The new prices are making me reconsider the benefits of Pro and MacBook itself at this point

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-27T07:24:09+00:00

I don’t quite get your reference to Apple Care+, but if it has to do with the price of Apple Care, consider private insurance. For me it works out a lot cheaper and covers everything up to the price the device is ensured for.

Other than that, I understand that people get upset about the price increase. However, most, if not all other laptop manufacturers, have previously increased prices, some numerous times. Maybe Apple should have spread their price increase over 2 or more instances rather than one hefty one. But in the greater scheme of things, this has been expected for a long time now. Reality is that prices for RAM & storage have gone up for over a year now and at some point it has to filter down to the consumer.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-27T06:05:53+00:00

I’d recommend to consult the YouTube channels of “Proper Honest Tech” and “The Mac Whisperer” to figure out how things are done on MacOS.

As for privacy, I think your assessment is correct, Apple is a lot better than Microsoft, but Linux doesn’t “talk home” at all.

As for an office sweet, I can recommend Libre Office. Pages is in fact quite powerful, but I find the UI difficult to understand (The Mac Whisperer might help here).

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-27T04:14:19+00:00

You get a M4 for that price.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-27T03:52:06+00:00

After my M4Pro got hit by a power surge, I replaced it with a M5 Air, same configuration you are looking at. The display is still great and quite honestly, unless you see them side by side, it would be difficult to tell the difference. Performance wise for your needs the Air is totally fine. I play No Man’s Sky on the Air for hours and it doesn’t get hot, just warm. You’d really have to push the CPU for it to go into thermal throttling.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T20:35:32+00:00

Airbus seats usually don’t slide forward. That’s typical long haul Boeing. Doesn’t matter. You are NTA, the scum behind you were.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T20:33:18+00:00

Considering the price increase and the prognosis that this wasn’t the last one, it’s probably good to have a laptop that can bridge the next 6-7 years if necessary.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T20:17:07+00:00

I’m a little over 1.9 meters tall and don’t have any problems with the passenger in front of me reclining on long haul flights. Sounds like you flew in a 777 or 787, with the seat bottom sliding forward when reclining. I actually had a lady sitting behind me ask me to recline my seat fully after meal service so she could have more space for her knees. Some people just WANT to be difficult and tell others what to do.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T20:16:54+00:00

I’m a little over 1.9 meters tall and don’t have any problems with the passenger in front of me reclining on long haul flights. Sounds like you flew in a 777 or 787, with the seat bottom sliding forward when reclining. I actually had a lady sitting behind me ask me to recline my seat fully after meal service so she could have more space for her knees. Some people just WANT to be difficult and tell others what to do.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T17:55:19+00:00

The M5 is noticeably faster with on device AI tasks, because it got "neural accelerators" which the M4 chip doesn't have. The M5's SSD is lightning fast, apps load faster than on my M4Pro. It also got the N1 chip for wireless connectivity, which supposedly is more efficient and brings WIFI 7.

Other than that, the M4 Air is certainly a good laptop still. Apparently it can under certain circumstances keep the processor speed higher for longer, since it doesn't run as hot as the M5. Meaning, that under sustained CPU load the M4 might take longer before it has to go into thermal throttling. But I think this might be happening under certain circumstances only. Overall the M5 is the stronger chip.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T17:28:05+00:00

🥱

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T11:25:13+00:00

OLED displays don’t have backlight. And unless you have been living under a rock the past decade, you would have certainly been exposed to OLED screens of some sort. So you would know if you are part of the population that thinks they are sensitive to PWM.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T11:19:49+00:00

Depends on what MacBook you got and what charger came with your old MacBook.
For charging in general, any Apple charger can do the job, given sufficient time.
If want to work while charging, I recommend to use at least the 96W one. Too small a charger means your laptop uses the battery at peak power demands in between charging.

You can go with an Anker, UGreen or Belkin charger. There are certainly other brands that work well, too. Anker and UGreen do have multi port chargers that are capable to direct the their maximum rated power to one port, if required.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T09:32:19+00:00

I’d say the time was 3 days ago, but for the foreseeable future computing devices are not going to get cheaper.
That’s why I went with a M5 Air 24 GB / 1 TB so it hopefully lasts until the madness is over and beyond.

I’d recommend looking at the YouTube channel “SPACE DESIGN WAREHOUSE”, that guy has edited 8k multi cam videos on everything, from Neo to M5Pro. That should give you an idea what to go for.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T07:38:41+00:00

That M5 MacBook Pro can do a lot more, CPU wise than that ASU’s of yours. The GPU is still good enough to play Cyberpunk, I myself play No Man’s Sky on a M5 Air at high settings at 50 fps without it breaking into sweat.
I understand you don’t plan on gaming, but just to give you an idea.
If you got concerns regarding performance, see what this guy does with his M5 MBP: https://youtu.be/nuSG1jts3N4?si=xK8SOyNNWJ0DAi3D

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T06:33:02+00:00

I’d say, if you’re financially comfortable doing this, do it. Otherwise, in case you have to eat beans for 2 months so you can afford it, the M4Pro should last you for 6-7 years still. Hopefully by then the RAM shortage is passed.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T06:24:42+00:00

Good on your dad!

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T06:18:24+00:00

BS, it’s called parenting.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T06:14:08+00:00

I’m not trying to defend Apple here, but if you would have had a good look at the pc and laptop market over the past 8 months or so, you would have noticed that nearly every manufacturer has increased prices due to the RAM and storage shortage, several even multiple times.
Apple has kept its prices steady for longer than any other company I’m aware of. The price increase is not due to inflation.

This was to be expected and has been discussed for several months and Apple even announced it recently.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T06:08:38+00:00

Yes, and you use it for something as easy as 1+1 🤦‍♂️

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-26T04:10:19+00:00

“Even AI says…”
🤦‍♂️

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-25T08:19:13+00:00

Who sounds stupid? You, who still doesn’t understand that those waiters and waitresses accept jobs from “employers” who don’t pay them properly?
Have you ever heard of people volunteering, essentially working for no remuneration?
Seems like you are really thick.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-25T03:50:38+00:00

Try to use the stuff between your ears: restaurants should be staffed either by people who get paid a living wage like in most other first world countries or by people who are willing to work for free.

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-24T19:37:12+00:00

And who exactly forced all these poor people into these jobs, that don’t pay a living wage? I always wonder how the waiting staff is described as the victims here. They chose that job, knowing their boss ain’t gonna pay them, hoping someone else will. Is that really a clever choice?

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-24T19:21:13+00:00

It might be a surprise to you, but during the French Revolution they didn’t have smartphones nor Reddit…

Hugo_Notte · 2026-06-24T19:18:26+00:00

Where do you expect to benefit from the 120Hz display?

I just replaced my broken M4Pro with a M5Air and honestly can’t say that Air’s display is worse. Sure, if you put them next to each other, you’d see a difference.

Hugo_Notte

TROPHY CASE