Torn between which Mac to get....concerned about Future Proof

[TechnicallyTee]

I have finally converted over into the Mac world and bought my first Macbook a few days ago and I haven't been in love with a device like this in a very long time! Absolutely love it.

While browsing around on the forums about which models to get and what will be better for the future and longevity of owning a Macbook and I am starting to have doubts about the mode that I have. I have the rMBP with 8GB RAM and 256 flash storage. I am not a heavy user and mostly use my computer for regular browsing sites and may down the line get into a little video editing since I am trying to start my own Youtube channel.

Seeing that I have never had a Mac before, I am just trying to see if what I have will last for some years with the usage that I have or after a year or two I will be needing the 16GB of RAM? I am not concerned with the 256 storage since I doubt I will even get anywhere close to filling that up. Not to beat a dead horse about what model is best for me since those posts are all over the place but I just want to ensure that the model that I have will last for some time before I will have to update it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[nStyle]

Browsing + some light video editing...you won't need over 8GB of RAM. In truth, not a lot of people need 16GB. You'll be fine.

 

[TechnicallyTee]

Browsing + some light video editing...you won't need over 8GB of RAM. In truth, not a lot of people need 16GB. You'll be fine.

Thanks thats what I am thinking but at the same time I want to make sure that this machine will last me for a few years.

 

[scaredpoet]

Yes, it will last you for a few years. Current rumors are that the next version of OS X and iOS are focusing on refinements and stability, and improving performance even on lower-end devices. This should mean that your Mac will work fine for quite a while.

 

[TechnicallyTee]

Yes, it will last you for a few years. Current rumors are that the next version of OS X and iOS are focusing on refinements and stability, and improving performance even on lower-end devices. This should mean that your Mac will work fine for quite a while.

Thanks, with this being my first Macbook I just wanted to know how longevity was when it came to RAM and years of consistency.

 

[scaredpoet]

Thanks, with this being my first Macbook I just wanted to know how longevity was when it came to RAM and years of consistency.

So you know: I've got a 2009 Mac Mini with 4GB of RAM running Yosemite. It's not a screamer in terms of speed, but for the tasks it does (e-mail, web browsing and facebooking on the living room TV) it's still working fine. 6 years is a really good run for any computer.

 

[snaky69]

Let's put it this way.

You buy a computer for a certain set of needs. If those needs are fullfilled right now, and are not likely to change, then your computer'll last as long as you want to make it last, except if it fails that is.

 

[Queen6]

You will be fine with your current Mac for several years, I push my Mac portables hard due to work related application & storage. Mac`s have significantly greater longevity over Windows systems 4-6 years of useful ownership is not uncommon, those with lesser demands such as yours can easily stretch further.

Q-6

 

[eyoungren]

I have finally converted over into the Mac world and bought my first Macbook a few days ago and I haven't been in love with a device like this in a very long time! Absolutely love it.

While browsing around on the forums about which models to get and what will be better for the future and longevity of owning a Macbook and I am starting to have doubts about the mode that I have. I have the rMBP with 8GB RAM and 256 flash storage. I am not a heavy user and mostly use my computer for regular browsing sites and may down the line get into a little video editing since I am trying to start my own Youtube channel.

Seeing that I have never had a Mac before, I am just trying to see if what I have will last for some years with the usage that I have or after a year or two I will be needing the 16GB of RAM? I am not concerned with the 256 storage since I doubt I will even get anywhere close to filling that up. Not to beat a dead horse about what model is best for me since those posts are all over the place but I just want to ensure that the model that I have will last for some time before I will have to update it.

Thanks in advance!

Just as a point of reference…

I have absolutely one Intel Mac at home. A 2006 17" MBP. It's nine years old. All the other Macs I own are PowerPC Macs, the oldest being circa mid 1990s (PowerMac 6500 and 7300). All of them work and my daily driver is a 1.0Ghz 17" PowerBook G4 with 2GB ram and a 120GB hard drive.

I use it to surf, email, word processing and photo editing.

At work I used a G5 with 4GB of ram for 8 years and now my coworker is using it. Next to me is two G4s, one a 350mhz and the other 450mhz. Both functioning and doing specific tasks. We put out a weekly newspaper, ad design, page layout and composition weekly.

I don't think you've got any worries about "future proof" or longetivity.

 

[ano0oj]

future proofing is something I don't really understand with people. Most laptops will last you max 5-7 years with good upkeep and maintenance on software and hardware.
If you see your computer usage changing dramatically and needing more power in the next 5 years, then yes be concerned.

As for RAM - I think it's a big concern now days since it's so cheap to upgrade. But keep that in mind!! Just because it's cheap now doesn't mean you'll need it. For most people I think 8GB is more than enough.
But if you plan on running virtual desktops, having multiple montiors, running multiple apps multitasking - basically all power user stuff, then consider upgrading to 16gb.

 

[iSheep5S]

Future proof tech is an oxymoron. 🙂

 

[Zakzilla]

For what it's worth, I don't think 8GB is enough for video editing. To put things in perspective, when I run my Mail, Chrome, Calendar, Messages, and just open something like Premiere Pro CC, I'm at 8GB used. OS X Yosemite is pretty RAM intensive. It really depends on what kind of video editing you're doing, but something like After Effects that uses RAM preview will gobble up RAM. For me, I need 16GB to keep the computer from slowing down drastically, and I'm so glad I upgraded to 16GB.

 

[TechnicallyTee]

Thanks for all the advice people. I feel better and did from the beginning but after doing some research on the forums the thought and concern popped in my head. I think I should be good to go.

 

[TechZeke]

For what it's worth, I don't think 8GB is enough for video editing. To put things in perspective, when I run my Mail, Chrome, Calendar, Messages, and just open something like Premiere Pro CC, I'm at 8GB used. OS X Yosemite is pretty RAM intensive. It really depends on what kind of video editing you're doing, but something like After Effects that uses RAM preview will gobble up RAM. For me, I need 16GB to keep the computer from slowing down drastically, and I'm so glad I upgraded to 16GB.

You can't really go by "used" RAM in activity monitor, though; especially since you have 16GB of RAM. The OS is going to use a bit of excess RAM just because it's there. When I had my 16GB cMBP, Activity monitor would say I was using 12-13GB of RAMs just having Safari open.
This forum is going to be terrible when 32GB options start showing up on MacBooks. I can see the threads now: "I use safari, iMovie, and photos. Should I get 32gb of RAM to be future proof?"

I don't video edit, but photo editing(Pixelmatr, Intensify, snapselect, etc), web coding(brackets), AutoCAD, mail, safari, all at once and I can't even dent the memory pressure graph on 8GB of RAM. At 6.67 GB used, not even compressing yet. 16GB is ginormous overkill, at least for me. Just doing my own testing opening all programs at once; the OS compressed as high as 14GB before the memory pressure graph even began to go up. I've seen some people go up to 22gb with a yellow graph.

 

[Laserducky]

I have finally converted over into the Mac world and bought my first Macbook a few days ago and I haven't been in love with a device like this in a very long time! Absolutely love it.

While browsing around on the forums about which models to get and what will be better for the future and longevity of owning a Macbook and I am starting to have doubts about the mode that I have. I have the rMBP with 8GB RAM and 256 flash storage. I am not a heavy user and mostly use my computer for regular browsing sites and may down the line get into a little video editing since I am trying to start my own Youtube channel.

Seeing that I have never had a Mac before, I am just trying to see if what I have will last for some years with the usage that I have or after a year or two I will be needing the 16GB of RAM? I am not concerned with the 256 storage since I doubt I will even get anywhere close to filling that up. Not to beat a dead horse about what model is best for me since those posts are all over the place but I just want to ensure that the model that I have will last for some time before I will have to update it.

Thanks in advance!

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the dark side ! Just kidding as you've done the exact opposite.

Your machine will give you years of good service provided you take good care of it : no banging or spills please.

Initially, coming over from a Windows world, you will need to make some adjustments but its quite easy and you'll get used to it quite easily. In a word, a Mac 'just runs' so you can focus on your work or enjoy life without worrying about anti-virus updates, system crashing etc that are sometimes associated with the Windows world.

Cheers !

 

[TechnicallyTee]

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the dark side ! Just kidding as you've done the exact opposite.

Your machine will give you years of good service provided you take good care of it : no banging or spills please.

Initially, coming over from a Windows world, you will need to make some adjustments but its quite easy and you'll get used to it quite easily. In a word, a Mac 'just runs' so you can focus on your work or enjoy life without worrying about anti-virus updates, system crashing etc that are sometimes associated with the Windows world.

Cheers !

Thanks, I have been on this thing so much since I got it its unreal! Absolutely love it and its the best thing I have purchased in years! I am very careful with my electronics and def will be extra careful with this seeing what I paid for it. Thats my main reason for switching over is getting away from viruses and the other issues that plague PC's Im trying to convert my iTunes library over as we speak and I turned my PC on and its already crashed twice lol.