ M2 MacBook Air Real World Review: • M2 MacBook Air - REAL ...
⮕ 256GB vs 512GB SSD M2 MacBook Air: • Why You Should NOT Buy...
⮕ M1 vs M2 MacBook Air Ultimate Comparison: • M1 vs M2 MacBook Air -...
⮕ How Long Will Your Mac's SSD Last Before It Fails: • How Long Will Your Mac...
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00:00 Introduction
01:30 What Is Future-Proofing?
02:44 Sponsor
03:57 Not Everyone Needs Future-Proofing
05:07 Does Web Browsing Become More Demanding?
07:17 Does Software Become Harder To Run?
11:01 What Should You Upgrade?
12:12 Why Are There So Many Upgrade Options Now?
13:02 Keeping Your Mac For A Long Time
#mac #macbook #createdtech
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⮕ 14" MacBook Pro: geni.us/m1pro14
⮕ 16 MacBook Pro: geni.us/m1pro16
Will there be a ChatGPT version of Created Tech?
Is there noticeable curves in the edges of the frame?
Can I get cheese?
Just kidding,
Can you recommend some developer tools for mac?
Can you give me tips on how to avoid the thieves that live in Toronto? They're so fascinated with what I say, come up with, and create...
@@anadventfollower1181 wat?
I'm the guy that bought a maxed out Intel Macbook Pro in 2020. My wife's new M2 Air is twice as powerful, without a fan, never even gets warm, battery lasts forever and it cost less than half as much.
i've always bought MBA's recently... I can't remember the last time i bought a "Pro"
umm... perhaps 2015 or 2010
Same here - until just recently. I always stuck to the cheap entry models, but for some reason I ended up with a 16" M1 MAX 32GB after last black friday because it was only $1800 and for some odd reason nobody wanted them (I live in Denmark), because it was considered old??. @@Tech-geeky
@@OPM_VikingI would guess it is still powerful enough for most things
@jgm113 what's the ram and storage on your wife's MacBook m2 air?
@@HACKER-mv2ix I don't remember the spec but I know both were one step up from base
It’s true that older Macs can still run modern applications relatively well (I’m still running a 2009 MBP), but eventually they do get slower and are more prone to security vulnerabilities. I’ve upgraded virtually everything I can - I’ve swapped the optical drive for a 500gb SSD, upgraded the old 256 GB HDD for a 1TB SSD, upgraded the RAM and gone through multiple batteries. But at the end of the day, I’m still running El Capitan. At this point, changing to an M2 Mac will feel like a dream!
@@cncfan Does it work on apple silicon macs?
@@spacebb Why would you need Dosdude for a new silicon Mac?
@@spacebbdosdude not really up to date anymore. I think it works only until Catalina. For the newer stuff, there are other patches which are much more up to date
Thats exactly what I had!!!, In Aug 2022 I upgraded to the M2 MacBook Air... IT AMAZING...thing lasts 18 hours...is super quick and I can't believe I missed YEARS of all the convienient features like making calls from Mac/ answering calls from iPhone to the Mac vise-versa.... the latest OS get every detail.. El Captain is SOO out-dated. my 2009 MBP lasted 13-years.
What’s dosdude? Isn’t OCLegacyPatcher the solution for updating to unsupported version?
Another important thing to remember is the larger your SSD is the longer is its life span. TBW is the term SSD manufacturers use and the storage size of the SSD is directly proportional to its life span.
In theory….yes….in reality it dies when it dies lol….
longer life span and usually faster also
@@becontentandsilencethemind1562 In reality, everything dies. Getting a bigger storage size ensures the lifespan is much longer. This is a fact, don't sound stupid trying to sound smart.
@@sandman4128 While I'm not arguing your point, I'm using a 2010 MacBook Air with only 128gig ssd to watch this video and comment here. 13 years later on a some what low storage laptop seems to suggest that even a lower storage device will still get a decent lifespan. As always though it depends on the usage of said device.
This is true, although after a year+ of ownership I have only written 4.4 TB to my SSD. At that rate I have another 68 years before I hit the industry standard of 600TBW per 1TB of storage.
Upgraded from Mid-2012 13' to M1 Pro base model last year. Only life-changing improvement other than gorgeous screen with the notch and slight general fluidness was when I did a demanding task like rendering a video, which you also can do with the 13' - much slower but effortless still. Daily tasks like checking your E-Mail, browsing and/or writing a document would feel just about same. I do not regret the purchase since it is the base model and 10 years is pretty fair time for an upgrade but I still wish that I would use its full potential, for which I paid for - regardless I use it or not. Don't upgrade your Mac unless you are absolutely sure what your benefits are. I get the FOMO but you won't be missing out anything if you don't need it.
I have the same Mid 2012 15 core i7 and still runs crazy...
.... like most companys... apple is the absolute top elite of milking their clients last penny out ^^
Is that why there's a big scar on my chest where my kidney used to be?
@@CreatedTech at this rate, perhaps you may need to go for one of your lungs as well 🤔
How about the software updates and future MacOS updates intentionally making the Macs slower? Same tasks are eating up more resources producing more heat and draining the battery...
For example just check how newer versions of MacOS is aggressively dropping support for older models. For example, a 2015 iMac running with i9 Intel processor with 64 GB RAM can't run the tasks what a 2017 entry MacBook could run. Strange. Steve Jobs would slap on the person who makes such decision.
But in the end, if you play the game smartly: the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the Apple ecosystem is the lowest around.
I just got for Christmas a 2022 MacBook Air with 16gb of memory and 1tb of storage. Definitely for future proof.😅
I really struggled with the future proofing bug when I bought an M2 MBA a couple of months ago. If I doubled the memory and storage of the base model I was getting close to MacBook Pro territory, especially when the MBP 14 would go on sale. I had to take a serious look at my budget and my actual needs in a laptop. I finally ended up with the base model M2 MBA and I've been happy as a clam ever since (so has my wallet).
Yup same dilemma here. Went for the base M1 model
@@1zy hey, can I ask you a question?
I’m looking for a MacBook to buy but im not sure if I get the MacBook Air m2 base model or the M1 with upgrades in storage , etc. what would you recommend since you bought the m2 base model?
@@1zy great azy, thank you so much!
@@ghfuser1745 which one did you go with ?
I had the same dilemma, went for a 14 inch macbook pro.
Considering the significant price bump in the EU, even the base model is a big investment. As such, people tend to opt for higher specs - we don't know what will be sufficient for how long, but one thing is for sure, the year-on-year price increases.
This is the same issue in Australia. The base m2 air is $1899 aud on the apple website and at this price point It's not worth it comparing to its competition. Even the base m1 without any discounts is $1499 even though it's labelled as a affordable macbook.
512 GB storage and 16 GB storage is a sweet spot for software development
Not really, it depends what type of software development. If you are just doing code, then sure. But many of us have to use massive non-code assets, and more RAM at least is vital.
@@MichaelGGarry I’m curios about which software engineering fields you mean
I’m thinking of getting 24GB ram and storage of 256GB instead. Would this matter much for software engineering? I’m considering studying it
If you have the money go for it, else you don't need 24, 16 should be more than enough, unless you use shit tons of docker vm or Android dev you are doing.@@cloudyair7395
@@cloudyair7395hey don’t even think about getting 256gb… it’s 2024 go at least for 512gb
To be honest it doesn't really get that confusing, the upgrade options are pretty basic.. the only questions is if you know what you need and if it is worth it to you.
Exactly, ppl forget the days where apple had ENDLESS options. If you know, you know!!!
Appreciate the video. You caught me at the right time, been thinking of upgrading my 2018 Intel Macbook Air to something more “futureproof.” Definitely more to think about after watching this. Subscribed! Good stuff.
I have found that a notebook (brand or OS doesn’t matter) has a practical life of 5-6 years. I buy with this lifespan in mind. After 5 or 6 years, the device likely won’t be able to stay current on the OS without involving upgrade methods that aren’t practical for the average person. Falling behind on the OS is the beginning of the end for application compatibility and more importantly security. I do have a 15 year old MBP that still works - so, yes, they will last that long, but it isn’t my “daily driver” because of how old the OS is and how it affects my ability to effectively collaborate with others on projects. My daily driver is now 4 and will get replaced within the next two years, once the OS begins to slip behind.
Drive space and memory are cheap, even from Apple. I always over buy in these areas because the benefit-to-cost ratio is really that good. Just about everything one does these days, except for perhaps the most basic tasks, will benefit from having more RAM and storage.
I have never upgraded my processor and have never noticed an issue. Maybe I don’t know what I’m missing. Upgrading the processor can get spendy, and the situations that benefit noticeably from more processing power within a 5-6 year lifespan are not as numerous for people who don’t really push their machines to their limits. The benefit-to-cost ratio isn’t as good for most people. I say most people. I understand this isn’t true for everyone, and one should put some thought into how they use their machine before deciding.
I guess my philosophy is don’t over think ram and storage - buy as much as you can afford, because it will come in handy.
When I ordered my M2 MacBook Air as my new computing device for 2023 so-called future proofing was never in my mind and same with my choice of Windows laptops. As far as my budget would stretch I’d get the most powerful configuration so that my apps would open and run faster and get things done more quickly.
I was about to get the M2 Air 16GB and 512gb ssd, but I got a deal and bought the 14" M1 Pro for the same price. Don't regret it a second. I doubt I can see the difference between the 6 cores of the M2 and the 8 of the M1 Pro but I can for sure tell the difference between the standard display and the Mini LED near 4K 120Hz of the Pro. Plus even the 14" is tiny compared to my previous laptop, so no issues in portability.
I think that 16GB ram is a must for a computer for me (I actually think that it is low for a windows pc, but apple optimises ram better) and 512GB is borderline for the SSD. Ideally I would opt for a TB but I definitely didn't feel like paying the extra and waiting a couple of months to get a custom ordered device. Plus considering the 6 and 8 cores, one has to keep in mind that for heavy tasks the M2 has actually only 4 performance cores while the M1 Pro has 6 performance cores, that was a big selling point for me.
Do you find the 14" M1 Pro much heavier than the M2 Air? I am struggling to decide between the M2 Air 16/512 and 14" M1 Pro, the price difference is a little more than 300 dollars locally for the refurbished.
@@Bryan-oq2vz I tend to lean on my MBA when I’m at home for general use but for heavy processes, the 14” MBP is the way to go. If I had to do it all over again I’d still play the same game but upgrade the MBA to 16GB of RAM and probably be just fine.
@@Bryan-oq2vz Got my 14'' Pro Base 2 days ago and to me 1.6KG is not heavy at all. Of course if I would travel the *whole* day with it in backpack without using it then I may feel the weight but I seriously suggest you not to worry about weight. You may travel for 1-2 hours a day with laptop but even then I would still go for 14'' Pro than 13'' Air M2 just for the screen.
Also I don't think that buying 32GB 14'' or 24GB 13'' M2 is worth it, because I have 16GB RAM and half is free considering that OS is caching files and apps for responsiveness.
Then the question is whether you should buy 14'' Pro M1 16/512 or 13'' M2 16/512. 14'' Pro has support for 2 monitors, better screen (read about ProMotion) and faster CPU/GPU. As I am a developer for me it's important to have not only enough RAM but also good CPU for faster compiling with 14'' Pro I do not experience any problems.
Even if you have money to buy more expensive model I do not see the reason for it. Better to save money and buy new MacBooks in the future. Hope my answer helped you.
@@Bryan-oq2vz I would say go for a 14inch pro. Data transfer speeds and SSD management in MBA are not good. Also 14inch Mac is overall astounding - Next level screen, RAm and performance
@@Bryan-oq2vz form factor vs power. What’s more important to you? The 14 is much more bulky in person.
32 gigs of ram to prevent memory swapping , 2 tb to make sure it lasts atleast 5 yeayrs considering TBW of SSD, 16 inch so that need for an external monitor can be avoided while travelling.
tf u need 32 gigs of ram for? rendering 4 videos at once while playing cyberpunk?
It's not future proofing if you're buying upgrades for use right now. That's why I always believe in upgrading storage space first; you'll notice it no matter what. Plus, you have a good feel for how much you'll need because you probably have a machine right now so you know how much space you're using. With RAM, you know if you need it. If you're on the fence, you probably don't actually need it.
RAM is more important. Storage you can always add via an external SSD but you can't plug in extra RAM via the USB-C port.
Very helpful video. I am one of those future proofing guys but your logic of buying what you need, use for 4 or 5 years, resell the unit and repeat is the winner.
Genuinely helped me out. Thank you…
We’ve got a 2008 MacBook Pro (with SSD upgrade) that still runs just fine for web, email, Word, Excel and even a bit of photo and video editing for the kids school projects. I’ve just to swap out the battery every few years (easy, Apple allowed back then to have an under plate with clips to change your battery tool free in a minute).
My every day Mac is a 2014 MacBook Pro 16GB RAM Quad Core i7 Retina. The main motivation to upgrade from here will be because Lightroom is sluggish.
Both these MacBook Pros were beasts in their day, high spec because I was “future proofing” and together with Mac reliability we’ve gotten more than 14 yrs use from two Macs. Retina display on the 2014 is still good and it’s powerful enough to do creative stuff with.
Smart👍🏻
I think my Late 2013 MBP would still be good had I took more RAM. It has gotten slow.
@@AnqaOdyssey i think the 16GB RAM I got makes a big difference. When I upgraded my MBP from 8 to 16GB RAM (the first unibody Macs you could just open up with clips with switch out a lot of the hardware).
so what will you do now? will you upgrade?
The best tech channel by far on TH-cam, thanks a lot for the information man. Still rocking my M1 MacBook Air and doing intense photo/slight video work on it. The laptop hasn't complained so why change it.
This video has totally changed the way I’m looking at my next Mac purchase
I bought an m1 mac mini for school and personal use. I went with the 16gb even though I am the user you described in the beginning of the video. I went with the 256gb ssd only as well as I use icloud the most so I can access files and documents on my ipad pro, or iphone. I think if you have the money to spare sometimes it is worth it cuz you can get a slightly better return on resell with more ram. Before my mac I had a samsung laptop with 8gb of ram, and would constantly max out my ram with only using teams, multiple excel and word docs, and multiple browser windows. I know the m1 macs are more efficient, but figured better to have and not need then regret not ordering it. I paid less than $800 for the mac too with student discount, and plan on keeping this for a very long time. I will upgrade my ipad before my computer I bet lol as that is my true on the go device.
As someone that's been in the IT industry for 20 years, I don't have a huge problem with some moderate "future proofing" since I do tend to use my Macs longer than PCs. Apple's pricing is steep because they tend to use higher qualify parts vs most others - in addition to paying the Apple Tax - so it all adds up. CPU/GPU upgrades are normally my first choice in an upgrade simply because I know I will use it. I want to make sure I have at least 1TB, likely 2TB of storage, then I see how much memory I can reasonably afford. Keep in mind that I'm likely buying for both personal and business use - not just ranting on social media. What I consider a reasonable upgrade is very different than the average Mac user. For students, the base laptops are normally enough - perhaps bump the storage up a tier (up to 1TB). If you have the money, go for at least 16GB of RAM. They will likely value battery life over performance. A Mac laptop should last all 4 years of college and likely the first year after. Once you have a real job, you can consider replacing your laptop at that point.
they buy parts from typical vendors and sell as higher end parts. Apple doesn't make parts themselves. Tfor instance, storage imported from samsung and charge double for same shit. people are just tech-stupid when comes about apple. and Apple has some of its perks to establish itself such way
What do you suggest for software development will the 2 core difference between m1 pro and m2 pro will have a huge difference
struggling to make a decision so need recommendation
@@RobertShresthawolf I don't think you will see huge gains, but probably a 10-15% uplift while compiling code. Depending how often you do that, it might or might not be worth it. For me, I got the M2 Pro MacMini because I wanted the extra ports and the ability to support 3 4k displays natively (sans DisplayLink). I already have an M1 Max MBP for work/travel, so not upgrading that anytime soon. I'm hoping to get a solid 3-4 years before giving it to my kids.
@@freaky425 It depends on the specific parts. There is a significant difference between Samsung SSDs and cheap no-name junk often used by Dell, HP and others on the PC side. If you built a PC with the exact same parts, you would arrive at a similar number + plus the typical name-brand tax. On the PC side, I don't bother with pre-built systems, I just build my own.
@@JasonTaylor-po5xc definitely, If you make custom build in the PC side means we are of the same boat. I don't mean to say apple uses mediocre parts by any means, what I meant is apple just charges double or even more for the part which OEM would sell normally to consumers.
Just buy a step above what you need or what you currently use, and you should be fine. 16GB/512GB was close to the limit for my 2020 laptop so I went up a step with 32GB/1TB for my new M1 Pro. I think it's fine to configure your new laptop one step up but anything more than that is unnecessary money spent on 'future-proofing'.
@Carl Gunderson Well i guess if someone knows that they’ll NEVER need that spec bump with certainty then there’s no need for it. But for me , I see myself hooking my M1 Pro as a desktop replacement in the foreseeable future so a 32Gb Memory and 1Tb Ssd doesn’t seem crazy
@Carl Gunderson that’s what I thought when I bought the MacBook Pro m1 base model cause my previous MacBook was a 2014.
I bought what I needed at the time and it exceeded my expectations but soon I started working with more intense video timelines that struggle on my MacBook.
Here I am … needing more power on the road , considering the m2 Pro…
Great video as always.
I really wish Apple would acknowledge their products have two sides with different lifespans - the inside & the outside. I thought Apple Silicon would allow them to drop the 'motherboards' (insides) into a stick which could then be replaced maybe 2-3 times over the enclosure (outside) lifespan. Not as green as we thought, shame.
You're an optimist 🤣, apple doesn't care about the environment or it's customers, only profit.
They make attractive well designed devices which are very reliable and stable but maximising profits is their aim at all times and they have zero scruples
I opted against updating my Intel MBP from 8gb to 16gb in 2018. Now I have issues with both the battery and lack of memory. If my machine had 16gb, replacing the battery for a couple of hundred dollars would be a no-brainer. It would probably last me another two or three years. Now, I'm getting a new MBP instead. And I'll future-proof it by updating the memory.
I'm running a 2012 retina mbp 15 which originally came with 256GB SSD and 8GB ram. I upgraded the SSD to 2TB a few years ago and the computer is still useful for Office, browsing, video watching, music, etc tasks. However when I look at the pathetic 512GB offered with MBPs these days and that these SSDs are soldered in, I'm not happy. To continue my lifestyle I will need at least a 2TB SSD machine and those are expensive. Otherwise I would have to downgrade, and carrying external SSDs is a downgrade.
@@peterc.1419or just get an external SSD for the files you don’t need regularly for small money
I am the person who purchased a future proof Intel MacBook Pro in 2020. My refurbished M1 is in the mail. Thanks for the video.
I bought the highest end MacBook air m2 besides the 2tb ssd (just got the 1tb SSD) the reasoning behind it is, it fits my work load, I need space, I work in game dev and I need a portable device for when I travel. If I had got a MacBook pro, I wouldn't be able to travel as light. I don't need the extra ports and high refresh rate screen. Those were the biggest temptations but I came to realize the portability was more important.
I've gotten years more life out of my i7 16 GB iMac that I ever would have gotten out of the 8 GB i5 version.
Problem is they treat all the models the same in terms of support/updates etc.
You pretty much got rid of all of my anxiety with my 8gb model macbook. Thank you
That extreme example happened to me 😅. Bought a fully speced MacBook in mid 2020 & Apple launched silicon chips after few months.I was gutted. I just sold that intel MacBook and looking to upgrade to M2 Pro chip now 😁
You made the right decision in 2020. I also bought the 2020 intel MBP but with 8gb ram and 256gb ssd, and it became faulty on June 1. The repair store is talking about replacing the logic board…
I think if you will be using your Mac for work, never buy the base model
Doubt here. A video editor by profession would it make sense to get the higher tier Macbook Pro 14" instead of the entry level Macbook pro 14". Does it make sense for $500?
Future proofing, that is, buying versatility that can accommodate future contingencies, largely consists in this: the ability to upgrade and service your device. Unfortunately, Apple and other manufacturers have made it a policy of denying those options. My 2012 i7 Mac Mini and 2011 Dell Latitude (both dual boot) have been upgraded or repaired through the years with SSD's, extra RAM AND modern Linux OS'es with updates for years to come.Both continue to be responsive and capable devices for my use cases. When another of my duct taped laptops finally gave up the ghost I removed its CPU, RAM and drives to upgrade my family's devices. Meanwhile the future proofed Apple is headed to the landfill.
The trouble is most people don’t know how to tailor the specs to their usage requirements, then there’s the temptation to get bigger and better. Throw in some fear of missing out and bragging rights and there you have it.
Why is your late 2013 MacBook Pro retina STILL running on OS X Mavericks (10.9) that came out in ... 2013??
I really love your analysis.
You have really made some good points
I have thought about upgrading but struggle to find a good reason to so far. I am writing this on a 2016 MacBook Pro I bought for college. Now, I have graduated college for a couple years but still using the same MacBook pretty regularly. Surprisingly the battery still works well enough and the screen is still in great quality. I have never needed any repairs for the device either. I think purchasing a more expensive model with more RAM and storage than I needed at the time was the right call as I am really glad I have those upgrades now. It saddens me that the Touch Bar is gone and I would be losing that feature if I do upgrade but it would be nice to have more performance, longer battery, and a better keyboard since some of my keys occasionally get stuck after years of typing. It is also concerning that my Operating System is quickly becoming more and more out of date and I am beginning to feel less comfortable managing business and financial accounts on a system that is no longer receiving frequent software updates. I am pretty impressed though that nearly a decade later this laptop still feels pretty snappy and can handle my daily tasks with ease. Easily the best laptop I have ever owned despite its high initial cost.
I like how you deliver your perspective and insights. Informative watch!
Well when I bought a mid to high-spec mac in 2000, 2007, 2011, they all have lasted more than 10 years--and my 2016 and 2019 purchases going strong. When I bought a low spec mac in 2015, it was already too slow three years later.
Nice tips! I need a new MacBook air for my travel setup. I use regularly lightroom for my photography. Which is the best price/quality ratio you suggest me? Thanks a lot 😊
IMO, the vast majority of users shouldn't upgrade the processor. But almost everyone should upgrade the storage to at least 500GB. Likewise everyone should upgrade to 16GB of RAM.
The RAM upgrade is for two reasons. If you're going to upgrade often, you don't care why you just feel like you're missing out with the base model. For those who won't upgrade, more RAM means it won't page as often, helping the SSD physically last longer. So unless you really want to put your laptop in an envelope, the base model 14" Pro seems like the best bet for almost everyone.
16 GB of RAM is so 2013 (that's what my 2013 MBP had). I won't buy anything less than 32GB. 16GB is not enough for the 2020s.
@@acasualviewer5861 16GB remains enough for almost everyone. Hell, 8GB is enough for most people. Except for extremely intensive media production or running multiple VMs, there is 0 performance benefit upgrading from 8 to 16GB of RAM on Apple Silicon. I don't mean very little, I mean 0. The paging algorithms and SSDs are just that fast (except the 256GB M2 Air).
Even on Windows, if you're just doing office type tasks and inane web browsing, 8GB is enough. I still use a laptop with 4GB of RAM running Windows 11 at work; if I had to use it more than 30 minutes per week, it would definitely need replaced, but it still works well enough.
@@rightwingsafetysquad9872 then just buy a Macbook Air. For PRO workloads 8gb is very much insufficient. I've had my 10 year old MBP die because it ran out of ram with 16gb.
Buying 8gb today is absurd. And 16gb as well. You might as well buy an old used machine. With so little ram you're just hampering your CPU and overusing your SSD (so it will die sooner).
If all you do is browse get a Chromebook or an Air.
@@acasualviewer5861 Like I said, paging to the SSD as often as Mac does with just 8GB of RAM will wear out the SSD very quickly. Upgrading to 16GB is not a performance upgrade (for most of us), it's a longevity upgrade.
There are lots of reasons to buy a new computer that don't revolve around RAM capacity. New computers are better at everything, not just having more memory.
@@rightwingsafetysquad9872 if you don't have enough ram (for example if you leave 40 tabs open on chrome), your computer will begin trashing, your cpu will starve, and yes you will have performance issues.
Reading from RAM is always faster than reading from the SSD (at least for now). CPU starvation affects performance.
Also compiling huge projects in code will benefit from more RAM, as will any graphics heavy work.
A lack of RAM is not only a performance limitation, it is usually THE MAIN reason for performance degradation in a computer. SSD latency is measured in milliseconds, RAM latency is measured in nano-seconds.
Mac's aren't immune to realities of computing just because Apple makes them.
Even though you primarily cover Apple stuff, TH-cam recommended me this video (I'm a desktop Linux user!) and I'm going to say this: your opinions also apply to ARM-based PCs! Dare I say, your opinions also apply to x86-based PCs that have limited upgradability!
I was considering getting an older ThinkPad Yoga, but I forgot that my workflow had changed in 2021 to be more cloud-focused, so the stuff I only really run on my ThinkPad X250 these days are Web browsers, Web-based productivity apps, and remote access apps. The cloud-focused thing is really just mostly my own homemade cloud with my NAS and my desktop PC, since I can't use regular online storage services as I currently don't have the time to clean them of years of data.
Edit: I think TH-cam recommended me this video because I watch PC-focused tech channels that sometimes cover Apple stuff, like Linus Tech Tips.
My grandpa uses an iPad 4th Gen for basic stuff like web browsing, emails and looking at the news.
I really like your video, it's always so practical and make me realize where I should spend my money on
My MacBook Pro is currently 11yrs but I’m finally making jump to upgrade!
You make a lot of sense. Thanks for that.
2011 iMac here... Still works perfectly well with the SSD upgrade which was done 5 years back. Great computer...
This is the most sensable video i seen in a wile. Thanks for the great info.
I have a 2015 MacBook Air with 8 GB of RAM and it still runs smooth as butter, even with Ventura. BUT... this year I'll be using heavily statistics software (like Stata and R) because of uni. Should I get a base model MacBook Pro M1 with 8GB of RAM or will I get away with just a new MacBook Air M1?
I'm trying to get the best bang for my buck in regards to statistics software.
This video was awesome, gave some great perspectives, thank you!
Very earnest video; appreciate you! been struggling to decided between the 8gb m3 vs 16gb m3 and was leveraging the concept of future proofing as a means to justify the "higher spec" model. Ultimately, its only going to be used for remedial tasks and I'm now thinking even the baseline model will be more than sufficient! Thanks for creating this video
I am upgrading from a 2012 5,1 cheese grater tower. Bought a M1 base mini. Just to test the pro audio app performance. But stalled up till now. It’s a computer I use a lot and it’s performs amazing. Was going to upgrade to a Mac Studio. Now I’ll just get more large capacity thunderbolt drive and save myself $1900 from upgrading a base max studio. Down the road I’ll have solid choices.
Cheese grater lol
Me too. 8gb256 its amazing.
External 1tb ssd
My 2015 MacBook Pro is fine, but the screen needs to be replaced. Wonder if it can pay to do that? 🤔
I've been in doubt about which Mac buy, but at the end of the day I bought the basic M1 Air model: right now, I don't need extra RAM or extra space (until now I've just used an iPad 9 with a keyboard with zero problems and a lot of satisifaction) and if I'll ever need them it means I've a job that will allow me to afford a new MacBook Pro.
Solid thinking, tbh…
Nice point of view!!! BUT ,IN YOUR OPINION, wich set up would you choose If you are going to edit photos with programs like Capture One and want to keep your computer at list 10 years ahead?
Take care!
I am a software engineer and some of the programs I use require a lot of RAM. A good example is Docker Desktop, which won't even start if you have 16 GB of RAM and have 16+ tabs open in Chrome. You have to exit Chrome and other programs to be able to start Docker Desktop, then re-open the other programs, which will end up using swap memory allocation. Because of this and other similar scenarios, I did get my MacBook Pro 16" with 64GB of RAM. So yeah, it depends on what you're going to be using your Mac for and the specific requirements of the programs you'll run. Now, my MBP 16" is late 2019 so it has the i9 processor, but it runs fantastically great, so I'm not upgrading to the new M2 model, no need for that. Nice video, it should help some people save money, keep up the good work!
I really appreciate your video and your points but were currently struggling with MacBook Air models that could be perfectly capable computers if they didn’t had 4GB of ram. In my job (office work) I mostly only need 8GB of ram but sometimes I really need 16GB, and my use could be defined as lightweight.
This is why I still use my base model M1 Macbook Air. It's hard to justify the price jump of the 14" Pro when the base M1 is still really fast for 90% of my tasks at the $800 price point vs double or more price for the 14" Pro.
Now consider that the base 14’ mbp in France is 2400 euros, or more than 2500$, so 3 times
and sometimes you're someone who loves tech, especially new tech and you're getting to the age where you know you're not going to outlast your money and you just buy what you want and not what you need. The truth is most people don't need more than a M2 Air, and even more so if it came in a 15"-17" screen size
atm the only heavy app I use is DaVinci Resolve exporting and editing 4k 30fps, but I have the 8gb ram m1 MacBook Air, but does use a lot of swap but no hiccups. can I use it for 4 to 5 more years?
Of course, if apple allowed RAM, GPU and SSD upgrading instead of soldering everything nowadays,and frequently changing the os so it wont run on older machines (as well as changing chip manufacturers which render the older computers obsolete) , future proofing would not be an issue.
The design of putting the SSD processing, ram and CPU together on a single chip has given us a far better experience than intel+ non soldered components.
That improvement despite my preference for self upgrades, comes at the price of no upgrades to RAM or SSD.
@@Patricia-kk8tr I'm typing this on a 14 year old mac pro, which still is a highly useful machine, you wont be able to use ANY current mac for that long. Care to actually state why making the SSD and ram non upgradeable is an advantage , other than it makes apple a LOT more money ? I'm bloody sure that they could engineer those components as separate items if they wanted to do so.
16bg & 512gb should be the starting base now. My 2012’s still work pretty fine (16gb & 1tb hd) . I just use them to download music. I really wish we can get back to upgrading them ourselves
There are two sub-sets of laptops, ultrabooks and prosumer devices (including gaming). There is no need for a 16GB/512GB base, as if OEMs did this, they would need to raise prices accordingly. So let consumers decide if they need the extra spec, then buy it.
@@andyH_EnglandThey should decrease the prices of the base models then.
Eh, I switched from 2011 (16gb 512gb ssd), that was unbearably slow, to base M1 and couldn't be happier. Even with like 5gb of swap it's really snappy compared to old Intel with poor Apple cooling. Would 16gb be better - sure, but upgraded version would cost me as much as 50% more of the price I paid, while I could barely afford base M1 as is.
Most people don’t do that much on their MacBook laptop and someone have a iPad too they will use it more than their MacBook laptop
@@saharajohnson6481 I rather it be like that so it will last me at least 10 years.
I’m watching this as I contemplate what to get to replace my 2011 MacBook Pro. With its dedicated graphics fried (for the 3rd time) - it’s now exhibiting other problems that had me hitting the panic button.
I decided to go with a base M2 MacMini with 16GB Ram, since that’s how much RAM my old MacBook had. I do have a 2014 MacMini and it’s had more problems than the 2011 MacBook since I got it- not having a SSD drive standard was the biggest (I added my own internal nVME storage not long after though - but the usb is going whack now). That computer is now the kids’.
So this incoming MacMini is really a temporary replacement for my soon-to-be-totally-dead MacBook of 12 years… and a replacement for the kids’ old Intel MacMini when I get an M3 or M4 MacBook Pro in a year or so. Never thought I’d be able to hit two birds with one stone on this purchase.
Great video. Didn’t know about chip binning.
New to Apple macbook pro and wondering should I stick with safari or run google Chrome.
What's the better search engine to use on the Apple.?
This channel needs more subs with the amount of effort they have put in their videos keep up the content😊.
I am planning to buy a new MacBook this year so do you mind giving me some tips.That would be really helpful. Thanks
Very thorough! Good content.
You're right. I didn't know which mac to buy. Ended up buying the base model M1 air two months ago. And man, it flies, it as all I need. And it's cheap!
I used a 2012 i7 Mac Mini with (upgraded at some point) 32GB ram and an SSD until the M1 Mac mini appeared. Then a year or so ago I bought a mini with 16GB ram and 1TB drive. I hope to use it for at least another 6 years! 🤔
I'm still using a 2012 macbook pro and not until recently has it started to show its age. But one feature that really made me think about a new Macbook was upgrading Lightroom and Photo shop. With the new M1 and M2 I was unable to upgrade and use the new feature from Adobe.
I have a mbp from 2012 with an upgraded 2TB SSD. To get this level of onboard storage I would have to pay a fortune to Apple for a Macbook Pro. 512GB is peanuts.
I’ve wasted so much money because I didn’t upgrade to enough ram and ssd space and then later got frustrated and got a slightly better version, and then later realizing that wasn’t enough either.
So I’d hard recommend bumping up the ram and ssd as much as you can afford.
Knowing what you're gonna do is crucial. Most people just web browse and Atchison cat videos/social media. They don't need much for that.
I had an 2013 macbook. I got a m1 16 inch cause i use my laptop all day every day. Its not like i NEED the power. But its a massive quality of life improvement. The screen brightness is amazing and the snappiness saves me time every day
I bought a M1 MacBook Air when they first came out. I bought the 16GB of ram and 1TB storage, 8 core GPU model. I love it! It is still a BEAST in 2023. Runs whatever you throw at it.
Ive got the same spec on my air. Best Macbook ive ever had!
i've been using a 2013 base model MBP up until a few days ago. only reason i upgraded to a current model is a few software packages that aren't supported any more. performance wise it's completely fine, and i'll keep using it as a 'throw in the backpack' computer
❓Rookie question:
Is there a way to suspend tabs on Safari on a Mac as there is on Chrome on a Chromebook (an extension or Chrome itself)?
I bought an 8/256 M2 MacBook. I'll be a light user for sure, but now I wish I got 16/256, because I'm worried that having several programs open plus many many tabs will cause hiccups and slowdowns.
Any knowledgeable advice would be appreciated.
I'm using a MacBook Pro A1278 and i'm fine with it. I upgraded it's RAM from 4 to 10 GB and changed it's HDD to an SSD in order to make it faster and it worked. I'm waiting for a MacBook Air with OLED screen.
DUDE this makes so much sense more people should be watching this!!!!
I usually upgrade my Apple Devices every 3-4 years, and how often should I upgrade my MacBook because I know that Macs can last quite a while?
I’ve been rocking my 2014 MBA and besides the battery lasting less and being stuck on Big Sur, nothing else to report. Before this I had the MacBook White 2008 and it took a while to die too (8 years). The MBA is doing way better comparatively, probably due to the SSD.
Getting 8 years out of a laptop is super unheard of and the only reason why I’ll probably still buy another MacBook when my MBA finally becomes unusable. Solid machines
On 2nd April 2023 I got new mba m1 8gb ram 256gb space gray variant and I purchased this macbook for programming and development purpose is my decision correctas I went with base model of mba m1
Excellent video, mate! I opted for 16GB RAM + 8-core for my M2 Air, but stuck with the 256GB SSD. I don't edit videos/photos or do any intensive work requiring heavy GPU use, so the slower SSD isn't a problem for me. I have several external portable SSD drives should I ever need a lot more storage.
i bought a totally base m1 a year ago as my first mac, you may want to try a synology nas, i got a little ds220 and put 2 fat hard drives in, now my little air has 16 terabytes of raid1 storage and backup at home or anywhere on the planet i have internet👍
@@thomaskatt4450 Good idea! 👍
Oooof sore spot as someone who bought a fully maxed out intel 16” MacBook Pro in 2020 I’m feeling it. Saving up to replace it this year
is the new MBA 15'' 8g/256 able to handle up to 24 youtube streaming tabs alongside firefox 24 streaming tabs without stuttering assuming a good wifi signal?
I'm getting into mac os soon. So I had this question as a graphic designer should I purchase the base model of air m1 or should I upgrade my storage or ram. I can only choose one option.
I would some some suggest or help on what laptop from 2023 I should get. I am new to apple laptop. I am coming from windows and never own any apple laptop before. My purpose would be using it for microsoft word, excel for work, browning on websites with lots of tabs for researching, comparing info. For entertainment I use youtube a lot, listen to music, watch movie on netflix, amazon prime video. I also travel to see family so using it on coach bus and trains. I would like to know i would be able to use it outside since they did make it mobile and is suppose to be carried around. I do see lots of people at cafe shops with their laptops and i would like to know if I will be able to use it outside when it is sunny. P.S. last laptop I had only had like 2.5 to 4 hours or battary usage and it sucks. Just watching a full match of futball on a window would drain my laptop battery life to quickly before the match is even over. Also, for gaming I don't need to worry as much because I already built myself a gaming desktop which i can't take it on travel if I need to use it for work instead of gaming at night.
I got a 2019 pro (13) found out these 2019 models are the last types that will receive updates in the future so pretty happy with that, but this 8gb ain't cutting it.
Excellent video! I bought a base 13" Macbook air M1 last year, was afraid the base config would not be enough for me (a casual user) but it turned out fine. I saw the little spinning wheel only 3 times in a year due to loads of Google pages loaded but that's it. So this year I am getting a base 15" Macbook air M2 and I'm no longer worried of the specs. I came from a Windows gaming PC with crazy RAM and HD. But I no longer need these specs for casual browsing and app gaming. I have been "future proofing" my laptops all my life. But I still never kept a PC for more than 3 years. So the video is true.
My two bobs worth…., I purchased a MacBook Pro early 2014, with 500 gb. Im a low level user, and figured that would be ample storage. 8 years later, the computer is full, thanks to photos, music and documents. So I’ve been through all my albums, deleted heaps of pics, but still have very little disk space to update to the latest operating system. I should have bought a 1 tb, but cannot remember if it was even an option. Now I find I can upgrade my storage, so I’ve ordered 2 tb to install. Hopefully that will get me another 5 years. Cheers.
This is the first true and honest video i have ever seen
Appreciate your videos! I struggle avoiding the future proofing haha! Have you tried running OBS studio at all to see the stability? Just curious! Thank you for all you do!
I haven't used OBS on a Mac in a while actually. I find the built-in recorder in Quicktime works really well for what I need. I haven't heard about any issues with OBS though.
OBS on M1 works but it’s quirky. What are you trying to do?
@@MoChuang343 thanks for the input! I’m pretty solid on just having a mirror less camera and console live streaming.
Looking getting a Mac Studio but not sure yet haha.
@@CanadanGames oh the ever looming MacPro haha
I work for a cyber sec company, and we always buy the latest MacBook Pro with 32gb RAM and a 2TB SSD for our technical employees.
Advanced workloads grow and it also ensures resale value in the long term.
Nicely laid out!
Unlike other TH-camrs who just compare benchmarks on apps that would matter to a few, this is a better advise that people should watch to help in their practical decisions.
Can we buy grocery in a Ferrari, sure. But is it really necessary 😊
I feel the same away about this idea of "future proofing". Especially when talking about Apple products as they have an extremely high upgrade cost. I'm also a tech nerd who loves new tech toys so even if I could push my laptop 5+ years I'm probably looking to upgrade to the latest tech by then anyway. The entry level MacBook Air is all and more than the avg user even uses on a daily basis. Paying for future proofing is a complete waste of money. For what it would cost me to upgrade the SSD and memory I'm already looking at over half the cost of a new laptop in 5 years time so I just rock the entry level for until I want to upgrade and use the money I saved by not upgrading and apply that to my next toy.
Waste of money? I'm running a mid-2012 rMBP 15 inch with 8GB of RAM and because the SSD is slotted I could put a 2TB SSD in this machine. It's currently at 85% wear level, so in about 2 years I've used up 15% of this SSD's write cycles. But my original MBP came with 256GB SSD from Samsung and that was not enough, even in 2012. In 2015 I replaced the SSD with a 1TB from OWC and 2 years ago with a 2TB SSD which is full of stuff, I have 300GB free. Now to get the same level of comfort I would need to pay for a MBP with a 2TB SSD, which is very expensive. Apple has made future proofing expensive in not allowing post sale upgrades of their memory and SSD.
I use a MacBook Pro M1 Pro 14 with 16GB ram and 512GB SSD for data development. Since I always use an external SSD plus Git repos the configuration works fine! The is no real need to spend more money. Next time I‘ll choose the 1TB SSD version. Ram was really never an issue. The base CPU is perfect for me.
Great points raised in your video. Future proofing is not always good :(
You did not take inflation into account.
My personal practice with large purchases is to overbuild and get more options than I think I will need, especially when buying brand new. Then I keep it for a long time.
My last iMac was a 2015 27” retina. It was top of the line back then. It has a 4TB fusion hard drive and 32 GB of RAM. It has been 8 years and undoubtedly it still slows down and there are limited updates with it. Even with the 32GB of RAM, these last few years it has really slowed down.
I paid around $2,500 for that 2015 iMac. Adjusted for inflation, that is $3,200 in 2023 money.
So 2,500 divided by 8 years is $312.50 per year. And adjusted for inflation, an equivalent purchase in 2023 should be around $3,200.
Therefore, I decided to get a MacBook Pro M1 Max with 1TB hard drive and 32GB ram.
Is it overpowered for my everyday use? Yes.
Is it a lot of money? Yes.
But it will really come in handy and pull through for those few times when I’m on the road and I need to edit/render/export a 2-3 hour 4K video, or recording in my music studio, or using ableton live on a live performance, or live-streaming on twitch while simultaneously recording the feed.
After doing lots of production work over the years, I’ve learned that what really matters is having the capability you need in the moment so that you can best capture the experience.
Being able and having the capability to perform in the moment matters way more than worrying you will never use a feature.
Buy once, cry once. The only regret is spending a lot of money.
I’d rather do that instead of hitting the ceiling on your gear because you skimped out. That’s a WAY worse feeling, ESPECIALLY when you are in the moment and you need the functionality to capture and create.
Immensely sensible. My kind of guy
I max out upgrade my Mac desktop because that is where the heaviest work are done. In my Mac usage history, so far, I upgrade/change my Mac desktop ever 9-10 years. So, by maxing out my hardware, usually it will last me for 10 years. This is my my second desktop and the third one is not far on the horizon.
❤ You read my mind. I’m NOT a power user, yet I got 2021 M1 MBP 16” 16GB/1TB. MOSTLY for the awesome screen. But it’s clunky/heavy/bulky. Honestly .. a 15” MBA (hoping they make one!) would do me just fine. Thx!
Agreed. I need that real estate.
i’m a java developer and i work on my company’s windows pc. i’m getting an m2 macbook air tomorrow that i will use mostly for basic tasks but from time to time i will use it for side projects and that got me thinking: java microservices? don’t need that much ram. a database server? meh. two ides running at the same time? still can handle with 8gigs. even if i wanted to start writing neural networks i could cope with 8 but one thing just crossed my mind: motherf’ing virtualization. i don’t wanna be in the position of not having that option. i would like to study security and i definitely wanna be able to run a kali vm. so i’m getting 16 and i’ll enjoy not stressing over chrome tabs
I'll agree,
Really depends on each user & their actualy daily computer usage.
Look at it this way.
Buying a brand new 2023 base macbook is like buying a 3-5 year old High End spec out Mac just a few years ago.
Example: today's pricey top tier MacBook Pro 2023, well in 3-5 years time anyone that buys a 2026 base model will be equal in performance or better.
Again, it's not just the year of the machine itself but the parts that define that year.
Most folks that dished out a lot of cash ti have Mac Pro are kicking themselves because today's macbook pros can compete and in many areas surpass performance.
Hey man i want a mac for coding and hard core editing purposes which macbook should i consider and which specs i should go for
Try doing a Teams call on that 2013 macbook pro and tell me Teams is not a basic task.
Base MBA M1 renewed is $709 on Amazon and a Base M1 iPad Air is $450 on Amazon.
Got them both for under $1300 including Tax & AppleCare+.
Save your money if you need to upgrade anything save up for the next trim of the product you want.