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Now that everything's going online, do you think it's a good idea to buy high quality tech like MacBook Pros?

Hieveryone

Hieveryone

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 11, 2014
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USA
I recently bought a 2019 15" MacBook Pro base model. Paid full price and never looked back, mainly because I was starting new endeavor in my life and thought it would be an excellent tool for that.

It has served me very well. In fact, I recently bought a 24" 4K LG monitor from the Apple store, and that too has become essential for my computing needs.

I also have an iPhone 11 Pro Max, and given I'm on my phone all the time anyway, having big and fast phone is nice.

I've got plenty of accessories- some of which I don't really need or use all the time.

But I feel like now that the world's going online, I'm glad I spent the money on upgrading all my tools.

My main setup is:

15" MacBook Pro 2019 base model

iPhone 11 Pro Max

24" LG 4K monitor from Apple Store

I also have a 12" 2017 MacBook base model, which is a nice addition although I don't use it much.

The only other tool I've been thinking about adding is an iPad, but not sure how much I'd use it given I don't really use my MacBook much.
 
hwojtek said:
Thanks for sharing. And what is your point exactly?
Click to expand...

For example, if someone’s rockin a 2015 15” MacBook Pro, then maybe now would be a good time to get the 16” one.

Bc everything’s going online?
 
Scratching my head here. Your work doesn’t change but many now do it from home rather than from an office.

I see no need for new hardware based on my job tasks being exactly the same.


Computers are tools. You get the right tool for the job. Especially since many aren’t traveling anymore it should be easier to still use older hardware.

Besides that I also expect many to have less money to spend on tech purchases due to the economic situation.
 
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Hieveryone said:
For example, if someone’s rockin a 2015 15” MacBook Pro, then maybe now would be a good time to get the 16” one.

Bc everything’s going online?
Click to expand...

Working online doesn't take much in the way of computing power for most jobs. Most would be accomplished fine on a 1st gen Core i3 iMac with High Sierra installed and 8GB RAM. That should handle video conferencing. Which is about the most computer intensive task the majority of people will perform.

If their specific work requires a lot of computing power. Their employer will likely provide the necessary computer. Outside of private contractors and freelancers. Few employers are going to require employees to spend a few thousand on a computer.
 
fokmik said:
These days, no matter how much money you have....i recommend not to buy anything that you want, just everything that you need
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I go ok for money, have a pretty good business that does well and generates plenty of disposable income, I'm replying to your post on a 2008 MacBook, it's a had a few upgrades along the way.
I also have other more modern Apple, Huawei and Samsung products, I couldn't agree with your post any greater, I possibly want more, but don't need it.
 
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maflynn said:
You can't go online with a 15" MBP? :rolleyes:

So your title states that since everything is now going online, should you buy hight quality tech - well why wouldn't you want to buy high quality tech beforehand?
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I mean, Catalina is rough, but not "can't go online" rough
 
If you're asking specifically about the MacBook Pros (as opposed to other high-quality tech), I do *NOT* recommend buying. I now have to package up my week-old MBP 16" and ship it back somehow through all of the stay-at-home sheltering we have going on now.

I purchased the base i9 model last week, and it won't stop kernel panicking. I wish I would've done more research before purchasing (which yes, is totally my fault). Turns out there's a number of these machines (not all) that won't stop kernel panicking after the laptop goes to sleep. I've been trying to search for solutions (NVRAM resets, SMC resets, etc.) but I haven't found anything that worked.

In my mind, it's a risky purchase right now given the state of the world. That said, others might have 100% functional laptops without issue. I just know a number of us do is all.
 
I think you‘re in the minority when it comes to the stability of the macbook pro 16. probably just a bad unit, it happens.
 
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dapa0s said:
I think you‘re in the minority when it comes to the stability of the macbook pro 16. probably just a bad unit, it happens.
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I hear ya. It's just when I google it, and run into issue after issue from other users, it just seems large. But also I know there's a number of folks who aren't having my experience. FWIW I'm in the middle of MacOS Recovery to see if that fixes things.

But back to the OP's question: as these issues are still occurring to even brand new models, I wouldn't recommend purchasing during COVID-19 as you might have to send the thing back. It's a gamble.

Also, there's a post on the MacRumors MBA forum with kernel panics happening to the brand new 2020 MBAs as well.
 
On the flip side, Apple extended their return period, so you have much more time to return it, if you buy it now.
 
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dapa0s said:
On the flip side, Apple extended their return period, so you have much more time to return it, if you buy it now.
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Ah, that's good to hear. I just worry about taking the thing to a UPS store to send it back more than anything. On the plus side, they've been labeled essential during the crisis.
 
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velocityg4 said:
Working online doesn't take much in the way of computing power for most jobs. Most would be accomplished fine on a 1st gen Core i3 iMac with High Sierra installed and 8GB RAM. That should handle video conferencing. Which is about the most computer intensive task the majority of people will perform.
Click to expand...
Yup, I use a 2013 MacBook Pro with dual core i5 (Haswell) and 8 GB RAM. Handles video conferencing and VPN just fine. My work usually consists of having 7 or 8 .doc and .pdf files open along with email, Skype, and maybe a handful of browser tabs or excel sheets. Everyone's workflow is different, but I think mine is probably fairly typical for a lot of remote-from-home workers these days, and it doesn't require high end 2020 tech.

My work-issued laptop is a Dell of similar vintage/power to my own MBP, and aside from the pain of it's mechanical hard drive, it also works just fine.
 
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crouch said:
I hear ya. It's just when I google it, and run into issue after issue from other users, it just seems large.
Click to expand...
This is a very easy to explain phenomenon: satisfied/happy people generally don’t go on about it. They just use the <thing>.
 
Hieveryone said:
For example, if someone’s rockin a 2015 15” MacBook Pro, then maybe now would be a good time to get the 16” one.

Bc everything’s going online?
Click to expand...

Waste of money. A 2015 MBP is overwhelming overkill for all but the smallest subset of users. You don't need to spend another $2k to "go online"
 
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None of that will enhance your ability to go online in any way whatsoever. Your hardware might help if you need to actually do work at home, assuming you actually do work that needs that hardware, but it looks like you're more concerned about bragging about having "the latest and greatest" than actually showing your use cases for it
 
im still using 15" late 2013 for all task, including programming with xcode and andro studio actually, all its fine and i dont have issue with my machine, except only ssd 256 lol.
 
Dude seriously? You just had a 16" MacBook Pro and did nothing but complain about it and returned it. Why do you start these random threads that don't really go anywhere?

Go buy whatever you want, we don't need a window into every single purchase you make on here and aren't going to offer you "moral" support every single time you have a whim to buy something.

Aside from that, your post makes little to no sense anyway.
 
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Provide a picture of your current setup, MBP plugged to monitor and the MB. I would be genuinely interested...

I can use my 2008 MacBook on the Internet still, and I'm sure that if you threw an SSD and more RAM into this 2008 modal, most consumers would be fine with it.
 
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