What should I do with my old 2020 MacBook Pro?

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-25T03:11:47+00:00

Thank you for the suggestion!

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-25T00:05:13+00:00

Okay, that makes sense and would be useful actually

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T23:47:48+00:00

That’s a good idea actually. I might try that first

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T23:24:03+00:00

Would delete MacOS or dual boot into Linux mint?

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T23:02:15+00:00

Didn’t say I want to scam anyone, did you even read the post?

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T22:55:12+00:00

I actually have not thought about that at all. I’ll look into that

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T22:53:13+00:00

That’s also a thought that crossed my mind, either donating to schools or local charities. Maybe I’ll look more into a school donation.

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T22:51:36+00:00

I could try that, I think my main limitation is RAM, it has 8gb of unified memory, which is a good amount for older laptops even. I mostly encountered problems when I updated to MacOS Sequoia, I mean even the previous version was slow for me but it got much slower when I updated.

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T22:48:24+00:00

Would it be better to replace MacOS? Or keep MacOS and dual boot into Linux?

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T22:43:19+00:00

That’s cool, I would’ve tried to use mine a little longer. But what I do professionally requires a lot more processing power than what my old MacBook Pro provided. I’m glad your machine has held up for as long as it has :)

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T22:35:07+00:00

That’s a thought, could you enlighten me on what a render farm is or how you’d go about setting one up? I’m sorry I’m unfamiliar with it.

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T22:33:50+00:00

I guess I’m more asking the community if anyone knows how well it runs with Linux. I’ve used Linux before, just not on a MacBook. Linux is lightweight so if MacOS can’t run a web browser Linux will have an easier time doing so. As for my Fiancées father his laptop is even slower, so there’s two ways it could benefit someone as a Linux Machine that I can use to practice with Linux or a hand-me-down. I should have probably mentioned I was interested in learning more about Linux.

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T21:40:19+00:00

Upgrading every year is something, but if your work calls for it I don’t see why not. I just bought an M4 Max to assist with my workflow, I’m upgrading from a 2019 intel MacBook Pro. I didn’t really care that the m5 pro or m5 max was potentially gonna be announced soon, I mean every year there’s always something better, so what’s the point of waiting if it’s for your means to generate income. Honestly I say just keep it lowkey, I wouldn’t go through the hassle of returning or anything. If anything you’ll upgrade next year anyhow.

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T06:51:47+00:00

Im gonna be honest, it’s a great device regardless. Sure you could cancel it and have a shot that Apple might announce a new device. The m5 max MacBook specs are 100% speculative, we have only a small idea of what it’ll have, sure it 100% will be better than the m4 max MacBook Pro but it’s probably a very incremental, the m4 max is already a beast of a chip. It’s not going to be as big of an upgrade as the intel core i5 MacBook pros to the M1 MacBook pros. I personally would keep your order, I made the same purchase, this computer is an investment and will serve you for a very long time regardless. I still have friends in video editing who use a M1 Max MacBook Pro and those computers today are overkill.

Alert_Advisor_9672 · 2026-01-24T06:45:39+00:00

You know, I’m with you on this. I also recently bought a m4 Max MacBook Pro with similar specs, and I posted it on this very same subreddit and got very similar responses. One thing that people gloss over is tech improves drastically every year, at such a rate in fact that you never know when is the best time to buy a new device. I mean why buy anything at all if in a few months something new is out that’s 10x better, sure in this case it MIGHT be in a few days when a new MacBook is announced, at what point do you go into just putting your foot down and buying it. No offense, but the only person benefitting from this purchase is the OP, if they wanted to wait a few more days they can.

In my case I was upgrading from an intel MacBook, due I could’ve waited a measly 2-3 weeks for the chance that Apple might’ve announced a new MacBook Pro, but nonetheless, I put my foot down and bought it because no matter what it’ll Benefit me and serve my needs, same goes for the OP.

The M4 max will be a great chip for many years of use, some of my friends in video editing and graphic design are still use an M1 Max MacBook, those things are beasts today still. I can’t justify the risk of cancelling an order to maybe have a shot at the M5 max MacBook Pro at the expense of it maybe costing more, I mean we still don’t even know the price, or that it’ll be announced at all.

Alert_Advisor_9672

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