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New MacBook Advice

teerexx52

teerexx52

macrumors 68020
Original poster
May 1, 2005
2,075
184
Florida West Coast
Looking for a MacBook. Had one for a bit but took it back due to battery issues. Right now B&H Photo is offering a 2015 1.3 256GB for $999. Best Buy is offering 2015 1.2, 512GB for $1249 and a new 2016 M3 256SSD for $1299. I continue to read that 2015 batteries declined in Health status very quickly. Have not heard if the 2016 model suffers from the same. My needs are simple. Some surfing, email, light photo editing. Any recommendations of what model to go with? I appreciate it. Thank you
 
Just one opinion here, but I have the B&H photo deal & it's been a great computer, and the price was amazing. I haven't had any battery-related issues (though I've only had it for 2 weeks, so I can't rule out that they might come up in the future). I would't hesitate to buy the same computer at the same deal. If I had the same three options as you listed, I'd stick with the B&H, only because of sales tax, which adds another $100ish to the other two deals. If Sales taxes were charged evenly across both sellers, and I had all three options, personally I'd get the one with the 512 GB SSD for the extra on-board storage, but I don't think you can go wrong with either of the first two. I don't think that the third one is that great of a deal compared to the other two. Compared to the B&H deal, it's an additional $300 ($400 with sales tax) for the newer processor/SSD/graphics, which are all nice to have, but I wouldn't pay 30/40% more to 'upgrade' to them.
 
mk313 said:
Just one opinion here, but I have the B&H photo deal & it's been a great computer, and the price was amazing. I haven't had any battery-related issues (though I've only had it for 2 weeks, so I can't rule out that they might come up in the future). I would't hesitate to buy the same computer at the same deal. If I had the same three options as you listed, I'd stick with the B&H, only because of sales tax, which adds another $100ish to the other two deals. If Sales taxes were charged evenly across both sellers, and I had all three options, personally I'd get the one with the 512 GB SSD for the extra on-board storage, but I don't think you can go wrong with either of the first two. I don't think that the third one is that great of a deal compared to the other two. Compared to the B&H deal, it's an additional $300 ($400 with sales tax) for the newer processor/SSD/graphics, which are all nice to have, but I wouldn't pay 30/40% more to 'upgrade' to them.
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^ Agreed. I bought one from a 2105 1.3 from B&H and love it. A nice upgrade from my 2011 13" MBA and the price without tax made it a no-brainer for me.
 
Check the college deals, if you have a Best Buy account just register on the Student hub, all you need to do is put a school near you, they don't ask for a school email address or ID. I happen to have one but I noticed when I registered it didn't ask for it. *They state a 150.00 off right additionally from MacBooks, though I think there is an issue with the coupons because they only send the 100.00 off. I've sent support a message, you should too.
 
gui0312 said:
Check the college deals, if you have a Best Buy account just register on the Student hub, all you need to do is put a school near you, they don't ask for a school email address or ID. I happen to have one but I noticed when I registered it didn't ask for it. *They state a 150.00 off right additionally from MacBooks, though I think there is an issue with the coupons because they only send the 100.00 off. I've sent support a message, you should too.
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I did use the $100 coupon. I see that they saints supposed to be $150. Will send an email. Thanks
 
I purchased one of these for $649 from Bestbuy. Tax free weekend too...I picked it up tonight and it looks great. Cycle count was 2 and comes with a full 1 year geek squad warranty. A great deal...

ShionoyaTamaki said:
btw, Bestbuy for a short period couple days ago had geeksquad refurbished 2015 macbook on sale for $640.
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Can I ask a related question? Is the 2016 worth the extra $250? I see the deal at Best Buy on last years, no space gray which I want, but I wouldn't pay $250 more for it unless the battery and processor are also worth the extra money.
 
jjk454ss said:
Can I ask a related question? Is the 2016 worth the extra $250? I see the deal at Best Buy on last years, no space gray which I want, but I wouldn't pay $250 more for it unless the battery and processor are also worth the extra money.
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I have had both the 2015 and now the 2016. Battery life in the 16 seems noticeably better. Other than that I haven't experienced any other differences. I did get space gray
 
teerexx52 said:
I have had both the 2015 and now the 2016. Battery life in the 16 seems noticeably better. Other than that I haven't experienced any other differences. I did get space gray
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Thanks, battery is not do important to me. I guess I'll save the money and get a 2015.
 
apple insider did a video comparing the speeds of the 2015 vs 2016 models. They performed almost exactly the same, except for one test (Maybe exporting videos or something like that) where the 2016 model was way faster than the 2015. Aside from that, they didn't notice any difference in performance. FWIW, I have a 2015 & it's plenty fast for all of my needs.
 
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