MBP 2011 died. Doubting between MBP or iMac, advice needed

[Europe calling]

Hi,

My late 2011 2.2 Ghz 15.4" MBP died yesterday, and i only have money to buy a 2nd hand replacement.
I use my mac mostly for graphic design work (still have the 23" Cinema display -working!- that i connected it to).

Replacement i am considering is either a used mid 2015 MBP or go i could go with a 27" iMac from the same year.
I think i could do without the portability of a laptop but can't make up my mind. I read about keyboard issues on MBP's, which models are best/which ones i better avoid?

What would be the best investment choice considering connectivity en longivity? Advice welcome.

Peripherals i need to be able to connect:
USB Wacom
USB external keyboard
in case of MBP the 23" Apple Cinema Display aluminum
Firewire external harddrive

 

[iKaushal]

I have same machine and mine died 3 times. Twice it was taken care in warranty and 3rd time I had to pay in repair shop.

last month it died 4th time and I did a bit of research and came to know by a small procedure - re-balling it can work.

I got the same did in my machine...had to pay INR 2000 which is approx 28 US$. and its working fine.

check this before spending

 

[theluggage]

I think i could do without the portability of a laptop but can't make up my mind. I read about keyboard issues on MBP's, which models are best/which ones i better avoid?

The MBP keyboard issues are with 2016-2018 and the jury is still out on 2019 models. 2016 was also when all the ports were replaced with 2 or 4 TB3/USB-C ports (discussed ad nauseum elsewhere).

2015 Retina MacBook Pros have the classic "why oh why oh why did they change it?" scissor keyboard plus good old 2xUSB 3-A, 2xTB2, HDMI and MagSafe ports. Good choice if you want a portable.

2015 iMac has 2xTB2, 4xUSB3, Ethernet, SD card but no HDMI. So for your use you're gaining a couple of USB ports. Of course, all the ports are inconveniently tucked around the back, particularly awkward for the SD.

Thing to watch is that while the Retina MBP has always had a SSD, the base iMacs did (and still do) start with a mechanical hard drive, and DIY upgrading is not for the faint hearted. I'd look for one with an SSD (not Fusion - but if you are tempted check the size of the SSD portion - I think some time in 2015 was when Apple knobbled it from 128G to 24G. On the other hand, upgrading RAM in an iMac 27" is a doddle so don't worry so much about that.

Apart from that, its your choice whether you need a laptop or desktop... the 27" iMac screen is really nice, though...

In either case, your FireWire hard drive will need a TB-to-Firewire adapter, but if it's circa 2011 then really it has earned its eternal rest and should be replaced with a new USB 3 one. If you can't find a cheap TB-to-FW and just want to get the data off the old drive, whip it out of the enclosure and use a sub-$10 SATA-to-USB cable to copy it to the new drive.

 

[naerct]

Great video. I've done a lot of work on my 2012, but never popped the Mobo. Thanks.

As for replacement with a 2015 iMac or MBP. The iMac will offer better stock facilities for graphics. You can even get it with the 4GB VRAM video card, which is essential for photo editing. I believe the only way to get a similar feature on an MBP is the 15", as I don't believe the 13" have separate video cards, and on-chip graphics suck for openCL. This is the most important difference for graphics. Both units have replaceable, fast SSDs, but it's a lot easier to get inside the MBP. Screen damage is a problem for opening the 2015 iMacs (and it gets even worse with subsequent models). So if you get an iMac, make sure it has a big SSD, and DO NOT get one with a Fusion drive. The only exception is the 3TB Fusion that comes with a 128GB SSD that can be split away, so you have a 3TB spinner and a 128GB SSD, but that's a bit small for a boot drive and doesn't give you much fast space for scratch disks, etc. Also, the i7 is the best choice. If you get a MBP, get it with the smallest drive and save enough for a new 970 that is very easy to install in the MBP. (much easier than replacing the boot drive in my 2012 MBP). 10 external screws, pop the bottom and disconnect the battery, pop the Sintech adapter on the 970 and undo the m.2 holding screw and swap out the SSDs.
I would say that a iMac i7 with a SSD would be the fastest, but pretty much the same as the 15" MBP. The 13" MBP without the speed of GPU VRAM, is not quite as fast. I saw a really good used 2015 15" MBP for about $1K, but don't remember where. Don't forget that TB can adapt to Firewire, and dongles for older USB devices. Good Luck.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I read about keyboard issues on MBP's, which models are best/which ones i better avoid?"

ALL MacBook Pros starting with the 2016 design have the faulty butterfly keyboards.
The ONLY EXCEPTION is the recently-released 16" model, which goes back to the "scissors-style" keyboard used on 2015 MBP's and earlier.

I'd look for a 2015 MBP, either 13" or 15".
Make sure it's in good shape.
MAKE SURE you see it shut down completely (all the way off) and fully rebooted to the finder before you buy.

You'll need an adapter for the firewire drive.
Or... if the firewire enclosure can be opened... take the internal drive OUT OF the firewire enclosure and put it into a USB3 enclosure.

 

[Europe calling]

thnx for the input. I think i will go for 15" MBP