Upgrading my Mac

As a thought exercise I’m wondering what would get me to upgrade my Mac.

Before my current machine I used company owned laptops, and ran an aging MacBook Pro from 2014. It was past time to put out to pasture and hitting its limits for what I did as a designer.

Then in 2021 I upgraded.

I bought a 14” MacBook Pro with the M1 Max chip, 64 of memory. It was the fastest machine I’d ever owned and beat any previous computers by a mile. I loved that machine.

I still do.

It’s been my daily driver now going on four years. When I bought it I told my wife, partially out of justification for the excessive spend, that I wouldn’t consider upgrading for at least three years.

I’ve thought of upgrading after passing the three year mark. But frankly I haven’t needed to. Sure, I’d love the anti-glare screen. I owned a similar version in my 2010 MacBook Pro and loved it. A screen where I could work outside, or up against a window, would be amazing.

But from a day-to-day, getting my job done, perspective, this computer is still as fast as the day I bought it. It handles anything and everything I throw at it. The battery is still not great. The screen is a bit small, and the external aluminum has a few scratches. But really it’s in perfect shape.

I just can’t get over how good this thing is.

With 2025 beginning I’m wondering what it would take to upgrade. From a speed perspective there’s no justification. I’m guessing that it will be years before I start to run into performance issues.

But there are a few things I want. I’d love if the device were a bit thinner or packed more in the current size. A few years back I bought an M2 MacBook Air with 24GB as a writing device. But then my wife’s laptop broke and my writing wasn’t going as well as I thought, so I handed the Air down to her. Some days I’m still jealous of how small and slick it is.

The battery lasts all day, it’s incredibly light and just disappears into a backpack, and it can handle anything she throws at it. It’s also just fast enough for what I do as a designer, as I was able to use it for a period of time for work.

I could use that laptop. The display isn’t what I want; HDR is amazing. But the performance is just enough.

So, for my next device, presuming it’s still a MacBook Pro, I’d absolutely want anti-glare, wish for a true quality webcam, and would love a color change. I’d of course upgrade the specs, but not out of necessity, more out of a desire to future proof. The only thing I can think of is whether I’d upgrade to a larger screen size and bigger harddrive (I bought 512GB). Probably.

So that’s my wishlist. Apart from the one item that won’t come anytime soon—cellular modem—all that exists. Maybe I’ll force an upgrade so I can hand this device down, and our son gets an Air.

We’ll see. Either way, it is and remains a fantastic time to be a Mac fan.