Previously Used Devices and/or Software¶
Older Computers I used (and no longer own)¶
Some 13" MBPs¶
I owe it to my dad for gifting me my first MBP after doing well in my Secondary 3 exams (PMR) - that 13" MBP Late 2011 got me through my remaining years of secondary school while also budding my interest in video editing at the time. Later during my college years, I used a 13" MBP Mid 2014 which lasted me until I finished my Computer Science undergraduate studies. Both these models had an Intel Core i5 Processor, 8GB of RAM (an amount I no longer recommend now since 2024) and 512GB of storage (used to be the maximum configuration, now a base). They also lasted me roughly 4 years before being replaced. Those were the last computers I was granted by my parents back then, I now purchase my own devices (and I very much like being responsible for my own device purchases 😝).
My First 16" G.O.A.T.¶
The previous MBP I owned before switching to my current one was the Space Grey 16" MBP 2019 with the following specifications:
- 2.3GHz 8‑core Intel Core i9
- AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB
- 32GB of 2666MHz DDR4 RAM
- 2TB storage
Having a larger screen is a luxury that can easily turned into a working benefit, especially for me being able to view more code at once while working on my projects or grading students' submissions at the time.
This one lasted me a whopping 5.5 years.
Walao, so long one?¶
I know there are some who would strongly discourage keeping your devices for very long periods of time, and instead replace them every couple of years (while selling off the older one in the process). In a Mac's case where their value holds relatively well compared to Windows devices, at least 3-4 years was recommended. I think this is a smarter move nearly all the time - even I felt stupid at times having the resolve of keeping my devices and having only sold 1 of them before. Had I done this more often, I could recoup some of the cost I dedicated towards that machine in exchange for not having one more paperweight in my possession.
However, I think this would be good only if you are sure you will be well-to-do in the foreseeable future. Given how unstable the economic situation is right now and also how geopolitical tensions have caused ripple effects that are felt by all of us (currently RAM prices are spinning out of control (even at home for me), no thanks to the AI craze), I think this habit similar to job-hopping has become more and more of a luxury. We definitely want the very best for ourselves, but unless it's an actual necessity I think we ought to practice some gratefulness for what we can still manage to achieve. I currently live in a country where human capital is the main valuable resource, but I do question if being first in everything constantly has any ulterior benefits over not being so. Maybe it's just how I was raised - to keep using what we have until it's at its knees before switching over.
At least for me, I guess I also wanted to wait out the transition period and only jump into an Apple Silicon device when just about anything and everything I used is fully compatible with that hardware architecture. During my time teaching web development in Taylor's College, I came across many a student who needed some extra guidance or alternatives since their devices were not fully compatible with software that I recommended during that time. Troubleshooting a problem I couldn't replicate on my then Intel MBP became some sort of a whack-a-mole challenge, trying out solution after solution I searched up online at the time. At the same time, while I initially had intentions for booting up various virtual machines for research with this MBP, my workflow had shifted towards those more in line with my teaching work, and later my cybersecurity studies in NTU - the latter of which allowed me to be grateful yet again for having a machine capable of running something that was otherwise still incompatible with Apple Silicon at the time. Looking back, I think I'm grateful I waited much, much longer than I should have before getting my current MBP.