I Regret Buying Last Year's Top of the Line Model

[Yeahyeahyeah123]

So last year, I bought the 15' 3.1ghz/1TB/560 model for close to $3400 because I wanted to future-proof it so badly (In 2014, my friend pressured me to edit some videos on my base 2010 MBP with adobe premiere CC and my computer was sluggish for 3 more years after that). This means that I waited for years to upgrade.

The 2017 MBP still runs great with no issues but now on reflection, I felt like I wasted about $1000 just for the possibility of "future-proofing." In fact, my use case now mainly involves writing blog posts and publishing them on wordpress, web browsing, minor photo editing. and playing some casual video games. The CPU usage is usually around 10-20% (occasionally going up to 30%), the ram usage averages 6-7GB, and I have over 80% of my SSD free.

On the flipside, I hope my current computer will last me for quite some time! Lesson learned for next time. haha

 

[doitdada]

Future-proofing is impossible. I would rather just buy the base, sell it after two years and buy another base. So much happens in the span of two-three years. Like hardware support for video codecs, more cores and faster clock speeds. Also better battery life, more colourful displays and better sounding speakers.

 

[impulse462]

Future-proofing is impossible. I would rather just buy the base, sell it after two years and buy another base. So much happens in the span of two-three years. Like hardware support for video codecs, more cores and faster clock speeds. Also better battery life, more colourful displays and better sounding speakers.

yeah I tend to agree. top of the line models aren't as great of investments unless you are 100% certain you will keep the computer for a longer period of time (at least 4 years) AND you know that future editions will only be incremental upgrades which is obviously impossible.

the i9 model is a pretty big increase, but then next year we'll get lpddr4, 10nm cpus which should run cooler and have better battery life all around.

 

[Yeahyeahyeah123]

Oh I plan to keep mine for 5+ years but I am thinking that my purchase was still a bit excessive. I used my last one (base 2010 15' 320M i5, 320GB HD) for 7 years ... but it was so sluggish despite the SSD and ram upgrades in the last couple of years.

Funnily enough, I remember (as a college student) begging my dad to help me buy the 2010 base model 15' instead of the Macbook Air because I didn't want to be stuck with the older Core2Duo processor and a 64GB SSD.

Saying that, future-proofing seems quite futile.

 

[Starlights]

Funnily enough, I remember (as a college student) begging my dad to help me buy the 2010 base model 15' instead of the Macbook Air because I didn't want to be stuck with the older Core2Duo processor and a 64GB SSD.

Saying that, future-proofing seems quite futile.

Funny you say that: I went the opposite route - in 2011 I bought an MBA (with 4 GB ram) instead of an MBP per my needs at that time, that has served me well and continues to fly through light tasks such as browsing, emailing and MS Office etc. Today I picked up my base 15" MBP (512/32) as my needs have changed and need a portable machine for some heavy lifting. MBA is on its third battery and will continue to be my traveling companion.

 

[poorcody]

yeah I tend to agree. top of the line models aren't as great of investments unless you are 100% certain you will keep the computer for a longer period of time (at least 4 years) AND you know that future editions will only be incremental upgrades which is obviously impossible.

Agree... plus laptops are more vulnerable to theft, breakage (e.g. dropping), and catastrophic failure (e.g. bad keyboard = battery replacement = higher cost).

Although, I have to say, I'm always impressed with how well MacBooks hold value over time compared to other brands.

 

[Admiral]

the i9 model is a pretty big increase, but then next year we'll get lpddr4, 10nm cpus which should run cooler and have better battery life all around.

Intel has just confirmed that the 10nm CPUs will be available "for the holidays" in 2019 — i.e., Christmas. Given how Apple has abandoned being on the leading edge of new CPU technologies, we shouldn't count on Ice Lake until summer 2020. Unless Apple pivots to ARM and its own A-series processors.

 

[Yeahyeahyeah123]

Funny you say that: I went the opposite route - in 2011 I bought an MBA (with 4 GB ram) instead of an MBP per my needs at that time, that has served me well and continues to fly through light tasks such as browsing, emailing and MS Office etc. Today I picked up my base 15" MBP (512/32) as my needs have changed and need a portable machine for some heavy lifting. MBA is on its third battery and will continue to be my traveling companion.

Ha... you're the smart one! My computer was a decent purchase... just probably not the best ROI. One could save the difference to put it towards a future purchase. Weirdly enough, I hate traveling with my computer because it's so expensive.

 

[BigMcGuire]

The 2017 MBP still runs great with no issues but now on reflection, I felt like I wasted about $1000 just for the possibility of "future-proofing."

I bought a near top of the line MBP TB 13' 2017. I don't regret it at all. Yeah, it was a little pricey but I am planning on keeping the laptop 6+ years. That and, it is nice to have the abilities if I need them. I'm using about 120GB of the 1TB SSD, 16GB of ram and utilization always stays super low, and the 3.3Ghz i5 CPU is rarely ever taxed.

But I saved up for this for years while using a MBA 11 (2015) with 128GB SSD, 4GB ram. I was happy with that laptop. I bought it for $750 from Best Buy then I sold it to Apple for $350. I hope to do similar with this MBP (maybe not with as much return, lol).

----

When the 2018 models came out less than 2 months after I bought my MBP 17, I initially was floored, worried, sad. But when I built the 2018 13' MBP, I realized I had no reason to be sad. My high end 2017 MBP 13' TB was fine, the 2TB SSD was $1200, the 2x faster statement compared baseline, etc...

If my 2015 MBA was my main machine up until 2 months ago, then my 2017 MBP should be great even 6 years from now.

 

[Yeahyeahyeah123]

I bought a near top of the line MBP TB 13' 2017. I don't regret it at all. Yeah, it was a little pricey but I am planning on keeping the laptop 6+ years. That and, it is nice to have the abilities if I need them. I'm using about 120GB of the 1TB SSD, 16GB of ram and utilization always stays super low, and the 3.3Ghz i5 CPU is rarely ever taxed.

But I saved up for this for years while using a MBA 11 (2015) with 128GB SSD, 4GB ram. I was happy with that laptop. I bought it for $750 from Best Buy then I sold it to Apple for $350. I hope to do similar with this MBP (maybe not with as much return, lol).

----

When the 2018 models came out less than 2 months after I bought my MBP 17, I initially was floored, worried, sad. But when I built the 2018 13' MBP, I realized I had no reason to be sad. My high end 2017 MBP 13' TB was fine, the 2TB SSD was $1200, etc...

If my 2015 MBA was my main machine up until 2 months ago, then my 2017 MBP should be great even 6 years from now.

That's quite impressive!

I partially bought the $3K computer because I had 24 months to pay it off interest free (with the special financing offer). Although my thread was a bit hyperbolic, I was just observing how a lot of people, including myself, are so concerned with future-proofing vs. what we may actually need.

 

[BigMcGuire]

That's quite impressive!

I partially bought the $3K computer because I had 24 months to pay it off interest free (with the special financing offer). Although my thread was a bit hyperbolic, I was just observing how a lot of people, including me, are so concerned with future-proofing vs. what we may actually need.

Yep, I'm one of them. My MBA 11' 2015 was more than fine for my needs. I may switch from Windows to Mac development someday, but right now, I'm definitely not using this thing to its max. But, like driving a BMW X5 M on the 405 freeway... you're rarely going to be using its full abilities, but it should be nicer to drive than my Civic.

 

[Starlights]

Ha... you're the smart one!

I won't take credit where its not due - not smart, just broke

 

[haruhiko]

Top of the line or not your iPhone X or the upcoming iPhone/iPad is going to get very close if not match the performance of the MBP... the progress of Intel CPU has been stagnating in these years. Well, at least they crammed two more cores into the CPU this year so it's still a worthwhile upgrade.

Getting top-of-the-line is not very wise since whatever lowest end model coming in the next few years is going to surpass your top-of-the-line current model.

But sometimes I just can't resist the temptation to at least get the 'better' model.

 

[vemac575]

You will never be able to future proof, until the singularity.

 

[Miltz]

So last year, I bought the 15' 3.1ghz/1TB/560 model for close to $3400 because I wanted to future-proof it so badly (In 2014, my friend pressured me to edit some videos on my base 2010 MBP with adobe premiere CC and my computer was sluggish for 3 more years after that). This means that I waited for years to upgrade.

The 2017 MBP still runs great with no issues but now on reflection, I felt like I wasted about $1000 just for the possibility of "future-proofing." In fact, my use case now mainly involves writing blog posts and publishing them on wordpress, web browsing, minor photo editing. and playing some casual video games. The CPU usage is usually around 10-20% (occasionally going up to 30%), the ram usage averages 6-7GB, and I have over 80% of my SSD free.

On the flipside, I hope my current computer will last me for quite some time! Lesson learned for next time. haha

Ummm... no. You shouldn't regret your purchase, your logic is flawed. The new model is NOT a huge difference, it really isn't. You'll enjoy your laptop for years to come. Only 2015 owners will experience a huge upgrade thought the entire system.

 

[Gravydog316]

Yeah, 'future-proofing" & even keeping what you currently have don't work, when they change/update the software & it's full of bugs that never get fixed lol

 

[Falhófnir]

With price/performance in mind it’s very rarely worth upgrading the CPU to a higher clocked model. The only time I think consensus has ever been that it’s worth it was the 2016 MacBook where the M5 was a really good upgrade from the M3. As things stand, I believe the current (2017) i5 is once again not really worth it over the newer M3 - primarily because the 7th gen M3 has a huge leap in performance over the 6th gen version. With the other upgrades really you can only go with what you know you’ll need. SSD capacity is probably the single ‘futureproofing’ upgrade that you can reliably have any idea on. You’ll likely know if 256 is going to be too little, 512 might be tight and 1TB would be welcome, or if you’re not going to be storing a lot and upgrading the SSD is a waste of money for you.

 

[maflynn]

I generally avoid future proofing, but rather look to configure the computer in a way that meets my needs now and what they should be in the future. That doesn't mean maxing everything out just in case. For instance, its seems many of the people buying the 2018 MBP are maxing out to 32GB even though they don't need it.

 

[YaBe]

Oh I plan to keep mine for 5+ years but I am thinking that my purchase was still a bit excessive. I used my last one (base 2010 15' 320M i5, 320GB HD) for 7 years ... but it was so sluggish despite the SSD and ram upgrades in the last couple of years.

Funnily enough, I remember (as a college student) begging my dad to help me buy the 2010 base model 15' instead of the Macbook Air because I didn't want to be stuck with the older Core2Duo processor and a 64GB SSD.

Saying that, future-proofing seems quite futile.

Yes and no, you had a need and you thought the purchase was worth Ed, now the need is gone, but ast it came and went it can came again.

Future proofing to me means that, if the needs arise your machine will be capable, hence you’d save money keeping it, if you sell now and get a Lowe specs machine you lose some money, and if the needs arises again either you shell more money to re purchase a capable machine or you are stuck with a slower computer.

 

[Ma2k5]

Intel has just confirmed that the 10nm CPUs will be available "for the holidays" in 2019 — i.e., Christmas. Given how Apple has abandoned being on the leading edge of new CPU technologies, we shouldn't count on Ice Lake until summer 2020. Unless Apple pivots to ARM and its own A-series processors.

I wouldn’t bank on A-chips for a while (if not indefinitely), the technological barrier is immense if they want to fully support all programs and OS’s.

You’ve seen the issues recently from just the introduction of the T2 chip, butterfly keyboard and the touch bar - multiply that by 1000 to get a grip of the issues of an Apple based CPU.

 

[fate0311]

May be a while before we see any nominal bumps. There is an obvious technological barrier right now with the design of the MBP chassis and a workhorse CPU.

Apple also normally uses dated CPU's from the prior year. Not the case with this MBP update.

If apple is going to put out a faster laptop in the future they are going to have to use a CPU that consumes less energy while still outperforming this years CPU's. The form factor of the MBP can not get any thinner.

Heat is a byproduct of energy, use less and you run cooler.

 

[RobbieTT]

Back in the day I think too many of us thought or worried about CPU performance and yet with each successive bump in speed the net effect was unremarkable. If anything this was underscored by the massive real-world performance jump provided by SSDs alone. Whole system performance is where it is at and apart from some dedicated and arguably niche usage scenarios most of will be just fine on base CPUs and RAM. Storage is easier as most of us can use our previous usage as a guide for what you need next.

Regarding the regrets expressed then yes, hindsight can inform future purchases and we have all been there. I now type on a 2018 13" base cpu machine, albeit with the RAM and HDD bumped slightly to meet my needs. But if you think system-wide performance when you reflect on your 2017 purchase then you still have a great display, fantastic SSD speed and, above all, the best operating system that will continue to improve at no extra cost to you. So in that sense you have future-proofed as you will have new capabilities this year and beyond - so enjoy the ride!

 

[Yeahyeahyeah123]

Back in the day I think too many of us thought or worried about CPU performance and yet with each successive bump in speed the net effect was unremarkable. If anything this was underscored by the massive real-world performance jump provided by SSDs alone. Whole system performance is where it is at and apart from some dedicated and arguably niche usage scenarios most of will be just fine on base CPUs and RAM. Storage is easier as most of us can use our previous usage as a guide for what you need next.

Regarding the regrets expressed then yes, hindsight can inform future purchases and we have all been there. I now type on a 2018 13" base cpu machine, albeit with the RAM and HDD bumped slightly to meet my needs. But if you think system-wide performance when you reflect on your 2017 purchase then you still have a great display, fantastic SSD speed and, above all, the best operating system that will continue to improve at no extra cost to you. So in that sense you have future-proofed as you will have new capabilities this year and beyond - so enjoy the ride!

Yeah, totally. I just meant more along the lines of, "I don't see myself using the full capabilities anytime soon." So I could have bought a lower-specced model and used the money elsewhere. At the same time, I may get much more enjoyment out of my machine in years 5-7. I kept my base configuration 2010 MBP for 7 years but it was starting to drive me nuts after 5 years. It's a game of hindsight and the perceived value of ROI.

 

[RobbieTT]

This MBP just replaced a 2009 MBP, so 7 years is young to me. Of course it was from an era when it could host more than one drive (I used 3) and moving to an SSD and upping the ram made it run way faster than when new. My desktops (currently an iMac 27" 5k) do get replaced more frequently as they do the heavy lifting and the extra performance is worth it, but for mobile work a 2018 base 13" is perfect.

 

[Yeahyeahyeah123]

This MBP just replaced a 2009 MBP, so 7 years is young to me. Of course it was from an era when it could host more than one drive (I used 3) and moving to an SSD and upping the ram made it run way faster than when new. My desktops (currently an iMac 27" 5k) do get replaced more frequently as they do the heavy lifting and the extra performance is worth it, but for mobile work a 2018 base 13" is perfect.

Quite impressive! I think my computer could have potentially lasted that long but in 2014, my friend pressured me to edit 50+ videos in premiere pro which did a number on my hard drive/components. So it became a slow crawl to inefficiency and frustration (even after putting in more ram and a SSD). It still works but it's kind of janky now.

My current computer was an anxiety-driven decision based on the off chance that someone will ask me to do something that resource-intensive again. But looking back, that seems a bit extreme. Haha

Plus, my laptop is my only computer.