2015 (Early) MacBookPro vs. 2015/16 (Late)(Early) MacbookAir/Pro

[Patrickwalkstar]

I am writing this thread to ask the community on the situation of a new MacBookPro for school, and whether or not it is a good idea to purchase now or wait till later. I am torn between a 2015 (Early) MacBookPro vs. 2015/16 (Late)(Early) MacbookAir/Pro (Skylake). I have read countless articles concerning this topic and I am still unsure. My original plan was to get a:
13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display w/

• 3.1GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.4GHz
• 16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
• 512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage(obviously because $500 for 512GB is ridiculous)
  
• Intel Iris Graphics 6100
• Force Touch trackpad
• Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

Such a powerful computer like this, I think, I would get because of the hard work for my senior year of high school and definitely four years or more of college, because lets be real macs last for a while and they are expensive. So, I need to make the right decision to buy now or wait. I also see a lot of commentators suggest the idea that if you need it now you should buy now, because then you will always be waiting for the "next best thing" in a laptop. However, I can possibly get by my last year of high school without it, although it would be a great advantage to have. If so, and I could wait the extra year, I would get the Skylake MacBookPro. Should I take advantage of the back to school deal and get the free headphones and possibly resell them to counter the cost of the computer? (btw, anyone who is still thinking about the deal, an extra 200 dolars off the computer, ends on the 18th of September). And who thinks this set up for the 13" MacbookPro is a good one? If not, then what? I also want to inquire about how effective and powerful the Skylake processors will be as compared to Broadwell?
Update:
Is Apple refurbished reliable? Assuming it is would getting a:
13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display w/

• 2.9GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
• 8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
• 512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage
• Intel Iris Graphics 6100
• Force Touch trackpad
• Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

be wise? (Because I know that new laptops will cost more money in general than refurbished, and that in the future newer computers will cost more money and I feel as though the Early 2015 MacBook Pros are the edge of price and power. It is as though Apple is packing the last few features into the Macbook before they re-do it.) Would it also be a smart thing to wait till September 9th when the new iPhones come out just in case a Mac announcement is made (most likely not)(the back to school deal will still be going on)?

 

[T5BRICK]

If you need it now, buy it now.

But if you're buying now, don't waste your money on the i7 upgrade. The i5 is nearly as fast and you'll save $200.

 

[snaky69]

Such a powerful computer like this, I think, I would get because of the hard work for my senior year of high school and definitely four years or more of college

Hold it right there. Nobody needs a laptop in high school, and for most college work, power isn't all that useful.

The i7 upgrade is $200 for a marginal "up to" 5% performance increased in 100% CPU bound applications. Basically, a lot of money spent for next to no performance gain in day to day tasks.

What do you plan on actually doing with the computer?

 

[Patrickwalkstar]

Thanks to @T5BRICK for the prompt responses to the thread. The tip on the processor power is a definite help and a money saver. I do plan on doing some heavy work for school, like 7 classes + early college courses, but I do see your point @snaky69 about the computer for high school. I actually plan on having a lot of programs open at one time, etc.

• Music playing
  
• internet research
• notes open to read and edit
• Word or Pages for document writing
• economics class = Excell or Numbers
  
• possibility of connecting a wacom tablet for art classes

I do however think I will be fine with a simpler computer with the level below processor. I was just worried because my relative has had their 2012 MBP with the lowest specs and it is really slow for whatever reason, I am not sure. However, thank you again for the fast responses. The infromation I was told by an Apple representative and a few family members was that having a laptop for school was a grand advantage.

 

[TechGod]

Thanks to @T5BRICK for the prompt responses to the thread. The tip on the processor power is a definite help and a money saver. I do plan on doing some heavy work for school, like 7 classes + early college courses, but I do see your point @snaky69 about the computer for high school. I actually plan on having a lot of programs open at one time, etc.

• Music playing
  
• internet research
• notes open to read and edit
• Word or Pages for document writing
• economics class = Excell or Numbers
  
• possibility of connecting a wacom tablet for art classes

I do however think I will be fine with a simpler computer with the level below processor. I was just worried because my relative has had their 2012 MBP with the lowest specs and it is really slow for whatever reason, I am not sure. However, thank you again for the fast responses. The infromation I was told by an Apple representative and a few family members was that having a laptop for school was a grand advantage.

What you're going to be doing does not need the i5, let alone the i7. It was probably slow due to the fact that they have a Mac with a normal spinning hard drive in it whereas the Retina MacBook Pro you were looking at has an SSD was has a much superior performance.

 

[TechZeke]

Thanks to @T5BRICK for the prompt responses to the thread. The tip on the processor power is a definite help and a money saver. I do plan on doing some heavy work for school, like 7 classes + early college courses, but I do see your point @snaky69 about the computer for high school. I actually plan on having a lot of programs open at one time, etc.

• Music playing
  
• internet research
• notes open to read and edit
• Word or Pages for document writing
• economics class = Excell or Numbers
  
• possibility of connecting a wacom tablet for art classes

I do however think I will be fine with a simpler computer with the level below processor. I was just worried because my relative has had their 2012 MBP with the lowest specs and it is really slow for whatever reason, I am not sure. However, thank you again for the fast responses. The infromation I was told by an Apple representative and a few family members was that having a laptop for school was a grand advantage.

For your uses, I'd save yourself $400 and skip the RAM and i7 upgrade. Even a base 13" retina would be overkill for your uses.

 

[snaky69]

Thanks to @T5BRICK for the prompt responses to the thread. The tip on the processor power is a definite help and a money saver. I do plan on doing some heavy work for school, like 7 classes + early college courses, but I do see your point @snaky69 about the computer for high school. I actually plan on having a lot of programs open at one time, etc.

• Music playing
  
• internet research
• notes open to read and edit
• Word or Pages for document writing
• economics class = Excell or Numbers
  
• possibility of connecting a wacom tablet for art classes

I do however think I will be fine with a simpler computer with the level below processor. I was just worried because my relative has had their 2012 MBP with the lowest specs and it is really slow for whatever reason, I am not sure. However, thank you again for the fast responses. The infromation I was told by an Apple representative and a few family members was that having a laptop for school was a grand advantage.

Even though it is not a computer, an iPad has sufficient computing power to do all that at once without breaking a sweat. You do not need a powerful processor to do all of this, even all at once. It seems people overestimate their computer needs around these parts.

The 2012 MBP should also have absolutely zero trouble running that. The model you used either had a software or hardware problem (or perhaps simply a dead slow mechanical hard drive). The 2015 machines aren't all that much more powerful than their 2012 counterparts.

Basically any Mac you buy would be overkill for your uses. Even the base model 13" with no upgrades whatsoever will work very well with no slowdowns, even if you have all of that open at once.

 

[andrewlgm]

It will basically be the same computer in day to day tasks if the design isn't updated. I dare say it will basically be the same computer even during intensive tasks. I upgraded from a 2009 White Unibody Macbook with 7 hours of battery life (SSD+16GB RAM) to a 2013 12-hours Macbook Air with (SSD +4GB RAM) to now a macbook pro 15" (SSD+16GB RAM): Core 2 Duo, to i5, to Quad i7. I dare say there is NO DIFFERENCE IN DAY TO DAY PERFORMANCE among all 3 computers throughout the years. I still opened all apps within seconds, 5-15 applications always open, no lag (except for the AIR due to low Ram and high cache, but it was a good exchange for the amazing battery life for a while). You could literally buy an old 2009 macbook, put a 1TB SSD into it, max out the RAM at 16GB and still have the same experience for your uses. Needless to say, if your uses change, if you get into CPU intensive tasks in the future, a faster processor will be better. But not for $200 and only a 5% increase.

And I'm thinking that's what you'll see if you wait for Skylake. Or maybe it'll be the great 20% performance increase people are claiming, but you won't feel it anyway since you won't use the processor in that manner. I just upgraded to the 15" Pro with the 3 year old Haswell as I needed it for modeling work when I'm away from the office PCs or the university HPC is unavailable, and the Air was really struggling. As for redesigns, I don't care for them. If you need it, don't care for possible redesigns, buy it.

 

[pjfan]

"Although it would be a great advantage to have."
You need to define that. You're going to likely be near the end of high school when the next 13" is released (or at least that's what you should be prepared to wait for). Define to yourself (or the forum) what that advantages means. If it results in productivity, grades, saved time, buy the i5 asap.

Now, I personally feel that a 13" is an awesome investment to start college with. It'll handle everything you throw at it unless you start doing video and signifant art/architecture courses.

My personal bias is that you do not need a laptop in high school, so my knee jerk is to suggest that you wait for next spring and buy top pre-config 13" or top rMB (considering your suggested budget) -- but hell, I don't really know what high school demands, so if you need it, buy the top pre-configured apple laptop and avoid Apple stores and macrumors for the next five years so you don't get the bug again .