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While I think the 2016 is a better computer in every way, there is no doubt in my mind that 2015 is better value for money.

Still, I think some people got the better value one and are now trying to convince themselves (and everyone else) that somehow, they are also better overall or that in 2017. a new MBP will be magically better, even though there are no indications that either the cpu or gpu will be noticeably faster next year - and the ports and keyboard will surely remain as they are (only the battery life may get an hour or so more).

Anyway, to people that got the 2015. model I can only say the same thing I'd say to the 2016 buyers: you made a great choice. The 2015 is one great computer.

Except the 16 13" is slower, has no magsafe, fewer ports and costs more despite no improvement in performance.
 
Except the 16 13" is slower, has no magsafe, fewer ports and costs more despite no improvement in performance.

Note: unlike the 15" - this is based on what I read, not tried myself:

The nTB 13" is meant as an Air replacement and it still manages to be similar in CPU performance (slightly faster from what I've read) as the old MBP, but with faster GPU and SSD. Even the memory is faster (though I don't believe that results in perceivable performance gains). But it does have better performance (you keep acting as if CPU performance is the only thing that counts)

Also:

Better build, smaller. The TB model has better ports (4 of them), the nTB - well, I'd call it a tie, but ok, 2 ports is a bit cramped.

In the end, I'd say: 2015 - better value for money, 2016 - better computer overall
 
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Imho calibration is a must if you are printing... or just want to see how are your photos in reality, of course, as you have pointed out, this works only indoors and under controlled lighting.
A bright display will help you outdoors a lot but the colour must be judged indoors for any needed corrections.

Well you're limited in terms of calibration with any mac more than you are with certain displays. The point is always to match things under certain conditions. You print something out and view it under a source that is a pretty close match to the white point of your display. When you view it under other conditions, it will look different, but so will your surrounding environment. The idea is that using the prescribed conditions initially, you should be able to go from them to other conditions without having the look of your image deviate significantly from its expected appearance. See color constancy and metamerism.

I also agree that a bright display will help outdoors. If your setup is sufficiently well tested, you should have no problem knowing whether it's close enough by glancing at the display. If you're really concerned, you can always estimate whether there's detail loss from the histogram (which also isn't perfect, but once again is typically good enough).
 
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While I think the 2016 is a better computer in every way, there is no doubt in my mind that 2015 is better value for money.

Still, I think some people got the better value one and are now trying to convince themselves (and everyone else) that somehow, they are also better overall or that the 2016. is faulty. Or that in 2017. a new MBP will be magically better, even though there are no indications that either the cpu or gpu will be noticeably faster next year - and the ports and keyboard will surely remain as they are (only the battery life may get an hour or so more).

Anyway, to people that got the 2015. model I can only say the same thing I'd say to the 2016 buyers: you made a great choice. The 2015 is one great computer.

P.S. I keep talking about the 15" TB model, not the nTB 13" - still don't have enough information on that one

Id have chosen the 2016 over the 2015 if the cost was similar, without doubt.
 
The other key factor here is recovering data. You can always unplug the ssd from a 2015 and hope the data is safe. 2016 you have to hope enough of the logic board is functional for the recovery to be performed, I much prefer the 2015 method.

You can hope your data is safe, or you can backup your system and know your data is safe.

And it has been my experience that people much more likely to lose data from actions such as accidental deletion or overwrite, then from hardware failure.
 
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15 vs 16 nontouch
15 mbp: 12 hour battery/16 mbp battery: under 10, difference of 2 hrs, 14 minutes
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/apple-macbook-pro-13-inch-retina-2015
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/macbook-pro-13-inch

15: magsafe/16: no magsafe

15 geekbench: 7113/16 geekbench: 7053

15 ports: 2usb, 2thunderbolt, hdmi, sd card/16: 2 usbc, too close together to use both, so actually 1

15: less expensive/16 more expensive

Any more questions sunshine?

This has really underlined the fact that you do not understand the distinction between opinion and fact and/or an objective statement, but I will address your points out of politeness even if you have conveniently chosen to disregard mine and others' comments on this issue:

Battery: You're reporting a margin of 2hrs and 14 minutes which is sufficiently small for user interference to make an impact. People have also been reporting 10-12 hours on the 13-inch TBMBP. See this lengthy thread where you will note massive discrepancies between findings - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/battery-life-for-13-and-15-macbook-pro.2015074/page-77.

The battery issue is a hot topic because people can use their machines in wildly different ways - screen brightness, software, updates and the type of use are all critical factors. As an example, I have a 15" TBMBP that gets between 8-10 hours of usage regularly and I can easily get 12 hours of light web browsing but many here report 3-4 hours of battery no matter what they try. My 2015 MBP only ever got 8 hours of use no matter what I did. Citing one Laptop Mag review for the 13 inch is as anecdotal as my experience accordingly - what settings did the reviewers have the units on I wonder and would the recent OS update make a difference as it has for many users including myself? This issue is still being investigated given most users have only had their units for a month or so.

Lack of Magsafe: For myself and many, the inclusion of four universal USB-C ports, any of which can be used for charging, is far more useful than the Magsafe dedicated charging port. You may disagree because your preferences may differ to mine.

Geekbench: These tests mean very little for real-world applications as they are only simulations and the results vary substantially between the versions of Geekbench applied. I will be interested to see GB's findings as further versions are released that can better test TBMBP quad-core performance. In any case, you rely on CPU speed as objectively better regardless of other factors - I am more concerned with power efficiency and thermal management and the 2015s were more susceptible to throttling. I therefore view the CPUs of the 2016s as better for my needs and so my preferences clearly differ to yours here.

Ports: As per the Magsafe issue, this is about user preference and I should hope this point is clear by now.

Pricing - the TBMBPs are clearly very expensive machines, more so for some people depending on where you live. Even this point comes down to personal circumstances such as disposable income etc. If the 2016 is too expensive for some, the 2015 remains a great option.

I note you did not address the faster RAM, SSD and GPUs of the 2016s which are all very attractive upgrades for some users.

For the avoidance of doubt, I do not feel my opinion is more worthy than yours but I cannot agree with your stated claims of fact regarding the 2015s advantages over the 2016s given your inherent bias. Your personal attacks on 2016 users as 'insecure' because we challenge unfounded assertions made regarding the comparison between the 2015/2016 models is just further proof of your bias.

My opinion is that the 2016 totally owns the 2015 model but I would never claim that this is fact - it's just my experience from the two models. You can live with that I am sure.

WWHG.
 
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Id have chosen the 2016 over the 2015 if the cost was similar, without doubt.

Yeah, I believe you would, you seem quite rational and moderate and, honestly, there's nothing I could add. These new MBPs are expensive, even for Apple standards, and I don't see anything I couldn't do (for years) on the previous model that I can on new one. But, I wanted to treat myself - and I am happy with the choice I made. But I'd be the last person to try and make someone feel bad for their choice, even if it was a Dell, HP, Microsoft, whatever. In the case of 2015 MBP, it would be my second choice, and that computer is - in my opinion - still one of the best laptops on the market.
 
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Have you tried refurb prices on 2015? This is a good time to get even better deals. I bought my 2015 as a refurb, perfect and with full warranty, saved me £1000 on a similar spec 2016
[doublepost=1483083406][/doublepost]

Does it matter? The 2016 owners will not agree anyway, nor will the 2015 owners , best to just agree to disagree and enjoy our machines, fundamentally we are biased with the machine we have .

I had both and opted for the 2015, price is a major factor for me, and I see much better value for money in the 2015. A 2015 2.8 1TB 370x v 2016 2.9 1TB 460 = £1000 difference for me. Sorry there is no £1000 improvement in my opinion. Heck a 2015 max + iPad Pro max is better value than 2016. You can get a lot with £1000

Yeah, I bought refurb and saved $160 over the best price I've seen on the 2016, which was a $150 deal from Best Buy that I passed on. I have better things to spend that money on than any of the possible advantages a 2016 offers.
 
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Yeah, I believe you would, you seem quite rational and moderate and, honestly, there's nothing I could add. These new MBPs are expensive, even for Apple standards, and I don't see anything I couldn't do (for years) on the previous model that I can on new one. But, I wanted to treat myself - and I am happy with the choice I made. But I'd be the last person to try and make someone feel bad for their choice, even if it was a Dell, HP, Microsoft, whatever. In the case of 2015 MBP, it would be my second choice, and that computer is - in my opinion - still one of the best laptops on the market.

Cheers mate . You honestly have a great machine, anyone can be happy with . i really miss touchid, that alone is a major reason to upgrade .

Had I not got a great deal on a 2015 max refurb, I'd be using a 2016 right now . Pure value for money, the difference this time round got me a titan x pascal for my desktop, :)

Cheers brexit :)
 
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I would do the same the 2015 is the last of it's generation so the form factor and issues are mostly ironed out and matured. Also the 2015 still has a user serviceable SSD, which is nice for the future.

Also I'll just add a small note here why purchasing the 2016 may not be the best atm timing wise if your on the fence. If you need it though just go buy it hard to go wrong.

I was contemplating the 2016 but have decided against if for a few reasons. And perhaps this will makes sense to others.
Don't get me wrong I love the new MBP but compared but I feel the current model just got caught in an odd tech window.

Next gen or gen after that of intel chip should will allow for 32GB ram LDDR4, for those who will need that. ( I use 16 it's ok for the graphic work I do now, but more is always nice.) This is pretty niche but for pros it's a nice welcome. If not 32GB options then LDDR4 which means power some savings.

Bluetooth 5 is here and will make it's way next year into computers, big big gains over 4.0. In turn peripherals market will starting moving there and there will be new innovations there.

Good chance Apple will include the W1 chip in the Macs as well, esp with the popularity of AirPods/Beats and then other peripherals that will follow.

Any issues that truly exist with the current version should be improved.
 
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At the end of the day you want to "feel" like you're getting the most bang for your buck and that requirement is hard to fulfill by "older" technology.

That being said, if the price wasn't an issue, of course, you're going to get the latest and greatest but having to re-buy the same cables or dongles and or tell yourself the workaround is worth it is absolutely a negative and really is unavoidable.
 
Wow, look at the list of 2016 problems on p. 1 alone:

You can find posts like these for every product. Stop spreading FUD. I've seen this number of complaints for every single Apple product, and much more for non-Apple products. In fact, I think the new MBPs have a relatively small number of issues.
 
Is it possible that just like the iPhone 6s recent battery recall that 2016 MacBook Pro batteries have produced a bad batch of batteries during a certain production period? Because it almost sounds just like the iPhone battery recall where you can have one person within the recall guidelines and suffer poor battery and then another person with the same phone within the same production period and there battery is perfect. It's like I'm hearing the same thing with 2016 MacBook Pro users some not affected and others drastically affected.
 
Is it possible that just like the iPhone 6s recent battery recall that 2016 MacBook Pro batteries have produced a bad batch of batteries during a certain production period? Because it almost sounds just like the iPhone battery recall where you can have one person within the recall guidelines and suffer poor battery and then another person with the same phone within the same production period and there battery is perfect. It's like I'm hearing the same thing with 2016 MacBook Pro users some not affected and others drastically affected.

I had the iPhone 6S with the battery problem (had it exchanged recently) and it was quite different. The battery worked perfectly for 10 months and then suddenly started shutting down at 30-40%

People complaining about MBP battery are saying it drains too quickly, not that it turns off at 30-40%, and certainly not after 10 months of working properly.

There are so many factors when it comes to battery life. Background processes, applications running, method of testing, etc. Some people restored backups, other set up as new, etc. Then, there are psychological reasons too, whenever I pay attention to battery life, on any device, it seems shorter than usual.

Also, it could be the OS in certain cases. In my case, I remember battery getting drained with higher wattage before the latest update (from 30 down to 10-12 with light usage).

Now that the battery is smaller and that Apple relies on lower CPU, memory and screen energy usage, it matters even more what you're doing.

I can't help but think this whole battery issue was overblown due to wrong expectations. It certainly isn't amazing, but it's not as bad as people make it out to be. People forget that the old models could eath through the battery in a few hours, if you used certain software. Even with average Photoshop usage, I never got more than a few hours before, now it even seems better. 4-5 hours in Photoshop is actually decent.
 
Something I have wondered with the 2016 Macbook Pro w/ TB, does it take longer or any extra steps to adjust the volume up and down vs the 2015 model with fixed keys? I've seen videos that show the TB volume button will collapse and you tap to expand it then tap again and the slider bar appears where you can adjust up and down. It would seem like extra steps but I have never tried it so that's why I'm asking.

I just wondered if it takes seconds longer with the TB vs a non TB. When I watch say u tube videos I'm constantly adjusting the volume up and down and with fixed keys it's pretty quick to do, is it the same time for the TB?
 
Something I have wondered with the 2016 Macbook Pro w/ TB, does it take longer or any extra steps to adjust the volume up and down vs the 2015 model with fixed keys? I've seen videos that show the TB volume button will collapse and you tap to expand it then tap again and the slider bar appears where you can adjust up and down. It would seem like extra steps but I have never tried it so that's why I'm asking.

I just wondered if it takes seconds longer with the TB vs a non TB. When I watch say u tube videos I'm constantly adjusting the volume up and down and with fixed keys it's pretty quick to do, is it the same time for the TB?

On the TB you just press the volume button and then with your finger still on the shortcut you slide to adjust the volume so it's very accessible indeed.
 
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Ok thanks. I'm still within my holiday return period for my 2015 Macbook Pro 15" and I need to visit my local Apple Store to test out the TB. I keep thinking the TB might be a nice option but more importantly the finger print reader might be worth it as well. I came from a 2009 Dell Studio laptop and this 2015 Macbook Pro 15" is leaps and bounds better but I still have in the back of my head about the touch ID (since I love it for the iPhone). Since using the 2015 model for the past few weeks I've realized Magsafe is not a deal breaker and I actually don't like that it's on the left side, a negative for me. I'm thinking since I haven't bought a laptop in 7 yrs I might be better to get a smaller footprint, less weight as possible (still need a 15") and finger printer reader and TB. I wish I could order it with 8GB of ram, watching Activity Monitor the past few weeks I realize I barely need 5 or 6 GB so 16 of overkill.
 
I just got back from Best Buy, where I compared the 2015 13" and the 2016 NTB.

If there was under $100 difference I'd buy the 2016 in an instant. I love the new keyboard and the speakers are MUCH better. Articulate bass and and an almost surround-like effect on movie trailers. The 2015 sounded fine, but a bit boxy by comparison.

I didn't notice much difference between the screens, but then I was under fr fluorescent glare, and as a musician my ears are better trained than my eyes.

In the end, though, the upgrades still aren't worth over $100 to me. I usually run my computer through my stereo when sound matters, and the old style keyboard is just fine.

My only hesitation is wondering if the 2016 will continue to be supported significantly longer, but I don't think it's worth gambling $260 that it will.
 
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