Planning on buying the nTB MBP tomorrow. Stop me, support me, or convince me to go TB.

[Dick Whitman]

Coming from a Mid 2012 MBA, here are the reasons why I'm planning on upgrading. The 2016 MBP will give me:

- A retina display (finally)
- Better battery life (the battery in my MBA only holds 65% of its original capacity. I could replace it but then I'm putting money into an aging machine)
- The ability to drive a 4K monitor
- Hopefully some light gaming usage (i.e. Stardew Valley, To The Moon, etc.).

My main reason for upgrading though is that I want a nice desktop experience when I'm home. My MBA could probably drive a 1080p display but I'd prefer something with higher resolution in 2016. That means upgrading my MBA, which I'd have to do at some point in the near future anyway given its age.

I briefly thought about a 5K iMac but it's almost $2K after adding basic options like an SSD and trackpad, and it hasn't been updated in over 400 days. This option also presents less flexibility I think than a MBP and external monitor combo.

The reasons why I'm planning on getting the nTB MBP are because it's less expensive, and has better battery life, dedicated escape and function keys, and supposedly less problems. With government pricing I could get the TB MBP for $1699 but I'm not sure that would outweigh the benefits I just described with the nTB MBP.

 

[Altis]

Sounds like a good plan. Are you getting the 16 GB RAM upgrade? That would be my only recommendation.

 

[justabirdy]

Sounds like you're making the right choice. Absolutely loving my nTB MBP so far, it's a great little powerhouse

 

[PieTunes]

I personally never had any interest in the TB feature. I honestly don't care about it. To me, it's not like the thing can do anything new or extraordinary. I can accomplish the exact same things in the same way I'm always used to. Heaven forbid I use the mouse or keyboard to scroll through pictures or scrub through a song!

Maybe in the future, the TB will show its worth as developers and programmers start taking advantage of it, but even at that, I doubt it will ever be worth the additional cost to me personally. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a gimmick, though, I just view it as a more expensive and flashy way to do the same things. If something like that is worth it to you, are you also willing to change your habits and use it? If that's the case, it could be money well spent for you.

 

[thadoggfather]

it is sad that I do have to say "it is nice" for apple to offer this, a non touchbar version, but .. it is nice for apple (by apple standards of their way or the highway) to offer this, even if they opted out of a 15" non tocuhbar

 

[burgman]

I personally never had any interest in the TB feature. I honestly don't care about it. To me, it's not like the thing can do anything new or extraordinary. I can accomplish the exact same things in the same way I'm always used to. Heaven forbid I use the mouse or keyboard to scroll through pictures or scrub through a song!

Maybe in the future, the TB will show its worth as developers and programmers start taking advantage of it, but even at that, I doubt it will ever be worth the additional cost to me personally. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a gimmick, though, I just view it as a more expensive and flashy way to do the same things. If something like that is worth it to you, are you also willing to change your habits and use it? If that's the case, it could be money well spent for you.

If the touch board was the only difference then I agree, however the TB has grown on me the more I use it especially the Touch ID. Also two more USB ports and faster processor are included. If those upgrades aren't needed then the base model would work fine.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Sounds like a good plan. Are you getting the 16 GB RAM upgrade? That would be my only recommendation.

I am not. I think 8 GB of RAM will serve my purposes well. Plus I really don't feel like shelling out another $200.
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If the touch board was the only difference then I agree, however the TB has grown on me the more I use it especially the Touch ID. Also two more USB ports and faster processor are included. If those upgrades aren't needed then the base model would work fine.

What kind of battery life are you getting? I think the TB is cool but not really necessary.

 

[PieTunes]

If the touch board was the only difference then I agree, however the TB has grown on me the more I use it especially the Touch ID. Also two more USB ports and faster processor are included. If those upgrades aren't needed then the base model would work fine.

Oh I wholeheartedly concur, it's not just the TB that costs the premium, you get 2 more ports, a better video card, faster processor, etc. so what something is worth to someone depends greatly on their use case. For me, I've been happy and productive enough with a base model Air that the base model MBP is great for me. I must say though, if Apple offered the specs of the TB MBP without the TB, I might have considered it. I just don't think I would like/enjoy/use the TB much.

 

[capelesshero]

Oh I wholeheartedly concur, it's not just the TB that costs the premium, you get 2 more ports, a better video card, faster processor, etc. so what something is worth to someone depends greatly on their use case. For me, I've been happy and productive enough with a base model Air that the base model MBP is great for me. I must say though, if Apple offered the specs of the TB MBP without the TB, I might have considered it. I just don't think I would like/enjoy/use the TB much.

He is coming from a MBA though. So if the OP just wants to use the new MacBook for what he stated then the nTB would more than suffice.

 

[PieTunes]

He is coming from a MBA though. So if the OP just wants to use the new MacBook for what he stated then the nTB would more than suffice.

Definitely. The nTB MBP is like the Air us Air users have been dreaming about, thin and light with that retina screen. I do like that wedge shape too, it would have been awesome if the nTB was like that.