Head to the Apple Store with a large wallet – you’ll need it. To get the feature of the new MacBook Pro the reviewers are especially raving about, the nano-texture display, add £150 to the sticker price. A modest 1TB internal drive adds £200 (for 2TB, up from the standard 512GB in the base model, budget for £600 more).

A reasonable 16GB RAM comes as standard with the lower-end processor versions, and doubling RAM to 32GB costs another £400. For faster charging you’ll need the 96W power adaptor and to find an extra £20.

A ‘cheap’ MacBook Pro M4, therefore, specc-ed with the matte display, 32GB of RAM, fast charge capability and a terabyte of storage comes in at £2369. Of course, those specifications are quite high, and have added £769 to the price of the most basic machine. But the reason for opting for higher specs is to ensure some degree of future usability – due to Apple’s insistence that the components you will most likely want to upgrade (storage and RAM) are soldered to the motherboard and can’t be changed.

Build quality and the overall standard of components have, almost without exception, been of the highest quality in Apple products. Where most PCs – bar so-called ‘premium’ models – will need replacing, repairing or upgrading every three or four years, Apple hardware is built to last. There are millions of Apple laptops still in daily use that are six, ten or even 15 years old. The physical components of the company’s offerings are reliable and durable. However, that’s not the end of the story.

Apple has a habit of pushing software updates to its devices that, later in their expected lives, push the available on-board resources to their limits. Users who have expected a new OS to revitalise their computing or phone experiences two or three years in are often disappointed that instead of a new lease of life, the latest OS update comes with features and system demands that slow older hardware.

There’s also the issue of software support. When older computer hardware from Apple reaches end-of-support, it will no longer accept certain later versions of macOS. That may not be a problem, unless users happen to want to run software that insists on a minimum OS version. Falling behind in this regard means that owners have little option than to buy a newer model, or if possible, run older software that’s less fussy about OS version than later iterations.

There are thousands of uses for computers, many specialised applications and innumerable pieces of software that will get a job done. Potential buyers of any new piece of premium hardware, especially one that commands such a high price, need to consider whether or not they will actually utilise all that’s under the well-engineered hood of the new M4 MacBook Pro.

If a laptop will spend its days running an email client, a web browser, some communications software and, perhaps on occasion, undertaking a little light image manipulation, then dropping the best part of £2500 on the cheapest MacBook Pro (and even, arguably, a MacBook Air) is huge overkill.

Even the fabled battery life of the ARM-powered M-series laptops is a convenience that’s not fully exploited often – at least by necessity. Long-haul flights, train journeys, extended visits to remote sites: it’s rare that there’s no access whatsoever to a power socket. Not having to plug a laptop into mains power is a convenience, but it might be considered an expensive one.

Clearly, there are some exceptional use-cases and circumstances. Software engineers compiling binaries in server rooms, 4k video editors working on location, and data scientists running LLMs away from power sources: There are possible scenarios in which a 14 hour potential battery life can make the difference between success and failure. But how common are these situations, compared to, for example, having to move seat in a coffee shop to relocate to be near a power outlet after five or six hours?

Apple designs its hardware, software, and business model around its need for customers to keep buying new hardware. It talks a good fight about recycled materials and gives returning customers bottom-dollar for older hardware traded-in against new-generation devices. The company says it recycles or sells on old computers returned to it in this way, but like most private businesses, its processes are opaque enough for there to be room for plenty of claims that its recycling efforts are not entirely kosher.

Unlike some manufacturers, Apple’s built-in obsolesence in hardware and software means older devices are destined from day one to be consumed and then at least partially discarded in three or four years. So what of those older Apple laptops (and desktops) that keep on running for 10 or 20 years? Either they’re still used, running an unsupported (and potentially insecure) Apple operating system and software, are gathering dust on a shelf waiting for a trip to the local recycling centre, or are running a freely-available and update-able operating system like FreeBSD or Linux.

Apple began hiring marketing personnel drawn from luxury brands as far back as the mid 2000s. It markets its devices not as powerful computing platforms, but as lifestyle accessories, rather like its watches and phones. Having the latest and greatest hardware from a premium lifestyle brand may be desirable for some, of course. But even outside the realm of personal preference in ‘experience’ for a daily driver laptop, there are enough reasons to choose more wisely than Apple.