MacBook Pro advice

[HBOC]

I’ve had my 2015 MBP for 10 years and sadly my dog knocked it to the ground. Screen hardly works, so time for an upgrade. It is a 2.5GHz, so wasn’t the base model.

I use it primarily for adobe. I realize pretty much anything now is a huge upgrade, but I do want something that will last me another 10 years. The files I’m working with are sometimes a GB or more, with multiple files open at a time.

While my current one did ok on these, I noticed over time with technological advances on camera sensors the computer would slow down.

Just wondering if anyone was in the same boat and what they went with. I’m even thinking of the 14” option, but will stop at apple and see both side by side.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you want something that will last up to 10 years, DO NOT buy "the base model".

Get "more".
More RAM.
More SSD.
What seems "enough" (RAM/SSD) for today, will not be enough for several years' on down the line.

14" MBP?
Get 32gb of RAM and at least a 1tb SSD.

You can save $$$ by buying from the Apple online refurbished store.
I did that with my last two Minis -- did well both times.

 

[Heinzja]

Sorry for your loss... Dog is ok?
Below 2nd Hand prices in UK with 5years warranty... a screen repair is out of question ... (had similar problem... friend gave me a MBA with a broken screen... the screen was more than a 2nd Hand with Warranty... sometimes you have to let go...)
Don’t know where you are located, but if UK I would have a look for 2nd Hand (evtl. in this shop/ mail order ) if the Dog is still around it might be better that way, beside “new” is expensive and if you were 10years happy with previous Modell, any upgrade would be nice... which is all your decision/budget.. no one can do this for you (imho)

 

[raythompsontn]

Just wondering if anyone was in the same boat and what they went with. I’m even thinking of the 14” option, but will stop at apple and see both side by side.

For your needs the base M4 MacBook Pro will serve you quite well. I have files that 20-30 GIG in size and had no issues with Adobe products on a M2 Air. The current memory level of 16 GIG will do just fine. If anything, moving beyond the 256 GIG of storage to 512 GIG would be desirable option.

If you use a camera with a SDXC card, especially the high speed card, the M4 Pro MacBook Pro would be a good option for the high speed card slot.

As for screen size, I find the 14" to an OK size. The 16" is just too big for portability.

Everyone is different. Make a choice, be happy.

 

[HBOC]

For your needs the base M4 MacBook Pro will serve you quite well. I have files that 20-30 GIG in size and had no issues with Adobe products on a M2 Air. The current memory level of 16 GIG will do just fine. If anything, moving beyond the 256 GIG of storage to 512 GIG would be desirable option.

If you use a camera with a SDXC card, especially the high speed card, the M4 Pro MacBook Pro would be a good option for the high speed card slot.

As for screen size, I find the 14" to an OK size. The 16" is just too big for portability.

Everyone is different. Make a choice, be happy.

I would get more RAM and more storage for sure. Thinking of the 16” version since I road trip and camp a bit.

For your needs the base M4 MacBook Pro will serve you quite well. I have files that 20-30 GIG in size and had no issues with Adobe products on a M2 Air. The current memory level of 16 GIG will do just fine. If anything, moving beyond the 256 GIG of storage to 512 GIG would be desirable option.

If you use a camera with a SDXC card, especially the high speed card, the M4 Pro MacBook Pro would be a good option for the high speed card slot.

As for screen size, I find the 14" to an OK size. The 16" is just too big for portability.

Everyone is different. Make a choice, be happy.

This is good to know! Have a Sony A7rIV. My current machine has the card reader as well; albeit not super fast

 

[raythompsontn]

Thinking of the 16” version since I road trip and camp a bit.

That is why I would choose the 14". But that is me. I know people who travel with the 16" but my gosh that seems massive on a tray table or hotel desk.

My current machine has the card reader as well; albeit not super fast

The fast cards are awesome when used on the M4 Pro MacBook Pro. Pictures load really fast with the biggest delay being Lightroom building the previews. That process can take 5 minutes or more with 2K pictures and will peg the CPU on just about any machine.

The high speed cards are expensive. But I can shoot at 5 frames per second with my camera for 20 seconds or more without buffer delay. Not everyone needs that speed.

 

[phthom]

I’ve had my 2015 MBP for 10 years and sadly my dog knocked it to the ground. Screen hardly works, so time for an upgrade. It is a 2.5GHz, so wasn’t the base model.

I use it primarily for adobe. I realize pretty much anything now is a huge upgrade, but I do want something that will last me another 10 years. The files I’m working with are sometimes a GB or more, with multiple files open at a time.

While my current one did ok on these, I noticed over time with technological advances on camera sensors the computer would slow down.

Just wondering if anyone was in the same boat and what they went with. I’m even thinking of the 14” option, but will stop at apple and see both side by side.

Hello, when I left my previous company, they asked me to give back my professionnal 16" macbook pro ... So I had to find another macbook pro. I moved to 14" and this is OK (especially if you travel a lot) : it is lighter, more powerfull (especially the M3 or M4 now). I agree with the other person : pick the MORE options that you can. More memory and more CPU, GPU, NPU ... However it could be expensive. Personnaly, I choosed a 500 GB SSD drive in the the new macbook and because the SSDs at Apple are very expensive, I recently bought an external 4 TB SSD (ZikeDrive USB4 40Gbps NVMe M.2 SSD Enclosure Z666 + a Lexar NM790 SSD 4TB) to extend the 500 GB when at home. Also at home, I have a large screen (34") to compensate the 14" of the MBP (LG 34UC87M). For me, here could be a good starting point : MacBook Pro 14" with M4 PRO processor, with 24 GB RAM and 1TB SSD ...

 

[Alpha Centauri]

10 yrs is a long time to last, or last reliably where not always fighting or chasing or losing functionality of hardware being no longer available new, patched versions breaking if going that route.

I mean, I kept my 2009 MBP going like this for 14 yrs but it was no longer a pleasure to use.

Having said that and going that route, I ordered mine with the highest specced CPU, maxed RAM (it was user replaceable), and soon fitted one of the first SSD's on the market. The new specced 2023 M2 I'll keep going for 6-7 years in total.

 

[TechRunner]

I bought the base (16/512) M4 MBP in March with the expectation of getting 5-7 years from it. If I was hoping to push it past 10 years my minimum build would be 24/1TB. Screen size is a personal choice, but I find the 14" to be the perfect blend of adequate screen real estate and portability.

 

[Neil J. Squillante]

This is good to know! Have a Sony A7rIV. My current machine has the card reader as well; albeit not super fast

The 16 inch base model has an M4 Pro, not an M4, so you’ll be fine. I think 2 TB is the new 1 TB, especially for a 10 year life span. It’s nice to have ample internal storage notwithstanding the price of admission. If you don’t plan to use an external display, I too would get the 16 inch (I have the 14 inch and an Apple Studio Display).

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

Get a 14” M3 Pro or M4 Pro (not the base model) from the Refurb Store with at least 24-36 GB of RAM and 1TB SSD.

You can always add storage but not RAM! The 14” is a “sweet spot” size; I personally find the 16” unwieldy.

 

[pier]

Get as much RAM as you can afford. The CPUs are going to last for many years but RAM is probably going to be a bottleneck sooner than you think. Also take into account the memory is shared with the GPU. Also macOS will use as much RAM as possible for optimizations.

Storage is more of a convenience since with TB4/5 you can get very fast external NVMEs.

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

Get as much RAM as you can afford. The CPUs are going to last for many years but RAM is probably going to be a bottleneck sooner than you think. Also take into account the memory is shared with the GPU. Also macOS will use as much RAM as possible for optimizations.

Storage is more of a convenience since with TB4/5 you can get very fast external NVMEs.

Yup. And with a 40GB/s enclosure you can nearly reach the speed of the internal drive so there will be no noticeable lag if you need to work off an external regularly.