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MacBook Pro 2015 15" vs MacBook Pro 16" Base Model
- Thread starter Falcon80
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They aren’t even comparable. The 16 is better in every way possible.
5 years of technological changes and development is a lot
5 years of technological changes and development is a lot
Except for the ports and probably the controversial Touch Bar. In addition, the price of 2015 is half of 2020. My main concern is whether Apple will drop OS support for 2015 in 2-3 years time.
i just use my MB for surfing, documents so any model would work just fine.
-Apple is changing over to ARM processors so what ever you buy is end of life
-MRumor members seem to like the 2015 MBP
-even if macOS support drops in 2y for the 2015 unit install the final OS and be happy for another 2-3years
-seems there is a battery charger error on the brand new pro16. A new cover up for a class action law suite?
get the 2015 MBP, with the new battery sounds great
-Apple is changing over to ARM processors so what ever you buy is end of life
-MRumor members seem to like the 2015 MBP
-even if macOS support drops in 2y for the 2015 unit install the final OS and be happy for another 2-3years
-seems there is a battery charger error on the brand new pro16. A new cover up for a class action law suite?
get the 2015 MBP, with the new battery sounds great
I don’t think it’s a given that the 2015 has better ports. I’d rather have the flexibility of TB3 at this stage - anything you could plug into a 2015 you could plug into the 16” via an adapter, but you can’t e.g. have native support for a TB3 eGPU with the 2015.
It's really hard to compare the two machines without knowing the specific use case. They're very different.
Yeah you need to talk about what you plan to use it for. Also, that’s a base model 2015. Mine is 2.8 GHz, discrete AMD graphics. Different animal.
I'm not sure yet how "end of life" the Pro models are. We still don't know a lot about what the ARM Macs will look like, but it seems likely they would start with the lower end Mac models and work their way upward.
Yes, I still have a MacBook Pro 2012 but its screen starting to have issue. I am actually considering the MacBook Air 2020 but concern with its thermal limitation.
I use a 2015 15" MBP for work. It started kernel panic'ing a few months ago, about once a week. 5 year old hardware isn't really prudent at this point.
The 2015's also have held their value really well, like $700ish for a 512gb/16gb model which is way overpriced for something that old. At $500 they might be worth biting.
The 2015's also have held their value really well, like $700ish for a 512gb/16gb model which is way overpriced for something that old. At $500 they might be worth biting.
I think either one will be a major improvement over what you have now. It’s my opinion that if I had to buy a new machine now, I’d buy the 16. That said, I bought this 2015 at the end of December, a 2019 16 inch was certainly an option. The problem is, if the machine is still going to run fans at full speed when I use it heavily, I decided it wasn’t worth the 4k to get one with the specs I’d want, and to get it in a reasonable time (in other words, not a custom build). The maxed out 2015 is fine for me for now, cost 1/4 of a similar machine in a 16”, and this way I get to wait to see what the next couple years hold. AX wifi? Better FaceTime camera? ARM chips or intel finally moving beyond its 14nm process? Next gen GPU? My feeling is if you don’t absolutely need a new machine, then keep what you have as long as you can. Sure the 2015 will eventually be vintage and unsupported. I’ll upgrade when this happens. Nothing between 2016 and 2019 holds the least bit of appeal to me.
2016 has the much criticized Butterfly keyboard; 2015 does not.
I like my 2015 machine. Don’t care much about Thunderbolt 3 as I have that on my iMac. It’s a good travel machine.
I like my 2015 machine. Don’t care much about Thunderbolt 3 as I have that on my iMac. It’s a good travel machine.
I literally started a thread on this exact topic a week ago. Check it out, lots of info there too.
I went with the 16" 2019, the i9. Whoever said these 2015's are going for 700 must have been looking at the lower models. Everything i priced out that was half-decent looking was a grand to 1200. Thats USD. For me, literally half the price of a brand new 16" i9. My budget was for the 2015... but i found the extra scratch for the better model. I've been reading threads for the days aince i pulled the trigger, and pretty near every one backs up my decision. I'm excited... Should be here tomorrow.
I went with the 16" 2019, the i9. Whoever said these 2015's are going for 700 must have been looking at the lower models. Everything i priced out that was half-decent looking was a grand to 1200. Thats USD. For me, literally half the price of a brand new 16" i9. My budget was for the 2015... but i found the extra scratch for the better model. I've been reading threads for the days aince i pulled the trigger, and pretty near every one backs up my decision. I'm excited... Should be here tomorrow.
I just looked through ebay completed listings for mid-2015's with 16gb and 512gb. Range was $700-$800ish mostly.
I think if money isn’t an object then sure, I’d love to have a new machine. But for 1/4 the price? I’ll take the 2015. A cursory look on eBay shows high end 2015s around 1300 dollars or so. Looks like I got
a steal back in December for under 1k!
a steal back in December for under 1k!
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I was looking at only the dual graphics 15.4" models, either the 2.5Ghz or the 2.8. And only those with 1Tb. Those were not 7-800... not any ones i'd want to buy anyways.
If you're going to buy a five year old computer, it makes sense to get the most powerful version. You'll still be lacking against a new one, but you'll be a lot closer. It will be relevant longer.
I own the 2015 - a great and fast laptop with retina. No issues at all. The other post is correct - it won’t matter as Apple will be going to PowerPC(sorry, ARM) chips. Hopefully arm MacBook pros will be cheaper than intel.
Ebay is not a benchmark anymore. There are a lot of people, buying used MBP 16 for the price of new at Apple store. So i guess, majority of sellers oriented towards international client and shipping. International customers are paying higher price, because it is still cheaper than overseas, and they are buying used MBPs for the price of new, because no Apple store in their place.
As of US, i think most of the good/fare trades occurring at marketplace, letgo, offerup, craigslist, r/hardwareswap.
Agree that performance wise the 2015 MBP is still pretty solid. With that said, it's a 5 year old machine. My work one currently kernel panics at least once a week now. $700-800 is a lot to invest in a machine that might be near-death.
(With that said I'm incredibly impressed that my 2011 still runs mostly OK)
Desktops can probably last forever, but with laptops they get tossed around more, have more heat issues, etc, so it's riskier imo.
That's a good point. As I am a mobile app developer, I would always need the latest OS in order to run the IDE like Xcode.