Assuming money is not an issue, would a maxed out 15" MacBook Pro 2016 suit my needs?

[VertPin]

Just a little back story...I purchased a PC back in 2012. I managed to install a new graphics card (twice), and got myself an excellent 4K monitor from Samsung. However, the remaining pieces of hardware inside are quite dated, and certainly need upgrades. The PC was designed to be a low-budget gaming PC, and it has ran it's course pretty well. These are the major components. Everything is stock, but the GPU.

• CPU: Intel Core i3-2120 CPU @ 3.3GHz
• GPU: GeForce GTX 750 Ti
• RAM: 8GB low frequency DDR3
• Storage: 1 terabyte 5200rpm

As you can tell, it certainly isn't anything special at all. In fact, the PC has been slowing down massively as of recent months. I am running Ubuntu as of now, and it still performs very poorly (video, scrolling, etc). All of the drivers are installed properly. Between Windows 10, and Ubuntu, I spent roughly two hours the other day just trying to load the browser. I reset the PC several times. I literally could not log in, as it would take several minutes, and the browser would instantly crash when loading. Sad!


Anyways...onto the point of my topic. I owned a 2015 rMBP and loved it, but gave it to my brother quite some time ago. I have always wanted the new MacBook Pro, despite the battery concerns (Safari was the concern? I use Safari, glad to see the bug crushed). However, I want a machine that will last me for a few years. My main uses are programming, video & photo editing, blogging, emulation, and virtual desktops with the use of many applications opened at once. Assuming money is not an issue, would the new maxed out MacBook Pro do me any favors? I love macOS, and would also love to go back and use it as my primary OS.
I actually do like the addition of the USB-C thunderbolt 3 capable ports, in fact, I love the transition. The "dongle-life" is not something that upsets me or matters to me.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

I'd say a maxed out 15" will suit pretty much anyones needs... Your only real concern there is the virtual machines, as it depends how you use them. If you just use 1 or 2 at a time it'll be fine. If however you're that person who wants 15 open, each with 4GB RAM and running multiple statistical analysis on all of them, then you'll probably find that 16GB RAM a tad limiting.

 

[VertPin]

I'd say a maxed out 15" will suit pretty much anyones needs... Your only real concern there is the virtual machines, as it depends how you use them. If you just use 1 or 2 at a time it'll be fine. If however you're that person who wants 15 open, each with 4GB RAM and running multiple statistical analysis on all of them, then you'll probably find that 16GB RAM a tad limiting.

Oh, no, I'm talking about additional desktops, not virtual machines haha. I certainly know about the constraint I would feel there!

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

Oh, no, I'm talking about additional desktops, not virtual machines haha. I certainly know about the constraint I would feel there!

Ah apologies, guess I half read that one (You get a lot of complaints in that department, my brain goes on autopilot). In which case yes, of course a maxed out computer would suit your needs. As would the lower spec 15" for that matter.

 

[Rian Gray]

Parallels user here. I keep Windows and Linux running 24/7. I rarely do video editing, just amateur photography, so wouldn't quite fit your use case. But so far, I was quite happy with the results I'm getting with nMBP 15", maxed out except SSD. One of the things I immediately noticed is the difference SSD made in the new machine. Originally I did most of heavy duty work on my iMac and carried MBA as a mobile backup. Right now, I can do all the work on MBP, possibly faster with reliable performance. As for the dongles, I just carry around a dock. One of those 1 USB-C to HDMI, ethernet, and USB 3.0. What I really miss is the MagSafe, hopefully there will be an accessory of some kind later on.

 

[tryrtryrtryrt]

...

Your desktop must not lag this much even with such low components. I'd imagine either HDD is dying (make a backup ASAP and then run smartctl and check; you may lose your data) or there is some background process misbehaving. You may also try booting from liveUSB and try to browse from it without mounting your HDD - see if it will not lag this much.

As for the second question, yes, it will suit your needs.

But think twice do you really need to spend this much money. Your desktop must be upgradeable as it is and sticking a cheap SSD and maybe 8 more GB RAM there should make it responsive enough.

 

[SteveJUAE]

As an easy overview I would look at Lisa's comparisons and see which product ticks the most boxes for a starter. I would also guess the SB may get a refresh sooner and you can get a feel for bootcamp on the 15" tbMBP :

I would say given what you already have re software/games/4K monitor and your intended use the SB seems more logical but the MBP I still a fine laptop

 

[FrozenDarkness]

I think fully maxed out 15" is arguably one of the top 3 most powerful laptops in the market save those gaming behemoths. so I hope so.

 

[Mobster1983]

What I really miss is the MagSafe, hopefully there will be an accessory of some kind later on.

Couple of these out there already. I sponsored a Kickstarter which should be shipping this week.

I have an almost maxed 15" (1Tb HD the only thing not maxed). I have had zero issues and love everything about it. Consistently getting over 10 hours of battery life. I haven't done everything you listed, but it will work great for all of your needs. As someone above mentioned, and you recognized, the amount of RAM is the only potential limitation. The actual speed of the RAM and the SSD is phenomenal and you will be hard pressed to find anything out there to beat the new MBP in real world operations.

 

[matram]

Have a fully maxed out 15" (2.9 GHz, 460, 2 TB). Works well for a couple of VM. But frankly so did my previous 13" (3.1 GHz) mid-2014.

I felt the only real bottleneck for the 13" was Visual Studio in a VM. VS really likes a 4-core processor and on a 2-core it stuttered a lot during normal typing in the editor. I guess the GHz has less impact. The 2.9 Skylake gave me about 10% more single core performance in Geekbench compared to the 13".

I got the 460 upgrade mostly due to the low cost.

The 2TB storage option was the expensive option and I hesitated a lot on that.

 

[The Mercurian]

My 2 cents (full disclosure I personally think this machine is a huge disappointment and will not buy it):

Avoid buying the first iteration of a new model (unless you have to buy). Version 2 of this will be probably be alot better than this one. But If my machine died today and I had to buy a replacement MBP - I would get the 2015 model, not the new model.