Buying New MacBook Pro Touchbar in Japan

[northernmunky]

I dont know what to do.
I'm going to Japan at the end of March for 3 weeks which gives me a perfect opportunity to buy a new MacBook Pro 15" while I'm there for a full £600+ cheaper than buying it here in UK. But shortly after its rumoured that the Kaby Lake models should be coming out shortly after.

I'd much rather have a Kaby chip as I do video work, so having the Kaby's HEVC hardware support is very desirable, as well as 32Gb RAM since I do a lot of virtualisation and multitasking and my absurd amount of open browser tabs will make it worth having.

It wont be worth going back again just to get a Kaby model.

What to do........ buy a current Skylake model or hold out for Kaby?
I currently have a late 2013 MBP 15", which was maxed out on purchase with 16Gb RAM and 1Tb SSD.
Is it really worth it?

 

[ph001bi]

I dont know what to do.
I'm going to Japan at the end of March for 3 weeks which gives me a perfect opportunity to buy a new MacBook Pro 15" while I'm there for a full £600+ cheaper than buying it here in UK. But shortly after its rumoured that the Kaby Lake models should be coming out shortly after.

I'd much rather have a Kaby chip as I do video work, so having the Kaby's HEVC hardware support is very desirable, as well as 32Gb RAM since I do a lot of virtualisation and multitasking and my absurd amount of open browser tabs will make it worth having.

It wont be worth going back again just to get a Kaby model.

What to do........ buy a current Skylake model or hold out for Kaby?
I currently have a late 2013 MBP 15", which was maxed out on purchase with 16Gb RAM and 1Tb SSD.
Is it really worth it?

The new Kaby Lake won't be out until the second half of the year. If you can wait that long then pass on the opportunity but if you can't wait. Jump in; 600 pounds is a very nice savings number.

 

[Playfoot]

I dont know what to do.
I'm going to Japan at the end of March for 3 weeks which gives me a perfect opportunity to buy a new MacBook Pro 15" while I'm there for a full £600+ cheaper than buying it here in UK. But shortly after its rumoured that the Kaby Lake models should be coming out shortly after.

I'd much rather have a Kaby chip as I do video work, so having the Kaby's HEVC hardware support is very desirable, as well as 32Gb RAM since I do a lot of virtualisation and multitasking and my absurd amount of open browser tabs will make it worth having.

It wont be worth going back again just to get a Kaby model.

What to do........ buy a current Skylake model or hold out for Kaby?
I currently have a late 2013 MBP 15", which was maxed out on purchase with 16Gb RAM and 1Tb SSD.
Is it really worth it?

[doublepost=1486982117][/doublepost]Well, the service and attention to the customer in Japan, especially the Ginza Apple shop is fabulous. And of course, the savings sound very good. However . . .

As an owner of a maxed out 15" 2016 touch bar, I would strongly advise you get your hands on a friend/colleague's computer to test to see if you can endure the changes. Our experience has been less than positive and we are now in the process of approving Dell X15 for testing.

Pro

1. Fabulous screen.
2. Foot print is incredibly small.
3. Very light weight - note we are coming from the newest machine in our company that is a 15" maxed out 2011 MBP.
4. Very very fast SSD.

Cons.

1. Useless touch bar.
2. Useless touch bar. At this point none of our software takes advantage of the TB. As such normal tasks such as volume, brightness, etc. require double or more the number of "key strokes" to achieve the same thing as with the function keys. If you use function keys as we do in our software, you will sorely miss them . . ..
3. HUGE trackpad. Where is the cursor?!?
4. HUGE trackpad. Palm rejection is flawed. Accidental clicks are numerous.
5. Useless touch bar is extremely sensitive to even fingers being proximate so many many issues with wrong word selection, brightness going to zero, volume going to max etc.
6. NO MagSafe. Already had accidents and bumps.
7. No on/off button seems to be creating a shutdown issue. Most us seem to have random shut downs and hanging log on screens at least 5 times a week. Or more.

Neutral

1. Keyboard. By in large we do not like it, but all of us can adapt. When we return to our offices, most have very old buckling spring keyboards.
2. USB C. Fast. Yes. Either side convenience. Yes.
3. USB C dongles. We always require dongles for a myriad of devices from ethernet to legacy projectors. So already carry a couple.

Only you can decide if the machine is right for you. However, as noted, for the first time in decades, we are analyzing the options and the costs to switch platforms....

 

[northernmunky]

Thanks all, I think I'm going to bite it and wait for the next revision... other bills to pay and I'd rather they refine the touchbar model before I invest in one which I hope to last me the next few years. My late 2013 is still a very fast machine for now even if its still a Haswell. (yeah, I made a mistake in my first post, mine is a Haswell, not a Skylake.)

I know everyone is up in arms about 'donglegate' but I don't really see what the big deal is. I have no USB-c devices either but when you get just get these - then I dont even need a hub:

...the issue seems a bit muted.

I do however have a Thunderbolt 2 monitor, so again I get one of these and the problem is solved: