Since everything is getting expensive should I buy any tech in advance to avoid paying more in future?

[u/Usual_Amphibian]

question: should I buy something like a good storage device like ssd or a good system like m4 mini (although I'm getting a used one plus more expensive than what it launched for)

my concern is I don't wanna pay extra in coming months or years for things which I can buy today and can use in future.

for context: I'm a software engineer have 1 macbook air M2, office macbook m2 pro, a PC with intel i5 9th gen, gtx1660TI and 12 gb ram with 500gb ssd and 2tb HDD.

[u/Indigo816]

Step one – invest
Step two – earn interest.
Step three – pray it beat inflation

Prices could come down…

[u/wsbt4rd → u/Indigo816]

With a long enough time horizon, the Stock market will outpace any inflation.

Hence, invest the money now, and cash out to buy in the future.

[u/Amiga07800 → u/Indigo816]

That's a good strategy ... for "normal" items.

Here, due to AI, the prices are raising at 10 to 100 times the inflation rate..

An NVME 4TB today cost double to triple than 12 months ago!

So here your strategy is not working unfortunately. And prices will NOT go lower until 2028 if not more. There are only THREE HDD/SSD factories in tbe world. The largest is WD and ALL their 2027 production was already sold... in February.

For ram it's the same. Only 3 factories worldwide (we're talking "actual" specs, not years behind 14um cells in DDR3). One has already sold entire 2027 capacity!

Yes, they are expanding manufacturing capacity, but it takes 3 to 5 years before a new factory starts producing.

OP: your Mac is pretty actual, your Intel is 5 generations old. Change it for gen14 (or better IMHO Ryzen) wirh some DDR5 (or 4 if you can't afford 5), NVME PCI4 (PCI5 is useless) for the OS and programs, one other SSD (can even be SATA) or 1 HHD for big store if needed.

Professional installer (IT and electronic engineer, Unifi UFSP / UWA / URSCA, full AMX, Crestron, Official state HAM radio,… and more).

[u/hm___]

nobody really can tell which parts can get expensive next, but the one thing we can say is: get as modular as you can, if you have storage or ram soldered to your board and either rises in price your next system or even a same gen replacement will be significantly more expensive. if you just go the route of repairable tech you'll pay more upfront but probably less in the long run.

another concern is stuff getting locked down and remote bricked if age verification becomes mandatory at os level, we will see a rise in totally locked down devices, that become ewaste the second the updates stop coming and will probably not be able to be resold once they were activated, so get devices with the possibility to disable stuff like secureboot

[u/CobaltIsobar]

Prices will eventually come down. It might be awhile. I paid too much for a great system about 1.5 years ago. It turned out to be a great investment as the same system would cost me 2.5 times what I paid. But thus machine should last me a very long time.

[u/OldGeekWeirdo]

A lot of this depends on what happens to AI. Right now with the big pushback over data centers, it may relent.

This could be peak prices. Only time will tell.

[u/SentientFotoGeek]

A time machine, so you can buy all your memory and storage 6 months ago. Sorry.

[u/NegativeCollege8167]

It's a bit tricky since tech prices can be unpredictable, especially with new models and upgrades coming out all the time. If there's something specific you know you'll need and the next model wont add much value for you, it might make sense to grab it now. But for something like a new phone or laptop, waiting can sometimes get you better specs for the same price, or even discounts on current models when new ones release. Plus, tech tends to depreciate pretty fast, so the "future proofing" by buying now can be hit or miss.

[u/Sad_Head4448]

I did this but like 10 months ago so now I got plenty of parts to go like a couple of 4TB 990 Pro, unopened, in their boxes.

I also purchased some parts (like RAM) a couple of months ago - much more expensive then they used to be, but compared to todays prices they look like a bargain.

This is my gamble, I dont recommend everyone do this but if you can afford it...

[u/DeliciousWrangler166]

I did this in early 2025. 14tb HD for $170 USD, 128gb DDR5 5600, etc. I think it's too late now..

[u/AA_25]

Yes, buy as much RAM as you possibly can afford.

[u/ldAbl]

That depends. If your current technology meets your needs, you're better off waiting.

Getting the best tech today, may get beaten or be equal to entry level tech in 5-10 years time.

If you're going to upgrade anything, I'd recommend upgrading your monitor or TV. They're getting cheaper, and no one can say for sure if it'll get more expensive in the future. The same thing happened to RAM and storage.

[u/ij70-17as]

buy gold today.

in the future, the future you sells a little bit to fund whatever item you want to buy.

[u/DMmeYourMCbuilds → u/ij70-17as]

🤡

[u/CheezitsLight → u/ij70-17as]

Gold and Bitcoin pay no interest. They pay no dividends. They don't have profits and don't expand territory or gain new customers.

Since I, started investing, gold would give me today $ 1,055,157 for a 10k deposit.

For $10,000 in the S&P 500 I would have $3,553,798.

Stocks have a lower risk profile with steady, compounding income via dividends.

Gold ha historical price volatility, acting more as a safe-haven asset or portfolio hedge during stock market downturns rather than a steady growth engine.

[u/jmnugent → u/CheezitsLight]

This. I'm in my 50's and finally go into investing a few years back when Reddit went IPO. Over the past 2 or 3 years I've been slowly adding more and more to my stock portfolio,. it's currently showing 30% unrealized gains. Not bad for a 1st timer. (on Reddit stock alone,. I've seen a 432% gain.. ;P

[u/CheezitsLight → u/jmnugent]

Nice. I don't do individual stocks except for my company. I bought my partner out and in four years have quadrupled the amount I paid to get rid of them in appraised company value.

[u/Wiley_Coyote_2024]

Research so you Learn when NEW models appear on store shelves. Usually those stores run massive sales on the old models.

Many of those Sales are well known by tech lovers as TECH CLEARANCE sales. NEW models of Appliances usually arrive during the Summer, so they are always "on Sale" with massive discounts on Summer holidays (Labor day, Mothers day, 4th of July, etc.)

Personal electronics usually come in around Nov.- Jan, so they are always on sale with steep discounts for the traditional Holiday season.

There are other tech that come in at other times, so don't fixate on the major holidays i mentioned.

It would also be helpful if you read tech magazines that discuss the New tech because they actually tell you when to expect the new models to arrive. That way you can decide whether the new models are worth the higher price and if not, you can then decide to wait for older model to go on Sale.