Then it is also simple: wait. In a year’s time you’ll be happy you waited for the M4 😊
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Should I get the M3 Max or wait for the M4?
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It is a year of one's life! Spending a less productive year with an old frustrating box only makes sense if there is some special reason to wait other than simply for just newer/faster. Something like currently inadequate funds, or Apple's first silicon with M1, or a critical feature like WiFi 6E with the M2. I do not see any such critical reasons for waiting for M4 in the OP's described workflow.
Best is to take the $$ premium brand-new M4 would cost and put it into additional RAM for smooth fast operation of an M2/M3 box right now.
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Thanks! I previously read that article and that’s what I’m basing my prediction on. I believe it will be fall instead of 2025— Apple won’t want to let the iPad Pro be the only M4 device for long— it makes the MacBook Pros look old.
A 2019 Macbook Pro is not old at all. I understand that your workflow may require a powerful system, and only you know what you need. My principle is to keep what piece of tech I have until it almost falls apart and I have to put stitches on it. However I'm just doing writing works, and my machine is a late 2012 mbpro. I wanted to upgrade to a m3 pro or max, but after the iPad Pro M4 announcement, which to me is clearly a sign that new M4 macs are coming, we hope not too much lately, I decided I can wait. It will struggle, but my old mac can still serve me for some months. I changed battery myself with 3rd part battery, a year ago, but it is not something I recommend, both for the stress of changing it, and for unsatisfying performance. If you can bear working with a short battery life, keep it as such for the next months. Also, keep the mac updated with the Os it can support, have a good amount of free space on the ssd, get rid of useless apps and things. Keep it and use it at specified temperatures. Maybe, open the back or have it open from someone specialised just to clean off the dust, you can't imagine how much dust it collects inside.
Personally I will wait for M5 so I can get an M4 Studio at a civilized price. No rush because having a maximum M2 MBP makes adding a Studio just a luxury.
I did hear that macOS 15 might be the last macOS to support Intel Macs. But lets say they stop supporting Intel Macs, apple usually gives out security updates for older apple devices just like what Apple is doing for the iPhone 6s and iPad Air 2. I'm not sure if that applies with macOS security updates.
Yeah I've decided to wait too. I think the M4 Macbook are coming soon if Apple manage to bring the M4 chip on the iPad Pro so soon. I can also do a clean wipe if needed which I think that should be fine as long as I backup my laptop.
True, and just like what I said earlier, the only reason why it took Apple a long time to release the M2 Max and M2 Pro chips was because of the pandemic chip shortage.
...dust wipe of the interior will do good to the fans, and also to the circuit, trust me. Living with a machine so old from 2012, I learned also to use it just for a thing at a time, so no multitasking in order to keep it running ok. In the end, I'm more productive this way
Nice, that's impressive you've managed to hold your 2012 Macbook from when you bought it until now. But thank you for your help....dust wipe of the interior will do good to the fans, and also to the circuit, trust me. Living with a machine so old from 2012, I learned also to use it just for a thing at a time, so no multitasking in order to keep it running ok. In the end, I'm more productive this way
Apple clarifies security update policy: Only the latest OSes are fully patched
New document confirms what security researchers have observed for a few years.
The article says it’s not a big deal since you still get the latest Safari browser in the latest OS, so you are protected from “most high-priority threats”. Personally, I feel like “most” isn’t good enough when it comes to “high-priority” threats, because I feel one gaping open security hole with serious implications that is being purposefully left unaddressed is one too many. I plan our family’s hardware replacement policies around not being stuck on an old Apple OS for more than a month or two because of this. I think it’s incredibly stupid and they should be patching them consistently, but we live in the world we live in.
And like I said, I feel like they have the perfect nonsense excuse they need to make 14 the last to support Intel Macs, rather than 15, but I guess we’ll see what they do on 10 June. Certainly, if 15 supports Intel Macs, I can’t imagine 16 will. The writing has been on the wall for a while now.
Maybe waiting for the M4 is still the best call, because it probably won’t be long after the release of macOS 15 that you can upgrade. And it sounds like you have much better prospects of long term support with an M4. That’s probably what I’d do in your shoes, but it’s not a situation I envy for sure. 😕
Either way, it should all be clearer after 10 June.
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I still use a 2009 Unibody as a side option for those times when I need a second computer side by side. One of those times, I had to be on two video conferences at the same time.
I'm amazed at how well that 2009 MBP with 8GB of RAM still works. I've even loaded my programming tools onto it just to see if it could handle it. Yup. It was a half step behind and would occasionally stutter, but if I had to spend a week only with that machine, I could get by.
The thing that changed everything for me were SSD drives. For several years if anyone was still using a HDD in their laptop, I offered to upgrade it for them. Between 2015-18 I renewed a whole bunch of MBPs and PCs. Some of those people are still using those laptops as their daily driver.
Many people really don't need that much. Even 8GB of RAM and 256GB on an older machine with an SSD is plenty for them.
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Apple clarifies security update policy: Only the latest OSes are fully patched
New document confirms what security researchers have observed for a few years.arstechnica.com
The article says it’s not a big deal since you still get the latest Safari browser in the latest OS, so you are protected from “most high-priority threats”. Personally, I feel like “most” isn’t good enough when it comes to “high-priority” threats, because I feel one gaping open security hole with serious implications that is being purposefully left unaddressed is one too many. I plan our family’s hardware replacement policies around not being stuck on an old Apple OS for more than a month or two because of this. I think it’s incredibly stupid and they should be patching them consistently, but we live in the world we live in.
And like I said, I feel like they have the perfect nonsense excuse they need to make 14 the last to support Intel Macs, rather than 15, but I guess we’ll see what they do on 10 June. Certainly, if 15 supports Intel Macs, I can’t imagine 16 will. The writing has been on the wall for a while now.
Maybe waiting for the M4 is still the best call, because it probably won’t be long after the release of macOS 15 that you can upgrade. And it sounds like you have much better prospects of long term support with an M4. That’s probably what I’d do in your shoes, but it’s not a situation I envy for sure. 😕
Either way, it should all be clearer after 10 June.
Yeah I see your point. Will definitely see what Apple has in mind once WWDC comes out. But as you mentioned, I'm gonna try and wait for the M4 since it seems to be the best situation in my scenario.
Been there, done that. Babying a 5 y-o box, avoiding multi-tasking, etc. is not productive unless one's time lacks value. My productivity went up significantly when I moved from 16 GB RAM 2016 MBP to 96 GB RAM M2 MBP. Largely because of what the added RAM did for smooth multitasking. I still use the 2016 MBP but do not try to multitask on it....dust wipe of the interior will do good to the fans, and also to the circuit, trust me. Living with a machine so old from 2012, I learned also to use it just for a thing at a time, so no multitasking in order to keep it running ok. In the end, I'm more productive this way
Why do you consider wait for the M4 since it seems to be the best situation in my scenario? What M4 value add do you expect that justifies waiting?
Well after hearing what @realtwang said about AI being a big factor for the M4 chip, it seems like its worth the wait because i'm curious to see what Apple will bring into the table. At least i'll wait until WWDC happen and decide then.
Also, with Apple just recently announced the M4 chip for the iPad Pro, there's a good chance that the Macbook Pro are coming sooner then later.
I too am curious to see what Apple will bring into the table. Especially the next Studio.
Yeah this year really made us question what Apple will bring into the table after they announced that they're skipping the M3 chip and go straight to M4 with the iPad Pro.
Also, I just found this post that could come in handy. It talks about when to expect the next Mac with the M4 chip. (https://www.macrumors.com/2024/05/13/when-to-expect-the-first-m4-macs/)
@transpo1 Check this post out if you haven't. You were right, Apple is likely going to to release the Macbook Pro sooner then later with the M4, M4 Pro, & M4 Max chip. The MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro are the Macs seems to be updated with M4-series chips throughout 2025. (https://www.macrumors.com/2024/05/13/when-to-expect-the-first-m4-macs/)
There is no doubt M4 will be an improvement, as is always the case. The question is when it is worth it to wait for the inevitable better next iteration.
I know for my case more than likely since I'm currently using the Intel Macbook Pro. However, for people who are using the M1 Macs, its debatable since I've heard a lot of people have kept using their M1 Macs since the M3 had come out due to how powerful it still is.
I just purchased an M3 Pro MacBook Pro 14” because I needed a more portable machine for some travel. Purchased using monthly payments so I’ll still be paying off when M4 Macs arrive but I knew that would be the case. So for me, waiting for M5 to update makes sense.