Longest lasting Macbook??

[dtfech]

My girlfriend is looking for a new MacBook, and, as the resident techie, I am confronted with the question of what configuration she should buy. Folks, I have been a PC guy my entire life and whenever I have wanted a tech product to last a long time my go-to has been to overspec everything.

 

Does this logic still apply to Apple? How much more life do we think we can squeeze out of an M2 Max chip vs the regular M2?

 

Other considerations:

1. 13"-14" size (love the lightweight and portability)
2. Long battery life (maybe looking at the Air vs Pro)
3. Anything on the horizon worth waiting/looking out for?
4. Also looking at a Framework laptop for device longevity (but that's a different discussion)

 

Realistic use case is web, email, and occasional video browsing; so would likely only need 512GB config, but she might want to backup her iPhone to her laptop so more storage might be better. Just shooting for a 10 year laptop

 

Mac users pls help

[flibberdipper]

Realistically, I feel like an upgraded Air with 16GB of RAM and the 512GB storage config would be the ticket, by the time M2 chips are uselessly slow they'll probably be out of OS support anyways. That was the case with my 2014 Mac Mini so I can only imagine it'll be the same with what is a significantly faster chip. I know if I were in your shoes I'd sure want to save the 300/500 dollars on a 15/13 inch air compared to a base-spec 14" Pro since she doesn't do a whole lot of intensive work on her laptop to warrant the M2 Pro.

[Shimejii]

Gonna be brutally honest, Why would you bother getting her a M2 Max? She clearly doesnt need that kind of CPU if all she does is web, email and Video browsing lol. Dont over pay for things you dont need.

 

Generally just get the one on sale, it more then likely wont matter. id go with a 14" though, and i dont think the Air would do great if she uses it in bed.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Unless your pushing the processor pretty hard, you will probably be limited by the hardware wearing out/ software support eol, and battery failing, not a lack of cpu power. Apple normally gives about the same amount of years of support for the low and high end macbooks.

 

I'd get the m2 air here, if you want a mac. Pretty fast, great battery life. I'd probably go 16gb/512gb config, but thats not gonna be cheap.

 

 

[BondiBlue]

Based on the kind of usage you've described there is basically zero reason to spend more on the M2 Max over the regular M2 (or M2 Pro if you're looking at the 14" MBP). Those tasks don't need the extra GPU performance that the Max offers, so the only reason I can think of for purchasing the Max is if you'll need the extra external display support. The regular M2 only supports one external display, the M2 Pro supports two, and the M2 Max supports four. Personally I own a 16" M1 Max MBP, and I went with the M1 Max over the M1 Pro mainly for the extra external display support. But unless you absolutely have to have that display support I wouldn't get the Max. 

 

The M2 Air or the 14" M2 Pro MBP would be the two best choices. The Air will probably have slightly better battery life than the Pro, but the Pro has a nicer display, more ports, and it has active cooling for longer tasks. Personally I'd go with the 14" Pro for the extra I/O, better display, and active cooling, but in your case neither of these would be a bad choice. 

 

If you do choose the Air make sure you get at least 16GB of RAM. Despite what some people will try to tell you 8GB just is not going to be enough RAM, especially if you really are intending to keep the laptop for several years. It can't be upgraded down the road, so you have to get it now. You can always add external storage if you don't want to pay the ridiculous cost for upgrading the internal drive, but you can't add external RAM. 

[dtfech]

1 hour ago, Shimejii said:

Gonna be brutally honest, Why would you bother getting her a M2 Max? She clearly doesnt need that kind of CPU if all she does is web, email and Video browsing lol. Dont over pay for things you dont need.

 

Generally just get the one on sale, it more then likely wont matter. id go with a 14" though, and i dont think the Air would do great if she uses it in bed.

The only tech I buy regularly is phones, where there's so much bloat in app requirements year after year that only high-end devices can keep up 3 years in without significant performance drops. I wouldn't think there would be as much bloat on the MacOS platform, but I really don't have enough experience to confirm

[dtfech]

1 hour ago, BondiBlue said:

Based on the kind of usage you've described there is basically zero reason to spend more on the M2 Max over the regular M2 (or M2 Pro if you're looking at the 14" MBP). Those tasks don't need the extra GPU performance that the Max offers, so the only reason I can think of for purchasing the Max is if you'll need the extra external display support. The regular M2 only supports one external display, the M2 Pro supports two, and the M2 Max supports four. Personally I own a 16" M1 Max MBP, and I went with the M1 Max over the M1 Pro mainly for the extra external display support. But unless you absolutely have to have that display support I wouldn't get the Max. 

 

The M2 Air or the 14" M2 Pro MBP would be the two best choices. The Air will probably have slightly better battery life than the Pro, but the Pro has a nicer display, more ports, and it has active cooling for longer tasks. Personally I'd go with the 14" Pro for the extra I/O, better display, and active cooling, but in your case neither of these would be a bad choice. 

 

If you do choose the Air make sure you get at least 16GB of RAM. Despite what some people will try to tell you 8GB just is not going to be enough RAM, especially if you really are intending to keep the laptop for several years. It can't be upgraded down the road, so you have to get it now. You can always add external storage if you don't want to pay the ridiculous cost for upgrading the internal drive, but you can't add external RAM. 

Definitely gonna go with at least 16GB of RAM. Especially with it being unified memory, that would definitely be a limiting factor before any high-end silicon would be. You make a good point with the display support and I/O; that's something you don't notice you're missing until it's gone. Apple's fan curves are such that, for the loads she would be working with, the Pro would be passively cooled for most of its lifespan. (Although the PC version of MSWord is surprisingly taxing)

[dtfech]

1 hour ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Unless your pushing the processor pretty hard, you will probably be limited by the hardware wearing out/ software support eol, and battery failing, not a lack of cpu power. Apple normally gives about the same amount of years of support for the low and high end macbooks.

 

I'd get the m2 air here, if you want a mac. Pretty fast, great battery life. I'd probably go 16gb/512gb config, but thats not gonna be cheap.

 

 

You are right; it will not be cheap hahaha

 

The reason for Mac is

1. To keep her in the ecosystem (with her iPhone) 2. To pay to keep it maintenance free for as long as possible

 

If the hardware components are likely to be outlived by the SoC regardless of whether its the M2 or M2 Pro/Max, then you (and the other commenters) are right: Why waste the money?

[dtfech]

Generally speaking (barring catastrophic failure), an i9 would reach obsolescence later than an i5 of the same generation. Does that same rule of thumb hold true for the new Apple Silicon? Or does Mac run so lean that the EoL performance is irrelevant?

Edited July 28, 2023 by dtfech
whoops already answered

[saintlouisbagels]

Get the base configuration M2 MacBook Pro 14, or look through Apple's refurbished page for an M1 Pro 14"

 

MacBook Air M2 with upgraded 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD = $1499

MacBook Pro 14 M2 Pro base model = $1999 or refurbished M1 Pro for $1699

+ MUCH BETTER: speakers, microphone, screen (very similar to their $5000 desktop monitor)

+ two USB 4 -> three Thunderbolt 4 and HDMI and it's not all on one side. I hate my work laptop with all USB-C on one side

+ way better CPU (we're looking for longevity right?)

+ dual monitor support (Air and 13" Pro only does 1 monitor)

[saintlouisbagels]

13 minutes ago, dtfech said:

Generally speaking (barring catastrophic failure), an i9 would reach obsolescence later than an i5 of the same generation. Does that same rule of thumb hold true for the new Apple Silicon? Or does Mac run so lean that the EoL performance is irrelevant?

We've only had M-series silicon for a few years. It's too early to tell.

The iPhone 8 / iPhone X are not getting iOS 17 this coming Fall, which falls in line with Apple's pattern of giving their phones software support for ~6 years. This isn't even something they promise - they've always consistently given an extremely long software support cycle for all of their phones.

 

We can likely expect the same for the M-series chips.

[Darkseth]

17 hours ago, dtfech said:

Generally speaking (barring catastrophic failure), an i9 would reach obsolescence later than an i5 of the same generation. Does that same rule of thumb hold true for the new Apple Silicon? Or does Mac run so lean that the EoL performance is irrelevant?

Not really. The i9 only has more cores, which is usefull in situation, where you can use that many cores & more cores than the i5 has.

For opening a webside or doing Office both will become obsolete at the same time, because 1 Core is not faster. it will feel the same.

 

Extreme example, there were 6-Cores 12 Threads CPUs back in 2010. i7 980X. But every Low-Class 4-Core 8 Thread i3 / Ryzen 3 would destroy that old i7 completely.

Single Core Performance is very important for many Things.

 

There is literaly no difference on Apple's M-Chips, why would there be? If you need more Cores, more cores will help.

Basic stuff like webbrowsing or office is not one of those things, and won't be in 5 years.

 

Apple will drop Updatesupport before that. It makes more sense spending for more storage/Ram.

And we can not know how long Apple will update their M-Macbooks, because they are so new. It could be different/longer than Intel based Notebooks were.

 

Similar with Cars. if it has 500 HP instead of 100, it won't last longer. But it will accellerate faster in Times you need it.
If you only drive through the city, it wo't last longer today, nor in 10 years.

 

Edit: Btw, the M2 Max and M2 Pro have the identical CPU-Part, it's the exact same Performance. The M2 Max has more GPU Cores and more Media engines. Things, that consume more Power, but do exactly zero for webbrowsing and other everyday stuff.

 

 

So, Macbook Air will be more than plenty here. 8gb Ram should be ok, but if she does more Multitasking, 16gb will be better.

You really want to squeeze out 8-10 years of usage? go for 512/16gb configuration.

And see, if a Macbook Pro 14" is maybe similar priced as the M2 Macbook Air with 512/16gb. If it is, get 14". Not because it's faster and might last longer (no it won't). It has better sepakers, more ports, better Display. But is more heavy.

 

Macbook Air will probably be the best experience tho for everyday stuff, because it's thin and light.

[BondiBlue]

17 hours ago, dtfech said:

Definitely gonna go with at least 16GB of RAM. Especially with it being unified memory, that would definitely be a limiting factor before any high-end silicon would be. You make a good point with the display support and I/O; that's something you don't notice you're missing until it's gone. Apple's fan curves are such that, for the loads she would be working with, the Pro would be passively cooled for most of its lifespan. (Although the PC version of MSWord is surprisingly taxing)

I own both a base model 13" M1 MacBook Pro as well as a top spec 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro, and you're definitely right about the fans. My 13" M1 rarely turns the fan on at all, and even when it does it's only at a very low speed. In normal usage it just stays off. I've noticed it turn on when doing heavier tasks while charging, but that's basically it. 

 

My 16" M1 Max turns the fans on more often than the 13", but again, they stay at a very low speed, usually the lowest they can go. This also usually only happens when charging at 140W while doing some more intensive tasks. It's nice to have the fans to keep the machine cooler under load (as opposed to having very warm palmrests), but with Apple Silicon they're definitely not required.