I got M1 Max with 64GB and 32 core GPU fro $1500 refurbished with zero cycle battery on 100%. As most companies doing refresh/write-off after 3 years 2025 is really a year where you can get a beast of machine for the money. I also have M4 Max for work and differences are only on really heavy tasks but for 3X less money I guess M1 Max is still good deal. This delay also means that M2/M3 ones will be good buy next year as well.
That's what I have too. I upgraded about 9 months ago from an M1 Max 32 GiB + 1 TiB SSD to 64 GiB + 4 TiB SSD, and donated the old one to a FOSS developer in Europe who can now support macOS. The "new" one is used, but had about 15 cycles on it and 99% battery health... like it was in someone's closet for 3 years.
It's a total waste of money paying zillions for tiny improvements.
