It’s easy enough to buy a MacBook, sellers WILL help you with this… but it’s also easy to make a lot of painful mistakes that will make you experience “buyer’s regret”! So today I’am going to share with you the mistakes so that you don’t make them and don’t lose money. No matter how pleasant the price tag may seem to you, no matter how the sellers persuade you, NEVER buy Apple devices in a non-certified store. And preferably any other equipment too, especially expensive. An official certified store sells a licensed product that has an official warranty.
But there is another problem that many “OTHER” stores are silent about – selling products from the so-called “grey or dark market”. These are devices that were not produced for your country – not to mention repaired devices that may look brand new… well, or just Used. In order not to stumble upon an unauthorized store, you should pay attention to the Apple Reseller icon on their website. Apple has a wonderful service (link) that will help you find the nearest authorized store, and in these authorized stores, you will find EXACTLY what you’re looking for. Although Apple no longer sells them in official stores, in some retail stores, as well as Amazon, you may find Intel-based MacBooks.
The point of the problem is that an Intel chip is certainly not a calculator, but also not the M1. The M1 chips are made for Macbooks and iPads, and that makes new devices MUCH more powerful. The transition to Apple Silicon was announced in June 2020. Tim Cook promised that within a few years new versions of macOS WILL support Intel Macs. Every year, of course, fewer and fewer apps will support Intel Macbooks – new features will be available only on Apple Silicon. Intel Macs will not support the most interesting of what Apple will come up with. So, by getting an Intel MacBook, which is not possible in the official store, you will not only get an old model but lose all the new features in the future… for which you paid!
But no matter how attractive the power of new M1 Macs may look, there is always a chance to get the wrong model. Macbooks are different, and for a reason. Before you buy a Mac, yes, I will say the obvious – you need to understand the purpose of this purchase, and it’s a good idea to apply this rule regardless of the thickness of your wallet. For example, a brand new maxed MacBook Pro can get up to $6,000. Beautiful design, first-class specs, you can’t think of a better one, right? But are there exactly those tasks in your daily routine where this beast will come in handy? It has an insane 4TB SSD, but most likely you will fill it up with junk you don’t use every day.
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If you need a little, then spend a little, and it’s better to invest your money in accessories, or even an external hard drive, for example, as a backup for important files. However, you may encounter the opposite situation. The amount of money doesn’t allow you to buy something powerful, which is why there is a chance to waste money. Let’s say you have 1000 bucks and I need a MacBook on which I wanna create 3D and edit videos a lot – and my choice is the base M1 Macbook Air, and after a joyful purchase…you will realize that the MacBook simply cannot handle your workflow 100%. You need to consider your Macbook as an investment. You are buying a tool, and a properly selected tool is the key to success. This video will help you with this – how to get THE BEST Macbook for you, depending on the tasks.
Oh hey! Did you choose the base SSD? Well, now you’ll have to live with it forever because the SSD is welded to other components, so you won’t be able to upgrade it. If you are 100% sure that 256 or 512 GB is enough for you, then take it of course. But if there is even the slightest doubt, it’s worth looking at the 1 TB option – it will be enough to have all the necessary apps installed, as well as photos, videos, and documents.
I already have a video on the channel where I explain why IT’S NOT WORTH taking a base model with 256 GB SSD. I know how good it feels, but still, you SHOULD NOT hold on to your “favorite MacBook Pro from 2015”. MacBooks are improving for a reason – don’t be afraid to keep up with the times, seriously. The lack of ports will be solved with a multiport hub, which will be connected to it no more than once or twice a week. And the new M1 chipsets are mind-blowing in terms of performance and power efficiency.
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The only thing you will have to sacrifice is Windows. Macs on Apple Silicon will not support Bootcamp, so you will not be able to run Windows on it. Most apps have good alternatives on MacOS. So don’t be afraid to upgrade, I’m with you! Another mistake that mostly happened was, Getting a new Macbook without factory film By the way, a little tip: check for the factory film on the Macbook box. If it is not there, then it’s 100% that the MacBook was either replaced by someone or experienced crazy adventures during transportation. The box has a clear factory film – the first sign of the quality. But it happens that we come to the store, and they tell us that this particular MacBook is the only one left, and immediately it turns out that it’s cheaper than a new one. At first glance, it sounds like a good deal – well, they didn’t use it, they didn’t kick it, they didn’t throw it… probably! And don’t forget about the factory film.
The laptop from the store shelf is used! It could be there for a long time and many people could test it, scratching or even dropping it, thereby harming not only the body but also the hardware. It’s also worth paying attention to the display, you can get caught on missing pixels. And the battery in such MacBooks is usually very far from brand new, just imagine – it’s charging every day CONSTANTLY. Yes, it’s cheaper on paper, and everything seems to be fair, but does the seller’s desire to sell the used MacBook coincide with your desire to buy a brand-new product? If yes, then OK, but the discount will not be so big, and as we said earlier, your money is an investment in your success, life, work, and most importantly – your happiness.
And what a GREAT IDEA to get a new Macbook with AppleCare… somewhere 10 months after the purchase. Let me show you the trick. AppleCare is an optional support, maintenance, and repair plan that you can purchase in addition to your Mac’s one-year limited warranty. While AppleCare has other benefits, the most important one is that it substantially extends your Mac’s one-year limited warranty by one or two years (depending on the type of Mac you’re buying AppleCare for). AppleCare (not to be confused with AppleCare+) can be purchased at any time during the first year of your Mac’s life, so there is no need to purchase it at the same time as your Mac – in this case, its service life will begin at the time of purchase. If an accident happens to your Mac, something that the warranty covers, AppleCare will also be canceled. And it will simply be money for nothing.
You probably know the saying: “size doesn’t matter.” It does, just accept it, IT DOES! With a large screen, you simply have more space. But if you travel a lot, then having this big guy in your backpack all the time will not be the most pleasant thing. Someone will say that it’s obvious, and I will say that it’s not always for everyone. A portable MacBook may be suitable for people who travel a lot – in this case, it’s wiser to get at least a 13 or 14-inch display. But if you mostly use a laptop in one place, consider at least a 14-inch model, or even a 16-inch one. Yes, yes! I said that it’s necessary to buy from official stores, but there’s still an alternative if your budget is very tight. There are a bunch of third-party stores that sell brand-new Apple devices. All you need to do is take a look at Apple Refurbished – the official place for returned and refurbished Apple products that still come with a warranty, but offer a discount. You can usually get a 15% discount off the typical recommended retail price.
Today is the day of recommendations, not laws and strict rules. If you wanna buy something used, and maybe even from a store shelf, then feel free to get it IF you are sure – no one is judging you! But let’s be honest, we wanna spend not only money but also time on something high-quality and durable, that is, to invest resources in something we’re gonna use for a long time.
Source: 5 Biggest MacBook Buying Mistakes
