BTW, why did the 16" MBP only have WiFi 5, while iPhone 11 has WiFi 6. Doesn't seem to make sense.
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How much of an overkill is the new 16" MBP for occasional video editing, but mostly web & Office work?
- Thread starter Luba
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I don't think the base model is overkill at all for that usage - in fact I think it's well suited to it, particularly with the large screen.
It's nice to see they didn't totally screw everyone on the base specs and essentially necessitate an immediate BTO upgrade (on storage for instance).
There are already places doing a slight sale...if you're patient here, you can score a great deal in the months ahead I'll bet.
It's nice to see they didn't totally screw everyone on the base specs and essentially necessitate an immediate BTO upgrade (on storage for instance).
There are already places doing a slight sale...if you're patient here, you can score a great deal in the months ahead I'll bet.
Intel’s top of the line laptop chips don’t yet support wifi 6.
Huge overkill but that doesnt mean you can't get it since its just a nice laptop
I don't get why people care about Wifi 5 vs Wifi6 ??
To answer the question in the thread title, I bought a 2019 MacBook Air and I've been using it quite comfortably, as well as happily, for those tasks. Works a treat!
Definitely overkill, buy a MacBook Air. Even a spec'd up MBA will save you money
Definitely overkill, buy a MacBook Air. Even a spec'd up MBA will save you money
Agree...
I have similar usage as the OP and while maybe slight overkill, the screen size is what I am after.... The 6 core CPU and the GPU might be overkill for my usage but I'll have the added power if I ever need it...
There's no use for WiFi 6 as of today or the next year? Not being sarcastic, legitimate question.
As I understand it you need both ends of the conversation to support 802.11ax to get max benefit. And it is most beneficial in high density/high traffic Wifi settings. The examples on the site mention public access in places like stadiums, shopping malls, airports, etc.
Not sure if it helps in more typical laptop work settings like an office, where a site survey has been performed and the appropriate number of access points configured.
But, I am happy to be corrected.
There are appreciable throughput gains for 2.4 GHz, roughly 50-100% over 802.11ac.
WiFi 6 hardware exists. It's nice to have but I agree for an office workflow, it's not needed.
People paying this much tend to demand the most bleeding edge things. In this case demand for something that just doesn’t exist on current intel chips
It's the same reason why no one needs a 5G phone right now. Yes the standard exists, and the tech is starting to roll out, but by the time it's actually widespread enough to be useful, it'll be getting around to be time to upgrade again anyway. So i'm personally not upset about the 16" MBP not having Wifi 6.
5G is available in 50 cities in China today. Over 10 million users have already signed up.
Things may be slow in some parts of the world, but that doesn't apply everywhere.
That's fair. Yeah i'm sure China is very much on the forefront of that. I'm admittedly looking at this through a U.S. lense where 5G isn't going to finish it's rollout anytime soon. Same with Wifi 6. The situation is always different depending on your region.
It’s literally years since slow WiFi on my laptop has been any kind of issue for me. And when there are issues of slow WiFi it’s been on the Router end of things not my laptop. I don’t get it at all why people want faster WiFi. I also see zero need for 5G on mobile - 4G is plenty fast enough to my mind and again any hold ups are not on the handset end of things but instead due to server side issues.
Anyhow being annoyed about not having WiFi 6 seems a ridiculous and pedantic thing to be annoyed about to me 🤷♂️
Wifi 6 would have been a nice addition, but it would need a supported acces point as well. Last summer I installed a new 4x4 MU-MIMO 802.11ac (i.e. WiFi 5) acces point in our home because the ISP provided WiFi router/modem was hidden away in some corner of the house providing insufficient coverage and mediocre speeds. The change in speeds has been amazing. Even at the backside of the antenna, where signal strength tends to be less powerful, it can do a decent 60MB/s wireless without problem (probably limited by the use of spinning disk on the file server). I have even seen peaks up to 77MB/s. It's fast enough to stream 4K HDR Netflix on the toilet. WiFi 6 might be able to double those speeds in theory, exceeding 1Gbits wired connections, and would require an upgrade to the entire wired network to make full use of those new speeds! But I'm happy with 802.11ac on the new access point. They're not cheap (think around $150) but I would definitely recommend people to install a dedicated WiFi access point if they are experiencing slow WiFi speeds. Or go all out with a mesh network, but that's even more expensive.
But this just backs up what I'm saying - if you wifi is slow its probably not your laptop but your router or ISP. I mean how many folks are running with 2.5GHz wifi when they could be running 5GHz on many routers ?
Because WiFi-6 support in laptops is flaky at best. It will take another year or so. Apple's WiFi-5 willl outperform any of the WiFi-6 laptop solutions currently on the market.
Exactly, just because the router is WiFi 5 certified does not mean it is a good router, it just meets the minimal hardware requirements for WiFi 5, officially ratified back in 2013. The great thing about WiFi 6 is that it's minimal requirements include MU-MIMO and beam forming amongst other. These technologies greatly improve wireless performance in crowded urban areas. But even at a country home with the next door neighbour miles away there are still benefits, since nowadays we have so many wireless device at home the definition of multi "user" should be rebranded as multi "device". New WiFi 5 router and access point, especially the slightly more expensive ones, have these technologies as well. That's what makes them good Wifi routers, and what makes WiFi 5 still viable for the next years to come.
The new 16" MBP is not at all overkill for occasional video editing and mostly web & Office work. To some, it can be a must-have, since apart from work, there is the satisfaction element, the human desire element. Having the latest and greatest can help productivity if it pushes people to keep working.
But then, there is a new one coming over the horizon already, with WiFi 6 and maybe a display with more resolution. Everything else is pretty great as of today.
But then, there is a new one coming over the horizon already, with WiFi 6 and maybe a display with more resolution. Everything else is pretty great as of today.
The most demanding program I use on my 2013 MBP13" is FCPX, and that's just smaller projects for YouTube videos. Otherwise its just web surfing and the occasional MS Office use.
Even though my current system is doing me fine, I'm still tempted to sell the 13" and go with the 16" 8-core with the upgraded GPU option. I know I don't need it...….but sure would be nice with my external SSD Raid and 10GBe adapter connected......
Even though my current system is doing me fine, I'm still tempted to sell the 13" and go with the 16" 8-core with the upgraded GPU option. I know I don't need it...….but sure would be nice with my external SSD Raid and 10GBe adapter connected......
So much angst about the lack of WIFI 6 on this new laptop.
Question... what problems are you having now without WIFI 6 that would be solved by having WIFI 6 devices and routers?
I'm looking for answers like "I cannot do _____ unless I have WIFI 6..."
Sure... it would be a "nice to have" feature. But it's hardly a reason to lambaste Apple/Intel/whoever for not enabling it.
Question... what problems are you having now without WIFI 6 that would be solved by having WIFI 6 devices and routers?
I'm looking for answers like "I cannot do _____ unless I have WIFI 6..."
Sure... it would be a "nice to have" feature. But it's hardly a reason to lambaste Apple/Intel/whoever for not enabling it.
Exactly. I’m pretty serious about my Wi-Fi, currently using the Orbi RB53 setup, and I have 1Gbps internet from AT&T. Even though speed tests max out at 1Gbps over Ethernet, real world file downloads from web servers top out at <500Mbps. And my recent MacBooks can all pull down ~500Mbps via Wi-Fi.
I guess some people are doing massive file transfers over their Wi-Fi LAN? If that is a major part of your workflow, seems like you’d already be exploring 10GbE set ups for all applicable networking devices, and Wi-Fi 6 wouldn’t even be getting you half way to your full potential.
OP:
What do you have now?
Is what you have working well enough, at least for now?
If so, there's no rush to upgrade... yet.
But if you have money that's burnin' a hole in your pocket...
... the "base model" MBP 16" may be just what you're looking for!
What do you have now?
Is what you have working well enough, at least for now?
If so, there's no rush to upgrade... yet.
But if you have money that's burnin' a hole in your pocket...
... the "base model" MBP 16" may be just what you're looking for!