Why I'm not buying the newest and most powerful MacBook Pro anymore

Earlier this year, I faced a conundrum where my old 2012 MacBook Pro was still so good that I found it hard to justify buying a newer model.

Indeed, I bought the most powerful 15-inch MacBook Pro in 2012 because I knew its Core i7 processor would keep up for several more years than a MacBook Pro with a less powerful Core i5 processor.

The concept is called "future-proofing." Basically, I buy a device that's way more powerful than necessary for my current needs in anticipation for the future when operating systems and apps will require more horsepower. 

And this machine is truly a monster, especially after I replaced its slow old hard drive with an incredibly fast SSD drive and upgraded its RAM from 4GB to 16GB. My plan worked. My five-year-old laptop still ran incredibly well, even by today's standards, and I had no need to spend a couple thousand dollars on a new laptop. In fact, I could probably squeeze out another couple years out my trusty old 2012 MacBook Pro.

"What could possibly be the problem," you might ask. Well, future proofing has one big drawback. 

You see, I didn't really want my five-year-old MacBook Pro anymore; not when I saw all the cool new and improved features on newer models.

In the end, I finally did upgrade, but I didn't go for the newest, most powerful model. 

Here's why I upgraded and which model I bought: