Are the new MacBook Pros as future proof?

[creens]

Hi there, I am new here, and I want your input. I'm still using the first gen Retina MacBook Pro, entry level. This machine is seven and a half years old and I love it. But, I am seeing signs that the end is nearing: one speaker stopped working, some pixels are dark, some strange noises can be heard sometimes. All in all, I am still amazed how durable this machine was over such a long period of time. To cut to the chase: do you think the newest 16 MacBook Pro will provide me with a similar long term use? Is there any reason coming from the way they are built or what components are used to think that these might break down much sooner?

Thanks for the input.

 

[XNorth]

My MBP 16" replaced a 6 years old retina 15" which was still working like new. (Edit - the battery was replaced at year 5). The new MBP is wider, thinner and lighter, but it feels every bit as durable if not more so. Tolerance just seems better due to a truly 100% aluminum body, compared to the old MPB which had a black plastic(?) strip along the hinge. I plan on keeping the 16" for 5+ years, and there’s nothing to indicate it won’t last that long if I take care it.

 

[leman]

To cut to the chase: do you think the newest 16 MacBook Pro will provide me with a similar long term use?

nobody can answer that. It mostly depends on your luck. Generally, about half of premium laptops fail within 5-6 years from purchase.

Is there any reason coming from the way they are built or what components are used to think that these might break down much sooner?

No. One difference is that the newer Macs have less replaceable components, so you can’t do cheap repairs or upgrades. But then again the chance that these components fail is very low.

 

[soulreaver99]

The term future proof seriously needs to be deleted from the human vocabulary. Nothing is future proof. There will ALWAYS be something new coming out. As for long term use, there are still people using 17-inch MacBook Pros and organizations running DOS. Depends on what your needs are.

 

[Nacho98]

The term future proof seriously needs to be deleted from the human vocabulary. Nothing is future proof. There will ALWAYS be something new coming out. As for long term use, there are still people using 17-inch MacBook Pros and organizations running DOS. Depends on what your needs are.

But I'd wager there are a lot more 9-10 year old MBPs in service than 9-10 year old MBAs. So it isn't totally a junk concept. More powerful computers will last longer, that's a fact, and thus, last longer.

 

[jerryk]

But I'd wager there are a lot more 9-10 year old MBPs in service than 9-10 year old MBAs. So it isn't totally a junk concept. More powerful computers will last longer, that's a fact, and thus, last longer.

I don't know about that. I see plenty of old non-MBP macbooks out and about.

 

[mmomega]

There is no such this as future proof.
Having that expectation will lead to being let down. It just is what it is for right now.
Something new will come out and the term will be tossed out again, and again. Showing that it isn't a thing.

There is, how long will my computer last ?
Which is also an almost completely unanswerable question.
Everything "should last" until it doesn't.

The more real question could potentially be. Will a more expensive computer today last longer into tomorrow?
Sure.
And even that isn't completely accurate.

Should and could and need to's aren't real. It's hope.

 

[Infinite Vortex]

Under prior circumstances I probably would have said yes along with caveats (like you looking after it etc) but today I'm not entire sure what to think. The reason is the notion that Apple will switch to A-series processors in their Macs. The moment that happens all of, if that happens, where do you think all of the development resources (both 1st and 3rd party) will go?

While Apple doesn't say anything either way, not that I particularly expect them to, I find it hard to heavily invest at this time until I get the sense there is better clarity of what direction that future will generally take. I am less concerned about AMD's recent performance jumps over Intel as the general x86 trajectory wouldn't particularly change. There's price & performance being left on the table while AMD is not a partner however I do get Apple needs to take a much longer roadmap, amongst other things, into account. Intel will adjust and make good sooner or later… hopefully sooner.

I'm not suggesting you take this into account but this has entered into my mind as to what my own path forward is in the short-medium term.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I'd say "no" on 2 points.

1. A series chips, as @Infinite Vortex said above, will quickly render the current pipeline obsolete at some point - at least from a desirability to the user standpoint. Yes, these machines will keep working, but you'll want to be on board with the latest I'm sure.

2. Everything internal is soldered down now. No longer can you update the storage or RAM (or even swap out the battery, which is long gone now) to keep things updated/fresh over time. A big portion of people who are still using 2012-2015 models were able to do so because of an ability to update the storage at least.

 

[creens]

Thanks, everyone! I wouldn’t use the term future proof anymore, this is misleading. Of course, you never know where technology is going. Also, I don‘t know what my personal tech needs will be. What I meant: for someone who doesn’t want state of the art all the time (I have the same machine for more than 7 years!), what is the probability that the new 16 inch is sturdy and reliable.

I think I‘m gonna order soon...

 

[turbineseaplane]

what is the probability that the new 16 inch is sturdy and reliable.

It's simply unanswerable at this time - it's too new.

 

[4sallypat]

OP: similar situation - I have been using a 2012 MBP as a desktop for 8 years and love it - still works better than before with upgraded RAM, SSD, new battery, etc...

Recently picked up the 16" MBP to replace a perfectly working MBP but I wanted to use it as a dual screen with my 27" Apple Thunderbolt display.

So far the 16" MBP has been a great laptop!

 

[Viamusic10000]

I'd say "no" on 2 points.

1. A series chips, as @Infinite Vortex said above, will quickly render the current pipeline obsolete at some point - at least from a desirability to the user standpoint. Yes, these machines will keep working, but you'll want to be on board with the latest I'm sure.

2. Everything internal is soldered down now. No longer can you update the storage or RAM (or even swap out the battery, which is long gone now) to keep things updated/fresh over time. A big portion of people who are still using 2012-2015 models were able to do so because of an ability to update the storage at least.

I doubt you’d see a series chips on the pro line anytime soon.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I doubt you’d see a series chips on the pro line anytime soon.

haha - quoted for future reference..

It's hard to know what Apple may have up their sleeve with their in house silicon team.

 

[Viamusic10000]

haha - quoted for future reference..

It's hard to know what Apple may have up their sleeve with their in house silicon team.

It doesn’t matter what they have on their team. Switching from x86 to ARM in the near future won’t happen because the software isn’t there. PPC to x86 was much less traumatic because at least there was already a bunch of x86 software available. They may make a lower end MacBook with ARM in the next few years.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It doesn’t matter what they have on their team. Switching from x86 to ARM in the near future won’t happen because the software isn’t there. PPC to x86 was much less traumatic because at least there was already a bunch of x86 software available. They may make a lower end MacBook with ARM in the next few years.

Your confidence is unwarranted unless you have sources inside their walls

Let’s see what WWDC holds this year. It will be telling if an announcement is made there along with the software/dev tool announcements so they can plan for and/or begin to transition (devs I mean)

For all any of us knows they may be planning a Rosetta like transition

 

[Viamusic10000]

Brother you’re just throwing darts at the wall like the rest of us…

Let’s see what WWDC holds this year. It will be telling if an announcement is made there along with the software announcements so people can begin to transition (devs I mean)

For all any of us knows they are planning a Rosetta like transition

Not throwing darts, Microsoft is already trying ARM laptop aimed to creative professionals and it’s a failure. Rosetta emulated PPC software poorly no way pros would deal with that when there is no good native ARM pro software available. This is just based off the rumour from Intel, we don’t know how credible it is. It’s unlikely you’ll see an ARM MacBook Pro in the next 5-6 years.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Not throwing darts, Microsoft is already trying ARM laptop aimed to creative professionals and it’s a failure. Rosetta emulated PPC software poorly no way pros would deal with that when there is no good native ARM pro software available. This is just based off the rumour from Intel, we don’t know how credible it is. It’s unlikely you’ll see an ARM MacBook Pro in the next 5-6 years.

Agree to disagree…
cheers

 

[jerryk]

Thanks, everyone! I wouldn’t use the term future proof anymore, this is misleading. Of course, you never know where technology is going. Also, I don‘t know what my personal tech needs will be. What I meant: for someone who doesn’t want state of the art all the time (I have the same machine for more than 7 years!), what is the probability that the new 16 inch is sturdy and reliable.

I think I‘m gonna order soon...

If you are interested in sturdy and reliable I think the 16" is fine. Even through they are new, you don't hear about many just dying.

Are their glitches? Sure, but every system has things that are glitchy. And if you raise the standards bar high enough any system will fail to meet the standard.

To me, based on my 2 months of use, the 16" is an honest machine that I suspect will be give me good services for the time I own it. Nothing seems to be undersize or wobbly. It has nice feel to it and everything seems solid. And so far it has done well with everything I have thrown at it.
[automerge]1580507741[/automerge]

Agree to disagree…
cheers

Assuming you mean an ARM or similar RISC chip is in the future, I agree. It is in Apple's DNA to want to control every aspect of their products. And the dependency on Intel for CPUs goes against that. Apple has shown they have the talent, or money to buy the talent, to engineer in-house all aspects of a computer.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Assuming you mean an ARM or similar RISC chip is in the future, I agree. It is in Apple's DNA to want to control every aspect of their products. And the dependency on Intel for CPUs goes against that. Apple has shown they have the talent, or money to buy the talent, to engineer in-house all aspects of a computer.

bingo

To me it’s not a matter of if but when and I think it may be closer than we might think

 

[jerryk]

bingo

To me it’s not a matter of if but when and I think it may be closer than we might think

Agreed. With the strides Apple has made with processors and the entire computing cycle in devices like the latest iPhones and iPads it is obvious they know how to design silicon and architect systems. Couple that with Intel seeming to have trouble keeping up and making timelines and you have a lot of reasons to Apple to bring this in-house.

 

[impulse462]

they could easily have teams of people working with big developers to get their pro apps running while having them sign an NDA. then announce everything at once.

as for my "predictions" i think the ARM Macbook makes sense, but the pro line won't move to ARM right away but will transition. HOW fast that transition takes really is the question IMO. most people i work with (academic engineering people and -i assume- any person using this computer for actual work and not recreation) won't stand for large sudden changes until there is a clear path forward (mainly being application support with better performance from day one). just simple stuff like zoom meetings and some of my work specific software was broken by catalina...

imagine what an ARM-based macbook pro would do.

 

[jerryk]

they could easily have teams of people working with big developers to get their pro apps running while having them sign an NDA. then announce everything at once.

as for my "predictions" i think the ARM Macbook makes sense, but the pro line won't move to ARM right away but will transition. HOW fast that transition takes really is the question IMO. most people i work with (academic engineering people and -i assume- any person using this computer for actual work and not recreation) won't stand for large sudden changes until there is a clear path forward (mainly being application support with better performance from day one). just simple stuff like zoom meetings and some of my work specific software was broken by catalina...

imagine what an ARM-based macbook pro would do.

Zoom meetings works for me on Catalina with my 16" MBP. Just last night we had our meetup broadcasted on zoom and had people remotely watching, asking questions, etc. We also recorded everything.

But back to the question of going to an ARM processor. There are ways to make this transparent to the end user. Developers will be most effected, but it is not uncommon for frameworks to be changed and developers having to work around issues with transition tools and libraries.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

If you NEED now, BUY now.
It sounds like you've reached that point where you "need now".

The 16" MBP's look to be pretty fair MacBooks, especially because of the new keyboard.
And if you shop around, there are some VERY nice discounts on the base model (check amazon).

One proviso:
DON'T buy anything "earlier than" the 16". That includes all 15" models from 2016-2018, which have the failure-prone butterfly keyboards...