should i stay or should i Go.. ARM ??

[vivek28]

I was just about to buy an intel macbook air or base MBP 13.. and then WWDC dropped yesterday..

now i am thinking should i get one now or wait for ARM macbook air or pro 13..

Been using MBP 13 2010.. and served me well over 10 years and seeing its end of life now ehh..

what do you think.. current intel macbooks would be supported that long by Apple?

 

[jaytv111]

Well last time around they didn't support PowerPC for much longer after going Intel, they started the transition in 2005 then Leopard was the last OS release for PowerPC in 2007. At least this time around you could use Windows on a Mac still after Apple drops support. Hardly anyone made a usable PowerPC compiled OS, there was Debian I guess at that's about it.

Software today will still work in the future, but for things like Adobe CC it's gonna be rough, they'll drop support for Intel Macs at some point and then you'll be stuck on an old version but Apple Silicon machines built only a year from now will get much better support in the future.

Anyways, use your best judgement. An Intel Mac today is still gonna work, but it might not get all the latest Mac software in let's say 5 years from now, so you'll have to live with that possibility.

 

[fitcious]

And isn’t it true that the Apple built chip ones will be able to run iPhone/iPad apps? If so, just that alone will make me want to wait. Save so much money on software since there’s an app for almost everything

 

[maflynn]

If you can wait, then wait. If your needs are more immediate then buy the MBA

 

[Shirasaki]

I also suggest you to wait and see. Depending on your use, ARM may or may not impact your workflow. Sure, Intel Mac will gradually losing steam, but so does macOS as a whole. Things will become a bit clearer after Apple releases their first ARM Mac.

 

[Spungoflex]

How often do you use Windows (if at all)? I don’t think your MacBook even runs Windows 10, so that might answer my question.

Personally, I would 100% wait for ARM. They’re releasing the first models within 6 months.

 

[Heelpir8]

Love my 2012 Mac Mini and will happily return to macOS whenever the ARM Mac Mini arrives. I need more processing power right now and will be using a $600-$800 Ryzen-based laptop with a 2 year Costco warranty included. Just couldn't pull the trigger on a 2018 Mini knowing I'd worry about losing OS update and/or third party developer support prematurely.

 

[vivek28]

Software today will still work in the future, but for things like Adobe CC it's gonna be rough, they'll drop support for Intel Macs at some point and then you'll be stuck on an old version but Apple Silicon machines built only a year from now will get much better support in the future.

Anyways, use your best judgement. An Intel Mac today is still gonna work, but it might not get all the latest Mac software in let's say 5 years from now, so you'll have to live with that possibility.

Exactly, even though MacOS updates would be provided but app compatibility like with adobe or microsoft.. not sure !

If you can wait, then wait. If your needs are more immediate then buy the MBA

sure, but that would be no VFM..
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75% of folks here recommending to wait.. for ARM. Didnt Apple knew about this, i feel bad for a MBP 13 i was eyeing for ehh..

How often do you use Windows (if at all)? I don’t think your MacBook even runs Windows 10, so that might answer my question.

Personally, I would 100% wait for ARM. They’re releasing the first models within 6 months.

Nah it doesnt.. I installed win7 once with bootcamp but got more fond of MacOS.

 

[HDFan]

If you can wait, then wait. If your needs are more immediate then buy the MBA

There are two curves. One is software availability on the ARM chips. The other is the Intel availability. The ARM curve is ascending. Little software at first, but as years pass reaches Intel levels. The Intel curve for MacOS is high right now but will start dropping as developers move to the ARM platform and the software ages. You have to decide which curve you want to ride.

Rosetta2 complicates this simplistic model. It may result in the ARM curve ascending much faster than it would with just ARM apps. But we will have to see how it affects performance.

Personally my preference is to ride the Intel curve until it hits the ARM/Rosetta curve. At that point I will look at switching.

Graph isn't accurate but didn't want to take the time to make one. It just illustrates the point. Ignore double lines.

 

[vivek28]

Rosetta2 complicates this simplistic model. It may result in the ARM curve ascending much faster than it would with just ARM apps. But we will have to see how it affects performance.

Personally my preference is to ride the Intel curve until it hits the ARM/Rosetta curve. At that point I will look at switching.

Thanks.. I can see this transition is just similar to when Steve introduced intel as a successor for PowerPC. People were in dilemma at that time also and robbed off too soon of the developing platform.

I can buy an intel mac now np.. but in 5 years where it will stand as the current mac that i have, ran off 10 years without hiccups.

 

[HDFan]

I can buy an intel mac now np.. but in 5 years where it will stand as the current mac that i have, ran off 10 years without hiccups.

5 years would be 3 years after the completion of the transition. There will likely be few, if any, new software apps available for your system. Old apps will likely still run, assuming Apple doesn't do something equivalent to Catalina not running 32 bit applications. Updates for existing applications will have likely ended. If the apps you use won't need any changes in 5 years then you are ok. If you want the latest premiere pro or lightroom features you would likely be out of luck.

If you went 10 years without problems that implies that the apps that you run have remained fairly static. They likely don't require newer OS APIs or hardware features. So you might be ok.

Before the transition to digital I sent in my slides to be scanned and put on a CD. Kodak used a proprietary format called "Photo CD" to put images on CD's. As the non-proprietary jpeg format became standard Kodak dropped the format by 2004. They offered a conversion program which ran under Rosetta. When Rosetta was dropped the disks became unreadable as Kodak never released the format or updated the software to run on the current OS/X.

 

[vivek28]

If you went 10 years without problems that implies that the apps that you run have remained fairly static. They likely don't require newer OS APIs or hardware features. So you might be ok.

Yeah but now my workflow includes little video creation and Photoshop.. i think they also showed ios app compatibility in mac arm.. i see that as going towards Only for good and tighter integration. I also started analyzing huge data sets for data science with Python.

Still i think all this transition and all has left us new buyers a little cautious and puzzled.. there are 2 boats to board and none of them has easy waters ahead !

 

[HDFan]

I also started analyzing huge data sets for data science with Python.

If performance is a concern then over the long term ARM likely will have a better cost/performance ratio. But we won't be getting benchmarks until the first systems are released. And it may take a few hardware/software releases until the differences are obvious.