Is 15" MBP (mid-2015) worth it?

[checkmate007]

I recently spilled water on my 13" MacBook Pro 2017 but managed to get a good price out of it when I sold it to a local vendor. With that money and additional
$100-200, I am considering buying a used 15" MacBook Pro (mid-2015) with the following specs:

• 2.2GHz Intel Core i7
• 16GB DDR3
• 256GB Flash Storage
• No discreet GPU, only Intel Iris Pro
• Apple Care until April 2019

Some of the things to consider:

• I don't do video editing, not much need for discreet GPU
• RAM is more important as I often run VMs
• Accessories from previous setup are to be excluded from consideration

Do you think it would be a good idea to buy this item?

 

[lambertjohn]

I have one, same specs as yours. Love it! No dongles. Great "reliable" keyboard. An SD card slot. Ten hour battery life. Big, bright, crisp screen. Runs Photoshop and Office without a hitch. Can't go wrong with a 2015 MBP in my opinion, especially if it comes with AppleCare.

 

[Naimfan]

I recently spilled water on my 13" MacBook Pro 2017 but managed to get a good price out of it when I sold it to a local vendor. With that money and additional
$100-200, I am considering buying a used 15" MacBook Pro (mid-2015) with the following specs:

• 2.2GHz Intel Core i7
• 16GB DDR3
• 256GB Flash Storage
• No discreet GPU, only Intel Iris Pro
• Apple Care until April 2019

Some of the things to consider:

• I don't do video editing, not much need for discreet GPU
• RAM is more important as I often run VMs
• Accessories from previous setup are to be excluded from consideration

Do you think it would be a good idea to buy this item?

Yes.

 

[Falhófnir]

Yep for anything but gpu intensive work it’s still a great choice of machine

 

[groove-agent]

I just bought one - couldn't justify the price for a 2017 w/ a flawed keyboard design. Consider this: you're buying a laptop with actual ports, SD card reader but it's less money. Not only that, but now you've saved money on dongles, potentially a docking station, a USB card reader and you're not paying extra money for the superfluous touch bar. The keyboard feels better, and the touch pad isn't grossly oversized. Switching from a 2012 cMBP I find the thickness perfect, not unnecessarily anorexic like the 2016/2017s. In my research, the 2015 processor isn't that much faster on most tasks.

So essentially, you're getting more for less money. Plus you can rely on it. It's a win.

 

[Efrem]

You might find the 256GB limiting if you have a good-sized video or photo library. (Having a video library doesn't mean you necessarily edit them.) If you don't, or if you're OK with putting much of that on an external drive, I'd do it.

That said, you might want to look up "discreet" and "discrete." They don't mean the same. (A discreet GPU would keep its mouth shut after it's used for viewing porn.)

 

[ZapNZs]

I think it is worth it provided you are paying significantly less than you would pay for a 2017, considering the performance improvements that the 2017 has over the 2015 (let's just call things like the keyboard and trackpad subjective preferences and leave it at that.)

I find 256 GB to be a huge annoyance with VMs if keeping more than a few guests on the local SSD.

 

[kokomoko]

Max it out if you want to last. 256 GB is too small for VMs if you have multiple ones.

 

[checkmate007]

That said, you might want to look up "discreet" and "discrete." They don't mean the same. (A discreet GPU would keep its mouth shut after it's used for viewing porn.)

HAHAHAHA my bad - that's what happens when you post something at 4AM (where I live)

As for the storage, I have been fine with 256 as my VMs aren't that big and I store most of my larger files on external drives or on my NAS. If need be, I could get an external SSD to keep the VMs on it.

I see that 40% of people have voted against it but have not heard from them. I'd also like to hear their opinions in detail!

 

[No. 44]

I see that 40% of people have voted against it but have not heard from them. I'd also like to hear their opinions in detail!

All that you're likely to hear from them is the weary platitude that "newer is better" and that it's irrational to pay money for "old tech". I've read this sentiment here literally hundreds of times.

These people tend to avoid mentioning the frequent issues with the keyboard on the newer models, and they think connectivity with existing devices is old-school.

 

[Brammy]

I didn't vote either way. I'm neutral on it. What price point did you get it at? I think going from a 13-15 is good. I like the 15 2016 I have.

The dongles on the 2016 don't bother me. My only concern is the 2015 has the Haswell chipset which I think was getting pretty old when it hit the 2016.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

Of course it's worth it if it's within your budget. From your workload you don't need the newest chipsets and technology so can save some cash with a slighter older (But still current) model. Ignoring all the bias or whatnot towards/for, against/pro whatever, it's still a good machine assuming the price is right. I.E. if the price was $1999 for a 2017 and $1899 for a 2015 then probably not worth it, as you're paying a lot for the older stuff. However if it's $1999 vs. $1399 or something then absolutely if you can make use of it!

So depends if you want the latest design/technology or you just need the computer to work on, either are more than suitable for that. You're missing the GPU so you'll have to consider if that's something you need or not though. But the main benefit of this machine should be the price.

 

[hwso1129]

I am considering this MBP 2015 15" model too. How much is the maximum you'd pay for a used base model assuming it has warranty until early 2019? (2.2GHz/16GB/Iris Pro)