Is the MacBook powerful enough for me? Please help!

[Rasta4i]

Hi people I need some help, I had a little accident with my macbook air and a cup of water...
Initially I planned to get a 15" macbook pro early next year with top i7 and 512gb as I think my usage is quite heavy. I normally have a lot of tabs open, tweetbot, WhatsApp, imessage, iTunes, virtual dj, mail and potentially something else open.

I'm going by the current prices even though most of us are hoping for a new macbook pro in the near future. The base 15" is £1.599 currently but the minimum I would get would be the 512gb one for £1.839. However I've started wondering if I could use a macbook for this and if it's worth the extra money for the m7 or will the m5 can hack it or even neither are good enough?

The m5 macbook is £1.299 or m7 £1.419, these are the original prices but I will also get education discount. I was considering using the money that I save if I get the MacBook to get a ultra widescreen monitor and upgrade my desktop processor to something beastly and run mac os on it... Opinions please!

 

[whiteonline]

You're use is probably asking near limit for the retina MacBook.
It's quite the capable notebook, but for sustained activities, i would recommend a more powerful CPU.

Up the Arsenal!

 

[gooseta]

Wait for the new MacBook pro to come out mate, my initial excitement for the rMB has pretty much worn out, all I will have open is a lot of safari tabs, spotify and word and see spikes in RAM usage all the time. The Macbook pro is going to be even lighter than the one already out and the 13 inch base model will probably be fine for you.

COYG

 

[Rasta4i]

Thanks @whiteonline @gooseta COYG

I also forgot to mention I'll need to take it with me for conferences and I'll be working on it wherever I need to for my own business and I can also charger with a portable charger while on the road... I have three with the biggest nabbing a capacity of 26,800 mAh.

I also thought the operating system almost always tries to use all of the available ram. I'm waiting to see what the new macbook pro looks like but something's just drawing me to the MacBook I'm just not sure if I'm overkill for the m7

 

[Ulenspiegel]

I would not recommend the rMB for the same reasons mentioned in posts #2 and #3.
You will regret it.

 

[sergioarista]

Short answer yes, I have a 2015 model with 512gb and it is a pretty capable machine. It scores 95% of my 2013 13" rMBP.

 

[Floris]

It's a shame that we can't select the memory for the macbooks, they are 8 or with an upgrade auto upgrade to 16gb.
You can't select 16 or 32 manually, or go to a third party store and buy the ram cheap and insert it yourself (like with a current iMac).

The 16gb will certainly help with multiple apps open and things like that dj app.

512gb is nice, but just use that for the apps and os, and their operation. Storing your data could easily be done on an external drive. Like time machine is. I would use 256gb and upgrade the gpu or cpu if you can. And push things like music, dropbox, media to high performing quality usb cable on external. That way you're not limited by the hdd size anymore either.

Of course, if only we could just upgrade for 100 quid to 1tb ssh! These prices are almost outrageous for 2016. MEH

Upgrading the ssd to 512 to get it to feel faster .. is not the answer.
Getting 16gb ram over 8gb ram to make it feel faster, is more realistic.

The 512gb ssd is really just for having a bit more wiggle room for storage.

a 3tb fusion drive still comes with only 64gb or 128gb ssd for booting and operation. Just to compare.

 

[Rasta4i]

Thanks for the advice, I was thinking along the same lines but I hoped it was possible but thanks for unfortunately confirming my doubts. I'm going to a store today to boot a few things up and have a play around to put my mind at ease. I really like everything sorry from the m series processors and the lack of 16gb or more ram options. Ideally something crazy portable that I can charge via my portable chargers. Looks like I'll have to hour and pray for the new macbook pro...

 

[unagimiyagi]

I would only get a macbook 12 if and only if you use a web browser and microsoft office and youtube and facebook. That's it. For any other use cases, you're better off with a pro, even if you don't consider yourself a pro user.

The macbook 12 feels good for a few weeks, but then it inevitably lures you into, "hey this could be my primary machine". And that's where you kind of get disappointed. It's clearly a secondary machine for my use cases. I don't see that changing and I see the new 13" pro being the mainstream laptop for the masses. It'll probably be no more than 0.9 pounds heavier, with ports, with better processors, with better battery life to boot and a larger screen. macbook 12 will be an even more fringe device in 1 month (if if if) Apple plans to stay in the laptop business :>

 

[Rasta4i]

I would only get a macbook 12 if and only if you use a web browser and microsoft office and youtube and facebook. That's it. For any other use cases, you're better off with a pro, even if you don't consider yourself a pro user.

The macbook 12 feels good for a few weeks, but then it inevitably lures you into, "hey this could be my primary machine". And that's where you kind of get disappointed. It's clearly a secondary machine for my use cases. I don't see that changing and I see the new 13" pro being the mainstream laptop for the masses. It'll probably be no more than 0.9 pounds heavier, with ports, with better processors, with better battery life to boot and a larger screen. macbook 12 will be an even more fringe device in 1 month (if if if) Apple plans to stay in the laptop business :>

Yeah that's a great point, I'm hoping apple release pro's that are much thinner. That'll definitely give me something to think about 13" and 34" monitor for my desktop or 15" and continue using the 24" monitor for my desktop. Apple needs to hurry up and release the new pro's so I can stop thinking about hypothetical mac pro's...

 

[Rasta4i]

Ok I played around with them and I'm going to upgrade my desktop slowly and keep it add my main computer. Then use the MacBook as my portable work and chilling machine, add it's the perfect device for me to use out and about. Please tell me I can browse safari with a few tabs open use imessage, WhatsApp, tweetbot and mail... Also how does xcode run on itl

 

[viperGTS]

Ok I played around with them and I'm going to upgrade my desktop slowly and keep it add my main computer. Then use the MacBook as my portable work and chilling machine, add it's the perfect device for me to use out and about. Please tell me I can browse safari with a few tabs open use imessage, WhatsApp, tweetbot and mail... Also how does xcode run on itl

Yes, I have a 2016 m3 and it runs great. I use Xcode primarily, along with Safari and iMessage and it handles the job well. I think posters 2 and 3 are severely underestimating the machine. It also runs VMs fine. I haven't heard of the virtual DJ app before, so I can't comment on that. But VMs are particularly demanding and even the 2015's are known for handling them well. I think you'll be just fine.

 

[BarcelonaPaul]

The M5 is superb! I use FCPX on a friend's and it's fantastic. No problems editing 4K. Only exporting takes longer but hey, it's hardly a first world problem! The RAM talk makes me laugh as I remember before university, I was a graphic designer and our Macs had 128MB of RAM in those days and a 10GB hard drive
Personally, it's my favourite Apple computer of all time and i've been using Macs since 1995!

 

[nightsurf]

Ok I played around with them and I'm going to upgrade my desktop slowly and keep it add my main computer. Then use the MacBook as my portable work and chilling machine, add it's the perfect device for me to use out and about. Please tell me I can browse safari with a few tabs open use imessage, WhatsApp, tweetbot and mail... Also how does xcode run on itl

Hi, I'm using my macbook m5 with all the activities you mentioned. I did my research before buying this machine & it works really well. I use photoshop occasioanally and mostly mobile everyday..also just like you, I'm now building my gaming pc desktop for when I'm at home. So yeah, I vote for this great laptop

 

[Peter Abs]

Hi there, 2016 1.3 GHz M7 / 512 GB retina MacBook user here, I had my doubts before purchasing but I now have it 6 months and it has performed absolutely flawlessly. Loads of tabs and apps open, HD streaming and even dabbled with light photo/video editing (although I don't do this often) and it's just been great. But honestly, don't take my word for it, take advantage of the 14 day return policy, that's what it's for. You won't return it (unless what you want is a gaming machine or something). The lightness, and silent operation is such a joy and never gets old. The bursty performance makes it feel super quick. Next time you're in an Apple Store, compare the app opening speeds between a 12" rMB and a 13" MacBook Pro and you'll see what I mean

Totally unrelated/unfair comparison I know but currently using a 2010 MacBook Pro at work and it feels like a product of the Stone Age compared to the rMB, it feels like a sluggish, heavy, noisey, bulky brick with a horrible screen and a crap track pad, and not a particularly nice keyboard feel. Again I know it's 6 years old, but the difference is just amazing.
[doublepost=1476945953][/doublepost]

The M5 is superb! I use FCPX on a friend's and it's fantastic. No problems editing 4K. Only exporting takes longer but hey, it's hardly a first world problem! The RAM talk makes me laugh as I remember before university, I was a graphic designer and our Macs had 128MB of RAM in those days and a 10GB hard drive
Personally, it's my favourite Apple computer of all time and i've been using Macs since 1995!

Haha ah, I remember those days, my first computer had 64MB of RAM and a 10GB HDD, back when a 1.4 MB Floppy Disk was actually useful! however did we manage?!

 

[EasyMac21]

I'm considering one of the rMB's. Not sure the processor level yet, although for not very much, they sure get expensive quickly. I am mainly concerned if this is enough performance to stream some sports off "questionable" websites with a lot of popups and other sources of slowdowns; and also if I can send the video to my TV through an HDMI or similar (yes, I know I'll need an adapter. I'm not thrilled about it, but accept it).

Can these computers stand up to this? Otherwise, I do basic word processing, internet browsing, youtube, and itunes.

Thanks