I am a power user who is going to be living a life on the go starting at the end of the year and need a little advice on what MBP to buy. I do a lot of video editing so ideally need something that can somewhat handle 4k RAW DSLR footage. I have been considering getting a top of the line 2015 model as according to the geek-bench scores they compare well to the newer ones when it comes down to price and I have no preference when it comes to the design. I also read today about the potential for i9 chips in the 2018 refresh. so my question is 3 fold. for raw performance (CPU/GPU) are the 2016 and newer models actually more powerful than their predecessors? if so how significantly? and should I maybe just wait for the 2018 refresh as it could be quite dramatic?
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1 Looking to get a MBP what would you guys recommend?
- Thread starter AtlastZola
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If you can wait, wait.
New models are always around the corner and if you’re going to invest heavily why not wait a few months and get the latest model? It might (not) be the new i9 processor and it might (not) be a 13’ quad or 15” 6 core chip.
Then again, in 15 months time there will be the 2019 model....
If you buy one and you want to use it heavily with 4K raw, then IMHO you should buy the 15” i7/i9 model.
most likely 16Gb is still the max, but one thing to consider is the SSD. 512 is nice, but you might need more. 1Tb is bloody expensive and 2Tb buys you a second 13” base model...
So you would need to find out if you can live with 512 and external SSD’s if you’re going to need that amount of space.
One question, what does “on the go” mean? Are you going backpacking (13” might be smaller, lighter, perhaps a bit physical stronger), or are you going the digital nomad route and weight is less of an issue?
New models are always around the corner and if you’re going to invest heavily why not wait a few months and get the latest model? It might (not) be the new i9 processor and it might (not) be a 13’ quad or 15” 6 core chip.
Then again, in 15 months time there will be the 2019 model....
If you buy one and you want to use it heavily with 4K raw, then IMHO you should buy the 15” i7/i9 model.
most likely 16Gb is still the max, but one thing to consider is the SSD. 512 is nice, but you might need more. 1Tb is bloody expensive and 2Tb buys you a second 13” base model...
So you would need to find out if you can live with 512 and external SSD’s if you’re going to need that amount of space.
One question, what does “on the go” mean? Are you going backpacking (13” might be smaller, lighter, perhaps a bit physical stronger), or are you going the digital nomad route and weight is less of an issue?
I will be creating promotional content for NGO's in Africa in Asia for a couple years and leaving in September so I will be on the go but weight isn't a major issue as I will often be set up for months at a time. Storage isn't a issue either as I work almost entirely from externals. My main concern is CPU and GPU, I want to make sure I didn't get a expensive laptop only to realize i'm severely bottlenecked by one of them when editing. I guess the real question is how dramatic is the improvement of having a dedicated GPU such as a Radeon chip vs intel iris for video and photo work.
There is a real and big difference between an iris chip and a Radeon chip. It will make your work much, much easier and there might be things even impossible on an iris chip. Iris chips have come a long way and they are certainly up to any regular tast you might throw at them (web-browsing, emailing, displaying video, streaming video) but editing 4K raw is not something they are designed for.
If you wait 3-4 months I would guesstimate the new 13” is out. That might have a quad core and a discrete GPU. Or it might not have one or the other. We just don’t know. But even if it has both, there are thermal restraints to the smaller body.
One other thing to keep in mind: if either the 2018 15” and/or the 13” sees huge improvements, you would want to wait to see if it works out all right or if there are any faults or problems. Certainly with the 13”.
I think realistically the 2017 model would have 4-6 years of life in them. Depending on what comes out the 2018 model might have a year more. perhaps two. But in 6 years time, everything might have changed and advanced so you would want/need to buy a new one anyway.
Did you use macOS before or is this your first machine? If so buy an i7 15” 2017 model right now. It will give you time to get familiar, collect all the software/hardware and get help at an apple store/forum/software seller/manufacturer if needed.
But either 2018 or 2017, I would say choose an 15” with discrete graphics card.
A 15 inch with the best discrete graphics card, wait if you can as hex core CPU’s and better GPU’s seem likely this year.
If you're only working with 1080p content the 2015 should be fine, anything more and you would begin to see real benefits from having a dGPU. At this point waiting is probably a good idea though (especially if you are in the UK or Europe as the prices are likely to be reduced on the back of stronger exchange rates).
If you are sourcing 4K raw I would think you might want to wait and see if Apple adds the new i9 chip to the 15". If they are going to introduce such as system, WWDC in June or this fall seem likely times. And both of these dates would be well within your end of year time-frame.
OP wrote:
"I am a power user who is going to be living a life on the go starting at the end of the year..."
The answer to your question is easy.
WAIT until the 2018 MacBook Pro models come out, and buy one of them.
There really isn't much more that needs to be said.
Other than... if I needed a 15" MBP RIGHT NOW, I'd buy a 2015-design model. I don't trust the 2017 products.
"I am a power user who is going to be living a life on the go starting at the end of the year..."
The answer to your question is easy.
WAIT until the 2018 MacBook Pro models come out, and buy one of them.
There really isn't much more that needs to be said.
Other than... if I needed a 15" MBP RIGHT NOW, I'd buy a 2015-design model. I don't trust the 2017 products.
Thanks so much for all the info! Ive owned over a dozen OSX devices (currently have a Mac Pro which I use for all this sort of work) and a 2013 MBP which is right around the end of it being a viable computer to do anything more than basic tasks. What I really needed to hear is confirmation of my suspicions that the Radeon chip really is a significant jump in performance. So thank you for that! In a dream world the 2018 13inch model will be able to have one and i'll get that when it comes out.
Thanks again for the thorough responses!
I keep seeing references to the 2018 MacBook Pro, but it apparently doesn't exist and isn't projected, so why should anyone wait for it?
Your on Mac Rumors. We want to be on the bleeding edge and are always looking for the next system that will be better than the current.
In the case of the 2016/2017 units this means hopefully an improved touch and reliability keyboard, and faster processors, maybe one using the new i9 hex core mobile processors or the i7 lower power quads that Intel just announced. If both of those were done, the 2018 systems could be a worthy upgrade.
They may be announced at WWDC on June 4 since the times line up.
