Need your opinion for new MBP

[HJBR200]

My MBP was damaged due to unfortunate coffee spill ....

Hence, I need new laptop to use mainly for managing and editing photos and occasion gaming. I hoped to utilized my laptop for 5 years.

With current prices of MBP retina 15 with 32 GB and 1TB of storage, is it the best laptop around with respect for it's cost?

Thanks

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

My MBP was damaged due to unfortunate coffee spill ....

Hence, I need new laptop to use mainly for managing and editing photos and occasion gaming. I hoped to utilized my laptop for 5 years.

With current prices of MBP retina 15 with 32 GB and 1TB of storage, is it the best laptop around with respect for it's cost?

Thanks

The question you ask can just create another pointless thread of posts about the price of PCs versus price of Macs.

You have to ask what your needs are and if your usage needs those specs. If you're running Mac apps and can consume 32GB of RAM then you answered half the question. I don't think you need the i9 based on your work description above.

 

[HJBR200]

If you're running Mac apps and can consume 32GB of RAM. You have to ask what your needs are and if you're usage needs those specs.

My old MBP had 16GB of Ram and it was very impressive all around machine. I used it for Lightroom and Photoshop. So extra Ram should sustain my needs for to the upcoming 5 years?

 

[jpn]

for the MacBook Pros introduced on July 12, 2018:

1. get the lowest spec CPU MacBook Pro model but max it out on RAM and Disk Storage.

2. screen size: whatever you want to live with and can pay for. either 13 or 15 inch is fine.

it will last 3 years before you feel you want to buy a new one; or 4 years before you actually need to buy a new one.

 

[maflynn]

My old MBP had 16GB of Ram and it was very impressive all around machine. I used it for Lightroom and Photoshop. So extra Ram should sustain my needs for to the upcoming 5 years?

!6GB will sustain you for the upcoming 5 years. Apps are not becoming so high demanding that you will need that much. I'm still running LR/PS on a 8GB iMac and its doing fine.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

My old MBP had 16GB of Ram and it was very impressive all around machine. I used it for Lightroom and Photoshop. So extra Ram should sustain my needs for to the upcoming 5 years?

Open your biggest project files/images.

Look at Activity Monitor. How much memory is being consumed?

If it doesn't come close to 16GB then that won't change in the next five years.

Video professionals are another matter. Video standards are increasing at a much faster rate than still photography for all obvious reasons (frame rate, frame size, etc)

 

[caprica21]

As other mentioned, 16 GB should be enough for you. But do a test by opening largest file and double your workflow to see how far it goes. Example: Open two (or more based on your normal workflow) largest file and try to edit and see how far it goes in Activity Monitor. If you can absorb $400 for adding another 16 GB, go for it.

One of the biggest challenge consumers face in purchasing computers is -- the softwares have become increasingly resource hungry (CPU/RAM) and its difficult to predict for next 5 years. On top of that, there is ZERO option to upgrade MacBook. You cannot upgrade HDD or RAM or CPU. Nothing!!

I am developer and occasional photo/video editor. I ordered 15" 2.6 i7, 32 GB, 1 TB (After 8 years of using 13" MBP 2010). I may be running additional VM (windows / Linux) in VMWare and typically have several applications open for my work (Xcode, Eclipse, several browser windows, database, etc) and quick switching instead of reopening applications. I believe 16 GB is enough for me (now) but decided to go with 32 GB as I do not want to purchase new one for another 10 years.

 

[sosumi99]

16 GB of RAM will be more than enough if your future uses are like your past uses. You don't mention exactly what sort of gaming you do, but Macs have never been good at gaming, and they're most definitely not the best laptops for their cost based on raw specs (but raw specs don't include any of the intangible benefits of Apple's integration, trackpad, fit and polish, support, etc.)

Just beware that anticipated uses can change and the best made plans may have to alter. Five years ago I never anticipated I'd become involved in VR content production or substantial video editing, but I don't believe "future-proofing" is possible or useful, so don't get carried away with buying a machine with more power than you need.

 

[HJBR200]

Thank you all for your advice and guide. Actually you help me in saving $1k at least.
I bought MBP 15" 2.6Ghz with 16 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of storage. I didn't go for large storage due to unavailability of unit and I cannot wait further.
However, I invested at several backup drives as lesson learned .....

 

[Howard2k]

for the MacBook Pros introduced on July 12, 2018:

1. get the lowest spec CPU MacBook Pro model but max it out on RAM and Disk Storage.

2. screen size: whatever you want to live with and can pay for. either 13 or 15 inch is fine.

it will last 3 years before you feel you want to buy a new one; or 4 years before you actually need to buy a new one.

Sorry, but that’s absurd. That money spent on arbitrarily making out RAM and Storage is lunacy. Sure there are some users who will benefit from that, but to suggest that you need a 2TB 32GB machine for Lightroom, or Office, or Logic, is craziness.

It’s the ultimate decision of last resort; if you have no understanding of how your system runs or what your expectations might be for the next three years, then sure, max it out. But an educated decision will almost certainly be a better choice than throwing money at Apple blindly.

 

[jpn]

Sorry, but that’s absurd. That money spent on arbitrarily making out RAM and Storage is lunacy. Sure there are some users who will benefit from that, but to suggest that you need a 2TB 32GB machine for Lightroom, or Office, or Logic, is craziness.

It’s the ultimate decision of last resort; if you have no understanding of how your system runs or what your expectations might be for the next three years, then sure, max it out. But an educated decision will almost certainly be a better choice than throwing money at Apple blindly.

lowest spec