MBP 15 vs Mac Mini and iPad

[TomOSeven]

Hi everyone,

I'm in a situation in which I NEED to have a Windows computer for work and I WANT to have MacOS also.

Luckily, I have a brilliant Thinkpad T480s to have the Windows front covered. I couldn't be happier with the computer (apart from the OS) and it's a great PC to live in the backpack and take everywhere. So that part is covered.

At home, however, I want a Mac.
There's a couple of things the Thinkpad doesn't cover, and I'd love for the Mac to do that.

The obvious one is the OS.
The second one, a 14" screen is stretching it a bit when it comes to working productively without an external monitor for longer stretches.
The third one, the T480s speakers suck rather profoundly.

Enter Apple.

I'm considering:
Base 2018 MBP (2050 Euro) vs. Base 2018 Mac Mini (upgraded to 256 GB SSD) + 256 GB 2018 iPad Pro with Pencil (combined 2400 Euro).

In favour of the Pro:
- great screen for around the house
- great second screen for on-desk use
- probably better performance than new Mini
- not tethered to desk, freedom around the house
- presumably fantastic speakers
-
Against:
- I hated Butterfly 1 + 2, not sure I can like 3
- Touch Bar seems gimmicky
- base storage anemic


In favour of the Mac Mini / iPad Pro Combo:
- twice the storage (256gb on Mac and another 256 on iPad for media)
- versatility
- iPad a great complement to my Thinkpad when on the go.
- Pencil would be cool to work on my 2d assets
Against:
- more expensive
- tethered to desk for MacOS use

It's a difficult decision, can you help me with it?

 

[maflynn]

Does the iPad run everything you want it to run? What will you be using the Mac mini or the MacBook Pro for?

 

[TomOSeven]

Does the iPad run everything you want it to run? What will you be using the Mac mini or the MacBook Pro for?

The iPad would be for music, Udemy courses, tonnes of PDF files and to more easily create 2d sprite sheets.
The Mac would run Unity (2d), Atom, NPM, p5 server etc. So a bunch of development tools, mainly for web and game dev.

Of course all of that works on my Thinkpad as well, so there's some degree of redundancy.

 

[maflynn]

Thinkpad as well, so there's some degree of redundancy.

Why not use the Thinkpad for work, and then the iPad for the other tasks. That would make it a lot more affordable.

 

[TomOSeven]

That's probably the sensible choice, and probably what I'm going to do, but I do miss MacOS, haha.
Not sure I miss it a thousand bucks much, though.

 

[maflynn]

but I do miss MacOS, haha

I hear ya, that was one reason why I returned a Razer 15" laptop and opted for the new MacBook Pro. Its wasn't due to the hardware, but rather the apple ecosystem.

 

[TomOSeven]

I mean, all the negative experiences related to sleep / T2 chip etc. make me hesitant.

And I'm not sure if the i7 has the same heat / throttling issues as the i9. Then there's the keyboard and probably useless touch bar...

The deal is 500 off of a new base model, but that's still twice the price of an XPS15...