Buy or no?

i would wait if you can.

 

I'd say the 15" base model, especially if you're coming from a high spec PC. The quad-core CPU, 16GB stock RAM, and dGPU offer significant performance increases over the dual-core/iGPU 13".

 

what will he achieve by waiting it wont be that different once kaby lake is out then a year after another will be out so its never ending

 

What will you use it for, and do you you need it right away? The current ones are excellent, but they do have their issues (keyboard irregularities, battery life for the 13" TB, software lag for some) that may be addressed later this year.

 

It will be future proof for at least 3-4 years - especially if you are talking about the 15-inch. Put it this way - the 15-inch MacBook Pro sold in 2011 is still faster than most new dual core laptops sold today! If you choose the 15-inch, I highly recommend spending the 100-200 to upgrade to the AMD Radeon 460 GPU. It won't come close to your gaming machine, but it's a very capable laptop card and quite an upgrade over the base 450 GPU.

If you choose the 13-inch, it's still a very capable machine, has better portability, and a more affordable base price. If you do not plan to use the MBP for gaming, there is a very good chance it will also meet your needs & then some.

I would say you could expect a service life of at least 5 years. With the 15-inch, I would argue that the computer will be technically relevant for a longer time, but you also have to invest more upfront with the 15, where as with the 13 you would spend less (and presumably be able to upgrade sooner.)

What do you plan to use the system for, if you don't mind my asking? (we might be better able to tell you which model could be a better match for your specific needs!)

 

If you need a notebook now, I'd say go with the 15" right away. It will run cooler, have better battery life, nicer sound and just generally be a better device than the 13", unless you really need the portability. There's no point waiting for the Kaby Lake systems that are rumoured to be the next upgrade for the Macbook Pro line in the last quarter of 2017, unless you're not really in a hurry to get a new notebook.

And, as some have recommended, definitely get the 460 Radeon upgrade, and preferably the 2.7 CPU over the 2.6. Good luck!

 

There will be no heat related issues for your usage scenario

 

FWIW, the design as a whole seems to do a good job dissipating heat, and what I have seen of the top 2.9 CPU looks very positive. If it were me, personally, I'd opt for the 2.9, but I use my laptop as my desktop, and you already have a very capable desktop that will run circles around any laptop. Considering you already have that capable desktop & dont intend to use the MBP for your most resource intensive tasks, saving the $300 and opting for the base 2.6 might be the way to go, as it is already a very capable CPU, and you might be able to throw that $300 to better use. So I reckon it's a tossup!

 

Go for the 2.6GHz and 460. You really don't need anything better.
I would still consider getting 13 version. But the version without TB. You save a lot of money, and it is pretty fast and capable machine. You loose a little bit on CPU, but you gain a lot in battery life.

Even that machine can handle LoL without problems.

 

I wouldn't imagine the 13" non tb MBP will offer better battery life than the 15" MBP. Have a link to a comparison?

 

I think he means the 13" nTB gets better battery life than the 13" TB. It also gets better battery life than the 15", apparently, but most people don't make that comparison. Consumer Reports' tests had the 13" nTB with the best, then the 15", then the 13" TB, and other tests I've seen support that.

 

Heat isn't an issue on the 2.9. Expect native res [2880 x 1800] medium settings on stuff like LoL.

OR you could just pick up 2 x 1080 in SLI for a third of the price, and maybe a blade stealth for the odd LAN party... Macs are great machines, but you're dumping $3,500+ on something for needs you can [mostly] fill with an iPad [Minus LoL, obviously.]

It's your money though ^^

 

I'd compromise, add the 460 to the base model and call it a day at that point. If you're going to do ANY gaming at all, you're going to want all the horsepower you can get, and the 35w radeon series doesn't have a heck of a lot of torque to begin with. CPU really isn't going to do you much good for your use case, and it sounds like storage isn't much of a concern either [unless you're going to install windows in bootcamp on the main drive, in which case you need to think a little harder about how much space you're going to need.

As for phone, I upgraded from the 6+ to the 7, and aside from slightly more reliable car play I can't tell a difference between the two. I'd personally wait for the 8, but if your money is burning a hole in your pocket go for it

 

LOL, my 2.9 doesn't even come anywhere NEAR throttling. 69-70c in HOTS, and a balmy 53c transcoding to .mp4 from .mkv.

Overwatch runs very respectably in boot camp at 1920 x 1200 [remember, no Mac client for overwatch] at ultra settings at higher than 60 FPS [about 71ish in training grounds]

Keep in mind, you can get something like a Samsung T3 external SSD and install windows on IT as opposed to using boot camp.



Just make sure you pick up a Type C to Type C cable that handles 20 GB/s or higher for maximum performance [Lon says the internal controller is 3.0, but I have my suspicions he's being limited by his cable, as mine is 40Gb/s and boots as fast as my desktop with NVME.

 

Do you really need a MacBook Pro at all, if you've got a solid gaming PC that can handle your gaming needs? Sounds to me like all you really need is an iPad for light content consumption, web browsing, etc. The next iPad Pro is very nearly here, why not wait and see whether that will suit your non-gaming needs?

I have a top-spec desktop gaming PC and a 2016 15" MBP. While the MBP is capable of running games at low to medium detail and at medium resolution, unsurprisingly, it looks absolutely crap compared to my desktop so, whatever you do, don't buy a MBP to play games on, especially given that you have a decent gaming PC. It will not satisfy you at all compared to your desktop experience. If you just want a portable device to surf the web with, an iPad Pro is ideal for that sort of thing.

You could get yourself the soon-to-be launched iPad Pro 2, a brand new GTX 1080 video card (or wait for the Ti or AMD option, also soon to be announced) and save money to pick-up an iPhone 8 (or whatever they're gonna call it) later in the year all for what a base-spec 15" 2016 MacBook Pro will cost you.

 

I agree. When you have a powerful gaming PC, MBP is a waste of many for gaming.
MBP is a great laptop, but not for gaming. Of course you can game on it, but you can also buy a truck that you will use for driving to downtown, but I guess you wouldn't do that.

My recommendation still stands. If you want MBP, buy the nTB 13 version. Great machine, far better for couch then 15 version. You can upgrade the storage, and you will have a pretty capable portable computer that can handle most of the tasks without any problems.

A great intro to MacOS. And if you like it so much, later you can think of upgrading. It's worth it to wait for 2018/2019 for upgrade. This way you will save a lot of money.

P.S.
Upgrading from 6s to 7 isn't worth it. I did it, and I regret it

 

That's why I went from a 6S to a 7+ and didn't regret it one bit!

 

The only downside to a huge gaming PC is that you can't take it with you any and everywhere. Granted, may or may not be an issue for the O/P, but as someone who travels frequently I can tell you the MBP is a LOT more convenient.

Strangely, I find myself using it at home while my gaming PC goes mostly untouched... Just goes to show how comfortable the MbP is to use

 

As a long time PC user, although I was happy with the 2014 MacBooks etc, however the newer ones feel even more buggy than any Windows experience I recall. Now I am using my iPhone and a Windows 10 PC and don't think I could go back to a Mac anymore. Unless your workflow revolves around Mac, I wouldn't make the switch, unless you are willing to go through quite a bit of teething problems.

I think MacOS isn't being worked on enough (keyword enough, I know they work on it, but it still feels like I need to download/buy/install like 20 apps for me to make it do a lot of basic functionality).

 

From what I have seen, the 2.9 does a very good job managing heat, as does the new MacBook Pro, in general.

However, it is a $300 price premium, so whether it is worth it to you or not is a tossup, because either CPU should work for your needs. I also think the big upgrade is the 460, as the 450-->460 will likely have a much bigger effect for your usage than the 2.6-->2.9.

--- Post Merged, Feb 15, 2017 ---

I agree! I think the 7 is nice, but not a ton different than my 6s. My brother just sold his 6s for a 256 7+. I don't know if it is the extra RAM, that awesome camera, or just that 3D Touch works better on its larger size, but damn it is a nice phone!