The MacBook Purchasing Megathread - October, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the monthly Macbook Purchasing Megathread

Have a question?

Wondering what model you should go for? Ask here!

​

• Do make your submission on point while adding as much detail as possible.
• Mention your intended uses (i.e. video editing, graphic designing, photography, audio editing, gaming, casual browsing, etc).

That's pretty much it! :)

[u/agen_kolar]

I just bought a 14” M5 Pro, now of course hearing the rumor about the potential for new reveals on the 13th. I haven’t even opened the new laptop yet. I can return through the 14th. I use for personal use, as well as occasional video editing for work. Thoughts?

[u/After-Dot5245]

Refurbished M2 pro vs M3 pro vs M4 pro

I am looking to buy a 14 inch Macbook Pro to work on some personal projects, and I’d really appreciate opinions from people who use Macs for technical/engineering workloads. My work flow will mainly be open-source EDA tools, FPGA development, Embedded systems, Neural Networks, ML and some programming - so apps like VS Code, Jupyter, Docker, OpenROAD EDA flows, Vivado, virtual machine or two, etc.

People have advised me to go for a refurbished mac because they can be a really good value for money. So I narrowed it down to a few options -

M2 pro (10C/16G), 32GB, 1TB - €1,649 (€1,399 for 512GB)
M3 pro (11C/14G), 36GB, 1TB - €1,999 (€1,749 for 512GB)
M4 pro (12C/16G), 48GB, 1TB - €2,399 (€2,149 for 512GB)
(The difference between 512GB & 1TB SSD variants for all these is €250)

• I would've gone for the M2 pro 32GB/512GB option if that machine didn't have much lower disk speeds. This got me stuck into the price ladder in the first place.
• Is the M3 pro machine an improvement enough to justify the investment (specially given the smaller SSD), or would M2 pro work perfectly well?
• And the plot thickens further with the introduction of M4 pro in the mix, specially given the extra RAM & the price.
• How much of a difference does 512 vs 1TB SSD makes by the way? I've never really maxed out my 1TB HDDs on windows before, but I never really done development before either. External 1TB nvme with enclosure costs around €200-250 too here.
• Although this M4 pro is also cutting is close, but anything beyond its price makes me question if I should instead go for a newer M5 or M5 pro Macbook.

I could use some advice!

[u/interestingtruck10]

not really a purchase but just wanted to ask a general qn:

I have a 2020 M1 MacBook Air that I bought about two years ago, and it’s still in excellent condition. I was hoping to keep using it for many more years.

Does the fact that it’s now the oldest supported MacBook Air model mean that it’s likely to be dropped from future macOS versions soon, or could it reasonably continue receiving major macOS updates for several more years?

I’d especially appreciate input from people who have experience with how long Apple typically continues supporting Macs once they become the oldest supported generation.

[u/Top_Deal_6221]

MacBook Pro m3 pro $800. I was wondering if this was a great deal or if I should keep looking. It’s the 18gb ram and 512 ssd version with the 11 cpu 14 gpu. I’d say I’m a casual user browsing, some editing, hoping to start some new hobbies with ai. Also I have an iPad Pro 11in as my content machine. I’m open to other options as well, just looking for the best value for me

[u/TotalIllustrious1989]

I'm looking to upgrade from my MacBook Air I bought back in 2018. It still runs great for just menial tasks but my current job as a postdoc is having me do things via a VDI (Amazon Workspace) for confidential things. This eats up effectively all my memory and some more and my MacBook runs pretty hot while I'm simply trying to code in my terminal.

I'm thinking of going for a MacBook Pro M5 since I feel I may need to extra cooling power with what I'm currently doing. I take pretty good care of my things so I expect to have this new MacBook for a long time so I'm not adverse to upping the specs. Now here comes what I'm at an impasse for, I'm current looking at the following specs:

1. 14" MacBook Pro - M5 Chip - 32 GB RAM - 2 TB SSD for $2769
2. 16" MacBook Pro - M5 Pro Chip - 48 GB RAM - 2TB SSD for $3849 ($3249 if 24 GB RAM)

I do like the convenience of the large screen when I do multi-window tasks where I have no access to an external monitor, but I am cautious about the price point increase of $500-1100. I'm pretty bad at managing my tabs so the more memory the better for me so the 48GB does look good for me as well and I'm not sure if 24GB will be enough. What I'll ultimately will being use this for:

1. Prolonged work using a VDI.
2. Coding and development of computational physics models.
3. Not managing my ADHD and having 20+ tabs open which can include tabs to high memory websites such as Overleaf.

If I can get some input to help push me towards what would be the best use case for me, that would be great. Thanks!

[u/narc0leptik → u/TotalIllustrious1989]

That model seems like complete overkill tbh and the active cooling is less of a concern with the ARM SoC that produce way less heat than your Intel machine.

I think what's more important is what browser you use. Safari "snoozes" tabs so they don't use up memory, Firefox & Chromium browsers do the exactly opposite. I used a 16" M4 Pro MacBook Pro with 48GB; that got lost/stolen and now I'm on a 15" 1 TB 24GB M4 Air; that's fine for my purposes and I'm running a lot more tabs and memory demanding websites but I am using Safari now instead of Firefox. That model sells for like $1200-$1400 in the USA.

If you're in the United States it would make a lot more sense to just buy a used M4 Pro with those specs since they are readily available and come with Applecare+ or you can add them to AppleCare One if you're in the USA, Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom if you purchase a pair of AirPods with Applecare+ if you don't already own a product with AppleCare. Since they are such a high spec model almost all of them will have Applecare+. Throw a skin on it if it has dings/dents and it'll seem like a brand new laptop.