Hardware Failure Replacement Plan
May 07 2024
After today's announcement of new iPad Air and iPad Pro these are my current thoughts.
Airport Time Capsule --> AmpliFi Alien Router ($380 for router only)
Used to be Linksys Velop AX4200 WiFi 6 Mesh System ($250 for 1 unit). I like that AmpliFi has a screen so you can see status and it has a built-in VPN. Lack of USB port for printer doesn't matter since my current printer uses WiFi. Neither router supports WiFi 6e.
Drobo 5c --> None
Now that I stopped using my Drobo I don't really miss it. Instead of plugging in one device to access all my external media I plug in one HD at a time but the way I have it setup my main data is on one 14-TB HD and the other 14-TB HD is for archival stuff I rarely read. I then do weekly syncs to backup 14-TB HDs -- I don't really need immediate sync that a RAID system provides.
iPhone SE 3rd gen (128 GB) --> same ($480)
I'm still paying off my iPhone SE so don't expect to replace it for a few years.
Apple Watch s7 (44mm) --> Apple Watch SE (44mm) ($280)
Remains the same. Again I hope not to need replacing for a few years.
iPad Pro 10.5" (256 GB) --> iPad Air 11-inch (M2, 256 GB, Wi-Fi) ($700)
Used to be iPad mini (256 GB, Wi-Fi) ($650) but that's 2-1/2 years old so until there's a new iPad mini my emergency replacement is the just-released iPad Air. My iPad Pro is 6-1/2 years old and still works fine so don't expect to replace it any time soon.
MacBook Pro --> MBP 14-inch (M3 Pro, 11-core CPU, 14-core GPU, 36 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD) ($3200)
Previously it was configurations that came to max $2500 with tax so now I'm upping it to $3300 with tax. But this is a faster configuration (strangely 36 GB RAM is max but that should be as good as my current 64 GB RAM Intel MBP) and 2 TB SSD is minimum (1 TB for Mac, 1 TB for Windows).
My current MBP is 4 years old and works fine. I do use 4 TB space on my Mac partition but I think I can offload most of it if I had to.
Mac mini --> upgrade MBP
I think at this point the expectation is that if the Mac mini dies I should replace my MBP and use the old one as a server. My Mac mini is 6 years old (and a 2014 design) but still works fine for my modest server needs.
Airport Time Capsule --> AmpliFi Alien Router ($380 for router only)
Used to be Linksys Velop AX4200 WiFi 6 Mesh System ($250 for 1 unit). I like that AmpliFi has a screen so you can see status and it has a built-in VPN. Lack of USB port for printer doesn't matter since my current printer uses WiFi. Neither router supports WiFi 6e.
Drobo 5c --> None
Now that I stopped using my Drobo I don't really miss it. Instead of plugging in one device to access all my external media I plug in one HD at a time but the way I have it setup my main data is on one 14-TB HD and the other 14-TB HD is for archival stuff I rarely read. I then do weekly syncs to backup 14-TB HDs -- I don't really need immediate sync that a RAID system provides.
iPhone SE 3rd gen (128 GB) --> same ($480)
I'm still paying off my iPhone SE so don't expect to replace it for a few years.
Apple Watch s7 (44mm) --> Apple Watch SE (44mm) ($280)
Remains the same. Again I hope not to need replacing for a few years.
iPad Pro 10.5" (256 GB) --> iPad Air 11-inch (M2, 256 GB, Wi-Fi) ($700)
Used to be iPad mini (256 GB, Wi-Fi) ($650) but that's 2-1/2 years old so until there's a new iPad mini my emergency replacement is the just-released iPad Air. My iPad Pro is 6-1/2 years old and still works fine so don't expect to replace it any time soon.
MacBook Pro --> MBP 14-inch (M3 Pro, 11-core CPU, 14-core GPU, 36 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD) ($3200)
Previously it was configurations that came to max $2500 with tax so now I'm upping it to $3300 with tax. But this is a faster configuration (strangely 36 GB RAM is max but that should be as good as my current 64 GB RAM Intel MBP) and 2 TB SSD is minimum (1 TB for Mac, 1 TB for Windows).
My current MBP is 4 years old and works fine. I do use 4 TB space on my Mac partition but I think I can offload most of it if I had to.
Mac mini --> upgrade MBP
I think at this point the expectation is that if the Mac mini dies I should replace my MBP and use the old one as a server. My Mac mini is 6 years old (and a 2014 design) but still works fine for my modest server needs.