3 ms·

I don't know that. Rather, I don't know if an M2 or M3 is the better buy for someone who wants their computer to last as long as possible. My MacBook air will

by calf 3y ago

I don't know that. Rather, I don't know if an M2 or M3 is the better buy for someone who wants their computer to last as long as possible. My MacBook air will probably last 14 years and my mother's has lasted 13 years. That's the timescale I'm interested in. Regardless, the salesperson (BTW not a "he") said obviously said it to my mother, so why would they advise about general longevity for a use case context most likely to consist of banking/email chores? Is it possible they see something that we do not? E.g. future software upgradability? Or are they blindly repeating what the management told them to say?

nicbou 3y ago
You must consider how absurdly overkill the M series are for these tasks. I have an M2 Air and it's ridiculously snappy for far heavier workloads. Hell my Macbook Pro from 2017 was fine for this.
- calf 3y ago
  I did consider that, and what you're implying is the M2/M3 wouldn't matter for now*. The issue is which one would be future proof 5+ years later. It seems the answer is M3 by 2 years, because yesterday's Ars Technica review says Apple phases out its OS/browser upgrades by model year, so the M2 would lose upgradeability 2 years earlier if purchased today versus the M3. The article ends recommending the M3 for this reason. It's not a great reason IMO but the one that makes sense to me.
Jtsummers 3y ago
You keep describing them as a salesperson, that's the answer to your question: > why would they advise about general longevity for a use case context most likely to consist of banking/email chores? Because their job is the upsell. They're trying to sell your mother on an M3 because it is the most recent one, and they (Apple, not the individual, but they incentivize the individual) want the sales numbers to reflect a high degree of uptake in the market for the newer devices. Don't trust sales people. Just examine the devices yourself, their prices, their suitability for your uses, and their capabilities. Or not, and do trust salespeople but then you're going to spend most of your life being upsold and scammed.
- calf 3y ago
  Except I'm not interested in ad homineming the incentives of the salesperson, of which I am well aware. I am interested in if there is a valid argument, which entails the last bit of what you yourself said: > Just examine the devices yourself, their prices, their suitability for your uses, and their capabilities Their "capabilities" include the capability to be future-proof. To the extent that a salespersons asserted the future-proofing issue, even though they did not explain their assertion, is what begs me to ask the very reasonable question as to how to critically analyze this particular capability. You can help the other commenters dodge this question or not, I don't care if the salesperson is trustworthy or not, because that was not the question I care about.

by calf 3y ago

nicbou 3y ago

You must consider how absurdly overkill the M series are for these tasks. I have an M2 Air and it's ridiculously snappy for far heavier workloads. Hell my Macbook Pro from 2017 was fine for this.

calf 3y ago
I did consider that, and what you're implying is the M2/M3 wouldn't matter for now*. The issue is which one would be future proof 5+ years later. It seems the answer is M3 by 2 years, because yesterday's Ars Technica review says Apple phases out its OS/browser upgrades by model year, so the M2 would lose upgradeability 2 years earlier if purchased today versus the M3. The article ends recommending the M3 for this reason. It's not a great reason IMO but the one that makes sense to me.

Jtsummers 3y ago

You keep describing them as a salesperson, that's the answer to your question: > why would they advise about general longevity for a use case context most likely to consist of banking/email chores? Because their job is the upsell. They're trying to sell your mother on an M3 because it is the most recent one, and they (Apple, not the individual, but they incentivize the individual) want the sales numbers to reflect a high degree of uptake in the market for the newer devices. Don't trust sales people. Just examine the devices yourself, their prices, their suitability for your uses, and their capabilities. Or not, and do trust salespeople but then you're going to spend most of your life being upsold and scammed.

calf 3y ago
Except I'm not interested in ad homineming the incentives of the salesperson, of which I am well aware. I am interested in if there is a valid argument, which entails the last bit of what you yourself said: > Just examine the devices yourself, their prices, their suitability for your uses, and their capabilities Their "capabilities" include the capability to be future-proof. To the extent that a salespersons asserted the future-proofing issue, even though they did not explain their assertion, is what begs me to ask the very reasonable question as to how to critically analyze this particular capability. You can help the other commenters dodge this question or not, I don't care if the salesperson is trustworthy or not, because that was not the question I care about.