M5 Pro, buy now or wait? (coming from M2 Air)

[marksteffen]

Looking for a gut check on my thinking here:
I'm going to buy a new Macbook Pro in the next few weeks. I'm tempted to go ahead and buy an M5 Pro right now. M5 Pro will be plenty of machine for me and I'm concerned about possible RAM price increases with the new models dropping.

I'm not interested in waiting til October for OLED screen and new form factors, I wait until 2nd gens for those sorts of things.

Am I thinking about this right? No reason not to just pull the trigger today, from how I'm thinking. TIA.

 

[Alameda]

Are you buying:
MacBook Pro with M5, or
MacBook Pro with M5 Pro

The M5 Pro is not available yet.

 

[marksteffen]

Are you buying:
MacBook Pro with M5, or
MacBook Pro with M5 Pro

The M5 Pro is not available yet.

MacBook Pro with M5
The Macbook Pro w/ M5 Pro would be way overpowered for me.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Do you need more RAM, or more storage, or a bigger screen?

If no - there's no reason to "Upgrade" a M2 to a M5.

If yes - sure, buy a M5 or if you can wait a bit, see what else comes out.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Generally, with an Apple event so close the prevailing wissom is to hold off. 6 days won't hurt, and you might get a surprise. However, given the insane costs of RAM and SSD storage, waiting 6 days may lead to a price increase.

I'd buy one Friday to lock in your pricing, don't open it, and then return it if something better comes out.

 

[Christopher Kim]

Ditto on the above. I'd wait, see once the fullsome line-up is complete. But really, it comes down to why are you thinking of upgrading to the Pro? If you don't *have to*, not only would I wait until after this event, but depending on what comes out, I may even suggest you wait until the "likely" redesigned / OLED MBPs are released (rumor being late-2026, or maybe early-2027).

The M2 Air is already a great computer (I have the M4 15" MBA), unless there's something specific you're lacking where you really want the Pro.

 

[thuldai]

What about "RAMaggedon"? Is there a good chance that MacBook prices will skyrocket?
Or is Apple insulated as they make their own processors? What about RAM though?

 

[moldy lunchbox]

What about "RAMaggedon"? Is there a good chance that MacBook prices will skyrocket?
Or is Apple insulated as they make their own processors? What about RAM though?

What are you talking about, the MacBook's RAM has already been way overpriced for years now.

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

You should absolutely wait.

M2 Air is still a plenty capable machine.

The next generation of MBP (M6 presumably) is going to be a thinner, lighter design with OLED, and will ditch the notch.

M5 Pro is a stop-gap for those who desperately need something right now or are coming from Intel.

Edit: I didn’t read your OP very carefully. But honestly I would still wait until the second generation of OLED MBP (some time in 27 or early 28?) if you can. Your MBA M2 is going to be able to keep up with the newer OS upgrades and features for at least a few more years, and should still be plenty capable. Our family is still rocking a M1 Air on the latest Tahoe release with no complaints—only issue I think we’ve even started to have is hardware-related: a slightly weakened battery capacity.

I’d hold off if you can. RAM prices will come back to earth eventually.

Edit 2: I lied, our M1 Air’s battery capacity is still 100% over 3 years after buying it! (It’s only had about 30 cycles but still—what a great machine.)

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

What about "RAMaggedon"? Is there a good chance that MacBook prices will skyrocket?
Or is Apple insulated as they make their own processors? What about RAM though?

They aren’t totally immune but if you’re rushing to buy now because of that I’d say it’s a mistake. The OLED MBP is right on the horizon. This would be almost like buying an Intel MBP when the ASi models were about to be released (not quite that drastic but you get the point).

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

They aren’t totally immune but if you’re rushing to buy now because of that I’d say it’s a mistake. The OLED MBP is right on the horizon. This would be almost like buying an Intel MBP when the ASi models were about to be released (not quite that drastic but you get the point).

Tbh the redesign with OLED keeps being delayed so it might not come until 2027

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

You should absolutely wait.

M2 Air is still a plenty capable machine.

The next generation of MBP (M6 presumably) is going to be a thinner, lighter design with OLED, and will ditch the notch.

M5 Pro is a stop-gap for those who desperately need something right now or are coming from Intel.

Edit: I didn’t read your OP very carefully. But honestly I would still wait until the second generation of OLED MBP (some time in 27 or early 28?) if you can. Your MBA M2 is going to be able to keep up with the newer OS upgrades and features for at least a few more years, and should still be plenty capable. Our family is still rocking a M1 Air on the latest Tahoe release with no complaints—only issue I think we’ve even started to have is hardware-related: a slightly weakened battery capacity.

I’d hold off if you can. RAM prices will come back to earth eventually.

Edit 2: I lied, our M1 Air’s battery capacity is still 100% over 3 years after buying it! (It’s only had about 30 cycles but still—what a great machine.)

Yes but a price increase is to be expected and the delta between current m5 and m6 pro might be very very high