Need Help Deciding ... Please.

[mar58]

I'm looking to purchase one of two mac laptops in the next few days and as indicated in the title, I need help. I've struggled and just can't make up my mind so here's the dilemma. I'm trying to decide between a M4 Macbook pro with 16GB of unified memory and a M4 Macbook Air with 24GB of memory. They both have 1TB of storage. There's less than a hundred dollar difference, with tax, in price BUT...I would like the computer to last at least 7 or 8 years. (my current Macbook Pros are 2015's) The new computer would be used mostly for photo editing now but I want to get into some video editing in the near future. I'll be using Photomator and DaVinci Resolve. I like the portability of the Air, along with the increased memory, but I like the ports and screen of the Pro. I don't usually have very many items open at the same time especially when I'm editing my photos so I'm not sure I'd experience much difference in 16 or 24 gigs of memory but I also wonder if thermal throttling might negate the benefit of additional memory in the Air. I don't think I need the M4 Pro but I'm also thinking about the standard config of that model, with 24GB memory and 512 GB of storage, for about $250 more. I just don't know. Would the M4 Pro give me a good ten years like my 2015's have? I'm retired so saving a few bucks always helps but if I can get an additional 3 years from the M4 Pro I could stretch my budget but that would be as far as I could go. Finally I do have a couple of nice 27" monitors that I can connect any of them to so that's not an issue. I don't want to "waste" $$$'s and I've watched every YT video on the two units and some reviewers say the Air...some say the Pro. In closing I'd like to say Thank you for taking your valuable time to help me out. I really do appreciate it. I look forward to your responses. Thanks again.

 

[OldMacs4Me]

Personally if my wallet was up to it I would go with the Pro and the extra memory. I'm in a small town and have looked at neither so I can't comment on the difference in displays. However it is quite possible that you will end up wanting to use an external monitor, in which case that extra port will come in very handy. One for the display one for a wired mouse and one for an external drive or one for monitor and 2 for external drives. I like the idea of 24Gigs of RAM as Apple is incapable of avoiding Additional RAM demand with each new OS it releases.

Neither supports ethernet so if on occasion you want to bypass wifi you'll need a port for that.

 

[mar58]

Personally if my wallet was up to it I would go with the Pro and the extra memory. I'm in a small town and have looked at neither so I can't comment on the difference in displays. However it is quite possible that you will end up wanting to use an external monitor, in which case that extra port will come in very handy. One for the display one for a wired mouse and one for an external drive or one for monitor and 2 for external drives. I like the idea of 24Gigs of RAM as Apple is incapable of avoiding Additional RAM demand with each new OS it releases.

Neither supports ethernet so if on occasion you want to bypass wifi you'll need a port for that.

Yeah, while thinking that I don't need the M4 Pro right now I do think it will probably serve me a little longer over time than the M4 and as the saying goes, "buy once, cry once". I also have NO doubts that it will handle any video and photo editing that I do easily so I certainly wouldn't be second guessing my decision. Thank you for your thoughts. I really appreciate it.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you want a MacBook Pro that's going to last "at least 7 or 8 years," then DON'T buy one with only 16gb of RAM.

I sense that Mac RAM requirements are going to increase sharply in the years to come.
24gb minimum, 32gb is better (with the eye on the future).

Same for SSD space. Nothing less than 512gb. 1tb would be better.

You can save money by buying from the Apple online refurbished store (if it's available where you are).

Have you given any consideration towards an m5 MacBook, 512gb, with RAM upgraded to 24gb (adds $200) ??

 

[mar58]

If you want a MacBook Pro that's going to last "at least 7 or 8 years," then DON'T buy one with only 16gb of RAM.

I sense that Mac RAM requirements are going to increase sharply in the years to come.
24gb minimum, 32gb is better (with the eye on the future).

Same for SSD space. Nothing less than 512gb. 1tb would be better.

You can save money by buying from the Apple online refurbished store (if it's available where you are).

Have you given any consideration towards an m5 MacBook, 512gb, with RAM upgraded to 24gb (adds $200) ??

Thank you for your thoughts Fisherrman. I did consider the M5 heavily but I found a silver (the color I wanted) M4 Pro, 24gb RAM/512 SSD, on the refurb store that, when using my veterans discount, was slightly over $100 less, including tax, than the base M5, same specs, and from my exhaustive research it seems the multicore performance on the M4 Pro is noticeably better than the M5 but the better M5 single core speeds are something I apparently won't really notice for those task that only require single core use, i.e. web browsing, YT, FB, etc. I've purchased many computers off of Apple's refurbished site and, knock on wood, have never had a problem with them. Anyway, long story short, I ordered it late yesterday afternoon and even though I didn't pay for overnight delivery it's on the big brown truck scheduled to arrive this afternoon. I feel pretty good about my decision and think it will cover my needs for several years.

 

[Fishrrman]

M4 pro looks good.

Just to be sure... you DID sign into the Apple veterans site FIRST, and THEN scrolled down to access the refurbished items?

If you do it this way, you get the refurb discount "piggybacked" on top of the veterans' discount -- almost 25%.

That's how I bought the 2024 m4 Mini I'm typing this on right now...

 

[mar58]

M4 pro looks good.

Just to be sure... you DID sign into the Apple veterans site FIRST, and THEN scrolled down to access the refurbished items?

If you do it this way, you get the refurb discount "piggybacked" on top of the veterans' discount -- almost 25%.

That's how I bought the 2024 m4 Mini I'm typing this on right now...

yes sir I sure did. thanks for asking.