A the end of this year I am planning to buy a Macbook Pro 13. I was very excited for WWDC, because I heard Apple will be announcing new Macbook Pros, but it didnt happen. Many people on YouTube say that now it is the best time to buy a Macbook Pro, but I am still wondering if Apple will announce redesigned Macbooks this fall. Is 2019 really the best time to buy a Macbook Pro?
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Is it a good time to buy a MBP
- Thread starter ILoveZed
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- 2019 macbook pro redesign
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if you need one right now - yes now it is the best time to get one.
I doubt there will be a new touch bar macbook PRO this fall. The new models could be for Air, MB, and MBP without touch bar’s.
I doubt there will be a new touch bar macbook PRO this fall. The new models could be for Air, MB, and MBP without touch bar’s.
Why would they do that, when they just rolled out brand new models in June. Doesn't make sense to release a new version for only 3 months.
I’m in the market as well for a 13/15 inch.... I’m hearing a lot of nasty things about the keyboards
I’m highly considering the Dell XPS 15
Nobody here knows for sure. Do you need a new laptop now or can you wait? How badly do you want the new redesigned aesthetic, should the new 13" Pro get released in fall I doubt it will be much faster than current.
If you have the cash available why not get 13" from 2018, similar performance and you can sell it if new model gets released with smaller loss.
If you have the cash available why not get 13" from 2018, similar performance and you can sell it if new model gets released with smaller loss.
Yes I do need a new laptop at the end of the year. I heard that this years models have better keyboards and I am not sure if I should trust 3rd party sellers to get the 2018 model, because a friend is getting me the laptop from the US and if anything happens with it I will need to wait for him to go back to the US to get it fixed.
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With the new materials used in the 2019 model, I still havent heard anyone having problems.
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Also I need a metal chassis, plastic and carbon fiber doesnt work for me.
I work at an independent Mac repair shop. And normally I would say buy now if you need it now.
However, the 2016-2019 generation Mac laptops have had so many issues, I'd suggest waiting for the redesign. They have more design issues than previous models that could lead to very expensive repairs. AND Apple raised the prices at the same time. Just can't recommend them in good faith.
Among other things, these are the issues Apple has acknowledged:
https://www.apple.com/support/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks/
https://www.apple.com/support/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backlight-service/
(Only covers the 2016 model, but the issue happens in all 2016-2019 models)
However, the 2016-2019 generation Mac laptops have had so many issues, I'd suggest waiting for the redesign. They have more design issues than previous models that could lead to very expensive repairs. AND Apple raised the prices at the same time. Just can't recommend them in good faith.
Among other things, these are the issues Apple has acknowledged:
https://www.apple.com/support/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks/
https://www.apple.com/support/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backlight-service/
(Only covers the 2016 model, but the issue happens in all 2016-2019 models)
Since you are working at a Mac repair shop, can I ask you if there are a lot of customers that have issues with the 2019 macbook pros?
They just released new MacBook Pros recently. I sincerely doubt they will introduce new MacBook Pros in the Fall.
"Now" is always the best time to buy any new MacBook. The hardware changes are incremental (heck, the 13" 2019 model uses the exact same generation of CPU as the 2018 model and the only difference comes down to keyboard materials) and you do not lose out much these days, unlike the "transitional period" of 2013-2014-2015-2016 where Intel was adding features after features after features to their CPU lineups and Apple was prepping to abandon nVidia GPUs.
As for keyboard problems, they will happen. I just replaced the keyboard in my work-issued 15" 2018 model. Will the 2019 model be better? Sincerely, after owning four generations of the butterfly keys, I'd have to say: nope. I think the design itself is flawed. New materials won't help when you get debris stuck in between the key and metal casing. Nothing will be able to push that out, and the key will get stuck all the same. I've had it happen so I know. Apple needs to design less brittle key mechanism and I doubt that's going to happen any time soon.
I have also had the chance to play around with some Windows laptops recently, so... here's my breakdown in case it interests anyone:
MacBook Pro:
Pros:
1. Thin, light, very sturdy casing. Not built like tanks but doesn't feel cheap either.
2. Screens are top-notch. Resolution may be low-ish (not 4K) but I sincerely couldn't tell the difference. Color reproduction is far more accurate on MacBooks.
3. Quiet and doesn't get too hot for certain workloads (for me, I write codes, compose Office docs, surf the web, and watch Youtube, occasionally fixing up photos and such). Short-burst performance is excellent.
4. Trackpad is still best in class, nothing ever comes close
5. Managing multiple windows/desktops/workspaces is still by far the best
6. Warranty is probably still top notch in the market. Took them 3 days from my store visit to return my repaired MacBook, complete with new keyboard and screen. And recently, there's AppleCare+...
Cons:
1. 15" can throttle down if GPU is stressed alongside CPU. I can never get both running at their max performance. Thermal seems to be the culprit. Apple needs better, more efficient GPUs from AMD or a redesign of their MacBooks for better thermal management.
2. Display is pretty brittle, it scratches and dents very easily as opposed to the pre-2015 line. AppleCare(+) is highly recommended if you don't plan on selling next year.
3. In the same vein, keyboard is highly volatile and brittle. It breaks very unexpectedly. I have had all generations of the butterfly keys since 2016 so at this point, I just gave up and got AppleCare+. Also I have both a work-issued 15" machine and my own personal 13" so there is no down time for me. (what are the chances both keyboards will break at the same time?)
4. Touch Bar is useless and actually slows down my workflow sometimes. I'd sacrifice cute animals to keyboard Gods for Apple to come out with 15" machines without the Touch Bar and/or update the non-Touch Bar 13" machines with quad-core CPUs.
5. MacOS comes with its own "artificial limitations" with regards to Youtube, like... Google doesn't send h.264 videos beyond 1080P to Safari, and Safari refuses to support VP9, so Safari can't play back Youtube videos at 2.5K or 4K or 8K. Chrome supports 4K playback but it runs only on the CPU (despite there being hardware acceleration) and that causes some funny performance issues. In short: Apple doesn't support VP9 and in turn, Google doesn't want Chrome to fully support Macs. End result: MacBooks suck if you want to watch Youtube beyond 1080P. It doesn't matter for most videos but if you are watching a coding tutorial of someone who recorded their 4K or 5K screen, that can be quite problematic.
Any other random Windows laptop (I've played around with Dell XPS 15 and Huawei Matebook Pro before returning to 13" MBP):
Pros:
1. Decent build quality, feels like tanks
2. Screens are okay. At least they are high resolution and likely supports touch (novelty kinda wears off when you realize you shouldn't touch a full desktop OS).
3. High performance for long sustained load. Can max out both CPU and GPU for a "long" time, or at least until the battery dies about an hour later.
4. Chrome supports everything... from touch to 4K and even 8K Youtube videos. Novelty wears off when you realize not everything is available in 4K but... for the stuffs that are, it's glorious.
5. Better keyboard than anything Apple has put out for the past... 4 years.
6. Windows 10 finally gets to the point where the hourglass (waiting/loading cursor) almost never shows up anymore.
7. Ubuntu inside Windows 10, so there's not much of a need for VMWare. Though... there's Docker now so the need for a VM has diminished greatly.
Cons:
0. Not minor, and warrants a "zero" point: I cannot open the lid of these things with one hand, gotta hold the bottom down with the other hand.
1. Loud. Very very loud. As in... if I'm compiling my code, then the whole department will look on as if I'm trying to launch a space rocket. It's actually quite disruptive at work. I wouldn't doubt it if you tell me they put mini vacuums inside these machines.
2. Battery life sux. Despite reviews claiming 10 hours+ screen on time and condemning Apple for "only" 8 hours of battery life in the new MacBook, I honestly could never get beyond HALF (5 hours) what most review sites are getting for these Windows laptops.
3. Touch screen is okay but kinda tiring (gotta reach for the screen) and pointless for most desktop pro apps, and especially for coding. Trackpad just sucks and honestly, should not even be included (considering the machine has a touch screen) if it was going to suck so much.
4. The way Windows 10 handles multiple windows and desktops is... well, I'll be nice: it's "almost" as good as Leopard/Snow Leopard, which is now... "only" over a decade old. At least they're trying.
5. Support for HiDPI displays is still kinda... work in progress. It works faster than Apple's method but not all apps support it and it's pretty obvious that developers can't be arsed to fix their apps, even when it's an app that's constantly being updated. I get that the underlying code is more important, but when the UI is next to impossible to read on a 4K 15" screen...
6. Built like tank but kinda heavy/hefty compared to an equivalent MacBook. Not a major down point but it kinda highlights how "well-designed" MacBooks are.
7. Pricing-wise, I didn't expect these to be so close to the MacBooks. People talk about the Apple tax but seriously, when you look at the mid-end market for these Windows laptops now, they aren't cheap at all. Ultimately, I didn't think I was saving money by going with a Windows laptop. It was mostly a matter of choice. And if I have to choose, MacOS will win (and it did) as a software development environment.
So that's my breakdown after some adventures with Windows computers. Back to the Mac I went, but maybe you'll choose otherwise. I certainly can tell why someone would prefer certain Windows laptops over MacBooks. But for me, MacOS is good enough a reason to stick with a MacBook.
"Now" is always the best time to buy any new MacBook. The hardware changes are incremental (heck, the 13" 2019 model uses the exact same generation of CPU as the 2018 model and the only difference comes down to keyboard materials) and you do not lose out much these days, unlike the "transitional period" of 2013-2014-2015-2016 where Intel was adding features after features after features to their CPU lineups and Apple was prepping to abandon nVidia GPUs.
As for keyboard problems, they will happen. I just replaced the keyboard in my work-issued 15" 2018 model. Will the 2019 model be better? Sincerely, after owning four generations of the butterfly keys, I'd have to say: nope. I think the design itself is flawed. New materials won't help when you get debris stuck in between the key and metal casing. Nothing will be able to push that out, and the key will get stuck all the same. I've had it happen so I know. Apple needs to design less brittle key mechanism and I doubt that's going to happen any time soon.
I have also had the chance to play around with some Windows laptops recently, so... here's my breakdown in case it interests anyone:
MacBook Pro:
Pros:
1. Thin, light, very sturdy casing. Not built like tanks but doesn't feel cheap either.
2. Screens are top-notch. Resolution may be low-ish (not 4K) but I sincerely couldn't tell the difference. Color reproduction is far more accurate on MacBooks.
3. Quiet and doesn't get too hot for certain workloads (for me, I write codes, compose Office docs, surf the web, and watch Youtube, occasionally fixing up photos and such). Short-burst performance is excellent.
4. Trackpad is still best in class, nothing ever comes close
5. Managing multiple windows/desktops/workspaces is still by far the best
6. Warranty is probably still top notch in the market. Took them 3 days from my store visit to return my repaired MacBook, complete with new keyboard and screen. And recently, there's AppleCare+...
Cons:
1. 15" can throttle down if GPU is stressed alongside CPU. I can never get both running at their max performance. Thermal seems to be the culprit. Apple needs better, more efficient GPUs from AMD or a redesign of their MacBooks for better thermal management.
2. Display is pretty brittle, it scratches and dents very easily as opposed to the pre-2015 line. AppleCare(+) is highly recommended if you don't plan on selling next year.
3. In the same vein, keyboard is highly volatile and brittle. It breaks very unexpectedly. I have had all generations of the butterfly keys since 2016 so at this point, I just gave up and got AppleCare+. Also I have both a work-issued 15" machine and my own personal 13" so there is no down time for me. (what are the chances both keyboards will break at the same time?)
4. Touch Bar is useless and actually slows down my workflow sometimes. I'd sacrifice cute animals to keyboard Gods for Apple to come out with 15" machines without the Touch Bar and/or update the non-Touch Bar 13" machines with quad-core CPUs.
5. MacOS comes with its own "artificial limitations" with regards to Youtube, like... Google doesn't send h.264 videos beyond 1080P to Safari, and Safari refuses to support VP9, so Safari can't play back Youtube videos at 2.5K or 4K or 8K. Chrome supports 4K playback but it runs only on the CPU (despite there being hardware acceleration) and that causes some funny performance issues. In short: Apple doesn't support VP9 and in turn, Google doesn't want Chrome to fully support Macs. End result: MacBooks suck if you want to watch Youtube beyond 1080P. It doesn't matter for most videos but if you are watching a coding tutorial of someone who recorded their 4K or 5K screen, that can be quite problematic.
Any other random Windows laptop (I've played around with Dell XPS 15 and Huawei Matebook Pro before returning to 13" MBP):
Pros:
1. Decent build quality, feels like tanks
2. Screens are okay. At least they are high resolution and likely supports touch (novelty kinda wears off when you realize you shouldn't touch a full desktop OS).
3. High performance for long sustained load. Can max out both CPU and GPU for a "long" time, or at least until the battery dies about an hour later.
4. Chrome supports everything... from touch to 4K and even 8K Youtube videos. Novelty wears off when you realize not everything is available in 4K but... for the stuffs that are, it's glorious.
5. Better keyboard than anything Apple has put out for the past... 4 years.
6. Windows 10 finally gets to the point where the hourglass (waiting/loading cursor) almost never shows up anymore.
7. Ubuntu inside Windows 10, so there's not much of a need for VMWare. Though... there's Docker now so the need for a VM has diminished greatly.
Cons:
0. Not minor, and warrants a "zero" point: I cannot open the lid of these things with one hand, gotta hold the bottom down with the other hand.
1. Loud. Very very loud. As in... if I'm compiling my code, then the whole department will look on as if I'm trying to launch a space rocket. It's actually quite disruptive at work. I wouldn't doubt it if you tell me they put mini vacuums inside these machines.
2. Battery life sux. Despite reviews claiming 10 hours+ screen on time and condemning Apple for "only" 8 hours of battery life in the new MacBook, I honestly could never get beyond HALF (5 hours) what most review sites are getting for these Windows laptops.
3. Touch screen is okay but kinda tiring (gotta reach for the screen) and pointless for most desktop pro apps, and especially for coding. Trackpad just sucks and honestly, should not even be included (considering the machine has a touch screen) if it was going to suck so much.
4. The way Windows 10 handles multiple windows and desktops is... well, I'll be nice: it's "almost" as good as Leopard/Snow Leopard, which is now... "only" over a decade old. At least they're trying.
5. Support for HiDPI displays is still kinda... work in progress. It works faster than Apple's method but not all apps support it and it's pretty obvious that developers can't be arsed to fix their apps, even when it's an app that's constantly being updated. I get that the underlying code is more important, but when the UI is next to impossible to read on a 4K 15" screen...
6. Built like tank but kinda heavy/hefty compared to an equivalent MacBook. Not a major down point but it kinda highlights how "well-designed" MacBooks are.
7. Pricing-wise, I didn't expect these to be so close to the MacBooks. People talk about the Apple tax but seriously, when you look at the mid-end market for these Windows laptops now, they aren't cheap at all. Ultimately, I didn't think I was saving money by going with a Windows laptop. It was mostly a matter of choice. And if I have to choose, MacOS will win (and it did) as a software development environment.
So that's my breakdown after some adventures with Windows computers. Back to the Mac I went, but maybe you'll choose otherwise. I certainly can tell why someone would prefer certain Windows laptops over MacBooks. But for me, MacOS is good enough a reason to stick with a MacBook.
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I am planning on using the computer for quite long time. Maybe something like 5 years. I know that Macbooks are known for their longevity based on software. About hardware longevity everything is pretty shaky. The design of the macbook pro is the best out of all laptops for me and for myself the looks are pretty important. I have looked at windows machines like The Surface Laptop 2 who are pretty close to the build quality of the macbook pro, but a windows machine wont survive 5 years without any upgradebility with all the windows updates even my 5 year old gaming dekstop is getting slow, with keeping in mind that it had pretty good specs back then. Also the IO on the Surface laptop is just terrible. They could get away with 1 Thunderbolt 3 and 1 USB-A port, BUT NOOO. THE MINI DISPLAY PORT IS BETTER. From what I can see the only benefit from getting a windows laptop is the lower price and a bit better performance in some cases. The only risk that I am taking with the macbook is that there is a chance of it braking on itself. Something I have wondered is cant you just take apart the key problematic key of the keyboard and clean it? Also I am sure there are 3rd party products that are made to protect the keyboard, since that's its main problem. Another thing I have wondered is what's the actual chance of me having some of these problems? After all none laptop is perfect and I feel like sometimes macbooks are taking the imperfections harder than anyone else.
Well, about the keys, sometimes it could be light enough that you could just smash the key really hard, and it'd work again for a while.
I have tried to take the faulty key apart and cleaned it (without smashing because they kept failing anyway). The first few attempts, I just broke the switches outright and had to buy replacement switch mechanisms on eBay, which were not the same as Apple's. On the next few attempts, I was able to preserve the switch but the keys will either crack or wear away at the edges pretty easily. You just gotta take them apart to see that the keys really are very thin pieces of plastic. So I ended up having to buy replacement keys/key caps, and again, they aren't really the same as Apple's. I ultimately just gave up and took my computer to Apple to replace the keyboard instead.
Now, even when you have done a perfect job and the key ends up working again, the next issue would be uneven key surface. Because the damage had already been done to the switch mechanism at that point (with or without you smashing on the key, because the debris did it), and the mechanism itself breaks very easily (see above paragraph).
Now, even after all of that, and you have done a perfect job because you secretly are a neurosurgeon and you have Godly fingers with perfect dexterity, then... you gotta pray that that particular key won't get stuck again.
And say, you are lucky enough that that same key won't ever get stuck because you have imbued it with some kind of protective magic. Then... another key will break and you will go through the same process all over again.
I have used everything from protective soft cover (makes the keys feel even worse than how bad they were already) to individual key stickers, to using my camera lens rocket blower to blow dust out of the keys after every key stroke (seriously), to having a protective cover cloth over the whole keyboard before I close the lid every time, to... all of those in combination.
And nothing helped. The keys broke all the same.
TL;DR: You will see issues with the keyboard and the screen without fail. I have had to replace those two things so regularly that the Geniuses at the local Apple store don't even ask me "what's wrong" anymore. They just know why I come in, and what they have to do. It's been the routine for 4 years.
I have tried to take the faulty key apart and cleaned it (without smashing because they kept failing anyway). The first few attempts, I just broke the switches outright and had to buy replacement switch mechanisms on eBay, which were not the same as Apple's. On the next few attempts, I was able to preserve the switch but the keys will either crack or wear away at the edges pretty easily. You just gotta take them apart to see that the keys really are very thin pieces of plastic. So I ended up having to buy replacement keys/key caps, and again, they aren't really the same as Apple's. I ultimately just gave up and took my computer to Apple to replace the keyboard instead.
Now, even when you have done a perfect job and the key ends up working again, the next issue would be uneven key surface. Because the damage had already been done to the switch mechanism at that point (with or without you smashing on the key, because the debris did it), and the mechanism itself breaks very easily (see above paragraph).
Now, even after all of that, and you have done a perfect job because you secretly are a neurosurgeon and you have Godly fingers with perfect dexterity, then... you gotta pray that that particular key won't get stuck again.
And say, you are lucky enough that that same key won't ever get stuck because you have imbued it with some kind of protective magic. Then... another key will break and you will go through the same process all over again.
I have used everything from protective soft cover (makes the keys feel even worse than how bad they were already) to individual key stickers, to using my camera lens rocket blower to blow dust out of the keys after every key stroke (seriously), to having a protective cover cloth over the whole keyboard before I close the lid every time, to... all of those in combination.
And nothing helped. The keys broke all the same.
TL;DR: You will see issues with the keyboard and the screen without fail. I have had to replace those two things so regularly that the Geniuses at the local Apple store don't even ask me "what's wrong" anymore. They just know why I come in, and what they have to do. It's been the routine for 4 years.
So much critical feedback is dismissed as an anecdotal one-off problem. This holds a lot more weight. When combined with the perceived increase in reliability problems it’s really concerning. I’m voting with my wallet and holding off on the purchase of a new Apple laptop.
Considering that I am not sure how international warranty works, now that I think of it it's a pretty risky purchase for me. Maybe I should just pray to the Apple Gods that redesigned models will appear in September, but I want this laptop so bad, because the whole design is just screaming at me "GIVE ME YOUR WALLET". I am addicted to good looking devices and I cant really find anything that looks like the MBP with the same price and performance. At this point I am not sure what to do.
[doublepost=1560802302][/doublepost]Ok
Ok, maybe I was just stupid, bit I just saw that the Razer blade 15 is about the same price with similar materials for the chassis and good looking design. Has anyone here had experience with the razer blade 15?
This guy did:
The Razer 15 was also one of the laptops I was considering but... I saw a unit owned by a friend and... decided not to get it.
Pro tips: most Windows laptops in the 15" space are actually far thicker than the 15" MBP. There's a reason why Apple couldn't switch away from the butterfly keys, as they are the reason why the new MacBooks can stay that thin and light. I sure got quite the surprise when I held the Dell XPS 15 in my hands. Then came the Huawei computer and... the rest is history.
I watched that video, but it seems like only the units with RTX graphics are having this problem. I haven't heard the 1060 models having any big issues.
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Also why did you decide to not get it?
Mostly it's just a little too flashy and colorful. I wanted a more... formal computer, something that wouldn't stand out in a meeting room since I have a lot of meetings throughout the week.
I think Razer made the thing to be a gaming laptop first and a work laptop second.
Then do you think it's suitable for long term use? Sorry for asking a lot of questions, but I just got excited, because it looks too good to be real.
You get a 4 year warranty on Keyboard that's why I picked up a nTB 256GB on sale at Best Buy. $1099 with that warranty it will last me until some major redesign drops.
What's going to happen with that warranty if I get the laptop from the US and come back to the EU with it. Will they be able to fix in my country?
I don't have a clue where the keyboard replacement program is honored. I suggest you call Apple in your country. Here is the Bulgarian page about the program it does say worldwide
https://www.apple.com/bg/support/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks/
If the warrant service is available in my country I don't see a problem with getting the macbook pro 13.
Ahhh that puts the mind at ease.... I’ve just converted all my hotel rewards points into $1,100 worth of Best Buy gift cards. I’ll add some cash and some price matching I’m damn near can get a 13 inch for free.... really wanted a 15 inch though
15 inch is covered also, I’m thinking of trading for one. The $400 off only lasted a couple of days.
What is the guarantee that if there is a redesign it will be problem free? If at all, the current design would be most stable.
IMO only reason to hold off from buying a 13 MBP now is if one would like/prefer nTB.
Have you had any customers who are having problems with the 2019 MBP keyboard? I haven't heard of any complaints so far.