Going 2011 15" -> 2019 15" is...

[Thornblom]

Wonderful!

My 2019 15 inch 512/32gb has arrived.
Coming from a 2011 15 inch model, I could not be happier.

Touch ID - Love it.
Keyboard - Personally, I think it is a huge upgrade from the old mushy keyboard (on my 2011). I'm a programmer and typing all day long, so that a great perk for me (as long as it won't break lol).
Screen - not even comparable.
Touchpad - lightyears better then my 2011.
Ports - Never use them.

The thing is blasting fast, light, thin and has great battery time.

I just wanted to share my experience going from an old 2011 15 inch machine. I think just about everything is way better, of course, some aspects is personal. I don't know what to say about the Touch Bar just yet, but it might be useful.

You guys sitting on old machines afraid of pulling the trigger, don't be. It's such a huge upgrade. I understand that some of you need more ports then I do etc, but I generally feel that this thing getting too much hate. Again, it's a huge upgrade from older models.

 

[SigmundJake229]

Appreciate the review! Still in the research stage but upgrading from 2011 15” MBP too. I get confused by the different processors and speeds. I know I want to upgrade my ram and HD though.

 

[Thornblom]

Appreciate the review! Still in the research stage but upgrading from 2011 15” MBP too. I get confused by the different processors and speeds. I know I want to upgrade my ram and HD though.

Everything will be a huge upgrade from what you have. The base processor in the 15 inch model is really powerful with its six cores and hyper threading, this last gen also got a bump up in cache, with is great.
The operating speed of the current SSDs and RAM is also way better then what you have in yours.
I choose 32GB of ram only because of I run virtual machines, otherwise I would have been fine with 16.

 

[fulhamx5]

i want to purchase a 2019 macbook pro 13 or 2019 macbook pro 15 2.3 ghz 8 core.
i want to see macbook pro 16 first. but it s still not announced.

my macbook pro 13 had heat issues.it was warm while watching youtube too. so uncomfortable to use on lap.
i want to ask you about macbook pro 15 2019. does it have heat issues too? for light works as surfing web with safari or watching netflix and youtube videos.

and is it bad for using on lap because of bigger dimensions

thank u

 

[Thornblom]

i want to purchase a 2019 macbook pro 13 or 2019 macbook pro 15 2.3 ghz 8 core.
i want to see macbook pro 16 first. but it s still not announced.

my macbook pro 13 had heat issues.it was warm while watching youtube too. so uncomfortable to use on lap.
i want to ask you about macbook pro 15 2019. does it have heat issues too? for light works as surfing web with safari or watching netflix and youtube videos.

and is it bad for using on lap because of bigger dimensions

thank u

Comparing to my older MacBook Pro I feel that simple task like browsing, watching Netflix etc is much less taxing for this machine. This means it is not getting as hot during those tasks as my old 2011 did. However it can still get very hot when doing heavy tasks (having multiple virtual machines, compiling etc).
I have no problem using it on my lap, it's a much better experience compared to my old 15 inch. That said, my old MacBook Air is still much easier to use in the lap.

 

[fulhamx5]

thanks for reply
good info

 

[BigBoy2018]

Sounds like the OP is still on the 'honeymoon' phase. I always LOVE my mac stuff right after I get it: It's shiney, new, different, better in some ways.

The REAL test is 10 months down the road, when it's just your plain old laptop, and it's no longer 'new' and 'exciting'. And maybe you'll have had a few instances where you didn't have the right dongle, or (god forbid) the keyboard starts wigging out on you.

I would never buy the 2019 models with the newer models maybe a half year away with keyboards that will probably be rock-solid reliable, and perhaps even better heat management. Just my 2-cents.

 

[Hazmat401]

Sounds like the OP is still on the 'honeymoon' phase. I always LOVE my mac stuff right after I get it: It's shiney, new, different, better in some ways.

The REAL test is 10 months down the road, when it's just your plain old laptop, and it's no longer 'new' and 'exciting'. And maybe you'll have had a few instances where you didn't have the right dongle, or (god forbid) the keyboard starts wigging out on you.

I would never buy the 2019 models with the newer models maybe a half year away with keyboards that will probably be rock-solid reliable, and perhaps even better heat management. Just my 2-cents.

I would say the 2019’s are very safe to buy keyboard woes aside... I haven’t read many issues on the 2019’s MBP at all if any

2018’s tends to suffer from T2 issues and the 2017/2016 is just garbage

if the 16 inch MBP isnt out buy next week... I’m getting a 2019 MBP 16gig and Vega 16

 

[Thornblom]

Sounds like the OP is still on the 'honeymoon' phase. I always LOVE my mac stuff right after I get it: It's shiney, new, different, better in some ways.

The REAL test is 10 months down the road, when it's just your plain old laptop, and it's no longer 'new' and 'exciting'. And maybe you'll have had a few instances where you didn't have the right dongle, or (god forbid) the keyboard starts wigging out on you.

I would never buy the 2019 models with the newer models maybe a half year away with keyboards that will probably be rock-solid reliable, and perhaps even better heat management. Just my 2-cents.

I hear you, but still, it handles my work both more efficient and cooler then my old machine. Of course, I expect to find things I don’t like about it later on. But that I did with my old Mac also. Its thickness was sometimes a pain in the ass, graphics card problems, speaker issues etc. I do think this is a great upgrade from where I came. If I had a newer retina Mac already, I probably would have waited.

 

[MisterAndrew]

I still enjoy using my 15" 2012 non-retina. Hopefully it'll stay working well for a quite a while. It's nice the 2012 is supported by Catalina. Of course the 2011 isn't so I can see why it was necessary to upgrade.

 

[konqerror]

Personally, I think it is a huge upgrade from the old mushy keyboard (on my 2011).

I'm glad somebody agrees with me that those keyboards had awful tactile feedback! I had a 2014 and the butterfly feel, especially 2nd gen+, is far better.

 

[Zerosopher]

What kinds of programming you are doing?

I am about to upgrade mine as well but would like to see the 16 inches first.

I do not want the 16 but will see if the price of the 15 drops when it is announced.

 

[maflynn]

Congrats on your new baby, its certainly a big jump up from a 2011 machine.

 

[Thornblom]

What kinds of programming you are doing?

I am about to upgrade mine as well but would like to see the 16 inches first.

I do not want the 16 but will see if the price of the 15 drops when it is announced.

Enterprise web applications and services. Using .Net Core mainly and some legacy .Net Framework running windows in VM.

I'm using base 15 inch CPU and graphics with 32 GB of RAM, works great so far!