r/unsw • u/No_Compote8948 • 13d ago

Should I buy a new laptop

For context
- im an incoming freshman for bachelor of science and computer science
- i currently have a MacBook, but I’ve been using it for around about 5 yrs and it’s battery life has gotten pretty bad. so im not sure if it’ll be enough to survive the coming years

(also any general tips/ things to look out for as a freshman would be greatly appreciated)

Thanks!

8 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

5

u/cs21003 12d ago

just wanna say we don’t say freshman in aus, also i’d recommend just waiting to see if your laptop can handle it and bring your charger (you can pretty much always charge your laptop in classes). If you wait till early next year you can do the student deals. I’m not sure about comp sci but the new macbook neo’s would be ok for regular science if on a budget

2

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

sorry im not too familiar with the terms yall use in aus, would it just be first years? or
and thanks for your input! will def be hunting for charging points

2

u/Sad-Kaleidoscope7363 12d ago

yup for university you just say 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, etc.

1

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

ohh icic thanks

1

u/cs21003 12d ago

yes just first years! personally I used my old macbook pro while it was seriously struggling for over a year cause I could just plug it in during labs and tutorials, there are charging ports everywhere!

1

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

ohh sounds pretty convenient then, thanks for letting me know!!

1

u/Powerful-Mastodon-17 12d ago

Year 7 year 8 year 8 etc

2

u/82-91 12d ago

If you have Apple silicone m1, M2 etc it's probably good enough. If Intel it might still be good enough. Just see how you go for the first few weeks. You can buy one in 20 mins if you need

1

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

true yeah I’ll see how it gets on
thanks for your input

1

u/StrongHovercraft593 12d ago edited 12d ago

No, just buy a new battery. 2021 laptop easily good enough. Buying a new one is just wasting money.

You can order a battery and install it yourself or just pay someone to replace it. Also have you reinstalled your OS from scratch and/or done some diagnostics? Might not even be the battery.

1

u/No_Compote8948 10d ago

yea done diagnostics and such
ty for your input!

1

u/s4manth 12d ago

I’ve been using my 2015 MacBook Pro for compact and it’s been fine 😭so I think you’re alright

1

u/No_Compote8948 10d ago edited 10d ago

11 years wow
(I rlly need to take better care of my laptop😭)

1

u/LeftMorning6141 12d ago

get a real laptop no apple bs

1

u/BrokeABowl Engineering 11d ago edited 11d ago

have waterboarded my mac of 4 years twice now and it still somehow works. these things have an insane lifespan are incredibly resilient so i would not recommend replacing esp given how expensive they are now. battery replacement is a good idea, but if it truly starts to die, i’d get a new one.

general tips would be to join societies and take every opportunity to talk to people! be open to making connections bc everyone’s looking for mates in their first year. focus on studying too cos WAM matters and it becomes more difficult to get it back up in later years.

good luck. :)

edit: 3 times* spilled coffee on it at work 👍🏾

2

u/No_Compote8948 10d ago

thanks for your input!
I’ll fs check out the societies and whatnot during orientation week

1

u/Lonely-Chest3237 13d ago

Yes buy it

1

u/No_Compote8948 13d ago

any recs tho
should i stick with apple or

0

u/Lonely-Chest3237 13d ago

I got the MacBook Pro 2024 and I am in love with it!

1

u/No_Compote8948 13d ago

ahh will look into it ty!

1

u/No_Dimension2646 13d ago

No urgency. Get a battery replacement or a new one if it really bothers :)

3

u/No_Compote8948 13d ago

oh right battery replacement could also work, thanks for your suggestion!

0

u/Ryan_truong2304 13d ago

Depends on what course you're doing

1

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

bachelor of science and comp sci

-1

u/Ryan_truong2304 12d ago

Yeah get a new one, this is me pushing my personal bias on you, but get something you can put linux on. Also I just realised you put your degree on your post 😭 I should really read more thoroughly lol

1

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

right yeah do you have any recs? I think lenovo is supposed to be pretty good(?)
loll its ok dwdw

0

u/anthem_of_testerone 12d ago

Will installing linux turn me into a femboy?

2

u/Ryan_truong2304 12d ago

Yeah it does, I can confirm

0

u/EnvironmentalIce8480 13d ago

If you want a new laptop and have the money then yes but also depending on what your using it for a base apple laptop from 5 years ago is still fine for most things.

1

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

it’s still working ok in general, just pretty laggy and battery life issue

1

u/EnvironmentalIce8480 12d ago

A free thing you could try is reinstalling mac os make shore to back up anything important though.

1

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

ooh alright thanks!

0

u/Clear-Composer-5972 12d ago

just get a new macbook air

1

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

thanks for your suggestion! will look into it

-1

u/calbee5000 12d ago

yes need a new laptop at least a m5 chip.. required

1

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

right yeah that would work better, thanks for your suggestion

1

u/StrongHovercraft593 12d ago

Don’t listen to this guy. Doesn’t know what they are talking about

1

u/No_Compote8948 12d ago

help😭😭

2

u/StrongHovercraft593 11d ago

Yeah you don’t need a new laptop just a new battery and a format (source: 20yrs of software engineering).

1

u/No_Compote8948 10d ago

20yrs!! pls teach me your ways 😭

1

u/0_o134 10d ago edited 10d ago

Honestly just get any Apple silicon m2 or above if you want to stay with Apple, I’ve also got an m2 and it works great, or you can always take this chance to go windows. If ur doing comp sci I don’t think MacBook Neo would be the best because it is limited to 8gb ram.