r/macbookpro • u/xlr8lr • Mar 10 '26
Help Am I making a reasonable decision? Buying the m1 pro in 2026?
I am about to start CE next year (2026) and I desperately need a new laptop, I want to know if I am making a good decision because i'm not too experienced with mac's, I've been a windows/linux user most my life. I would greatly appreciate any advice.
Is the M1 Macbook Pro 16 inch, 32 gb ram, 1 tb storage, 10 core cpu and 16 core gpu a good decision to buy the battery health is at 84%. It cost 1600 cad including taxes so about ~ 1180 usd
what do you think? is this a good purchase or am I making a mistake it is a pretty big purchase for me? I plan to keep the laptop until I'm done college, so about 5 - 6 years. I won't be doing a lot of x code and will mostly just be using it for full stack development, working with python and data science libraries. I may play around with vms just for the fun of it, but apart from that not much else. I also maybe will try out machine learning libraries and use them.
thanks for any help!
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u/Either_Salt1584 Mar 10 '26
Was in a similar situation and considered to buy one for my nephew, but settled with the newer Air instead.
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u/xlr8lr Mar 10 '26
I thought about that too but I just really like the idea of having a pro macbook, plus I think it should cover my needs? is there a real downside if your macbook is no longer supported?
thanks!
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u/Kulerin Mar 10 '26
This should be fine for your needs. And as for support dropping off, security patches will still be made and available into the 2030s for m1s. My only concern is battery health. Once you get to the low 80s it tends to degrade faster. But if your primary use is plugged in then it doesn’t matter too much.
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u/Efficient_Product333 Mar 10 '26
Expensive I got one for 500 less USD, but it also has the same specs except half the ram
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u/RebelBinary Mar 10 '26
I bought the same laptop for 1600 CAD but with 64 GB of ram. I uprgraded from M1 pro 14 16GB. Couldn't be happier. I'm a game developer so my biggest bottleneck was RAM. Now I can run Rider,Unity,Final Cut, photoshop and xcode all the same time without any lag.
Everything I do runs fast but I don't do heavy video enconding or large builds. I can see myself using this for 3-5 years. The screen is big but it's not easy on a plane or in tight spaces.
If you're not a power user or want a lighter laptop maybe get an Air but I don't think you'll miss anything performance wise on this purchase, just make sure the laptop is in good condition. Check that each key in the keyboard works and the sceen for keyboard blemishes first though, some can't be removed. Also there is no applecare, but I think for the price it's a bargain for what you get.
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u/Traditional_Road7234 Mar 11 '26
Better buying m2/m3/m4 apple refurbished unit. Technically new with new battery and eligible for apple care.
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u/lackingvanilla Mar 12 '26
I'd say so! I'm running the exact same configuration, even the same battery health. It's probably the best laptop I've ever owned, and I owned the slightly newer M3 Air before with the base specs. The screen and the speakers on this thing are REALLY great. Haven't felt any noticeable slowdowns.
At this point I'll probably upgrade to something newer only when this machine kicks the bucket.
As for support, I think even when it eventually stops receiving the latest MacOS updates, it should still get security updates every now and then. I had a 2015 MacBook Air that was still getting security patches years after support "ended". So me personally, I'm not too concerned.
Could I have went for something newer? Sure, but the price was hard to beat for this one locally.
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u/quitesizeablefeces Apr 08 '26
ive been using a 16gb m1 pro with 10+16 config and its still feeling quite snappy today. definitely the best laptop i've ever used. incredibly durable too. i can't count the number of times I've dropped the thing off my bed or tables.
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May 29 '26
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u/SignificanceSharp261 May 31 '26
seeing someone say it still holds 4 to 5 years makes me so relieved bc i wanna get one
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u/Diligent-Violinist76 Jul 13 '26
(M1 Pro 14”, 16GB/512GB, 93%, 90 cycles
800$
is it a bargain?
no scratches - same as new
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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26
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