Advice on MBP

[mpgolfpro]

So I was planning to wait till the new mbp came out but it looks like I'm going to need a new one sooner than later. Hoping you all can recommend which I should pick up to suit my needs. I will basically be using this for normal day to day activities (web, email, etc). I don't use any real intensive programs or do any video editing. The only thing I do use are fairly large, data intensive excel spreadsheets. I also would like to be able to use this computer to watch movies on and hook up to my tv for movies/streaming and obv to an external monitor. Is there a particular model which might be best for me? Only thing I really want is the 13 inch for portability, very important.

Any help would be great! Also refurb would be cool if cheaper...hoping to stay under $2k, less is obv better.

 

[KhunJay]

I would be looking at the non TB model....i5 256GB and 16G ram.

 

[PieTunes]

Either of the 13" non touch bar 2016 or 2017 base models should be more than adequate for your needs. You can find considerable savings by looking at Apple's refurbished inventory. Some people will recommend the 2015 models which are also viable options, though I personally would want the "latest and greatest" if I were in your shoes. The newer models are lighter, sleeker, and have USB-C/TB3, faster flash storage.

If you are sticking with any of the base models, the primary consideration would be storage capacity, as you can get 128GB or 256GB depending on the year. The former is obviously cheaper. Also, the keyboard is seemingly a polarizing issue with many people. If you have the time, try and test them out in the Apple store or another retail location.

 

[leman]

The 13” is more than fine. Excel is rather inefficient unfortunately, so if need to work with large spreadsheets, 16GB might be a good idea. CPU doesn’t really matter here... both non-TB and TB models will work fine, just take the one you like better (also depends on the budget)

 

[eddjedi]

If portability is important and the most intensive app you use is Excel, why not save yourself $1000 and an inch by buying the 12" Macbook?

 

[EugW]

If portability is important and the most intensive app you use is Excel, why not save yourself $1000 and an inch by buying the 12" Macbook?

The MacBook would be an option, but how would the MacBook save $1000?

 

[eddjedi]

The MacBook would be an option, but how would the MacBook save $1000?

Yes fair point, I forgot the entry level MBP is the same price but it does only have a 128GB SSD. You need to spend $300 more to get the same 256GB SSD, and considerably more for the Touch Bar and more RAM etc.

 

[EugW]

Yes fair point, I forgot the entry level MBP is the same price but it does only have a 128GB SSD. You need to spend $300 more to get the same 256GB SSD, and considerably more for the Touch Bar and more RAM etc.

Here are the configurations with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB, and with 16 GB and 512 GB:

2.3 GHz 13" MacBook Pro Core i5 (non-Touch Bar)
8 GB RAM
256 GB
US$1499

2.3 GHz 13" MacBook Pro Core i5 (non-Touch Bar)
16 GB RAM
512 GB
US$1899

1.2 GHz 12" MacBook Core m3
8 GB RAM
256 GB
US$1299

1.3 GHz 12" MacBook Core i5
16 GB RAM
512 GB
US$1799

So, with these configurations, the MacBook saves either $200 (with an m3) or else saves $100.

 

[Brammy]

I think the TouchBar Macs are worth it for the extra ports alone. In your case, power and external monitor will take up two ports. You could get the USB-C-HDMI adapter, and assuming your monitor could also handle HDMI, use that instead of taking up two ports. You will be living in dongle-town anyway with the new MacBooks.

 

[mpgolfpro]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'll probably end up with a 16GB and 512GB model....is there a particular processor that I should lean toward? i5 or i7? I know it probably won't matter for my needs but is one regarded as better? Other than that I'm just gonna look for the highest equipped machine I can under 2k, probably refurb. Thanks again!

 

[Brammy]

For your purposes, it probably doesn't matter.

I had a 2011 15" i7 MBP. A few years later, I got a 2014 11" MacBook Air with an i5. The single-threaded between the two was pretty close. Obviously, the i7 blew its doors off on multithreaded. Some things, like World of Warcraft, ran a little better on the i5 because of Metal.

Unless you are doing intensive stuff like heavy photo editing, video, etc., I think the i5 is good enough.