ApplePoor

I have a M1 Max 14" MBPro (64GB & 4TB SSD) and a M1 Ultra MacStudio (128GB & 8TB SSD). Apple depreciated the MacStudio nearly 75% in one year for a trade in value. Not quite as bad for the laptop. Both are able to run the latest MacOS. Both still work fine for my needs. Both have Apple Care going forward. 

Unless any of the software I use suddenly needs a M4 or M5 to run, I am content to keep the jingle in my pockets.

I recognize the difference between a "want" or a "need".  I may want the latest and greatest but I do not need it for what I do. Thus in the "soldered" world that Apple has now created, I order the maximum system memory and the largest SSD I think I could possibly need for my use for years.

I enjoy watching the "dog and pony" show for the new stuff and the last few years they have really had to work to generate apparent enthusiasm for their new products with small incremental changes.

It reads if the device is currently under extended warranty, then they can service it. The magic phrase is under a current extended warranty.

When traveling around the world, AmEx is accepted at some of the major hotels and some of the top restaurants. Virtually no use in rural European or South American areas nor the seven countries of southern Africa we visited several years ago. Most of the airlines will take American Express for tickets.

So one really needs a VISA and/or a Mastercard to cover the bases when traveling. Also a debit card for local currency at  cash points.

I think the bad debt experience at GS is only a result of their poor selection process to allow new customers. Their lust after the exhorbiant interest rates on credit card debt blinded them to the fact that those high interest rates are because of defaults. Since they accepted marginally qualified customers, then there should be no surprise at their losses. Greed does often have dire consequences. 

 My Intel  i7 Mac mini has 64GB of OWC ram and the 2TB SSD soldered in by Apple. I have seen over 40GB of the ram being used as cache during massive file transfers. Perhaps the SSD could be smaller, but memory size does impact server activity.

Since I have a M1 Ultra MacStudio (128GB ram and 8TB SSD) now, when Apple drops support for Intel processors and I retire it for MacOS security reasons, I would put the M1 MacStudio into the job and get the most recent MacStudio. Since we can not change either memory or SSD after the build, we use what we have. Apple is offering $1,580 as a trade-in value for my MacStudio. The M2 Pro mini with 32GB os ram and a 2TB SSD lists for $2,599 before adding Apple care and sales tax. The M3 Pro mini would be that or higher.

Apple crippled the M3 Pro chip so the most memory of 32GB for the M2 Pro is now just 36MB for the M3 Pro. I had hoped for 64GB of ram as the memory had doubled going to the M2 Pro generation from the M1 Pro generation.

If the future M3 or higher Mac Studio failed, I could fall back to the M1 Mac Studio. Remember that a component failure results in a completely new motherboard and a quick replacement could be problematic and its would be a used board.