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Upgrade to 2017 MBP?

S

salanddaz

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 11, 2008
60
1
Christchurch, UK
Hi all,

Some advice would be appreciated on this. I am looking to update a very dated (yet reliable) Macbook (White Early 2008) to a 2017 MBP. It has got to a stage where I cannot upgrade OS, update apps or browsers and just finding it doesn't offer the benefits of linking my iPhone and iPad anymore.

I have been looking at the nTB 13", 2.3Ghz, 8BG RAM with a 256GB SSD. I will be using for general web/email and office apps, along with PS and Illustrator (one of the main reasons for upgrading as cannot use on current MB). The specs of this are more than enough for the above from looking at reviews online, however having looked at the Geekbench 4 results for this MBP vs. the TB version with a 3.1Ghz processor, the nTB version has a higher score - anyone know why this would be?

Also I am now concerned about the 'fan noise' issues that are mentioned everywhere.

Is the nTB version worth opting for over the TB version? To be honest I don't like the TB, but is it worth spending an extra £400 on the TB version to get an additional fan and faster processor. Or is the fan issue something about nothing and just a standard fan noise you would expect from a laptop?

Sorry for the multiple questions but before investing close to £1,500 on a laptop I want to be sure I'm making the right choice. My current MB has lasted me 9 years and still performs faster than most other Windows laptops I have used (just outdated in terms of upgrading).
 

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salanddaz said:
Hi all,

Some advice would be appreciated on this. I am looking to update a very dated (yet reliable) Macbook (White Early 2008) to a 2017 MBP. It has got to a stage where I cannot upgrade OS, update apps or browsers and just finding it doesn't offer the benefits of linking my iPhone and iPad anymore.

I have been looking at the nTB 13", 2.3Ghz, 8BG RAM with a 256GB SSD. I will be using for general web/email and office apps, along with PS and Illustrator (one of the main reasons for upgrading as cannot use on current MB). The specs of this are more than enough for the above from looking at reviews online, however having looked at the Geekbench 4 results for this MBP vs. the TB version with a 3.1Ghz processor, the nTB version has a higher score - anyone know why this would be?

Also I am now concerned about the 'fan noise' issues that are mentioned everywhere.

Is the nTB version worth opting for over the TB version? To be honest I don't like the TB, but is it worth spending an extra £400 on the TB version to get an additional fan and faster processor. Or is the fan issue something about nothing and just a standard fan noise you would expect from a laptop?

Sorry for the multiple questions but before investing close to £1,500 on a laptop I want to be sure I'm making the right choice. My current MB has lasted me 9 years and still performs faster than most other Windows laptops I have used (just outdated in terms of upgrading).
Click to expand...

For what you do any of apples portable computers will be just fine buy whatever you like. They will all be faster lighter and cooler than your current MacBook and a massive upgrade on what you have.
 
What do you plan to do with this machine external display wise?
 
salanddaz said:
No plans as such, I have a 4K tv that I may use as a second screen every so often, however 99% of the time will just be used as a laptop
Click to expand...

You should be fine with the nTB - immediately when you get it, you could try performing your most intensive editing work to make sure, but I think the noise levels will be more than acceptable (and often there won't be any at all.)

To my understanding, the nTB does better in a benchmark like Geekbench because it is testing mainly burst performance and is not stressing both the CPU and GPU simultaneously. Under a sustained CPU and GPU load, the TB would be expected to have an advantage. For the work that you are going to do, the differences between the two CPUs could well be insignificant IMHO.

I didn't like the TB very much either at first, but with Better Touch Tool I must admit that I've started to really enjoy using it.
 
ZapNZs said:
You should be fine with the nTB - immediately when you get it, you could try performing your most intensive editing work to make sure, but I think the noise levels will be more than acceptable (and often there won't be any at all.)

To my understanding, the nTB does better in a benchmark like Geekbench because it is testing mainly burst performance and is not stressing both the CPU and GPU simultaneously. Under a sustained CPU and GPU load, the TB would be expected to have an advantage. For the work that you are going to do, the differences between the two CPUs could well be insignificant IMHO.

I didn't like the TB very much either at first, but with Better Touch Tool I must admit that I've started to really enjoy using it.
Click to expand...

Thank you for you help (and to others).

Look is like I’ve made my mind up then, nTB it is :)
 
Can anybody tell me why the macrumours buyer guide recommendation is neutral for this laptop? I thought it had just been refreshed? Planning to buy the base model (8GB/256GB) as it's £100 off right now in the U.K. Is there anything fundamentally wrong with this laptop?

My use: internet, music, email, photo editing.
 
parajba said:
Can anybody tell me why the macrumours buyer guide recommendation is neutral for this laptop? I thought it had just been refreshed? Planning to buy the base model (8GB/256GB) as it's £100 off right now in the U.K. Is there anything fundamentally wrong with this laptop?

My use: internet, music, email, photo editing.
Click to expand...

Have a look around at reports and you may conclude that the keyboard is a disaster for ergonomics, noise and failure, overheating and fan problems, and less frequent issues like graphics glitches and failing glue.

My own (detailed) review and experience

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2017-macbook-pro-13-non-tb-review.2056971/
 
parajba said:
Can anybody tell me why the macrumours buyer guide recommendation is neutral for this laptop? I thought it had just been refreshed? Planning to buy the base model (8GB/256GB) as it's £100 off right now in the U.K. Is there anything fundamentally wrong with this laptop?

My use: internet, music, email, photo editing.
Click to expand...
Because going by previous release patterns we’re about halfway between the releases of the 2017 and 2018 models. For your usage no, nothing wrong with the current model and you’d be very unlikely to notice a difference when the new ones are released.
 
project_2501 said:
Have a look around at reports and you may conclude that the keyboard is a disaster for ergonomics, noise and failure, overheating and fan problems, and less frequent issues like graphics glitches and failing glue.

My own (detailed) review and experience

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2017-macbook-pro-13-non-tb-review.2056971/
Click to expand...

Thanks, I saw your review. Seems very unlucky. I am not convinced about the keyboard but it is a darn sexy laptop particularly in space grey.
 
Falhófnir said:
Because going by previous release patterns we’re about halfway between the releases of the 2017 and 2018 models. For your usage no, nothing wrong with the current model and you’d be very unlikely to notice a difference when the new ones are released.
Click to expand...

Thanks.
When can we expect an update to the current models? What is more likely to be updated? Do you know when the next major update will be? (New design).

The thing is I already have a MBP from 2010 (upgraded to 512GB SSD and 8GB RAM) and an iPad Pro 9.7 with iOS 11 128GB but I find the iPad pretty useless at everything except surfing the web, and the screen of my 2010 is horrible (but the performance is ok).
 
parajba said:
Thanks.
When can we expect an update to the current models? What is more likely to be updated? Do you know when the next major update will be? (New design).

The thing is I already have a MBP from 2010 (upgraded to 512GB SSD and 8GB RAM) and an iPad Pro 9.7 with iOS 11 128GB but I find the iPad pretty useless at everything except surfing the web, and the screen of my 2010 is horrible (but the performance is ok).
Click to expand...
If previous patterns hold then likely spring, maybe April time, though it could also be June if they want to go 12 months between refreshes. As intel 8th gen is already becoming available they will probably do it sooner rather than later just to not be seen to be ‘behind’ the competition. The 8th gen chips will go out to quad core in the 13” and hexa core in the 15” but likely drop slightly in single core performance as they’re still required to fit within the 15, 28 or 45 watt thermal envelopes of the 7th gen chips they replace. For the usage you say, you likely won’t notice a difference (and maybe even a slight decrease in system responsiveness as single core is more important for interface and low power tasks)

The next redesign will *probably* be for the 2020 or 2021 model, so still a long way off! It’ll be a worthwhile update from a 2010, moving two design cycles on. From what I hear, caveats would be that there has been an issue with sticking keys on the 2016 models in particular with the issue potentially not entirely resolved for the 2017 models, and that the ntb model can be quite noisy as it uses a single fan at a higher RPM without the frequency-splitting design of the touchbar models’ fans.
 
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