2017 13-inch MacBook Pro nTB for design work?

[mrdeluxe]

I'm looking to buy a new MacBook Pro, as my aging 2010 13-inch MBP is on its last legs (and it has only lasted so long because I upgraded the RAM to 8 GB and added an SSD).

Some context: when I first bought this Mac it was going to be my secondary computer, as most of the work that I did was done at an iMac at work. Since then I've quit my job and started teaching, as well as doing some freelance design work. All of a sudden this humble MBP became my main computer, but it's showing its legs. It struggles with Adobe CC and High Sierra and out of nowhere the fans quick in and don't stop until I shut down the Mac. It also cannot handle 1080p YouTube videos and randomly, when connected to an external monitor, the screen shuts off and I need to force restart.

So, I need to replace this computer with one that handles design work, mostly Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, but also some Sketch and some of the newer Adobe software such as Adobe XD.

However, since I need to carry my computer to class, I also want it to be light and portable. While the current 15-inch MacBook Pro weights as much as my current 13-inch, and it's not much larger, the new 13-inch are definitely better in this particular case.

My current options are between the 13-inch MBP without Touch Bar or the 15-inch.

The 13-inch is lighter and 1k cheaper than the 15-inch, which could be used towards the purchase of a 4k or 5k monitor for design work at home (or even towards an iMac).
The 15-inch would be able to handle everything needed, but more expensive and cumbersome.

I'm leaning more in the direction of the 13-inch, tbh, but I don't know how well it would handle my needs.

 

[Nbd1790]

I think the Macbook without the touch bar should be fine for what you need. Although, I don't recommend getting a base model. Upgrade to the better i5 processor or the i7 (preferably) and go with 16gb of Ram. I have friends that use a macbook air for the programs you listed and they never really complain.

Although, just to future proof yourself go for the 15 inch. I personally have one myself and really enjoy the extra screen real estate when I'm using photoshop on the go. (not to mention you'll be getting a quad core processor)

Check out B&H if you opt for a 15 inch - they have significant discounts on them currently (including a max model with 2tb SSD for $3000 which is $1400 off the MSRP)

Sometimes I miss the smaller form factor of a 13 inch, but the power you get from a 15 is a big difference (especially if you use an external monitor and ever decide to dabble with video editing)

Best of luck!

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

You could probably get away with a nTB version (Weaker CPU, throttling and such are issues over just the Touch Bar). However there's a huge variance in the usage of applications that you will have to consider yourself, in what you do and how you work.

Light editing of photos in Photoshop is going to be fine on a 6 year old Air. However if that image is a 200mb TIFF and you're doing heavy retouching, then maybe it wouldn't be enough. Same with illustrator, big difference between having a file with an icon, and having a file with hundreds of UI elements. XD is pretty slow I've noticed when you've got complicated vectors imported.

Personally, my 15" does me fine, it's overkill for the light tasks and struggles when giving it something in-depth, but for 90% of the time it's fine and I'm happy to wait a little longer for the more complicated things.

You're going to have to understand what kind of work you're doing and what you need however. As you said you're using a 2010 13" and it's only now showing some issue, then a newer 13" should be fine, 15" might be overkill but would last longer/more versatile.