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Debating My Mac Lifestyle
The stage is set, some Mac announcements next week are imminent. No reason to doubt the revamped Mac mini as one of the upgrades. I’ve been back-and-forward with this Mac as my personal device since it was originally rumored.
The main debate is between notebook and desktop. I already have my work 13in MacBook Air — which is amazing. But the separation of work and personal is something I struggle with. Over the past few weeks I’ve had some luck using Bunch to set cleaner boundaries between areas. But in the end, nothing will approach the separation of devices.
Assuming that a separate computer is the way to go, does a dedicated desktop device work’s better than a separate notebook? If Apple was about to announce an updated MacBook 12in with M-something, it would be mute point for me. That’s the personal Mac I want: and iPad sized laptop that is easy to carry and I can connect to my Studio Display at home. Sadly, modern Apple needs to sell at such a scale, that small market niche devices have no place to delight.
Back to reality. There’s costs. I foresee a week of spreadsheet absurdity in which I find most permutations between the newer M4 devices, and used M2/M3 options. I’ll start with a $1500 budget, but expect that the $2000 will be the sweet spot between a new version, and a discounted loaded M2 device. The depreciation curve for older devices should be more aggressive this year — since based M4 devices are rumored to start at 16gb of memory.
I’m not getting too greedy though. Unlike the big eye-roll that Mac accessories represent, the Mac lineup itself is doing great. As I wrote almost two years ago:
But for someone who watched in horror as every release after the 2015 MacBook Pro’s one, made the Pro laptop’s aspiration vanish, and just hold tight to my current model. This, just an update, is the most wonderful news.
There’s a slim to none chance that this week of Mac’s announcement would make me feel otherwise. In fact, just having a week of Mac’s announcement is enough to bring a smile to my face.