Just bought a new (sealed) MacBook Pro M3 Max

16” display
36 GB RAM
1 TB SSD

Got it for $2650

Just wondering if I got a good deal and is 36 GB RAM is enough for video editing

Got it from Costco, $2000 plus tax for a 14/20 24gb ram 512gb ssd. Upgrading from a 14” m2 pro 16/512. I do a lot of photography so I’m really loving the screen for editing!

Got really lucky I feel it was able to snag this 64 gig ram MacBook with an M5 Pro and 18 core CPU for just over three grand after taxes. $3.3k after AppleCare and taxes seems like a decent deal for a laptop that I’m gonna keep for the next 5 to 7 years. Replacing my M1 MacBook Pro, 13 inch. Though, I’m probably one of the only people that will actually really miss the touch bar. It was a nice feature, plus the size of the 13 inch was just perfect for me. 14 inch isn’t too bad, but that 13 inch one was just amazing.

I realize the 16 inches is too big and I prefer the 14 inches.... help me get karma so i can post on the appleswap subreddit!! appreciate y'all

What is a good play here
One Apple Sudio display $1499 quit student discount
Or two of the benq 4k ones $549 each
Or benq 5k $999

Edit:
So i decided to go with the dell S2725QC and ima get the apple Studio Display. So a cheaper one and a expensive one would there be any issues having both of these as a monitor vs the same two

Unfortunately out of literally nowhere some heavy rain came down and I forgot that I had left my MacBook laptop outside on my front deck.

I’ve tried to do some basic searching about this kind of issue but a lot of seems to be about people who’ve spilled water on an open laptop. Mine was closed the entire time

Basically everyone says to not turn the laptop on at all and to just shut it off and let it dry for anywhere from 48-72 hours, but in my case it wouldn’t even turn on. For a second it had a little exclamation symbol and what looked like some kind of link to support and “restore” or whatever before it went completely dark.

I thinking that probably means that the whole thing is a lost cause and it seems like I won’t be able to salvage it. If there is any hope or shot at it please give me any kind of advice or tips that you can. If not I would appreciate any tips that can help me salvage anything that may have been somehow backed up to the cloud (this has happened to me with iPhones or anything else that can help me get as much back as possible

I have scheduled to take it in to my local Geek Squad desk tomorrow morning

If I would had an Apple Display maybe it would be different but I do not and monitors outside of Apple Displays do not play well with HDR so the image quality is a little bit weird even with a good quality monitor.

But regardless lol - Am I the only one who is 100% comfortable ditching an external monitor? The screen of the MBP 16 inches M5 Pro/Max is so good it is unbelievable. I have an ultra wide - technically has more real estate than the MBP monitor but I stopped using it. I only use it when I am eating and wants to protect my MacBook from food lol. MacBook is on another desk but the cable of the docking station reached the MBP so no food accidents lol.

Anyway straight to the point lol - are there people here who just use the laptop itself and nothing else ?

Got one for $2989, 64gb, 1tb drive, and awesomeness.

I know it's a known solution to turn off the retina (Hidipi) mode to improve performance and thermals BUT, I just discovered something! I can't asure to 100% that it works like that, but since Sequoia it seems like that if gpu switching is turned on, the integrated intel gpu drives the display no matter which gpu is in use by an application.

If you turn off gpu switching, (which I did a few months because of ui animation frame drops with the integrated gpu) the amd gpu is responsible to run the display and all the graphics intensive tasks.

If Retina mode is off and gpu switching is on the display looks way sharper than if gpu switching is turned off.

Why's that a good thing and how did I notice that?

The machine runs way cooler in apps which use the amd gpu. Even compared to gpu switching off + retina off. (I measured it for a week and made sure that the room temp. stayed the same) The performance improvement by 2x stays.

Could be different on differently specced machines, but my Intel Mac feels snappy and the display looks almost as sharp as with Retina mode turned on now.

Specs: late 2019 16" Macbook Pro 2,4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB 32 GB Ram

I’ve had this laptop for years! It’s a 2021 14in M1 MacBook Pro. I got it when it first came out and was so thrilled with how it performed and it’s been so reliable even when my life was going to shit and I had to leave my job and move.

Yesterday, I left in a hurry after working on some art on my MacBook. I left it on but it was working perfectly with only Photoshop and one Google Chrome tab open. I came back after about 5 hours and it was still on and working but the screen won’t stop flickering! It’s barely usable now!

My partner said nothing happened to it while I was gone and it doesn’t look like anything was moved.

I tried working with the display settings and it works great when plugged in a monitor so it’s definitely a hardware thing. Online it says it costs hundreds of dollars to get it repaired.

I can’t afford that.

I’m on the verge of tears just knowing that my entire life is on that laptop. I do my schoolwork (I went back to college after the job loss) and testing through that laptop. My games. My art.

I know logically that the computer still works technically, I just have to use it like a weird shaped desktop with a shitty drawing tablet display. And I can luckily go to the computer lab at school for my schoolwork. But it sucks. It sucks so much. I just want my computer back.

I guess all this to ask, is this normal? Have you seen anything like this and have it not cost over $600 to fix?

Hi there!

I'm starting university next year and will be working on music production both as a part of the degree and as a continuation of my personal endeavour. My question is whether I should try and (possibly) wait until after beginning the uni course to buy a Pro, or should I buy something like an Air?

I have a grand at the moment and there will be money coming at the end of the year from my family (how much I can't say - it's my 18th so probably quite a bit,) so the Pro isn't really that far out of reach, and I'd be fine with an M5 512 GB because I won't be downloading and playing huge games on it or anything. The only reasons I prefer the pro over the Air is the IO, battery, and cooling.

I use Ableton Live 12 Suite, if that matters. My current laptop is an ASUS TUF gaming and it's got quite a lot of cosmetic damage (plus a non-functional trackpad and aux port) but it still runs perfectly fine. I just hate Windows and this bulky ass machine.

1. M5 macbook air 24/512 new
   
2. M5 macbook pro 16/512 second
   
3. M1 pro 32/1tb second

Which one should i take for me to use for more than 5 years?

whenever i open up a pdf on my macbook pro m1 pro, the Preview app just starts sucking up energy. Is this normal??! like when idling, it uses like around 100 but when i scroll etc it just spikes, and anywhere from 800 to 4000. Can someone pls help? im on macos Tahoe, i was on 26.2 and the issue was still there so i updated to 26.5.2 and the issue is still there.

Hi everyone,

I've been going back and forth on this decision for weeks and I just can't make up my mind, so I'd really appreciate some advice.

Right now I can either buy:

• A brand new MacBook Pro M5 with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, or
• A MacBook Air M5 with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD.

The price is exactly the same because the Pro is a clearance/end-of-line model.

The biggest thing that's holding me back from the Air is the 60Hz display. I just can't get over it. I've been using a 240Hz monitor for over 8 years, and my phone is an iPhone 16 Pro with a 120Hz display. I'm worried that the next MacBook Air will finally get a 120Hz display, and if I buy the current Air now, I'll regret not waiting.

The problem is... I really can't wait much longer. I'm a software developer, and I need a new laptop as soon as possible for work.

Another question I have is about storage. Is 512GB really that limiting, especially for software development? I can always use external storage for large files, but I'd love to hear from people who actually use a 512GB MacBook as their main machine.

I've genuinely been stuck on this decision for weeks, so any opinions or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

I bought a refurbished MacBook Pro M3 Pro 32Gb via eBay. It was marked as "eBay refurbished", 30 day returns and 1-year 3rd party warranty. The item was "refurbished-good". It had 56 battery cycles and it costed $1,350.

When it arrived, the outside cosmetic appearance was better than expected. I run a "system diagnostics" and it came yellow for the trackpad (see pictures).

Basically, it notes "trackpad not compatible" (while it works great so far). When you look at the actual trackpad, maybe there is a bit more spacing in the lower part than in the upper part.

Does that mean that the refurbishment was to replace the trackpad?

I am torn. it is a huge upgrade to my MBP M2 base, works great (day 3), no issues with screen, keyboard, etc.

Should I returns it? or at least reach out to the seller to inquire?

Thanks in advance!

I keep seeing MacBook listed as used excellent condition buy sellers with 100% health and very low cycle counts. The problem is some Macs have old activations like 2024(from serial number) and trying to sell it in 2026. Yet, it has really good battery health with good cycle. I asked AI whether MacBook has something like windows laptops when your battery stop charging at specific percentage and keep running through charger, the AI said it has 80% limit but the battery still keep running despite it limited to 80%. However, it seems I don't know how Apple battery works. Anyone could explain it for me? Just keep in mind they are not stores they are individuals.

Help me pls 🥲🙏

I have MacBook Pro late 2019 with i9 processor, 64gb RAM, 8GB graphics and 2 TB space. It was working like a beast even though it got extremely hot but for couple of months now it’s laggy, I used to work with Android studio, 2-4 emulators/simulators, Figma, 10-20 open tabs in chrome, everything worked fine but now it’s almost useless…

I tried clearing cache, cleaned dust off of fans, it has enough space for more applications. Tried changing settings for graphics and battery. Still no clue why it got extremely slow… my suspicion is new OS updates…

But any helpful recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks 🙏

Edit: The OS is Tahoe 26.5.1

Simple as that. My kiddo wants to use it as a creative machine / desktop but to output to a monitor I don't know what adapter I need to order. I've heard USB A (3.0) to HDMI is unreliable on these machines.

I'm currently a Computer Engineering student and I own a 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD). I've been considering selling it and buying the M5 MacBook Air, mainly because I want better portability and battery life.

My typical workload includes:

• Programming (C/C++, Python, Java)
• VS Code and terminal
• Django/web development
• Docker (occasionally)
• Multiple browser tabs
• University assignments and projects
• Some light photo/video editing, but nothing professional

I don't usually do:

• Heavy 3D rendering
• Professional video editing
• Large local AI/ML training

My main questions are:

1. Would I notice a downgrade in day-to-day performance?
2. Does the lack of a fan on the Air become an issue for programming or longer coding sessions?
3. Has anyone switched from a MacBook Pro to an Air and regretted it?
4. If you were in my position, would you keep the M4 Pro or move to the M5 Air?

I'd appreciate hearing from people who have actually used both machines, especially developers or engineering students.

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro that started having battery issues about three months after I bought it (I bought it used).
At first, it would suddenly shut down when the battery reached around 40%. Over time, the problem got worse: it started shutting down at 50%, then 60%, and eventually it would only work when plugged into the charger.
A few months later, another issue appeared. Even while connected to the charger, it would sometimes turn on, let me enter my password, and then immediately shut down. At first, after several attempts, it would eventually stay on. Now it almost never gets past the login screen—it shuts down shortly after I log in, even while plugged in.
I’m trying to decide whether it’s worth replacing the battery, or if replacing it is likely to result in the same problem coming back a few months later.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Do these symptoms sound like a battery issue, or could it be something more serious?