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What MacBook Pro to buy?

A

AngryAntelope69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 21, 2018
2
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Hey everyone. I am new to the Mac community and need some advice. I need a MacBook for some basic video editing(GoPro/drone cinematic etc), emails, watching movies and word. Should I be looking to buy the high end i7 16gigs of ram and 512 gig SSD or should I spend less and try to buy a second hand 2012 i5 with 4 gigs of ram and a 128 gig SSD?
Thanks so much
 
Buy the 15 inch $1,999 2015 MacBook Pro and bump the storage to 512 GBs. The 2016 and 2017 are a bag of hurt. Since you are new to the Mac community and the type of equipment you plan to use will be more compatible with the 2015 generation. You might be able to get it cheaper in the refurb section of the Apple Store. The 2012 is basically reaching its end of life, not worth it.

The 2015 is a practical choice, it includes: standard USB A ports that are ubiquitous, SD card reader, HDMI and its very powerful. You should get a good 4 to 5 years out of it if you care it well. Also, it is relatively upgradeable, so, you might be able to upgrade SSD and get the battery replaced too.
 
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Are the videos 1080p or 4k?

If 4k, then you need all the power you can get.
What you really need is an i7 iMac...
 
You don't need the high end i7 for what you are looking to do, which is based on your GoPro/Drone comments . Mr. Dee above has a very good suggestion that will be more than adequate and economical. Definitely get at least 8GB of memory and get the best processor you can afford in that model. Editing Video is CPU intensive.
 
Mr. Dee said:
Buy the 15 inch $1,999 2015 MacBook Pro and bump the storage to 512 GBs. The 2016 and 2017 are a bag of hurt. Since you are new to the Mac community and the type of equipment you plan to use will be more compatible with the 2015 generation. You might be able to get it cheaper in the refurb section of the Apple Store. The 2012 is basically reaching its end of life, not worth it.

The 2015 is a practical choice, it includes: standard USB A ports that are ubiquitous, SD card reader, HDMI and its very powerful. You should get a good 4 to 5 years out of it if you care it well. Also, it is relatively upgradeable, so, you might be able to upgrade SSD and get the battery replaced too.
Click to expand...
Trying to convince myself good idea too but 3 year old machine. Immediately loose $1000 value once open box probably.
 
Wags said:
Trying to convince myself good idea too but 3 year old machine. Immediately loose $1000 value once open box probably.
Click to expand...
Is it about opening the box and wondering if you will be able to resell it or get work done with it without going broke?
 
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The 2016 / 17 MBP are damaged goods. Of course do what you want...
 
OMG - of course the naysayers had to jump in. I have a 2017 15" and love it. Highly recommend it for what you are looking to do. Video takes a lot of processing. Additionally, the 2017 runs cooler than the rest. It can truly be used in a lap without anything protecting you from the scorching heat. It will get hot when doing processor intensive tasks, though, but you won't be editing video 100% of the time and for that, it may only get hot during certain times.

I recommend the 2017 15" 560 video, 512 GB HD, 2.9 GHz (the middle). Look around - B&H Photo Video, Adorama, and MacWorld tend to have them for $200 off. If you don't live in NY/NJ, you can use the first two and not pay state tax. Not sure about the third.

With the 2017, you get a better processor and importantly a faster bus. No way I'd touch a '15 unless it was all I could afford.

Good luck and enjoy whatever you do purchase!
 
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