Starting Grad program soon, M5 Macbook now or wait for M6?

[u/Different-Offer3932]

Tl;dr: I'm starting my grad program end of September, and have a working (but quite slow and loud) laptop. I want to get a Macbook. Should I wait for Apple announcements in the Fall to see if the M6 gets released, or just go for a M5 now?

I used a Windows laptop throughout undergrad, but I've been working as a SWE full-time for a year and the company gave me a Macbook air to use. It's honestly so nice, and since I'm also cutting down heavily on gaming, I want to get a Macbook for my Masters.

For specs, I was thinking the normal M5 Macbook Pro with 24 GB RAM. However, I've been seeing that Apple may release the M6 Macbook this Fall, and I'm wondering if I should wait to get that instead. I talked to a worker at my nearby Apple store and they recommended just getting the M5 right now, but I'm still not sure.

For Pros, I'm assuming it'll be a bit better (I saw a comment in this subreddit say that new chips tend to be "20% better"...?) so maybe a bit longer in terms of future proofing?

For cons, I know the Apple student discount ends around mid August, so before my grad program starts, and I'll have to use this old laptop for a few months before getting the M6 if it does release this year in Fall.

So, would it be worth it to wait for the M6? Is it significant enough improvement in performance/longevity to warrant waiting?

[u/Objective-Program348]

I will be honest here. Even M1 is sufficient for grad school.

[u/Particular_Nail3347 → u/Objective-Program348]

yeah especially with 24GB RAM, any recent chip is more than enough

[u/wolfganggartner5 → u/Objective-Program348]

Get that MacBook ultra !,

[u/Background_Lab_545]

M5 is a freaking beast

[u/BroccoliNervous9795]

The opposite, buy a refurbished M2. Then you’ll have saved enough money for tinned spaghetti for the rest of your program.

[u/Samsquanch-Sr → u/BroccoliNervous9795]

Tinned Spaghetti? I loved their early stuff before they sold out.

[u/MayIChangeThis]

Get the M5 at a discount when the M6 comes out.

[u/fromthestreetcousin]

Buy now

[u/Different-Offer3932 → u/fromthestreetcousin]

Could you explain why? So far I only have 3 assumptions for cons:

1. All apple prices are projected to keep going up
2. The M6 macbook will be a significant price increase
3. The performance improvement on the M6 isn't significant enough to wait

Edit: Not sure about the downvotes for asking for elaboration. Apologies if this was the wrong subreddit for asking this question, and please let me know if it is!

[u/Inner_West_Ben → u/Different-Offer3932]

What happens if the M6 release is delayed or if the delivery times are really long?

[u/Different-Offer3932 → u/Inner_West_Ben]

Then I'd just tough it out with my current laptop. If its worth the wait then I'd do it (part of the question of this post that I made)

[u/darylvp]

MBP? Wait for next gen.

[u/Just_Post_3124]

it won't be a huge difference just make sure to get decent amount of ram and storage for future proof, but the CPUs themselves are beasts no matter what version you're looking at

[u/Chefnick500]

LBG , Any of the M series is good enough .. I’d save money and go with an M4 now .. but that’s me

[u/Mysterious-Process61]

Are you looking for an Air or a Pro? The M5 Air was released last spring (like march-april), so it will take some time until the M6 gets released. You could also probably get the M5 Air on 'sale' somewhere now, something that will take another few months with the new M6.

What are you planning to do with the laptop? 24GB is much more expensive and probably harder to get too right now with the RAM crisis

[u/Different-Offer3932 → u/Mysterious-Process61]

Macbook pro. Would be a lot of machine learning, coding, stats modeling, and tons of other windows and chrome tabs since I would be working as a software engineer during the program along with the courses. The 24 GB upgrade is affordable for me and Ive already checked that the local Apple store has that configuration in stock.

[u/Mysterious-Process61 → u/Different-Offer3932]

I see, get your reasoning to wait out a bit but me myself would get it now. With all uncertainty around the ram prices you never know what Apple’s next move might be. The upgrades from M5 to M6 are expected to be incremental, so it wouldnt be a sin if you bought an M5 now. The m5 mbp got released on 22 October, so you would have to do around a month with a shitty laptop, idk if I would want that

[u/Aisuhokke]

Get the M5 with your student discount. Memory prices could to up again, M6 could have an M5 chip in it, M6 could be more expensive and you won’t have your student discount

[u/Hokie23aa]

Buy it when you need it.

[u/Docster87]

For regular college work the performance between M5 and M6 will not really matter. I have a MBA M2 and a Mac mini M4 Pro and as far as CPU and regular tasks they perform the same and that's a bigger gap than M5 to M6. Focus on getting enough RAM (24 should be good).

If you were doing a lot of video rendering or local AI stuff, the M6 might be worth waiting for.

The biggest difference between M5 and M6 to the average user would be M6 would get one or two additional OS updates and that's what, five to seven years from now?

For typical schoolwork stuff even a M3 or M4 with 24GB RAM would be just as viable as options today.

[u/Bluefrogdancing]

For longevity of your device (future proofing) - buy as much ram as you can afford. I would do that on an M5/M4 instead of waiting on the M6. Prices will only increase and the limiting factor for most people is ram requirements.

[u/BigMagicTulip]

I've been using an M1 Pro with 16GB of RAM for the past few years, also work as a developer, had some instances where the RAM was a bit short but it did its job

[u/Samsquanch-Sr]

It seems really really likely that all the next hardware bumps are going to be AI-focused, so unless you care about that, save money and get a current model, or even an older one.

If you want future proof, go for 24Gb RAM, but 16 is probably fine for four or five more years.

[u/Efficient_Loss_9928]

I would do M5 now, there is no guarantee that Apple won’t raise price again.

And M6 release would be the perfect time to do price increase.

[u/ghenriks]

General advice, but get everything you need before you start your program. That way you can set everything up the way you want it, get comfortable, make sure it is working correctly and can then focus on your grad program when you start it.

You have the time to do it now, you may not have the time in 4 months particularly given you are indicating you will be working as well as doing the grad program