I’m planning on upgrading my MacBook Pro 2018 soon before it gets too old and starts dying, but I’m unsure what to pick…

My options are:

refurbished M5 MacBook with 24gb and either 1 or 2 terabytes storage 1,609/1,949

M4 pro Mac mini with 24gb and 1 terabyte 1,799

I was surprised how much cheaper the refurbished models were but they don’t come with the M5 Pro or above and was wondering how much better or similar in power it is for music production (and Minecraft too), I might not be in the level of big orchestra compositions yet but I’d love for something like Zebra 3, Serum 2 or Korg PS-3300 to not immediately max out and have processing room. I would like the two terabytes so I can fit some of my bigger instruments inside and take them everywhere with me but I’m okay with just one since it’s pretty much required at this point. Plus if I get the MacBook I can immediately get started out of the box because it’s all in one without having to buy a screen and monitors right away and it’s much easier to travel with.

What do you think is my best bet and if I can compromise a little with just M5?

 

Only you can know what the portability of a Macbook is worth to you.
If you really don't have a screen yet then of course Mac Mini is a harder sell.
Even a 2025 M4 Macbook Air (850 bucks) can handle like 30 instances of Serum 2.
I personally wouldn't pay the ultra premium price for local storage upgrades on Macs.

 

Better to buy new and with a warranty so you can enjoy your new Mac for many years to come!

 

Refurbished comes with the same warranty.

 

Better look at higher tier M4 Macbook Pro, one with 12 or 14 CPU, skip those entry ones, they have 4P and 6E cores, opposed to 8P/4E and 10P/4E on higher tier ones, they start with 24GB RAM and 512GB SSD, so look into ones that are configured little higher. As far as Mini goes, better wait for M5's line up to come.

Which DAW do you use?

 

Last edited: Apr 11, 2026

if you have a macbook and want a macbook, then I'm afraid a mac mini is a no-go,

what do you mean by refurbished macbook? macbook air? I would stay away from fanless macbook air IF you need sustained performance without thermal throttling (though question is, if your current macbook with overheating Intel processor was fine),

practically speaking, biggest compromise would be if your older macbook had more memory or more storage,
for ex. if your old macbook had 32GB memory then you definitely don't want less, same with storage, if your old macbook had 2TB then you want at least the same ideally more...

 

Logic, Reason, Bitwig, VCV if that one counts

 

There’s an Apple certified refurbished page on their website, I am looking there and I’m not going for the Air because there may be more ports available and obviously the pro models will have more cooling

 

Yeah, the most I’d probably get away with is having my Omnisphere folder internally stored but I can leave it open for things like my UJAM guitars, additional workspace and room for plugins I’ve handed off like Phase Plant and SGX-2

 

Ones that don't use E cores pretty much, yeah, that's a pickle, higher tier M5 Pro don't have the E cores and seems on higher buffers Bitwig/Logic utilize all the cores, which pretty much drastically improves the performance, nothing worse then having DAW maxed out and seeing he's only using 40% of your CPU resources, sure M5 is ace, but on long run why limiting yourself to 4 cores and have 6 of them collecting dust, you will have more urge to update down the line, opposed to just getting something that can last you next 10 years easily.

Look into listings, there's pretty much stuff that was only turned on with like few cycles of battery people are selling for drastically lower prices, also M4's are not that old, even slightly used ones are still rocking hard.

 

Yeah, buying refurbished from Apple is definitely the way to go, as you can save a lot of money, is eligible for all warranties/Apple Care etc, and is treated by them and their staff as it was a new device in those regards. That's what I've done for the last 20 years or so, and not one regret.

As others have said, portability is up to you and your needs, and definitely go with a unit that has more P cores then E (for instance, obviously the Pro's or Max line is gonna be better if you are dealing with more needs (and apple have changed their nomenclature/or hw to super chips and whatnot, but I think you get what I mean).

I usually spring for the 1tb model, and kind of have a rule to not have boot drives larger than that myself... (but again, only using around half of it, so plenty of overhead), and also (at least on some models, and I could be wrong on something as it's been a minute), the 1tb models tend to have faster drives or access....

I've got at 36gb ram model right now, and it's taken everything I've thrown at it without problem, one could probably do fine even with heavy Kontakt libraries etc with 24, but I certainly wouldn't go under 16gb myself for what I do.

 

So I want something that can use all the cores immediately and that has less efficiency cores compared to performance cores? I may check eBay but it might make it slightly harder to find the right listing in case I miss out on a more upgraded M4 with the Pro/Max chip and specs I want or it’s still at a higher cost that is around how much I can get a new M5 Pro MacBook. And Apple refurbished is a good option so long as it’s basically guaranteed lightly used

 

Z1JV - CTO// Apple Mac Mini M4 Pro 12-Core CPU - 16-Core GPU - 24GB - 1 TB - 2024 = 1.749,00 €*
https://www.mactrade.de/cto-apple-mac-mini-m4-pro-12-core-cpu-16-core-gpu-24gb-1-tb-2024/69744.0003

 

They are essentially brand new, certainly arrive like that, and hell, they install new everything on them to look so etc...and are tested rigorously more than even off the shelf new units.

There is literally no downside to getting Apple refurbished. I wouldn't go eBay on this, as sketch prevails (unless something has changed).

And Apple has been great to me in fixing units with swollen batteries or keyboard issues with units that have been well out of apple care for years... (although now they have a different Apple Care plan where you can extend that for (I believe) up to decade if paid yearly).

But I've gotten so many miles out of all my mac's, and way beyond expiration date on AppleCare, as they have never turned me down, and I believe as long as you are cool, they tend to work with you. That's assuming you face a problem, and things that can last a decade plus may run into them. I've just never regretted a purchase (outside of my 2005 MacBook Pro I got for a touring backup unit right before the intel switch).

 

Didn’t find much on eBay with my filters applied that are around how much I was expecting for a used or slightly used model, I found this one which is guaranteed at least a M4 pro with the ram/ssd I want but keep in mind I may have to wait until September at the earliest to upgrade so I’ll have time to keep looking in case a better deal comes by then.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/287200299336

won’t know exactly which chip configuration it has but pro is at least better than standard M4 and M5

 

I want to go for the refurbished one but I would potentially sacrifice performance for convenience and maybe a few hundred bucks at most, plus it’s possible updates will come to help out a little bit and it will be supported longer as well

 

That one is 14CPU model, but it's really beaten up, that spec'ed 12CPU model in better condition for that money is good deal, just check out occasionally, great deals don't last more then few hours/days.

 

How would you sacrifice performance for convenience if you get the model you want?

And if you are looking months out, yeah, than sure, I'd wait until closer to purchase time, as these things fluctuate. You might get screwed with drive and ram prices, but it's not like a m4/m5 in whichever configuration you want is gonna go up despite the aforementioned.

You are just going to notice a big difference regardless coming from 2018 intel.

If you're not buying now, and waiting until September, I don't know why you are asking you know? Unless you are just trying to figure out if you want a laptop or desktop/mini option, which only you can decide, and knowing how these chips and the processor load between the different cores work kinda thing.

But if you wait a minute or the five months you are talking about, that landscape could change obviously.

(and apple refurbished deals come and go quickly, so asking now for later isn't really a thing.)

 

I don’t care if it’s got a couple little nicks, it’s gonna be in a case anyway like how my current MacBook is

 

I’m mostly checking if the available m5 models I saw with the 10 cores will be okay even with last year’s more performance models I had been looking at prior, I wouldn’t mind sacrificing a bit of power but if it has a greater performance impact then I will keep my eye out and make sure I’m able to get the upgrade, I also just remembered I have Voltage Modular and I’d like it to not be eating my resources up so I can dive into the patches and build my own big racks too