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MacBook or New MacBook Pro 13

C

ccigas

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 23, 2015
17
1
Hello everyone, I do not know Macs at all, I am a PC guy but my girlfriend loves her apple products. She wants a new Macbook. She currently has the 2013 Macbook Pro, I think the i7 but I could be wrong. But that was mainly for school but since shes out of college now, she doesn't need that type of horsepower.

For 1299 is that m3 Macbook good enough to be an email and internet browsing machine with multiple tabs open as well as maybe Spotify playing in the background? If that's not enough then why not get the new Macbook 13s without the touch bar for 1599 which is the same price as the m5/m7. Would there be much of a battery difference between them? I know the weight and dimensions are significantly smaller in the normal Macbook but for almost the same price wouldn't the new Pro be a better buy than the older Macbook at 1299 or an m5/m7 upgrade?

Thank you everyone
 
Last edited:
I am asking the same myself atm.

When compared the new Macbook Pro 13 without the touchbar is 100€ less than the M5 Macbook.

Macbook would come with 512gb of storage compared to the 256 Macbook pro plus it is about 500gramm less (which is A LOT).
 
same situation here.
But I have a desktop that is my main machine. And this little 12" (return window ends tomorrow) fits into an iPad pocket in my camera bag.

leaning more towards keeping this little 12".

(I've also been burned on a couple 1st gen apple products)

Edit:
Just found the new base "Pro" 13" uses a 15 Watt processor. Meh.
 
I have the 12" MacBook and love it, but still feel it could use a little more power and I do very light task: email, web, office suite.

It handles those task fine, but it does sometimes hang. I would get the 13" pro without touch bar if I was buying today.

If you want ultra portable the 12" is a dream though.
 
mattopotamus said:
I have the 12" MacBook and love it, but still feel it could use a little more power and I do very light task: email, web, office suite.

It handles those task fine, but it does sometimes hang. I would get the 13" pro without touch bar if I was buying today.

If you want ultra portable the 12" is a dream though.
Click to expand...

please define 'very light task' a bit more: I am a student and about 10 Chrome tabs + Word +Power Point at the same time is something my next MB/MB Pro must handle smoothly. Could you please give me feedback on that?
 
Unrealmac1988 said:
please define 'very light task' a bit more: I am a student and about 10 Chrome tabs + Word +Power Point at the same time is something my next MB/MB Pro must handle smoothly. Could you please give me feedback on that?
Click to expand...

Doing those tasks you will experience some "lag" and see the beach ball occasionally. It's the Retina display taxing the graphics card IMO
 
Have a macbook (2015) 12" base model. My uses include:-
Microsoft Word and Excel
Citrix
Affinity designer and Photo
Omnigraffle
Imovie
Aurora HDR Pro
Noiseless
PDF expert
IthoughtsX
Web browsing/watching videos/email

Handles it all well. Sometimes get bit of throttling but performs admirably well.
[doublepost=1477605252][/doublepost]Oh yeah forgot to add that MacBook 12" is fan less which makes a massive difference. Not sure I could cope with a MacBook pro fan going off all the time.
 
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JD2015 said:
Have a macbook (2015) 12" base model. My uses include:-
Microsoft Word and Excel
Citrix
Affinity designer and Photo
Omnigraffle
Imovie
Aurora HDR Pro
Noiseless
PDF expert
IthoughtsX
Web browsing/watching videos/email

Handles it all well. Sometimes get bit of throttling but performs admirably well.
[doublepost=1477605252][/doublepost]Oh yeah forgot to add that MacBook 12" is fan less which makes a massive difference. Not sure I could cope with a MacBook pro fan going off all the time.
Click to expand...

Fanless is really nice, and it is so light. Everything else feels like a brick.
 
mattopotamus said:
I have the 12" MacBook and love it, but still feel it could use a little more power and I do very light task: email, web, office suite.

It handles those task fine, but it does sometimes hang. I would get the 13" pro without touch bar if I was buying today.

If you want ultra portable the 12" is a dream though.
Click to expand...

What processor do you have in yours? M3/5/7?

JD2015 said:
Have a macbook (2015) 12" base model. My uses include:-
Microsoft Word and Excel
Citrix
Affinity designer and Photo
Omnigraffle
Imovie
Aurora HDR Pro
Noiseless
PDF expert
IthoughtsX
Web browsing/watching videos/email

Handles it all well. Sometimes get bit of throttling but performs admirably well.
[doublepost=1477605252][/doublepost]Oh yeah forgot to add that MacBook 12" is fan less which makes a massive difference. Not sure I could cope with a MacBook pro fan going off all the time.
Click to expand...

How much battery life do you get on that M3 with doing all that?

--

Compared to the new Pro 13 without touch bar, how does the M5 and M7 compare against that i5 core? Of course the battery life may take a hit but is the processing power that much different?
 
Unrealmac1988 said:
please define 'very light task' a bit more: I am a student and about 10 Chrome tabs + Word +Power Point at the same time is something my next MB/MB Pro must handle smoothly. Could you please give me feedback on that?
Click to expand...

I have an 8Gb M7 and I noticed some slow down for the first time today.

Was running:

Multiple safari windows with multiple tabs in each
Multiple large MS word documents with tracked changes etc running
Excel
PowerPoint
Virtual VPN to work running inside virtual windows 10 using Parallels
Apple Mail
Outlook
Calendar
Reminders
Notes
All running across 6 desktops/spaces

Was still usable but was definitely not as smooth when fewer things are running.
 
I ordered a new MBP pretty much straight after the event. After a few hours to mull, and finding out John Lewis still have the MacBooks at the pre-event pricing, I've ordered one of those. The MBP order will be cancelled.
 
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Crazy Badger said:
I ordered a new MBP pretty much straight after the event. After a few hours to mull, and finding out John Lewis still have the MacBooks at the pre-event pricing, I've ordered one of those. The MBP order will be cancelled.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for this!! Because of your post I just made my dad buy one as he had been thinking about it for a while.
 
ccigas said:
What processor do you have in yours? M3/5/7?



How much battery life do you get on that M3 with doing all that?

--

Compared to the new Pro 13 without touch bar, how does the M5 and M7 compare against that i5 core? Of course the battery life may take a hit but is the processing power that much different?
Click to expand...

M5
 
The MacBook will be perfect for that use and I wager she will really like the portability and silent operation.
 
The m3 will handle all light users tasks just fine today. Question is whether it will be usable after 4-5 years. The Pro will probably run fine, but I'm not sure about the m3/5/m7.

Using a m3 2016 myself and I think its a great machine. Virtualizing Windows is my heaviest taks and it performs okay.
 
This is my dilemma now.

I wish I would have bought the rMB over the summer and received some beats headphones which I would have turned around and sold for a little profit.

Seeing the new rMBP, they are VERY nice. As mentioned before I am going to go into a store when I can and get a hands on approach to all the features.

The rMB would be enough for my needs but that damn OLED bar, thinner bezel, etc is attracting me over to the pro side. That price of $1799 is absurd though. I can get a refurb rMB and even an external screen to double as my desk set up.

Tough decision. Thinking back though, I got a 2006 15" MBP at launch and spent $2000. So I guess I could justify getting one?
 
I bought a 2015 base Macbook for $929 this summer. My plan is to upgrade in two years when the Macbook gets more horsepower (it can feel challenged at times.) I'm sure the new base MBP is nice but having lived with a Macbook Air for 5yrs I have no desire to go back to a 3lb. laptop.
 
I've fought with this same question since the event ended. Even went to the Apple Store to try out the MacBook. Came home and found a used 2016 512GB m7 on eBay for $950 from a quality seller. Maybe by next summer they will update the MacBook to be a little faster. The new rMBP 13" is just a little too steep for me.
 
Hi!

I'm in a dilemma between the following two:

Macbook 8GB/1,2GHz m5/512 SSD
or
Macbook Pro 13" no touch/16GB/2,0GHz i5/512 SSD

I will mainly use it for e-mails, web, office suite, netflix and Hearthstone - maybe a bit of photo editing but nothing hardcore.

Which one would you pick and why? Would you keep them upgraded or downgrade em?

Thanks for your time and info.

BR
 
Dalskov said:
Hi!

I'm in a dilemma between the following two:

Macbook 8GB/1,2GHz m5/512 SSD
or
Macbook Pro 13" no touch/16GB/2,0GHz i5/512 SSD

I will mainly use it for e-mails, web, office suite, netflix and Hearthstone - maybe a bit of photo editing but nothing hardcore.

Which one would you pick and why? Would you keep them upgraded or downgrade em?

Thanks for your time and info.

BR
Click to expand...

The cost of the upgraded non-oled MBP starts to get near the costs the same as the Oled one. So if you are going to buy it then just get the oled one.

New acronym suggestion:
MBP = No touch bar
MBP TB = obviously touch bar versions
 
Picapau21 said:
The cost of the upgraded non-oled MBP starts to get near the costs the same as the Oled one. So if you are going to buy it then just get the oled one.

New acronym suggestion:
MBP = No touch bar
MBP TB = obviously touch bar versions
Click to expand...

That is a good point. If you are willing to shell out the $1499, I would try to save another $300 and get the MBP TB. For most people the rMB is going to be plenty fast, and the portability is unmatched.
 
Crazy Badger said:
I ordered a new MBP pretty much straight after the event. After a few hours to mull, and finding out John Lewis still have the MacBooks at the pre-event pricing, I've ordered one of those. The MBP order will be cancelled.
Click to expand...
Likewise, I was disappointed with the new spec and price of the new RMBP and decided to keep my current late 2013 RMBP. Also, like yourself, I snapped up a RMB M5 from John Lewis @ £1299 with 3 years warranty ..... a no brainer when the same model is on the Apple site at £1549 ........ JL are sold out now. :-(
 
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