Looking for the right MBP for me

[jrm27]

Hi all,

I've got an old Mac mini (2012) at home that I have pushed too far past its abilities for photoshop, video editing, light motion graphics work, etc... So, it's time to upgrade. I need portability currently, so I need to look at MBP rather than iMacs.

I'm wondering what level of 13" MBP might recommended for the most "bang for the buck" setup. I do a lot of photoshop work (large high-res files for printing), video editing (usually two or 3 camera DSLR), and some light motion graphics (After Effects). I'm looking at the 13" MBP, as well as the non-touch bar 13"MBP that is still offered in the store. I'm figuring that no matter the configuration, I'm going to need to run off of an external hard drive as my project files can get rather large. A TB of storage isn't quite worth upwards of $700 to me, and I'd be fine using an external hard drive as needed.

Are the non-touch bar models just the older MBP? I wouldn't see a need for the toucher in my current usage, but would be concerned about buying into an older platform that may already be long-in-the-tooth.

Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks!

 

[CmdrLaForge]

Is your Mac mini a quad core?

 

[jrm27]

I believe it is. I'l have to check later, but let's assume it is for the discussion.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I believe it is. I'l have to check later, but let's assume it is for the discussion.

The non touch bar 2016 is new and has skylake ulv processors they are a great little machine if you don't want the touchbar then it may be worth it.

To be honest though as all the 13 inchers are dual core then you'll probably want the 15 inch for the quadcore processor as that will be the limiting factor with a lot of the software you use. That simple really.

The 13 inchers have far better integrated graphics than your mini but photoshop and after effects are far more CPU bound than GPU bound so the 15 inch with its quad core and dGPU seems your best bet.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-After-Effects-CC-2015-3-Multi-Core-Performance-843/

 

[Fishrrman]

Most "bang for the buck"?

Probably a -2015- MacBook Pro, 15" model.

These are still available as new items from Apple (to see them, you have to go to the "buy" button and then scroll to the bottom of the offerings).
Or, available as factory-refurbs from Apple.

 

[jrm27]

Most "bang for the buck"?

Probably a -2015- MacBook Pro, 15" model.

These are still available as new items from Apple (to see them, you have to go to the "buy" button and then scroll to the bottom of the offerings).
Or, available as factory-refurbs from Apple.

Thanks! I was just looking at those. How well do you think those 2015 versions are aging? Would a moderately upgraded 2015 model likely still be a very capable machine for the next 4 or 5 years?
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The non touch bar 2016 is new and has skylake ulv processors they are a great little machine if you don't want the touchbar then it may be worth it.

To be honest though as all the 13 inchers are dual core then you'll probably want the 15 inch for the quadcore processor as that will be the limiting factor with a lot of the software you use. That simple really.

The 13 inchers have far better integrated graphics than your mini but photoshop and after effects are far more CPU bound than GPU bound so the 15 inch with its quad core and dGPU seems your best bet.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-After-Effects-CC-2015-3-Multi-Core-Performance-843/

That is a good point. I hadn't really thought about that.... thanks Samuelsan2001. Will I see a big improvement in Photoshop/Illustrator with a quad-core? I'm just wondering if I should make that a big priority if AE is the smallest portion of my work right now...

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"Would a moderately upgraded 2015 model likely still be a very capable machine for the next 4 or 5 years?"

When the 2016 models were introduced last year, I investigated them, and then... bought a 2015 model MacBook Pro instead (13"). I liked the design better, wanted the additional ports, and I'm confident I can get 5-6 years out of this one, easily...

 

[jrm27]

Is your Mac mini a quad core?

CmdrLaForge,

Here's the specs on my mini right now:

Model Name: Mac mini
Model Identifier: Macmini6,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 16 GB

Does that change any of the advice you might give? Would that mean that moving to something like a current MBP 13 (dual core i5) would actually give me less processing power?

 

[CmdrLaForge]

CmdrLaForge,

Here's the specs on my mini right now:

Model Name: Mac mini
Model Identifier: Macmini6,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 16 GB

Does that change any of the advice you might give? Would that mean that moving to something like a current MBP 13 (dual core i5) would actually give me less processing power?

To me it looks like a quad core and depending on what you with the mbp 13" it might be slower. Comparing the geek bench results will give you a good idea about how much. Compare single core and multi core results