Battery Replace Soon - time for new MBP or maxed out Air after 5 years ?

[anjanesh]

My December 2018 model Mac Book Pro i7 16GB 512GB still on Mojave is now showing Battery to be replaced soon.
Otherwise the machine is in very good condition. Never had to repair it even once in the last 5 years and never re-installed the OS.

I was anyway thinking of upgrading by December 2023. What's best ?

1. Buy 13" M2 Air (8‑core CPU, 10‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine, 24GB unified memory, 1TB SSD storage)
2. Wait to buy maxed out config of M3 Air in Q1 2024
3. Buy 14" M2 MBP (M2 Max with 12‑core CPU, 38‑core GPU and 16‑core Neural Engine, 64GB unified memory, 1TB SSD storage) now

Also, do I exchange my current MBP ?

 

[Chuckeee]

I was anyway thinking of upgrading by December 2023. What's best ?

1. Buy 13" M2 Air (8‑core CPU, 10‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine, 24GB unified memory, 1TB SSD storage)
2. Wait to buy maxed out config of M3 Air in Q1 2024
3. Buy 14" M2 MBP (M2 Max with 12‑core CPU, 38‑core GPU and 16‑core Neural Engine, 64GB unified memory, 1TB SSD storage) now

Also, do I exchange my current MBP ?

I think option 3 is best but it will be the most pricey. 64GB of RAM is awfully tempting. Option 1 is a more affordable alternative. Option 2 is a gamble on a Q1 release with potential risk of some other unexpected unwanted changes in a new just released configuration (i.e.; butterfly keyboard) that haven’t been fully vetted.

I don’t think you’ll get much for a 5 year old trade-in, keeping it for a bit and selling it yourself would make better economic sense.

 

[halledise]

My December 2018 model Mac Book Pro i7 16GB 512GB still on Mojave is now showing Battery to be replaced soon.
Otherwise the machine is in very good condition. Never had to repair it even once in the last 5 years and never re-installed the OS.

I was anyway thinking of upgrading by December 2023. What's best ?

1. Buy 13" M2 Air (8‑core CPU, 10‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine, 24GB unified memory, 1TB SSD storage)
2. Wait to buy maxed out config of M3 Air in Q1 2024
3. Buy 14" M2 MBP (M2 Max with 12‑core CPU, 38‑core GPU and 16‑core Neural Engine, 64GB unified memory, 1TB SSD storage) now

Also, do I exchange my current MBP ?

your spec MBPro is going for around A$700 to A$900 on australian ebay.
my vote would also be for option 3

 

[anjanesh]

Option 3 is 2 x Option 1 - so I feel for now will probably go for a maxed out 13" M2 Air and keep the i7 model for 2 more years

 

[halledise]

battery replacement for your MBPro will cost A$409 (or equivalent depending on your location) and it'll run Ventura according to everymac.com
so that's a worthy investment to keep it as a backup …
(or to gift to an up-and-coming younger relative?).
i still have a 2013 MBAir running Big Sur and it's great as a lightweight traveller or lounge lappy.

 

[Isamilis]

Silicone Mac is much faster and better RAM management compared to intel Mac. Some users considering getting MacBook Air vs Pro, even though they came from Intel Pro.

You may want to relook your usage before choosing which to buy.

 

[okkibs]

The Intel Macbook is 5 years old and will soon be out of MacOS software support. If you want to sell it now would be a good time as it will soon be pretty much worthless. Performance won't be great anymore either.

Unless the weight of the 14" is too much or the screen is just too small, the 14" will have the better hardware overall vs. any Air.

I recommend to get a 14" M2 model now as they just released a half a year ago, they are fantastic and a refresh is still at least another half year away. If you can find a suitable one at a retailer like Best Buy you can also save money compared to the Apple pricing.

The Intel Macbooks since the 2016 series had some issues, the 2018 were a bit better but I'd just sell that asap for as much as you can get. Otherwise it will eventually require battery replacement and that's gonna cost almost as much as the entire device is still worth. Or you can keep it forever and just really run it into the ground. These Macbooks can work for 10 years and longer, but with the old MacOS and the bad performance and fan noise I personally don't do it.

 

[anjanesh]

With the student discount I'm getting the M2 Air 24GB 1TB + Apple Care + free AirPods at $2,463 (converted from Indian INR) - I think this is only doable at the moment.