Is there any reason to wait to buy a MacBook, and which should I buy?

March 31, 2021 11:26 AM

My current MacBook is the better part of a decade old. I'm thinking of buying a new one soon. Googling suggests that there may be big changes to MacBooks released later this year. Is this likely, and are these worth waiting for? Also, should I get an Air or a Pro? Thanks!
posted by ClaireBear to Technology (17 answers total)

The big consideration here is whether you're looking to get a 13" or 16" MacBook.

The 13" MBP and Air have been updated to Apple's brand-new Apple Silicon architecture via the M1 processor, and have been a remarkable success. These laptops are far more powerful and have far better battery life than the older Intel-based 13" line, and feature the more-reliable scissor-switch keyboard, while remaining at the previous size and price points. They're a huge win all around, and I think everyone has been surprised by how good they are. Apple is expected to make tweaks to the form factor in the future, and there will always be processor and storage upgrades, but there are always form factor, processor and storage upgrades down the pike. The current 13" laptops are a remarkable value as they stand today, especially if you can grab one on sale.

That's not the case for the 16" MBPs, which are based on the old Intel processor architecture. It used to be that the 16" MBPs led not only in screen size but also processor power, but that's no longer the case - the smaller, cheaper M1 models are generally more powerful and have much better battery life. If you're thinking of a 16" model, you should wait until they get the M1 or a revised M1X/M2 processor.

That said, there are a few cases where you may want to wait for the next generation of 13" Apple Silicon Mac. Currently, the 13" MBP and Air are limited to a max of 16GB (still plenty for most people) and a single external monitor (again, fine for most people) - but if you want a 32GB laptop connected to 2-3 external monitors, you'll want to wait. Also, if you don't like the Touch Bar, sounds like that will become a removable option on future 13" MBPs, but it's already not present on the 13" M1 Air.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 11:42 AM on March 31, 2021 [8 favorites]

There's a good list of expected updates here: https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#mac

The main reason to wait right now is if you specifically want a computer with the M1 or M2 CPU.

I would say any MacBook with a physical ESC key is worth getting.
posted by Phssthpok at 11:45 AM on March 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks, all! So if I'm going to get an Air, there's little reason to wait, it sounds like?
posted by ClaireBear at 11:47 AM on March 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I think if you want an Air, this is the time to buy. I'm floored by the Air, it runs my daily dev workload faster than my 2018 15" Pro.
posted by thebigdeadwaltz at 12:11 PM on March 31, 2021 [2 favorites]

Unless you have some real specific performance requirements around memory (and with a 10 year old machine, you surely don't) then the existing M1 machines should be just fine.

I run lots of virtual containers, so I require at least 64GB for my day job. So, I'll be waiting a bit before getting a new laptop for work stuff. But, on my last team I didn't have to run containers, so I'd be typing this on a M1 if I were still doing that kind of work.
posted by sideshow at 12:11 PM on March 31, 2021

I love my 8GB/512GB M1 Air. Don't notice the lack of memory (but I don't use it for work, and have never expected to strain it much). It has no fan and is therefore amazingly quiet. The battery lasts forever, especially on standby. All around the best machine I've had in ages.
posted by lhauser at 12:15 PM on March 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

It’s amazing to me that in my day to day, my M1 MBA is twice as fast as my 2020 iMac and that these M1 machines are the slowest they will ever be. Buy the Air and be happy.
posted by inviolable at 12:27 PM on March 31, 2021 [2 favorites]

There's no reason not to get the Air now. I upgraded to the M1 Macbook Pro back in December, simply because I like the Pro form factor over the Air. An Air would have smoked my old Mac, a 2013 Macbook Pro, though.
posted by emelenjr at 1:03 PM on March 31, 2021 [3 favorites]

Just an anecdote: I just replaced an 11-year-old Air with a new one and I'm very happy. I use it literally all day without plugging in, for one thing.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:21 PM on March 31, 2021

FWIW, Apple's return policy is pretty good, so I'd suggest you buy the air with confidence, and return it if you don't find it meets your needs. I'd also suggest springing for the 16GB ram and more HD space; if you're the type whos is still using a machine after 10 years, then it's prudent to buy for the long haul, and invest in a little more RAM and disk space.
posted by jenkinsEar at 2:18 PM on March 31, 2021

Just ordered wife's Air on Sunday. It's time.
posted by Hey, Zeus! at 2:30 PM on March 31, 2021 [2 favorites]

One consideration not mentioned yet is ports. The current Airs have 2 USB-C ports only on the left side while Pros get a few more. There's a *rumor* that Apple will *maybe* bring back the SD card slot in its next laptop rev, so if SD is a big part of your workflow, it's something to consider waiting on. Otherwise, yeah, the new Airs are ace.
posted by homesickness at 2:52 PM on March 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

As a counterpoint, if you are a Fortran programmer (see username), go with an Intel chip. The compilers aren't quite there yet for M1 chips. GNU 12.0 hopefully will have support, but I think NAG does have a for-pay M1 compiler.

Intel's compilers (as long as they can be used, oneAPI is free) probably will never work on M1 because...why should they support it!
posted by Fortran at 4:20 PM on March 31, 2021 [3 favorites]

For most use cases: buy a MacBook Air, go direct to buying a MacBook Air, do not pass "GO", do not collect $200. If you don't already know you're one of the exceptions, you probably aren't.

The only question is whether to max out on RAM and storage. I'd spend more for at least 1TB, but for general purpose work I might go with 8GB even though I have 16GB in the old MacBook Pro I'm using right now. The demos of people running resource-devourers like DaVinci Resolve on M1 Airs with 8GB RAM blow my mind. The M1 architecture breaks any long-time Mac user's sense of how much RAM is enough RAM.

(There are refurb Airs popping up at a $200-ish discount that somewhat moot the question of spending more on storage/RAM if you're okay buying a refurb direct from Apple.)
posted by holgate at 7:52 PM on March 31, 2021 [1 favorite]

Small annoyance: 16gb and bigger drive models have an ordering delay (two weeks or so US). I was glad to be patient, but wow was it tempting to just *get it today*.

Nthing: I love my M1. 16gb/512gb.
posted by gregglind at 5:45 AM on April 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Just got an M1 air 16GB/1TB. Fookin' amazin. Probably overdid it on the ram TBH.
posted by lalochezia at 7:24 PM on April 4, 2021 [1 favorite]

Incorrect about the number of ports being different on the M1 Airs and Pros. The current M1 Macbook Pro has two USB-C ports on the left and a headphone jack on the right. This is different from the most recent Intel Macbook Pro, which has 4 USB-C ports (two on each side.)

There's much better battery life on the M1, though, meaning you won't need to reserve one of those USB ports for power.
posted by emelenjr at 4:38 AM on April 5, 2021 [1 favorite]