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HELP!! MacBook Pro 2015 15 inch or save for base model 16 inch 2019

George Adey

George Adey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 21, 2019
14
0
Hi All,

I have about £800 to spend on a new editing machine. I use FCPX and shoot HD and 4K footage in H.264. I primarily edit Vlogs and short form video.

I need something reasonably soon as I am starting to get more freelance work. Would it be best to try and buy a used, maxed out 2015 MacBook Pro or carry on saving and get a used 2018 model, or save even longer for a base model MacBook Pro 16 inch?

Any advice on good, used editing MacBook Pro’s would be appreciated!
 
Do you need portability? If not a used Mac mini or iMac will give you more bang for your editing money. And editing with a big display, real keyboard, and mouse is much more enjoyable than on a laptop.
 
It’s a complicated question once you factor in your storage and RAM needs..
Can you elaborate on that?

Anything newer than 2015 models can’t be upgraded or changed in any way from the specs you purchase up front, which substantially raises the initial purchase costs.
 
turbineseaplane said:
It’s a complicated question once you factor in your storage and RAM needs..
Can you elaborate on that?

Anything newer than 2015 models can’t be upgraded or changed in any way from the specs you purchase up front, which substantially raises the initial purchase costs.
Click to expand...

Storage wise I have external SSDs so I’m not worried about internal storage. Portability would be nice but not essential, I was under the impression that Mac Minis weren’t really powerful enough to use for editing?
[automerge]1577045955[/automerge]
jerryk said:
Do you need portability? If not a used Mac mini or iMac will give you more bang for your editing money. And editing with a big display, real keyboard, and mouse is much more enjoyable than on a laptop.
Click to expand...

agreed, I have an external 4K monitor I edit on. Portability isn’t essential, I thought that Mac Minis weren’t great editing machines?
 
George Adey said:
Storage wise I have external SSDs so I’m not worried about internal storage. Portability would be nice but not essential, I was under the impression that Mac Minis weren’t really powerful enough to use for editing?
[automerge]1577045955[/automerge]


agreed, I have an external 4K monitor I edit on. Portability isn’t essential, I thought that Mac Minis weren’t great editing machines?
Click to expand...

Agree Mac Minis are limited, but they do OK. I would pick a iMac over the Mini, but it all depends on budget.
 
jerryk said:
Agree Mac Minis are limited, but they do OK. I would pick a iMac over the Mini, but it all depends on budget.
Click to expand...

I don’t want to spend loads, but I guess you get what you pay for. I think I’m better saving for a bit longer and get a 2017 onwards MacBook Pro used.
 
George Adey said:
I don’t want to spend loads, but I guess you get what you pay for. I think I’m better saving for a bit longer and get a 2017 onwards MacBook Pro used.
Click to expand...

The good thing for you about the later MacBook Pros is the are dropping rapidly in price on the used market. I got $1400 USD in trade on a near $3,000 2018 15" MBP (512 GB, 16GB memory, uograded GPU). Right at 1 year old. The 16" with the new keyboard has just killed the value of the 2016-2019 Butterfly keyboard models.
 
jerryk said:
The good thing for you about the later MacBook Pros is the are dropping rapidly in price on the used market. I got $1400 USD in trade on a near $3,000 2018 15" MBP (512 GB, 16GB memory, uograded GPU). Right at 1 year old. The 16" with the new keyboard has just killed the value of the 2016-2019 Butterfly keyboard models.
Click to expand...

yes I think I will keep an eye out on eBay etc on used prices on the 2018 models.
 
George Adey said:
yes I think I will keep an eye out on eBay etc on used prices on the 2018 models.
Click to expand...

Are you worried at all about the hassle and potential long-term cost and valuation hit of being a butterfly keyboard owner?

Just an additional thing to think about with those. The pricing on those is reduced because there is inherit short, medium and long term risk of expensive hardware failures
 
turbineseaplane said:
Are you worried at all about the hassle and potential long-term cost and valuation hit of being a butterfly keyboard owner?

Just an additional thing to think about with those. The pricing on those is reduced because there is inherit short, medium and long term risk of expensive hardware failures
Click to expand...

its a good point! Ideally I don’t want that risk. But a 2015 MacBook Pro with good specs won’t be supported by Apple for much longer and the Mac Mini doesn’t seem great value. plus it would take a while to save for the base model 16 inch! So many options ha
 
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