Ok, so my wife is a graphic designer, uses creative cloud (indesign, photoshop, illustrator, etc). She recently left her job to start her own design business. So she of course had to turn in her work computer when she left (2016-ish 15 inch MacBook pro, 16GB ram, 256 GB SSD). So here is a summary of our experiences replacing this work computer:
1. Computer 1 - (15 inch, 2019 MacBook Pro, 16 GB ram, 256 SSD) - This is a refurb bought direct from Apple--
After getting this refurb she felt it was a modest improvement in speed, but she was getting terrible battery life and the fans seemed to be on a lot. As an example, she took it to a client workspace on day 1 and forgot her power cord at home, not only did the fans run a lot, but the battery was draining very quickly and was dead by 1pm. She had to go home to get her cord. On her previous work computer she could work most of the day on a single battery charge, same workload as now. Also, pretty soon after waking the computer and beginning some light work the fans would ramp up quickly. She took it to Apple Genius Bar, they ran diagnostics and said no hardware issue. They did a clean install of OS and told her to test. She did, with no real improvement. So we decided to return the refurb since in the 14 day return window and get a new computer instead of refurb. I have always been a big fan of refurbs given the money savings and same warranty, but interesting the Apple Genius said he would never buy a refurb.
2. Bought the same base model 2019 MacBook Pro (15 inch, 256 GB SSD, 16 GB ram) but this time new from Amazon since they were having a sale that matched the refurb price. Got it setup, did not restore from any backups, just reinstalled apps and pulled over files. We just got this yesterday and she has only been using it for a small amount last night and then this morning. We have already noticed while she was installing her apps and getting it setup the fans were on some (mainly during app install) but then they seemed to quiet down. But, still the battery does seem to be draining fairly fast. She will test more today and I plan on having her calibrate by running all the way down before recharging, then charging all the way up in a continuous charge, and then do this 2-3 times.
So this is where we are at, still early, but already seeing some similar behaviors. I know the fans are a bit of a gray area, as they need to keep the machine cool, but the battery should not be giving her half the life of her 2 year older work computer, am I right?
Anyone have any thoughts or advice?
1. Computer 1 - (15 inch, 2019 MacBook Pro, 16 GB ram, 256 SSD) - This is a refurb bought direct from Apple--
After getting this refurb she felt it was a modest improvement in speed, but she was getting terrible battery life and the fans seemed to be on a lot. As an example, she took it to a client workspace on day 1 and forgot her power cord at home, not only did the fans run a lot, but the battery was draining very quickly and was dead by 1pm. She had to go home to get her cord. On her previous work computer she could work most of the day on a single battery charge, same workload as now. Also, pretty soon after waking the computer and beginning some light work the fans would ramp up quickly. She took it to Apple Genius Bar, they ran diagnostics and said no hardware issue. They did a clean install of OS and told her to test. She did, with no real improvement. So we decided to return the refurb since in the 14 day return window and get a new computer instead of refurb. I have always been a big fan of refurbs given the money savings and same warranty, but interesting the Apple Genius said he would never buy a refurb.
2. Bought the same base model 2019 MacBook Pro (15 inch, 256 GB SSD, 16 GB ram) but this time new from Amazon since they were having a sale that matched the refurb price. Got it setup, did not restore from any backups, just reinstalled apps and pulled over files. We just got this yesterday and she has only been using it for a small amount last night and then this morning. We have already noticed while she was installing her apps and getting it setup the fans were on some (mainly during app install) but then they seemed to quiet down. But, still the battery does seem to be draining fairly fast. She will test more today and I plan on having her calibrate by running all the way down before recharging, then charging all the way up in a continuous charge, and then do this 2-3 times.
So this is where we are at, still early, but already seeing some similar behaviors. I know the fans are a bit of a gray area, as they need to keep the machine cool, but the battery should not be giving her half the life of her 2 year older work computer, am I right?
Anyone have any thoughts or advice?
