Will 2026 be the year I upgrade from my M1 Pro?

[TehFalcon]

If the rumors are true, it looks like I will finally be upgrading from my 14" MBP M1 Pro. I bought the machine brand new at launch and it will be 5 years old this year with almost 800 battery cycles! I've been thoroughly impressed with how well the M1 CPUs have held up and have just been waiting for a design refresh instead of just a CPU refresh to upgrade.

Anyone else planning to jump from an M1 this year?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I'll probably hang onto my M1 Max 16" for another year or two. It's still going strong, though I obviously don't use mine on battery nearly as much as you do... 68 cycles 🤣

 

[TehFalcon]

I'll probably hang onto my M1 Max 16" for another year or two. It's still going strong, though I obviously don't use mine on battery nearly as much as you do... 68 cycles 🤣

Thats still new! 😛

 

[m1maverick]

I can say with no doubt that it's a 100% maybe.

 

[haralds]

I have an M1 MacBook Pro 13" (16GB/2TB), and an M4 MacBook Pro 16" (24GB/2TB.)
In practice, aside from the ID and the better screen, there is little difference, except perhaps under heavy CPU load, such as with Xcode.
I should note I also have an M1 Ultra Studio (64GB/4 TB).) I expect to use that for years more.

 

[rwh63]

A resounding YES!

 

[Alameda]

If the rumors are true, it looks like I will finally be upgrading from my 14" MBP M1 Pro. I bought the machine brand new at launch and it will be 5 years old this year with almost 800 battery cycles! I've been thoroughly impressed with how well the M1 CPUs have held up and have just been waiting for a design refresh instead of just a CPU refresh to upgrade.

Anyone else planning to jump from an M1 this year?

Yes, I am planning to finally upgrade.

 

[loby]

I am debating...but will probably hold onto my M1 16" MacBook Pro 2021 for a little while longer. Best computer I have ever had.

I just like it. 😂

Apple has to "WOW" me with the new design and performance.

Now-a-days...I doubt I will get a "WOW" moment anymore. The last one was the M1 16" MacBook Pro I currently own. 🤣

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

The built-in camera on my MacBook Air M1 died last fall.

Other than that it's still an amazing little machine. (It helped that I spec'ed it with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD, but still...)

So, will 2026 be the year I upgrade?

Now if something else on my M1 dies, then it will happen by default, but if not...

Maybe.

I'm flip-flopping between wanting a 15" MBA and a 14" MBP, so it kind of comes down to which one will look the most impressive at time of launch (and look _that_ much better than my current M1).

One caveat: I'm not going near any (rumored) M6 MBP with a touch screen. Unless that's an option that I can opt out of, that's a hard no.

If so, the next releases that _may_ get me to abandon my M1 MBA is the 14" M6 "baby"-MBP (which is rumored to keep the old config) and a (hopefully) slightly upgraded 15" M6 MBA (which probably won't come until '27).

 

[cubbie5150]

My 16" M1 Pro is still chugging along and is happily still pristine since I first unboxed it in December 2021. It was the only "1st gen" Apple product I've purchased other than the O.G. iPhone.

I doubt I'll have the appetite to buy the 16" M6 re-design, at least not initially. Most likely is I'll await M7 before I really feel the compulsion to upgrade. I want to see how the re-design handles things like cooling and how the OLED (that's part of the re-design, right?) panels perform/hold up.

If anything, I'm more likely to buy a discounted 16" M5 Pro, say, a year from now than a 16" M6 Pro.

 

[Christopher Kim]

I was in a similar situation. Had a launch day 14" M1 Pro MBP (32GB / 1TB), and it was in fantastic shape. Last year, I decided to sell it and "upgrade" (or downgrade if you see it that way) to a 15" M4 MBA (16GB / 512GB). Got it on nice sale on Amazon. And I realized my needs weren't what they used to be, and I didn't need the added memory or horsepower.

But part of why I did so is I was using it more portably now (whereas before, especially during Covid, I was using it 99% closed-clamshell into an external monitor / office).

And also, given the cheap price of the base-MBA, which was effectively a net-neutral in cost, I was also thinking of potentially getting the new OLED MBP when it gets redesigned. Want not a need. But have the optionality to see what it's like post-announcement.

Could be the year it makes sense to upgrade.

 

[drunkaviator]

A few thoughts: I tried to upgrade to an M5 15" MBA and I just couldn't do it. Other than a lack of storage for my music library, there's absolutely nothing I don't still love on my M1 Pro - the speakers, the screen, it's still reasonably fast (although lacks that single core snap of recent M chips). In the end I've bolted a T7 drive on the lid.

I've come to a new conclusion. Even if you're not a "pro", you definitely benefit down the road from buying a top-end MBP. I thought I spent too much back in 2021, but this is the best computer I have ever owned by a mile. Sure my M1 Pro is lighting up more cores in general use these days and drawing more power than it used to, but I'm fine with it. The M5 iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard has replaced the Mac as my mobile device these days.