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Macbook Pro 13 8GB Ram 2018 vs Macbook Pro 15 16GB RAM 2015

Which Macbook for modest graphic and programming work/university/writing/watching/web navigation

  • Macbook Pro 2018 13” Touchbar 8 GB RAM

    Votes: 11 52.4%

  • Macbook 2015 15” 16 GB RAM

    Votes: 8 38.1%

  • Macbook 13 (2018) (???) Maybe unveiled 30th October 2018

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • Total voters
    21
fredix11

fredix11

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 23, 2018
17
6
Italy
Hello everyone, this topic has been discussed several times before but I’d like to receive your personal opinion on which computer could suit my needs.
I’m an Italian web developer, beginner designer/content editor and university student (not in IT field). Sometimes I edit photos and edit small videos. I’m currently not sure about which notebook model to choose between:

- Macbook Pro 13 inches 8 GB Ram DDR3 (mid 2018) priced at € 1700 new (online reseller)
- Macbook Pro 15 inches 16 GB Ram DDR3 (mid 2015) priced at € 1760 new on Amazon

The first is much thinner and lighter, is the latest model with better CPU, Touchbar, fingerprint scanner, better battery life, true tone, better display (but smaller), USB type C, wider touchpad, butterfly 3rd gen keyboard, 8 GB RAM DDR3, 256 GB new SSD....

The second is a 3,5 years old model (but not used), is no more sold on Apple Store refurbished, has USB A ports and all kind of ports, discrete videocard, larger display, old keyboard and “old” multitouch touchpad, magsafe, 16 GB RAM DDR3, 256 GB SSD....

I’d like to use it for 5-6 years.
I’m waiting for October 30th event to see the next Macbook 13” and if MBP price will drop a little bit. I think I cannot wait until Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

I’d like to spend less than 2000 €

It would be my very first Mac

Thank you for your advice in advance!
 
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I'd wait and see what happens next week. But between the 15" 2015 and the 13" 2018 I'd take the 13" in a heartbeat.
 
15" from 2015. There is no substitute for screen size, and the keyboard is infinitely better than that on the 2018.
 
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It’s a very difficult choice for me, also because in the next years 16 GB RAM could really make a difference compared to 8 GB RAM. However, in my opinion, on October 30th Apple could introduce a new laptop very similar to Macbook 12” (light, thin, bigger touchpad) with 13” Retina display (LCD), a 8th-gen Intel CPU (2,2 GHz), no touchbar/touch ID, 128 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM, 2-3 USB-C ports, butterfly keyboard, on sale for 1200 dollars or less and that could replace the non-touchbar Macbook Pro and could stay next to Macbook 12” model. Maybe this is too much, almost identical to the Macbook Pro 13” 2017 base model. There must be a little surprise.... even if the next Apple Event is mainly focused on the new iPad. I’ve been waiting for months to see something new for a reasonable price. I’ve seen Mac prices raising (also because of EU/Italian taxes), amazing design, but less innovation and less improvement since 2012. However I want to leave my Windows PCs for a while, I love macOS resource management and stabilty.
 
Since one of your choices is to see what happens in Oct, I’d wait. October is almost done anyway.
 
Macbook Air 2018 8 GB RAM 128 GB no touchbar (only touchID) for 1379 euros in Italy... crazy prices
 
I think I will not consider buying the new Macbook Air. I have to choose between Macbook Pro 13” 2018 Touchbar 8 GB RAM 256 GB SSD and Macbook Pro 15” 2015 16 GB 256 GB SSD. Maybe I will choose Macbook Pro 13” 2018 Touchbar 8 GB RAM 256 GB SSD in the end.
 
According to you 16 GB RAM are necessary if I want to keep the Macbook Pro for 5-6 years doing little-basic photo and video editing? Or 8GB are enough?
 
fredix11 said:
According to you 16 GB RAM are necessary if I want to keep the Macbook Pro for 5-6 years doing little-basic photo and video editing? Or 8GB are enough?
Click to expand...

Yes you will probably experience the limit of the 8gb in as early as a couple years from now, especially if you are web developing.
 
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So because of my budget limited to 1700 € I can consider waiting the Black Friday to see the reviews (and the discounts) and understand if the new Macbook Air CPU is good enough for me with a 16 GB RAM configuration. The Macbook Pro 2015 15” 16 GB RAM is very good but too expensive to be 3,5 years old (in 6 years it will be 9 years old). The Macbook Pro 13” 2018 16 GB is too expensive for me now even with education discount.
 
fredix11 said:
Finally I bought the Macbook Pro 2018 13” Touchbar 8 GB RAM 256 SSD for 1725 euros. I’m very satisfied until now :)
Click to expand...
Hi, I'm in the same situation as you were, trying to decide between Macbook air 2018 vs Macbook pro 13" 2018 touchbar.
I don't really use any editing software but only coding in python and R studio, consuming media, email, office, etc.
Would you say that MBP 2018 touchbar is an overkill? I'm worried about temps on the macbook, how is your experience in terms of batt life and temps on normal usage?
Thanks
 
Kraizelburg said:
Hi, I'm in the same situation as you were, trying to decide between Macbook air 2018 vs Macbook pro 13" 2018 touchbar.
I don't really use any editing software but only wit in python and R studio, consuming media, email, office, etc.
Would you say that MBP 2018 touchbar is an overkill? I'm worried about temps on the macbook, how is your experience in terms of batt life and temps on
usage?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi Kraizelburg, I think the MacBook Air 2018 is fine, you can cope coding on it a little but if you work with 6-7 tabs open on Safari and you code at the same time it could be a little hard to use for work (office, coding, photos, videos). Maybe the Macbook Air with 16 GB RAM is a better choice. But you have also to consider that 256 GB is probably the minimum SSD size for your needs, so if you choose a custom configuration adding 8 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD the price raises too much in my opinion. Also delivery time would be longer because 16 GB RAM is not very common. The Macbook Air Retina display brightness is much lower than the 2017-2018 Macbook Pro and even than the Macbook 12” one. This is due to power management, CPU cooling and to extend battery life up to 12 hours with a single charge (normal no stress use can provide also more than 12 hours). However consider that if you code on a 13” Macbook you need the best display to work for some hours without tiring your eyes. Macbook Pro 13 (2017 or 2018) should be a better option for you in my opinion. Even if the 2017 has some issues with the keyboard (I’m thinking about “sticky” keys) Apple will fix it for free for 4 years from purchase date and you would get a more powerful mac with better CPU and a good videocard (not discrete), a much more brighter display for the about the same price of the Macbook Air. Also macOS Mojave is fantastic and run very smooth on the Macbook Pro. Honestly I really love the design of the new Macbooks, they are so thin and light. Also the colours and the touch and feel is great. The Macbook Pro 2018 is slightly more powerful than the predecessor with some nice features but not very necessary as True Tone display, T2 security, Always listening Siri, Touchbar with Touch ID and better keyboard. Even if Apple will put the Touchbar on all the new relased Macbook Pro, if you have to code the virtual ESC key is not a big problem because you can reorganize the touchbar using a software like bettertouchtool. Battery life is very good on the 2018 MBP, I can use it for 8-10 hours normally. Also the 2017 MBP has similar performance but 2018 is a little more powerful (and more expensive). You can also take advantage of the 150 €/$ discount that Apple will probably give for Black Friday or buy during a promotion on Amazon, BHPhoto, BestBuy etc. (depending where you live). I think also that if stressed the 2018 MPB doesn’t get so warm on the lower case, it’s good at absorbing heat. I’m not very sure but I think also the 2017 is similar. So I would choose between 2017 Macbook Pro 13” without touchbar and 2018 Macbook Pro 13” with touchbar I hope I helped you with your choice.
 
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Thanks for your opinion, to be honest I like the 2018 MBP touchbar even though I think is a gimmick, but the 2 extra cores ensure longer life spam. I live in Spain and I can get the 2018 MBP touchbar base model for 1600eur and new MBA 2018 for 1200eur. It's 400eur difference for a better screen 128gb more and "touchbar" so I don't know if it worth the extra cost.

I have a powerfull Ryzen desktop at home fot the heavy stuff (Ryzen 1600, 16gb RAM, 1T SSD and nvidia 1070)
 
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