Decisions, decisions.... MBP Upgrade

[nolegirl01]

Hey Everyone,

I need to upgrade my laptop and wanted to pick your brains a bit.

I've had my Macbook Pro 15'' since 2012 and it's been great and it still working great but I was wanting to give this one to my sister since she is now entering college and needs a computer. Being a graphic designer and working with big files, I really want to upgrade to 1TB so it's an excuse to upgrade for me haha

I'm between the:

"older" 15'' MBP with all the ports which is still sold at Apple's website
(2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB Ram, 1TB SSD, Intel Iris Pro Graphics)

OR making the jump to:

15'' MBP with the touch bar
(3.1GHz quad-core 7th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB Ram, 1TB SSD, Radeon Pro 560 with 4GB memory)

I'm not for the gimmick of the touch bar, really couldn't care about that and hate that I will have to now buy dongles if I decide to go with that version but I did hear that processor and graphics card are better in the newer MBP models with the Touch bar.

If Apple made a MBP that kept all the ports and had the insides of the touch bar MBP then it would be awesome but they don't soooo....not awesome.

I'm leaning towards the "older" MBP with the ports but buying brand new on their website but still not 100%.

Anyone care to give me their opinion? Please be nice. Thank you!!!

 

[tubeexperience]

I would order the 2015 MacBook Pro

The 2016/2017 MacBook Pro would fail in no time.

 

[OceanView]

I was in a similar position and ended up buying the 2015 model with all the ports.
Not really giving up much to go older as the 2017 model has too many issues for me personally to overcome.

 

[OSX15]

I own both the top model 2015 15” and 2017 15” they are both great.. but.... My 2017 had 3 repairs in just 9 months. Honestly the 2015” is just as capable and way more reliable. The GPU is better in the new models but not groundbreaking in most tasks

 

[elchorizo]

I'm really not a fan of the new keyboard. I have a 2017 MBP I use for development every day. I use it with an external keyboard so luckily my laptop keyboard hasn't failed yet, but my personal 12" MacBook has a non working spacebar. Anyway, on the new MBP the keyboard is unreliable, its uncomfortable to type on, and its very loud (annoying in an office environment).

Also, who gives a crap if the computer is 10% thinner if all that weight is made up for by needing 20 extra dongles in your bag?

The touchbar is a waste of innovation IMO. I really hate the missing physical escape key for the few occasions when I use the actual laptop keyboard.

If you can live with these things, and want a tiny bit more power, then the new MBP might be for you, just make sure to get Apple Care.

IIWY, I'd get the old one with the ports.

 

[kschendel]

If your current machine does what you need it to do with usable performance, another vote for the 2015. I expect it will be enough faster to be a pleasant upgrade and you won't have the keyboard worry.

 

[moostrax]

I was in a very similar situation not too long ago. I decided to go with a 2016 MBP with touchbar and haven’t looked back. While the keyboard is a topic of unrest for some, it has been a non-issue for me. After using it quite a bit, I actually like it. The touchbar has integrated well into my daily productivity/consumption as well and at this point I prefer it to the functions keys! Its customability is what really drew me in. As far as the I/O, USB-C is the way that we’re headed and for me, it was important to keep this laptop viable for the years to come. Coming from a 2011(!) Macbook Pro, I wanted this machine to last; dongles it is. And really its not that bad for my uses, a USB-C hub has been enough.

Ultimately, I’m not sure you can go wrong either way. But if you want to stay future-prepared, I think the 2016/17 MBP will perfectly suit your needs, withough so much as a drawback from the seemingly prevalent anecdotal problems that I’ve seen nothing of. Maybe consider applecare+ as a safeguard if you go this route.