Buying a Mac is never just about picking up a new laptop. It feels more like a commitment, because for most people, it is a machine they will use for years. That is both the beauty and the trap of it. Apple designs its laptops with reliability, performance, and longevity in mind, so there is a certain expectation that you are buying something that will last at least half a decade or more. And most of the time, that expectation is right. However, the small decisions you make at the time of purchase (such as the RAM, storage, and whether you choose an Air or a Pro) will follow you every single day you use it. I learnt this the hard way. I am on my third Mac now, a MacBook Air with Apple’s first M1 chip, which has served me well for about four and a half years. Before that, I used two Intel-based 15-inch MacBook Pros, which lasted five and four years, respectively. They all worked fine for a long time, but looking back, I know I could have made smarter choices. So if you are planning to buy a Mac in 2025, here are five things you should know before hitting the checkout button.
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The first is not to get carried away with futureproofing. Apple does a clever job of presenting upgrades during checkout, and before you know it, the base Mac you picked suddenly costs thousands more. I fell into the opposite trap with my M1 Air. I thought 8 GB RAM would be enough. And at the time, it really was. But fast forward a couple of years, and that choice started catching up with me. Simple multitasking still feels smooth, but push it a little, say a dozen Chrome tabs or running Adobe Creative Cloud alongside something else, and the slowdown is obvious. For anyone looking to buy now, my advice is simple: be realistic about what you need today, but also don’t underspecify. 16 GB RAM should be the standard choice, because while you may not need it on day one, you will certainly appreciate it in year three or four.
The second point is storage, which matters more than you think. For the longest time, 256 GB was Apple’s standard. My M1 Air has that much, and although I keep a Samsung T7 512 GB external SSD handy, it has never felt quite enough. System updates, apps, photos, videos and work files add up quickly, and even with Google One cloud storage, there are times you want files immediately on your machine. Constantly juggling storage space is no fun. Looking back, I am convinced that 512 GB should now be considered the bare minimum. It gives you breathing space and saves you the hassle of always carrying an external drive around.
Third, remember that your old Mac probably is not broken. A lot of people, myself included in the past, feel their Mac is slowing down and assume it needs replacing. But often the issue is not the hardware. It is years of updates, caches, old apps and clutter making the system feel heavy. A clean reinstall of macOS can breathe fresh life into a machine, sometimes making a five-year-old Mac feel quick again. It takes effort: backing up files, reinstalling apps, setting everything up, but it can save you from spending a large sum too soon.
Fourth, do not restrict yourself to Apple’s store, now that the company has slowly but steadily started opening outlets across India, much like in the West. Of course, the straightforward option is to walk into an Apple Store or order online, but Apple itself rarely offers discounts. Resellers, on the other hand, often run sales, especially around big events such as back-to-school season, Independence Day, or Diwali. The current sale season on Amazon and Flipkart is also offering solid deals on Macs, with the M2 MacBook Air featuring 16 GB RAM and 256 GB storage going for as low as Rs 64,999. Websites like Cashify have also begun offering refurbished Macs, which many people tend to overlook. Ignoring these alternatives can mean missing out on an easy way to save a significant amount.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, know what you will actually use your Mac for. It sounds almost too obvious, but it is the step most people skip. When I bought my earlier MacBook Pros, I convinced myself I needed the extra power and screen size, when in reality, much of my daily work could have been done perfectly well on an Air. The result was that I carried around heavier laptops than I really needed. With the M1 Air, I made the opposite mistake of underestimating RAM. The lesson here is not to buy based on what looks like the better model, but to be honest about your workload. If your life revolves around browsing, writing and streaming, an Air will do everything you want. If you are editing large video projects, running intensive code or working with demanding creative apps, then yes, the Pro will pay off.
Looking back, I do not regret my purchases. My Macs have all served me faithfully, each for years at a time. But I do wish I had thought longer about the configurations I chose. The truth about Macs is that they last, which means you are often stuck with the decisions you made on day one. The safest way to buy one is to plan not just for today, but for the next five years. That way, when you look back as I am doing now, you will not be wishing you had ticked a different box at checkout.
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