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iphone 7 plus + ipad pro + macbook pro 15 vs iphone 7 plus + macbook 12 + iMac?

KensaiMage

KensaiMage

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 25, 2017
235
65
I'm a teacher and I want to get my perfect setup.

1. I need a mobile device for university (teaching and studying)

2. I need a mobile device for couch/bed work&media consumption.

Both an ipad pro and a fanless macbook 12 are great for couch/bed (no dust will get inside) / but... I guess a macbook's keyboard is better. However, an iPad gives you an access to more apps for university and home use + it is born for couch use.

3. I need a big screen for pleasant light gaming, semi-professional web design and beginner's programming.

So there are 2 options.

iphone 7 plus + ipad pro + macbook pro 15

vs

iphone 7 plus + macbook 12 + iMac 27


...I have to confess I already ordered an iPad Pro but I am not sure if the purchase was a good idea (I never owned an iPad). If you advice me to go with macbook 12 + imac 27 setup I still can return the ipad. I need a macbook for sure, just dunno which setup to go. I want my mobile device to be fanless and to have all utilities I would need as a academic teacher. I have a feeling that having an iPhone PLUS makes having an ipad instead of a very portable mac not a good idea.

ty
 
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Get the iPhone 7 Plus, iPad Pro and the MacBook Pro 15in.

If you need a bigger screen than the MacBook Pro 15in then get an iMac 27-inch and still keep the iPad Pro or you can get a monitor to go with your MacBook Pro 15in.
 
CatherineVeraGat said:
Get the iPhone 7 Plus, iPad Pro and the MacBook Pro 15in.

If you need a bigger screen than the MacBook Pro 15in then get an iMac 27-inch and still keep the iPad Pro or you can get a monitor to go with your MacBook Pro 15in.
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...but why? I am having a battle of thoughts in my head right now. I need somebody to tell me why to choose the setup he/she advices. It would be great to hear the answer from someone using the devices same way as I will.
[doublepost=1497432897][/doublepost]I am looking for more opinions. Thank you.
 
I'm currently having this same battle of thoughts. I'm an engineering student and I've had my 13" MacBook pro for about 4 years now. While it still works fine, it's starting to show it's age especially now that I've been working on a lot of CAD work and some coding. I also have an iPad Pro 9.7 and an iPhone 6s on the side to fulfil most of my portable needs. So, I'm thinking of upgrading my current laptop to either an iMac or a 15" MacBook Pro + an external display or basically anything that's more powerful. I still haven't completely made up my mind yet. Would be great if other people can share their thoughts on this thread.
Thanks.

edit:
For the thread poster, you mentioned that you're a teacher yes? As a student like myself, i really enjoy my professors working on their iPad pro while it's connected to a projector. It's so much easier on my eyes and my brain when my professor annotates on their lectures slides with the Pencil and I'm sure a lot of other students appreciate that too. So my suggestion is that you should get an iPad pro for the possibility of a more effective and engaging teaching :)
 
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kht410 said:
I'm currently having this same battle of thoughts. I'm an engineering student and I've had my 13" MacBook pro for about 4 years now. While it still works fine, it's starting to show it's age especially now that I've been working on a lot of CAD work and some coding. I also have an iPad Pro 9.7 and an iPhone 6s on the side to fulfil most of my portable needs. So, I'm thinking of upgrading my current laptop to either an iMac or a 15" MacBook Pro + an external display or basically anything that's more powerful. I still haven't completely made up my mind yet. Would be great if other people can share their thoughts on this thread.
Thanks.

edit:
For the thread poster, you mentioned that you're a teacher yes? As a student like myself, i really enjoy my professors working on their iPad pro while it's connected to a projector. It's so much easier on my eyes and my brain when my professor annotates on their lectures slides with the Pencil and I'm sure a lot of other students appreciate that too. So my suggestion is that you should get an iPad pro for the possibility of a more effective and engaging teaching :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply. It's very kind of you. Could you please tell me what apps does your teacher use?

Kind regards
 
KensaiMage said:
Thank you for your reply. It's very kind of you. Could you please tell me what apps does your teacher use?

Kind regards
Click to expand...

No problem! He uses Microsoft PowerPoint for his lecture slides. But at times, when working on complicated problems with longer solutions, he would switch to a different writing app that I'm not sure of, and work it out with students as he writes.
 
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Thank you @kht410.


Anyone who was in the same boat as me and @kht410 ?

Would be great if other people can share their thoughts on this thread.
 
In my view this is a bit of overkill. Why can't you consume media with a 13 inch pro? I sit on the couch with my 15" pro all the time.

Get an iPhone 7+ (wait if you can until October for the latest model) and a MacBook Pro 13" or 15". The phone is big enough you could browse on the couch. If not, can you get away with just an iPad and iPhone?
 
So a Mac is required in this case (webdesign, gaming, programming). If we go from there it is easy to see the Mac doesn't have to be as powerful as an iMac 27" or MacBook Pro 15", a 12" MacBook with decent specs (16GB RAM for example) can do your tasks just fine as far as I'm concerned.

For the desk setup, this would not provide you with a big enough screen, so get a monitor (and possibly keyboard & mouse). A 12" MacBook high-end plus monitor can be as expensive as an iMac 27" or less than a 15" MacBook (depends on config of course).

The iPhone being a Plus model does not make a difference to me in this equation. An iPad is way more powerful, especially with iOS 11 as it provides with multi-tasking and more powerful apps, better typing, etc.

So an iPad might have a place in this scenario as well, on top of the iPhone and MacBook. That's something I can't decide for you as in my eyes the iPad doesn't provide with any different features than the MacBook apart from form factor which is a personal preference. You do mention some app from your university, those might be important enough on their own.

Getting the iPhone 7 Plus, MacBook 12" and iPad may even be less expensive than either your options 1 and 2, or you could even bump up the specs.

By the way, I use a MacBook Pro 15" (2015 w/ dGPU) and an iPhone 7. I need the Mac power for Adobe programs and 3D CAD, but I also use it for anything else on my desk (no monitor). The iPhone provides me with video and music on-the-go and it's easy to use in one hand still (I've also used Plus models, but they're too big for me despite better viewing experience).
 
sunapple said:
By the way, I use a MacBook Pro 15" (2015 w/ dGPU) and an iPhone 7. I need the Mac power for Adobe programs and 3D CAD, but I also use it for anything else on my desk (no monitor). The iPhone provides me with video and music on-the-go and it's easy to use in one hand still (I've also used Plus models, but they're too big for me despite better viewing experience).
Click to expand...

What's your reason for not getting an external monitor? Wouldn't it be more pleasant and easier to do some CAD and programming on a bigger screen?
 
kht410 said:
What's your reason for not getting an external monitor? Wouldn't it be more pleasant and easier to do some CAD and programming on a bigger screen?
Click to expand...

It would, I had an awesome Dell 27" 4K monitor before.

I just wanted to simplify my setup because of a possible move (hasn't happened yet though). Now I've been using just my MBP (and the Twelve South BaseLift!) and I'm okay with it. It's not a big deal for me as I don't use that professional software every single day (projects come and go, still a student).

It's not more convenient per se, but it saves me space on my desk, a monitor, extra cables, BookArc and keyboard and trackpad. Those things combined just felt unnecessary in my case.
 
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sunapple said:
So a Mac is required in this case (webdesign, gaming, programming). If we go from there it is easy to see the Mac doesn't have to be as powerful as an iMac 27" or MacBook Pro 15", a 12" MacBook with decent specs (16GB RAM for example) can do your tasks just fine as far as I'm concerned.

For the desk setup, this would not provide you with a big enough screen, so get a monitor (and possibly keyboard & mouse). A 12" MacBook high-end plus monitor can be as expensive as an iMac 27" or less than a 15" MacBook (depends on config of course).
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While I agree with your premise, I can't find a logical reason to go with a 12" MacBook over a 13" MacBook Pro for any sort of professional use.
 
fig said:
While I agree with your premise, I can't find a logical reason to go with a 12" MacBook over a 13" MacBook Pro for any sort of professional use.
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Well...
for light coding/administration and bed/couch it is perfect. It is silent and no dust will get inside when you travel or code in your bed.
 
sunapple said:
There's nothing he mentioned the MacBook can't handle or am I missing something?
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It could certainly handle it, just seems like you're paying a premium for less performance and lots of dongles. I see the 12" as a very casual use machine, it's just really underpowered for the cost.

Personally I'd go 13" MBP for an equivalent price and increased performance, then use the iPad with a keyboard for casual use. But everyone has their own individual prefs.
 
fig said:
It could certainly handle it, just seems like you're paying a premium for less performance and lots of dongles. I see the 12" as a very casual use machine, it's just really underpowered for the cost.

Personally I'd go 13" MBP for an equivalent price and increased performance, then use the iPad with a keyboard for casual use. But everyone has their own individual prefs.
Click to expand...

You're paying for an incredibly small and light machine that's just very different from the 13". It has just one port less, so I don't see the big deal there.

Have you tried one? I've got the slowest version from 2015 and it's still great. I imagine the newest version to be a fair bit faster.

Anyway, if the thread starter is not sure he should just try one out in a store or at home with the 14 day return window.
 
sunapple said:
You're paying for an incredibly small and light machine that's just very different from the 13". It has just one port less, so I don't see the big deal there.

Have you tried one? I've got the slowest version from 2015 and it's still great. I imagine the newest version to be a fair bit faster.

Anyway, if the thread starter is not sure he should just try one out in a store or at home with the 14 day return window.
Click to expand...
Didn't realize they'd gone to only 2 ports on the new 13", interesting. It does really bug me on the 12" that you can't plug anything else in if you need power (without another adapter), however.

And I have used one, my wife has one so I'm pretty familiar with them. It's certainly usable, but it's bordering on half the power of a 13" MBP for about the same price. For anything outside of really casual use that seems like too big of a tradeoff to make.

For me it also seems so small that it's not especially usable for any sort of professional work, but as mentioned everyone has their preferences. If it works for you, enjoy :)
 
fig said:
Didn't realize they'd gone to only 2 ports on the new 13", interesting. It does really bug me on the 12" that you can't plug anything else in if you need power (without another adapter), however.

And I have used one, my wife has one so I'm pretty familiar with them. It's certainly usable, but it's bordering on half the power of a 13" MBP for about the same price. For anything outside of really casual use that seems like too big of a tradeoff to make.

For me it also seems so small that it's not especially usable for any sort of professional work, but as mentioned everyone has their preferences. If it works for you, enjoy :)
Click to expand...

The 13" without Touch Bar has two ports, with TB has four.

The difference in benchmarks is quite low, it's certainly not half the power. The 12" is cheaper in the base config, bump it up to i5 and you're getting 512GB of storage for 100$ more than the base 13".

Last year's benchmarks are 2900/5700 (single/multi core) for the 12" 2016 m5 vs 3600/7000 for 13" base. Don't know about the 2017 numbers.

So yeah, the 12" is slower, but it's not exactly half the power. Pricing is comparable, but keep in mind storage options.
 
fig said:
It's certainly usable, but it's bordering on half the power of a 13" MBP for about the same price. For anything outside of really casual use that seems like too big of a tradeoff to make.
Click to expand...

well...
Macbook 12" 2017 multi score - 8096 https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/gaming-benchmark-macbook-2017-12-i7.2051396/

and HIGH-END 2017 Macbook Pro scored 9633 - https://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

this is not even 20% difference. + macbook 12" is fanless (silence and no dust inside) and "couch/bed/travel-ready".

to compare... iPad Pro 10.5 score is around 9300.

To me MB 12" seems to be more of a luxury device.

However, I still don't know what to do.
 
I must've looked at an older benchmark as those scores are far better than what I had checked, I stand corrected there. I do wonder a bit on the 2017 12" numbers as that seems like a big jump from the 6708 recorded for the 1.2ghz 12" MacBook (per your link), but better than I thought either way.

I do agree that the 12" is more of a luxury device, but if you've got a use case for it then go for it. For me the iPad Pro would be enough for casual use, then I'd want something with a bit more flexibility and screen real estate for my "real" computer.

When it all comes down to it, however, it's a personal decision. If the 12" meets your needs then don't let me or anyone else tell you what you should get :)
 
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