[stoppingdown]

Gents,

my MacBook Pro 16" 2019 with 32GB RAM and 4TB of SSD just passed the 4 years period that I consider the minimum term before an upgrade. All in all I'm relatively happy with it, since its two predecessors had to be replaced a few months earlier: one because of a known issue with the graphic card, repaired multiple times with no luck; the other because it lost the anti-glare on the screen.

Now the minimum term doesn't mean that I have to change it immediately, but for what concerns photo processing with Capture One it's getting out of breath: each small edit takes a few tenths of seconds before being applied, thus making editing a bit painful. Right, there's something wrong because I still have 24MB images like four years ago, but that's life with software. I've also tried to reinstall Capture One from scratch, but nothing to do.

Now, since a few years I'd like to move to Linux, but it's still impossible for photo editing: so I'll stay with Apple for the next term. I have two options:

1. MacBook Air 15" M4 10‑core, GPU 10‑core, Neural Engine 16‑core, 32GB, SSD 2TB, 3049€ (2500€ + VAT).
   
2. MacBook Pro 16" M4 Max 14‑core, GPU 32‑core, Neural Engine 16‑core, 36GB, SSD 4TB, 5549€ (4550€ + VAT).
   

The cost difference for the latter is huge (2000€), and it's roughly 20% more expensive than my current MacBook bought four years ago. It's not a problem of budget, I can afford the most expensive, but as I get older I'm less and less willing to spend money on computers. Honestly I think that the Air is more than enough for my computing needs and even though the screen is a tad smaller I'd enjoy the fact that it's a bit lighter.

The problem is that the Air doesn't ship with more than 2TB of SSD and Apple hardwires them to the mother board.
Of course I could use an external USB+SSD, which nowadays are faster; actually I have a handful of them, mostly used for backups. My problem is that I don't want to stay with a thing attached to an USB cord all the time: yes, I travel for my job less than in the past, but I still remember bad experiences with detached cords and filesystem failures. Having bought the 4TB four years ago really changed my life. But 2000€ more...?

Now I've find this piece of equipment:
https://www.amazon.it/Lexar-Professional...ef=sr_1_7s

It's a Lexar 2TB external SSD with an enclosure that attaches directly to the USB port without cable and has been designed to have a stronger than standard "clamping force", so it looks like it can be kept attached to the laptop most of the time without big troubles. It's 1GB/s fast, so not the top speed you can enjoy with USB 4, but probably it's enough; non mentioning that in a couple of years it's likely larger and faster models will come out. It seems a good solution to save money now and possibly make the life of my new laptop longer.

Do you have experience of it? What do you think?