Why I don’t want to upgrade my Mac right now
I’m using an early 2011 15 inch MacBook Pro. Still! It’s now almost eight years old. And it’s plagued by that issue with its discrete graphics card. After Apple replaced the logic board twice – for free – I got it repaired late last year again (by a third party), and then a couple of days ago another time (under warranty). Before going with the repair, I thought about getting a newer model. It remained being just a thought.
Apart from being a waste of otherwise still very capable hardware, there are three main reasons for this:
- The new unreliable keyboard.
- Apple’s ridiculous high prices for SSD storage.
- The Touch Bar.
I’ve heard and read about too many instances where keys on the new keyboards would stop working properly – even on their latest iteration – that I’m very hesitant to buy one with those in them.
Then there is the price for SSD storage. I want a 1TB configuration, so I can comfortably fit everything I need internally. I don’t want to deal with external drives and all the complexity that comes with that. Annoyingly, upgrading a current MacBook Pro configuration to feature a 1TB SSD instead of the 512GB version costs an additional €500. Which I feel is a rip-off!
And I’m sceptical of the Touch Bar, too. I use the Esc key a lot, and think I would miss having a hardware key for its functionality. So, I’d much prefer a row of function keys.
And that’s why I’ll keep using my trusty old 2011 model. It still performs well with its quad-core CPU, all-SDD storage and a renewed battery. I’m still hoping Apple will get its act together again soon.
