2016 macbook pro NTB 13" vs 2015

[carperjosh]

Hi,

I am trying to decide between the 2016 macbook pro non touch bar 2.0ghz base model vs the 2015 macbook pro 2.7ghz base model. The newer macbook has the better screen, future proof connections, thinner and lighter, bigger trackpad but the 2015 has the easy connections for daily life, £300 cheaper, magsafe, SD card slot. My normal useage for a computer is word processing, internet use, video watching, photo editing/lightroom. Battery life is important to me i need as much as possible also i cant be dealing with any lag in my day to day tasks especially programs like lightroom with big files. realistically i will be plugging in the charger, iphone, sd card, 4k external monitor, external hard drive. Which one do you guys recommend as the better purchase?

 

[jmebbk]

I'm in a similar situation TBH! Have no idea what to pick!!!

 

[willgreene99]

I went with the 2015 rMBP 13" as it met my needs today and for the foreseeable future.

 

[jmebbk]

I went with the 2015 rMBP 13" as it met my needs today and for the foreseeable future.

What about the ports?
Isn't USB C needed for the future?

 

[Peptide]

I'm assuming the 2016 nTB will give you better battery life since it uses a 15w chip instead of the 28w in the 2015 model. From my research, people seem to be saying the i5 processor in the 2016 model is sufficient. I don't have experience with Lightroom, but have you searched around to see if anything has been said on this? Also, have you considered the 2015 15inch, or do you need the portability?

 

[EzisAA]

If you buy MacBook Pro 2016, you can charge it from powerbank. I use Macbook Pro 13 (2015) 2,7 GHz/8GB RAM/256GB SSD - MS Office and FCPX 4K video editing. Now I waiting when delivery My new MacBook Pro 13 (2016) 2,9 GHz/8GB RAM/512GB SSD. I move to new model because can charge from powerbank, it's makes me more mobile.

 

[doom102938]

I've just gotten the 2016 nTB MBP with 2.0/16gb/512gb and I have to say its awesome.

Pros:
1) Thunderbolt 3/USB-C really is the future.
2) Ssd thats really fast (2.2 GB/s write and 1.8 GB/s read)
3) Decent battery life. I get around 6-8 hours on fairly heavy usage and around 10-12 hours on lighter workloads. Battery life depends alot on the screen.
4) The ability to charge using a powerbank. RAVpower has some 30W usb-c powerbanks that appears to be able to charge the 2016 macbook pros. Don't take my word for it as I'm still doing research on them.
5) Light
6) Thin
7) Massive trackpad (Good and bad). Best trackpad in any laptop.
8) The screen. It's extremely bright and color's look awesome with the new DCI-P3 color gamut.
9) The speakers are loud and clear
10) The ability to use a non-proprietary USB-C charger.

Cons:
1) 2 ports? One for charging and the other is most likely taken up by a hub. For now it is still quite difficult to find a good hub. There are those with many different ports but some have warned of excessive heating. I am waiting for the HyperDrive thunderbolt hub but then again it costs $$.
2) The keyboard is really polarising.
3) Nothing is replaceable. Nothing at all. Do get AppleCare if you decide to get the 2016 MacBook Pro.
4) Some USB device does not work with the Apple USB-C to USB-A adaptor, like my 64GB SanDisk Ultra USB3.0 thumbdrive.

 

[Fishrrman]

jmebbk wrote:
"What about the ports?
Isn't USB C needed for the future?"

Why would it be "needed" for the future?
Everything that USB-a does today, it will continue to do in the future.
And the market will continue to support it.

Consider:
What is the installed base, worldwide, TODAY, for USB-a vs. USB-c?
Easily 99.9% of all USB ports in the world today, are USB-a.

That's not going to change quickly.

At the end of last November, when it was time for me to buy a new MacBook to replace my 2010 MacBook Pro, I looked carefully and critically at the 2016 MBPros, tested them side-by-side with the 2015 models, and.... in the end... bought the OLDER model.

I -wanted- all those "old legacy ports" so I could continue to use the stuff I have today, and will continue to use for at least the next 4-5 years or so.

Five years from now, I predict that USB-a will continue to dominate the market.
Five years from now, I wouldn't be surprised if almost all PCs and most Windows laptops still retain at least one or two USB-a ports for backward compatibility.

 

[BarracksSi]

realistically i will be plugging in the charger, iphone, sd card, 4k external monitor, external hard drive. Which one do you guys recommend as the better purchase?

Each time you sit down at your desk, you can either plug in all of those things individually, or you can have them all connected to one hub as if it were a docking station. So, 5 connections to make versus 1.

Two caveats: I'm not sure which hub you could buy today will make this easy; and plugging the SD card into an external reader just isn't the same as leaving it in the laptop slot semi-permanently.

 

[Sanpete]

I -wanted- all those "old legacy ports" so I could continue to use the stuff I have today, and will continue to use for at least the next 4-5 years or so.

You can do that with the 2016, of course.