Considering Purchase: 2015 MB Pro 15

[Christopher11]

I currently have a 2012 MB Pro that I use for Logic Pro X, along with all my other needs. It doesn't quite have enough juice for my processing needs, so I considered trading into a more powerful machine with multiple processors, and an SSD. I was wondering which year they made MB Pros with both Firewire and Thunderbolt ports, and if you guys had any opinions on those machines.

I am looking at machines like this one. Thank you so much for any replies.

 

[0128672]

The specs and price are nice for sure, but when I see language like "Manufacturer Refurbished" (which would mean Apple) and then "scratches, dings and dents," that doesn't sound like a true Apple refurb. And 2015 refurbs haven't been offered for quite a while. Maybe it was refurbed by Apple and has been used since then, but who knows. I wouldn't put much stock in the 3 year warranty either; sounds good but I'd wonder how enforceable it is. I see red flags. I'd spend the extra and get a refurb or new directly from Apple and use external storage versus the 1TB drive.

For Logic, if you don't need a laptop, consider a refurb 2018 Mac Mini. A large display for Logic makes it so much more pleasurable.

 

[Spudlicious]

I currently have a 2012 MB Pro that I use for Logic Pro X, along with all my other needs. It doesn't quite have enough juice for my processing needs, so I considered trading into a more powerful machine with multiple processors, and an SSD. I was wondering which year they made MB Pros with both Firewire and Thunderbolt ports, and if you guys had any opinions on those machines.

I am looking at machines like this one. Thank you so much for any replies.

I don’t believe MBPs have had FireWire since around 2012, you’d be needing an adaptor if you must work with it.
Although I own a 2015 I wouldn’t buy one now, especially not a battle-scarred example.
Be careful, my friend; it would be better to struggle on as you are rather than spend on something that disappoints you.

 

[pshufd]

The specs and price are nice for sure, but when I see language like "Manufacturer Refurbished" (which would mean Apple) and then "scratches, dings and dents," that doesn't sound like a true Apple refurb. And 2015 refurbs haven't been offered for quite a while. Maybe it was refurbed by Apple and has been used since then, but who knows. I wouldn't put much stock in the 3 year warranty either; sounds good but I'd wonder how enforceable it is. I see red flags. I'd spend the extra and get a refurb or new directly from Apple and use external storage versus the 1TB drive.

For Logic, if you don't need a laptop, consider a refurb 2018 Mac Mini. A large display for Logic makes it so much more pleasurable.

They are nice systems but the 2015 doesn't have Firewire. The 2015 is a nice machine and I have one but it's getting long in the tooth. That's a nice system but you take your changes on Ebay. Other options would be the 16 and the 2020 13. If you don't need portability, you could get a Mini or an old Pro.

 

[Ocnetgeek]

The 2015 does not have Firewire but Apple does make a Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter. The 2015 is also fairly easy to expand the storage on. I used the info on this site to put an NVME drive in mine for a while. Getting ready to post mine soon as I am downsizing to a new 2020 13 inch. The price on that seems pretty high also. When it says Hard Drive upgraded that usually means that they have removed the stock SSD and put an NVME drive in it’s place.

 

[2984839]

The 2015 15" is the last good MBP in my opinion and would serve you well. The difference between it and your 2012 would be dramatic.

 

[Christopher11]

I'm sure you are right brother. But a 2012 with spinning hard drive, and 2.3Ghz processor? It seems to me a quad core at 3.4 Ghz, as 556fmjoe implies above, should give me quite a boost compared to what I'm used to. Some headroom in CPU power.
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I may get a Mac Pro anyway, like a 2012 with really screaming specs and upgrade, 64 GB of RAM, etc... but I need to upgrade this laptop. The ASDF keys do not work, so I have to type with an external keyboard all the time... and it gives off so much heat I have a permanent red welt / radiation burn on my left leg. Sorry if tmi, but I think something newer and cooler would do me good.
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Ah, I see what some of these sellers are doing. They state the 'turbo boost' processing rate as if it was the rating for the processors, but it's not, they are only 2.2ghz. That's dishonest, right?

 

[Ocnetgeek]

I'm sure you are right brother. But a 2012 with spinning hard drive, and 2.3Ghz processor? It seems to me a quad core at 3.4 Ghz, as 556fmjoe implies above, should give me quite a boost compared to what I'm used to. Some headroom in CPU power.
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I may get a Mac Pro anyway, like a 2012 with really screaming specs and upgrade, 64 GB of RAM, etc... but I need to upgrade this laptop. The ASDF keys do not work, so I have to type with an external keyboard all the time... and it gives off so much heat I have a permanent red welt / radiation burn on my left leg. Sorry if tmi, but I think something newer and cooler would do me good.

Mac Pros are nice systems. Had a 2009 Flashed to a 5,1 that I sold last year before getting my current MacBookPro. Just didn’t need the power but I had always wanted one so I took the plunge for about 9 months. Had a six core 3.46 GHz with 48 Gb of Ram. It was nice having all the bays available for storage too.

 

[Christopher11]

Ocnetgeek, what would you think of a 2012 Mac Pro with 12 cores, 64 GB of RAM and SSD drive? That should burn right through processing needs, right?

 

[2984839]

Ocnetgeek, what would you think of a 2012 Mac Pro with 12 cores, 64 GB of RAM and SSD drive? That should burn right through processing needs, right?

If portability is not a concern, and assuming you can get one at the price you want to pay, that is a better option. It would be more than enough power for all but the most demanding tasks. how intense is the processing you're doing with Logic Pro X?

 

[Christopher11]

What do you guys think of this one? It must be older, since it has FW.
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If portability is not a concern, and assuming you can get one at the price you want to pay, that is a better option. It would be more than enough power for all but the most demanding tasks. how intense is the processing you're doing with Logic Pro X?

Well, to be fair, it's quite a lot. Multiple instances of Kontakt and other processor intensive VSTs, I/O demands with recording multiple tracks, sometimes even processing on the output fader along with at times more than 70 tracks. So it would help to have a powerful enough machine. Still, I think a quad core MB Pro with a SSD should be quite a leap, in CPU power.

 

[Ocnetgeek]

Ocnetgeek, what would you think of a 2012 Mac Pro with 12 cores, 64 GB of RAM and SSD drive? That should burn right through processing needs, right?

i am strictly a hobbyist so I have never used anything with that much power. Looking at Geekbench Results for the 2012 Mac Pro it has a multi core score of 5643 and the 2013 has a score of over 7000. I guess you need to look at your work and applications and determine if they would benefit more from single core of multi core performance

 

[2984839]

What do you guys think of this one? It must be older, since it has FW.
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Well, to be fair, it's quite a lot. Multiple instances of Kontakt and other processor intensive VSTs, I/O demands with recording multiple tracks, sometimes even processing on the output fader along with at times more than 70 tracks. So it would help to have a powerful enough machine. Still, I think a quad core MB Pro with a SSD should be quite a leap, in CPU power.

In that case, I would recommend the Mac Pro, unless portability truly matters here. A quad core 2015 MacBook Pro would definitely be a leap from what you have, but ultimately I think you would be a lot happier with the Mac Pro.

 

[Ocnetgeek]

In that case, I would recommend the Mac Pro, unless portability truly matters here. A quad core 2015 MacBook Pro would definitely be a leap from what you have, but ultimately I think you would be a lot happier with the Mac Pro.

And if you get an older Mac Pro it should have native FireWire and it sounded like you had some of those peripherals still in use

 

[Christopher11]

I do. I have an RME 802 audio interface that is FW. However, I'm told that a FW to Thunderbolt adaptor works fine. I suspect I will have to use one soon enough.

 

[Ocnetgeek]

I do. I have an RME 802 audio interface that is FW. However, I'm told that a FW to Thunderbolt adaptor works fine. I suspect I will have to use one soon enough.

I have used the Thunderbolt to Firewire Adapter for capturing video from my old cam corder into iMovie without any issue. Also have used it to access some older Firewire drives. Not heavy use but never had any issues with it

 

[Christopher11]

Excellent! Very helpful, thank you. Obviously it's better if I can just shop for a laptop without having to worry about it not having FW. I suppose I would buy two adaptors, the same way I have backup cables. I think I will probably aim for a 2015 MB Pro like this one.

 

[Fishrrman]

Re the link in post 1 above:
I don't care what the article description says, that isn't an "Apple-refurbished" MacBook Pro.

Going from a 2012 to a 2015 probably is not going to be "a big enough jump up" for you.

I agree with Namara above. A 2018 Apple-refurbished Mini (I'd get an i7 version) combined with a large display would be a better platform for Logic.

Firewire got abandoned some time back. I have a 2015 MacBook Pro, and it doesn't have any type of Firewire port.

An important question:
What audio interface do you have, and what connection scheme does it use?

If it's firewire, you're going to need "converter dongles" to get them to work with thunderbolt.
If the Mac has thunderbolt2, you need a "firewire800 to thunderbolt2" adapter.
If the Mac has thunderbolt3, you might be able to use the above daisy-chained to a "thunderbolt2 to thunderbolt3" adapter (2 adapters total).

USB, you can plug right in (but I don't care for them because of latency issues).
Best choice for the future: a thunderbolt interface, but they can be pricey yet.

 

[Ocnetgeek]

Just be careful with the specs. That listing does not seem entirely accurate. The 3.4 Ghz is the turbo speed not the base clock speed. According to the listing that base speed is 2.2 Ghz. Not sure if that on has a dedicated GPU either. Also I might be wrong the detail of the cores seems wrong. That is a Quad Core that has four cores on a single CPU. I don't think they had any eight core systems in 2015.

Here is a link to 2015 Specs from Everymac

MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.5 15" Mid-2015 (DG) Specs (Retina Mid-2015 15", MJLT2LL/A, MacBookPro11,5, A1398, 2910): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.5 15" Mid-2015 (DG). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

 

[Christopher11]

Yeah, as I mentioned above, I find it quite deceptive that they list the 'turbo speed' as if it's the base processor speed.

Can you guys tell me about heat from these? By that I mean, my 2012 MB Pro 15 gives off quite a lot from the bottom of the machine, while sitting on my lap. I had guessed that a newer machine and SSD drive might well mean a machine that is cooler.

 

[Ocnetgeek]

Yeah, as I mentioned above, I find it quite deceptive that they list the 'turbo speed' as if it's the base processor speed.

Can you guys tell me about heat from these? By that I mean, my 2012 MB Pro 15 gives off quite a lot from the bottom of the machine, while sitting on my lap. I had guessed that a newer machine and SSD drive might well mean a machine that is cooler.

I don't use mine on my lap very often. Most of the time mine is connected to an external monitor in clamshell mode. Right now I am sitting with it on my Lap and the temp is about 120. It does warm up quite a bit under load. I agree with the opinions above. A newer MacBook is an option if you need the portability. If portability is not an issue then a Mac mini with a four or six core processor would give you more options.

 

[Ocnetgeek]

I don't use mine on my lap very often. Most of the time mine is connected to an external monitor in clamshell mode. Right now I am sitting with it on my Lap and the temp is about 120. It does warm up quite a bit under load. I agree with the opinions above. A newer MacBook is an option if you need the portability. If portability is not an issue then a Mac mini with a four or six core processor would give you more options.

If you decide to stick with a Laptop and want more power, there is a Refurb with an 16" 8 Core I9, 32 Gig of Ram, and 1 TB SSD for $2700. That's not a bad price.

 

[0128672]

If you decide to stick with a Laptop and want more power, there is a Refurb with an 16" 8 Core I9, 32 Gig of Ram, and 1 TB SSD for $2700. That's not a bad price.

Saving $400 on that config is more than not a bad price, but yeah, it's all relative.

 

[pshufd]

Ah, I see what some of these sellers are doing. They state the 'turbo boost' processing rate as if it was the rating for the processors, but it's not, they are only 2.2ghz. That's dishonest, right?

I find that really annoying as well. I usually have to go look at the specs to find out what the real base clock is. Turbo Boost isn't representative of real-world performance as you don't know how many cores can engage it at the same time.
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Yeah, as I mentioned above, I find it quite deceptive that they list the 'turbo speed' as if it's the base processor speed.

Can you guys tell me about heat from these? By that I mean, my 2012 MB Pro 15 gives off quite a lot from the bottom of the machine, while sitting on my lap. I had guessed that a newer machine and SSD drive might well mean a machine that is cooler.

The newer systems are thinner and lighter so they may have the same heat issues.

 

[Christopher11]

Thank you guys again so much for this input. I will check out that refurb at the Apple Store.I do intend to get a Mac Pro with 12 cores soon... but first, really need to upgrade my mobile setup. So a MB Pro is in order for me. What do you guys think of this machine? https://www.ebay.com/itm/303447177893

The sellers says"SSUBX SSDs are 2X FASTER than the previous models. BEWARE of other sellers that install older / aftermarket SSDs and selling single GPU machines!"

He has 100% feedback, in many cases from sales, so I thought it worth asking you to check out. Thanks so much again for the exceptional advice I get at this forum.