To sell or to keep MBP 2016?

[maflynn]

So basically what you guys are saying, even the 2018 version is risky because it's prone to break?

I personally think the risk of the butterfly keyboard failing is too high. There's also flexgate being a possible issue, and while it appears apple added a couple of millimeters to the ribbon cable, it still bends around a board awkwardly and apple cut corners and used a ribbon cable in the first place. I can't say if 2018 laptop is prone to break, but where there's smoke there tends to be fire. Apple charges a premium for these laptops, I don't think its acceptable to roll the dice and hope that the machine will not break in a couple of years.

Its funny, I've seen so many posts over the years about people disparaging windows laptops saying they'll only last a couple of years (and in some situations that's been the case), yet we as apple fans are facing that very thing in the MBP. If people are unwilling to put up with a windows machine only lasting a couple of years, don't do that very thing with the Mac. I'm not accusing you, or anyone in the thread, but just posting a general thought.

So far I was absolutely not worried about mechanical failure of the device as it was rock solid for those two years. The only thing that's bothering me is a lack of performance and actual usecases on a daily bases

You do have the repair program, which will buy you a total of 4 years I believe, but if the keyboard does fail, then you may have to live without it for a couple of weeks while apple replaces the top case.

Can anyone say something about battery life on the new machines? Has it gotten any better than in 2016? I was so shocked when I switched to this device from my macbook air back then.

My 2018 (when I owned it) had phenomenal battery life. I don't know if it was better then the 2016 model, but it lasted all day and into the night.

 

[Zdigital2015]

Unfortunately, that’s true. Probably not what you wanted to hear though. I bought myself the Mid 2015 rMBP as soon as it was released (that last real PRO MacBook) and haven’t had a single issue. I got it maxed out out it’s been a flawless machine.

Conversely, I had both a bulging battery OOW repair ($200) and a IW repair for a crapped out motherboard on two separate 2015 15” MacBook Pros as a part of the six (6) maxed out (2.8GHz/1TB SSD/M370X) 2015 15” MacBook Pros that were leased in August of 2015 and just recently returned.

My 2012 Retina 15” still exhibits weird video, the occasional random shutdown and that SATA disk has an issue (but not really) when I run AHT that I could never get to manifest during at least 4 different trips to the Genius Bar. My 2015 will still refuse to wake from sleep if connected to a Thunderbolt dock with an external display and left to go to sleep on its own overnight after numerous troubleshooting steps (PRAM, SMC reset, turning Power Nap off, et al.) and still runs up the fans to overdrive while driving a 4K/60p display and the screensaver spins up.

Your’s may have been flawless, but the 2012-2015 is far from it, no matter how many mythical or legendary stories are told on these forums.

 

[chfilm]

Conversely, I had both a bulging battery OOW repair ($200) and a IW repair for a crapped out motherboard on two separate 2015 15” MacBook Pros as a part of the six (6) maxed out (2.8GHz/1TB SSD/M370X) 2015 15” MacBook Pros that were leased in August of 2015 and just recently returned.

My 2012 Retina 15” still exhibits weird video, the occasional random shutdown and that SATA disk has an issue (but not really) when I run AHT that I could never get to manifest during at least 4 different trips to the Genius Bar. My 2015 will still refuse to wake from sleep if connected to a Thunderbolt dock with an external display and left to go to sleep on its own overnight after numerous troubleshooting steps (PRAM, SMC reset, turning Power Nap off, et al.) and still runs up the fans to overdrive while driving a 4K/60p display and the screensaver spins up.

Your’s may have been flawless, but the 2012-2015 is far from it, no matter how many mythical or legendary stories are told on these forums.

I wanted to say the same, as I very clearly remember the complaints from previous gen owners..

 

[Zdigital2015]

Hey guys,

I'm looking at a bit of a dilemma, would be interested in your thoughts:

I own a MacPro 2013 as my primary workstation for heavy video editing.

An iPad Pro 11" for almost everything I do outside the house, writing on the go, reading and light email/web stuff if I have to work at some office as a freelancer. On Journeys I almost exclusively travel with the iPad and am happy 90% of the time and take the portability bonus over the missing 10% productivity. Everything that's missing is purely software related and iOS issues.

and a MacbookPro 2016 13" with 3,1ghz for........... well.
The thing is, there are RARE occasions in my job, when I do need the macbook still. May it be to serve as a hub for data security during a shoot, or if I have to really move away from my hometown for a longer project, I don't wanna rely solely on the iPad. It happened once for 3 months last year, but other than that, the macbook is really mostly used if on a rare occasion I'm too lazy to fire up the mac pro to edit some photos, or if my girlfriend or a colleague are hanging out here and need a real computer.

There are some basic tasks that the iPad can't do, like to manage facebook ads for example, or even google docs is kinda limited and annoying to use on it.

Almost every day I am contemplating to either:
- Sell the Macbook for like 1500 € to
- buy a refurb 2018 one, for 2100 € just to stay up to date
-sell and wait for a new bezel less/face id 2019 edition
-sell and buy a 12.9" iPad pro
-just sell and be happy and see what will happen with ios 13 or a macbook pro in 2019, or just buy a new one if an urgent need actually comes up.

It's tough, I feel like I need a macbook, just for the rare occasions when it's actually necessary for my job - but 90% of the time it's just sitting here and losing value.

What would you guys suggest?

Hey guys,

I'm looking at a bit of a dilemma, would be interested in your thoughts:

I own a MacPro 2013 as my primary workstation for heavy video editing.

An iPad Pro 11" for almost everything I do outside the house, writing on the go, reading and light email/web stuff if I have to work at some office as a freelancer. On Journeys I almost exclusively travel with the iPad and am happy 90% of the time and take the portability bonus over the missing 10% productivity. Everything that's missing is purely software related and iOS issues.

and a MacbookPro 2016 13" with 3,1ghz for........... well.
The thing is, there are RARE occasions in my job, when I do need the macbook still. May it be to serve as a hub for data security during a shoot, or if I have to really move away from my hometown for a longer project, I don't wanna rely solely on the iPad. It happened once for 3 months last year, but other than that, the macbook is really mostly used if on a rare occasion I'm too lazy to fire up the mac pro to edit some photos, or if my girlfriend or a colleague are hanging out here and need a real computer.

There are some basic tasks that the iPad can't do, like to manage facebook ads for example, or even google docs is kinda limited and annoying to use on it.

Almost every day I am contemplating to either:
- Sell the Macbook for like 1500 € to
- buy a refurb 2018 one, for 2100 € just to stay up to date
-sell and wait for a new bezel less/face id 2019 edition
-sell and buy a 12.9" iPad pro
-just sell and be happy and see what will happen with ios 13 or a macbook pro in 2019, or just buy a new one if an urgent need actually comes up.

It's tough, I feel like I need a macbook, just for the rare occasions when it's actually necessary for my job - but 90% of the time it's just sitting here and losing value.

What would you guys suggest?

Despite the fact that your 13" MBP has no discrete GPU, could you use it as a secondary render computer in your video editing workflow? If you added an eGPU on to the MacBook Pro, would that additional cost pay for itself in helping speed up your video editing work?

 

[chfilm]

Despite the fact that your 13" MBP has no discrete GPU, could you use it as a secondary render computer in your video editing workflow? If you added an eGPU on to the MacBook Pro, would that additional cost pay for itself in helping speed up your video editing work?

Hey,

Naaa not worth it. Premiere pro or adobe media Encoder don’t support farm rendering, and neither does after effects in a manageable way.

My only need for this machine is really when I’m not near my Mac Pro but HAVE to do file system work or maybe some layout In Indesign or like i said, if some colleague is over and has to do some simple task like stock footage research next to me. It’s a shame that even simple stuff like this is so tedious on iPad.

 

[Zdigital2015]

Hey,

Naaa not worth it. Premiere pro or adobe media Encoder don’t support farm rendering, and neither does after effects in a manageable way.

My only need for this machine is really when I’m not near my Mac Pro but HAVE to do file system work or maybe some layout In Indesign or like i said, if some colleague is over and has to do some simple task like stock footage research next to me. It’s a shame that even simple stuff like this is so tedious on iPad.

Fair enough...I tried not assume that you used FCP X or DaVinci Studio, and if the additional expense of an eGPU will not pay for itself, I can understand your dilemma.

I also unterstand your frustration in replacing your MBP with the iPad. That, along with the sheer horsepower of the 2018 iPad Pro going to waste, I surely hope iOS 13 is being seriously overhauled to address its shortcomings.

If your MacBook Pro is already paid for, I would actually hang on to it and continue to use it or have it on hand just to make life easier for yourself or if you have guests. Good luck!

 

[jerryk]

So basically what you guys are saying, even the 2018 version is risky because it's prone to break?

So far I was absolutely not worried about mechanical failure of the device as it was rock solid for those two years. The only thing that's bothering me is a lack of performance and actual usecases on a daily bases

Can anyone say something about battery life on the new machines? Has it gotten any better than in 2016? I was so shocked when I switched to this device from my macbook air back then.

The Air has always been the battery king. Big battery, dimmer low res screen, weaker processor = long battery life.
[doublepost=1552092698][/doublepost]

Hey,

Naaa not worth it. Premiere pro or adobe media Encoder don’t support farm rendering, and neither does after effects in a manageable way.

My only need for this machine is really when I’m not near my Mac Pro but HAVE to do file system work or maybe some layout In Indesign or like i said, if some colleague is over and has to do some simple task like stock footage research next to me. It’s a shame that even simple stuff like this is so tedious on iPad.

Biggest issue for me on the iPad is the lack of a true keyboard and the touch interface when doing creative work. I bought the iPad Pro with keyboard thinking it was going to be the perfect traveling combination. It is a disaster for creating (word processing, editing spreadsheets, etc) compared to a real notebook with keyboard and good trackpad or mouse.

 

[chfilm]

The Air has always been the battery king. Big battery, dimmer low res screen, weaker processor = long battery life.
[doublepost=1552092698][/doublepost]

Biggest issue for me on the iPad is the lack of a true keyboard and the touch interface when doing creative work. I bought the iPad Pro with keyboard thinking it was going to be the perfect traveling combination. It is a disaster for creating (word processing, editing spreadsheets, etc) compared to a real notebook with keyboard and good trackpad or mouse.

Yea exactly agree about spreadsheets!
In my opinion the keyboard is not the issue though, it’s the software! Try editing google sheets on iPad omg it’s a disaster, even simple things like scrolling around the interface, of changing the width of a column..
It’s such a shame Cause in general I love the iPad and it’s versatility, the ability to draw on PDFs and to read stuff without having the feeling of sitting in front of a desktop computer is great. If only the software would catch up for actual getting things done...

Speaking of which- the THINGs app is such an example of how it needs to be done right!

 

[W1cH099]

look I also have a 2016 MacBook Pro 13 inch I havent have much time with it tho about a month or so and about the keyboard there is a replacement program but I also believe that it depends on how you take care of it if u keep it clean you should not have any issues, about the display in my opinion there are millions of 2016 and 2017 Macbook Pros out there but a few thousand complaints I don't think its that wide spread but who knows!

now to the point of your question...

if don't use it that much I would keep it, you will end up buying something similar and you will not use it that much either if a had iPad Pro, Mac Pro and that macbook I would not replace it since I have options available to use right away, you said that u had it since launch and you haven't had any issues I don't think you will have problems

 

[maflynn]

a few thousand complaints I don't think its that wide spread but who knows!

How do you know its a few thousand?

Apple insider estimated the 2016 model's failure rate at 11.6% and 8.1% for the 2017 model at the time of the article (Source). If apple sells 10 million laptops a year that 11% number if over a million laptops, no where near the few thousand.

 

[chfilm]

if don't use it that much I would keep it, you will end up buying something similar and you will not use it that much either

This is probably the answer

Maybe I should just sell it and see if I miss it before I buy something new.. or just to keep it.. I still dont know. I'm posting from it right now, juts to use it a bit again

 

[Fishrrman]

IF the MPB is still working ok, sell it for what you can get.

If you then discover you can't get along without a MacBook, either buy a 2018 MPB or wait for the 2019's (I'd do the latter).

 

[W1cH099]

How do you know its a few thousand?

Apple insider estimated the 2016 model's failure rate at 11.6% and 8.1% for the 2017 model at the time of the article (Source). If apple sells 10 million laptops a year that 11% number if over a million laptops, no where near the few thousand.

trust me if there are millions of MacBooks with this problem people would already complaint like everyone did with the keyboard, the petition on change.org for the keyboard was over 40,000 in a few weeks since so many people where affected, I don't see that much noise about the display problem only a few youtube videos and this forums, im not defending apple at all I don't want my laptop to fail just because I use it normally obviously but I feel like this is not as widespread as it seems to be

 

[maflynn]

trust me

I don't trust you and I'd rather trust the sites that offer research to back up their assessment instead of assumptions

Multiple class action lawsuits, countless news articles and blogs paint a different picture then just a couple of thousand people

 

[mrex]

The display issue is only a matter of time... it depends on how often you open the lid and how far you let it to go. When the cable is too short and fragile, it takes some time to develope the issue, but it surely happens.

I havent seen it yet, but i havent used my mbp on this week at all for example. Someone, who used it daily, opens and close lid several times, probably sees the issue sooner than a person like me who uses the laptop rarely.

I would definitely sell my mbp and replaced it by mac mini, but unfortunately the new mac mini has its own issues (coil whine and heating), so im going to use my mbp as a clamshell mode connected to an egpu and an external display to avoid the flexcable issue until apple does a laptop or a desktop without hardware issues.

 

[W1cH099]

I don't trust you and I'd rather trust the sites that offer research to back up their assessment instead of assumptions

Multiple class action lawsuits, countless news articles and blogs paint a different picture then just a couple of thousand people

All right I don’t trust you either it’s weird that I haven’t heard of “multiple class action lawsuits” anyway I’m not going to waste more time arguing with someone over something like this, have a nice day!

 

[ScreenSavers]

I would definitely sell my mbp and replaced it by mac mini, but unfortunately the new mac mini has its own issues (coil whine and heating), so im going to use my mbp as a clamshell mode connected to an egpu and an external display to avoid the flexcable issue until apple does a laptop or a desktop without hardware issues.

I have not had any issues with the 2018 Mac Mini. And I have thrown some pretty heavy tasks at mine.

 

[maflynn]

I have not had any issues with the 2018 Mac Mini. And I have thrown some pretty heavy tasks at mine.

No, but that doesn't mean everyone else's experiences is rainbows and unicorns. I haven't followed how the mini is doing (I haven't had one since the 2009 model).

 

[Phone Junky]

I guess if you're comfortable with the idea of possibly having to fork over $600 to get your MBP fixed, then you keep it and use it as normal. If not, then you do what I recently did and sell it. After 2 years of use, I lost less than the "possible" $600 future expense and I don't have the "what if" hanging over my head. You have to do what feels right to you.

 

[chfilm]

I guess if you're comfortable with the idea of possibly having to fork over $600 to get your MBP fixed, then you keep it and use it as normal. If not, then you do what I recently did and sell it. After 2 years of use, I lost less than the "possible" $600 future expense and I don't have the "what if" hanging over my head. You have to do what feels right to you.

Did you just sell it and are living without it now or replaced it with a new one?

 

[Painter2002]

No, but that doesn't mean everyone else's experiences is rainbows and unicorns. I haven't followed how the mini is doing (I haven't had one since the 2009 model).

This. Although I would say it would seem you are at much less risk of failure on the Mini currently as you are removing two of the main issues that are plaguing the MBP, the keyboard and the screen. In a way it would seem (at least as of now) that the mini would give you performance at a lesser risk.