New MacBook Pro?; swollen battery advice; new monitor advice

[welling111]

I'm at the point that it's probably time I upgrade my Mac.
I've been on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) and recently noticed that it looks like I have ANOTHER swollen battery. This will be the 3rd time this has happened. (First was in 2020, second was 2023)
Other than the battery, everything has been great with it and really the only problem I've been having is no longer being able to update to the latest ios and being limited with the newest adobe applications.
SO...
1. Should I stick with a MacBookPro and go with the minimum base model with the m5 chip/ 16GB Unified Memory/ 512GB SSD Storage? or is it worth it to even go with the 1TB? (My current macPro has 512GB and is using most of it with system data).
What I do: Adobe applications, Figma, mostly graphics (very minimal video editing), coding. Often watching something on YouTube while working.
I rarely use it as a laptop and about 98% of the time hooked up to a large monitor. I'm open to getting something other than a laptop, however I do like having the option to pack it up when needed. (And i might need this in the future for the office)

2. Is it even worth replacing the battery of my old Mac? It's a good machine and wondering if i should keep it around as a potential back up or something. The last time it was $200.00 for the new battery. If I don't replace the battery immediately, is it safe to even keep it around, even if it's not being used????

3. Monitors. I have NO idea what to do about a monitor. I've been very happy with my Apple Thunderbolt 27in but would like to get on something with better pixel density and color richness. I'd like to keep using it, maybe as a second monitor.

ANY advice is appreciated. I haven't really been paying much attention to any of the updates and feel very lost.

Thank you!

 

[gilby101]

1. Seems like you would want to keep it for 10 years. 1TB SSD will future proof it. I would up the RAM too, but 16 TB is sufficient for your current use.

2. You really don't want a swollen battery in the house. Fire risk along with nasty fumes. Either replace (yet again) or responsibly dispose of it.

3. Assuming you like 27", a 4K 27" will be better than your current monitor and a 5K 27" better still (but more expensive. There are threads here on 5K monitors - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-complete-list-of-27-5k-displays.2390249/

 

[benwiggy]

3. Monitors. I have NO idea what to do about a monitor. I've been very happy with my Apple Thunderbolt 27in but would like to get on something with better pixel density and color richness. I'd like to keep using it, maybe as a second monitor.

I had a TB Display, but bought the Apple Studio Display, which is essentially a Retina version. Same 27-inch size, but 218ppi instead of 109. It's so much better. Shades of grey have much more contrast (crucial with the tediously grey Tahoe interface); and the speakers are a huge improvement.

Other 5K monitors are available, but MacOS really works best with hi-density displays.

NB: If you keep the TB Display, you can create a combined audio output using the speakers from both displays, in Audio MIDI Setup.

 

[Fishrrman]

RE the [repeatedly] swollen batteries...

A question:
Are you one of those folks who leaves the MBP charger plugged into the wall all the time...?

 

[Alameda]

RE the [repeatedly] swollen batteries...

A question:
Are you one of those folks who leaves the MBP charger plugged into the wall all the time...?

That’s no justification for the battery to swell up.

 

[MacMorrison]

I'm at the point that it's probably time I upgrade my Mac.
I've been on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) and recently noticed that it looks like I have ANOTHER swollen battery. This will be the 3rd time this has happened. (First was in 2020, second was 2023)
Other than the battery, everything has been great with it and really the only problem I've been having is no longer being able to update to the latest ios and being limited with the newest adobe applications.
SO...
1. Should I stick with a MacBookPro and go with the minimum base model with the m5 chip/ 16GB Unified Memory/ 512GB SSD Storage? or is it worth it to even go with the 1TB? (My current macPro has 512GB and is using most of it with system data).
What I do: Adobe applications, Figma, mostly graphics (very minimal video editing), coding. Often watching something on YouTube while working.
I rarely use it as a laptop and about 98% of the time hooked up to a large monitor. I'm open to getting something other than a laptop, however I do like having the option to pack it up when needed. (And i might need this in the future for the office)

2. Is it even worth replacing the battery of my old Mac? It's a good machine and wondering if i should keep it around as a potential back up or something. The last time it was $200.00 for the new battery. If I don't replace the battery immediately, is it safe to even keep it around, even if it's not being used????

3. Monitors. I have NO idea what to do about a monitor. I've been very happy with my Apple Thunderbolt 27in but would like to get on something with better pixel density and color richness. I'd like to keep using it, maybe as a second monitor.

ANY advice is appreciated. I haven't really been paying much attention to any of the updates and feel very lost.

Thank you!

In general, I'd replace the battery. My 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro had the same swelling problem with its first battery and the problem hasn't reoccurred since (knock on wood). Fortunately, the swelling didn't seem to leave any permanent damage. I do run it on the battery periodically just to make sure it's working properly.

Since you got the battery replaced before, you might consider using a different battery supplier this time (I've had good experiences with the batteries from Other World Computing) - perhaps the quality of battery isn't great since they keep swelling up. A good replacement battery can last about 5-7 years if you're lucky.

As most people know, it's a real pain to replace batteries in these MacBooks - you can check the iFixit page, but generally, a lot of stuff has to be disconnected and unglued, even with the shortcuts out there.

If you use OpenCore Legacy Patcher, you should be able to install macOS Sequoia without too much of a problem and run current versions of those Adobe apps and Figma on it. I tested the Adobe Creative Cloud apps on my Sequoia system and everything ran without problems.

Re: monitors - I'd stick with something in a similar size - 27 to 32 inch - and consider a newer IPS or OLED monitor as an upgrade. A 4K display will look great, but it's more processing work for your MacBook Pro (especially with motion graphics and 3D applications like games). I think macOS Sequoia supports modern HDR displays well, but your 2015 graphic hardware may not, so standard dynamic range (SDR) monitors may be a safer pairing.

I'm not 100% sure how well some of the more oddball curved-screen wide displays are supported in macOS, particularly with your older MacBook Pro. Dell makes some great professional monitors but the 16:10 ratio preferred by Apple is a bit more rare than the more common 16:9 in the market.

If you're not using your MacBook as a laptop, I'd save up for a Mac Mini or iMac to replace it, preferably with the new M5 processor. Upcoming Macs will probably support future-looking technologies like Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, higher RAM and storage capacities, HDR and 3D ray-traced graphics.

 

[gilby101]

3. Monitors ... would like to get on something with better pixel density and color richness

Two aspects of colour richness (mostly only relevant if you get a new Mac):

Bit depth: Your Thunderbolt Display has 8 bits per colour ((2^8)^3 = 2^24 referred to as 16.7 million colours). All (I think) 5K monitors have 10 bits per colour ((2^10)^3 =2^30 referred to a 1 billion colours - this is what @benwiggy refers to in getting more shades of grey (and other colours). A new Mac will be able to use the greater bit depth - though your old Mac does not. Whenever you see colour banding you are seeing the effect of only 8 bit depth.

This is something to check if you decide on a 4K display. Is it 10 bit or 8 bit?

Gamut: Depending on your graphics requirements you may be concerned about colour gamut (how those 2^30 colours map to what the eye sees). The Apple Studio display has "99% DCI-P3, 100% sRGB, 89% Adobe RGB" which is coverage for 3 different colour gamuts. There is also how closely the physical screen matches what the computer has told it to display - this is referred to as "delta E". For the Apple Studio this is quoted as "deltaE<1" (small is better) - deltaE<2 is pretty good.

 

[Fishrrman]

alameda complained:
"That’s no justification for the battery to swell up."

Whether it's "justifiable" or not, it seems to be a common occurrence with users who leave their MacBooks "on charge" all the time. It just... happens.

Which is why I asked the OP -- who hasn't responded...