which MacBook should I get?

[LucasLand]

I bought a 27 iMac few months ago. its great, but the screen is a little much for me. just too big. I won't ever fill up the 2tb fusion drive. I like using iCloud anyway.

thinking of selling and then use money toward a MacBook. not sure which one to get? is the MacBook Air being phased out? is the MacBook better than the MacBook Pro?

should I wait and see f they update the lineup during the WWDC?

 

[Glmnet1]

I bought a 27 iMac few months ago. its great, but the screen is a little much for me. just too big. I won't ever fill up the 2tb fusion drive. I like using iCloud anyway.

thinking of selling and then use money toward a MacBook. not sure which one to get? is the MacBook Air being phased out? is the MacBook better than the MacBook Pro?

should I wait and see f they update the lineup during the WWDC?

Definitely wait for WWDC.

What would you use it for? It'll help for us to give you recommendations.

 

[tomscott1988]

Thats a big change 27 to 12...

 

[LucasLand]

Thats a big change 27 to 12...

I was thinking 15 inch MacBook Pro. do you think apple would ever make a 17 in again?

 

[DeltaMac]

Do you need that portability of a laptop?
If the iMac 27-inch seems to big, then you could trade off to a 21.5-inch. Maybe that would be a more usable size for you.

But, of course, if you want that portability, then you would be set with the MBPro 15"
Try out the keyboard on that MBPro first. The keys are significantly different from the keyboard that comes with the iMac. It's a very different feel, and some folks struggle with that. 5 or 10 minutes of typing may give you a "feeling" that you can use it, or maybe it just won't be comfortable for you.

Apple might surprise at some point, but I think that most opinions here would be that Apple will never have a 17" screen again - in fact, the last 2011 17" is on the obsolete list, not sold new for nearly 6 years.

 

[tomscott1988]

TBH iMacs are a pain to move on as shipping isnt cheap and inevitably you end up loosing money on sales by offering collection. The 27" just takes a bit of getting used to? Maybe move your desk set up around a little?

I think a 27" iMac and a 12" macbook is almost a perfect combination for serious work and being on the go as both are capable but both are on opposite ends of the scale. The macbooks dont seem hold their value very well have a look at some good used ones.

I bought my base model from a reputable used electronics store in the UK 12 months after release with 40 odd cycles for £650 and it had 3 year apple care bought with it. The laptop was around £1300 with the apple care new...

Decent saving and it was still covered. Since having it had two screens replaced without issue so having the warranty moved over obviously isnt an issue as its attached to the product not a user.

Although mine is the slowest version and the 2016 and 2017 are far faster it works remarkably well, as long as you can get around the downfalls like the single port.

 

[AVBeatMan]

I think it’s probably wise to wait until the new models are announced. Should be next month. Here in the UK John Lewis have announced today that you can get 24 months interest free on all MacBooks. Do they know something we don’t? Trying to offload old stock before the new ones arrive?

 

[tomscott1988]

There arent any new CPUs to update the line up. Doubt we will see new ones this year unless they have made their own chips compatible which is also really doubtful.

 

[AVBeatMan]

I just went off this article.

https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/mac/new-macbook-2018-3420655/

 

[tomscott1988]

I just went off this article.

https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/mac/new-macbook-2018-3420655/

Pretty sure its just click bait. They may well announce a mid size version which people think is a new air but there has been as many rumours of this being pushed back until September for an education release. I find it hard that that will offer a 12" and a 13". More likely that it will be bigger 14-15"

The new 10nm Y CPUs that were slated for this product have been delayed until 2019. Those CPUs they talk about are more suited for the low end macbook pro without touchbar unless they add a higher watt CPU but doubtful they will. With no new hardware to add the likelihood of them adding another port is minimal... the only thing I can think will happen is that they will reduce the price.

The macbook and macbook pro dual cores are already so close together I doubt we will see a quad or hex in the macbook. Its a reason to make the 13" macbook pro look like a decent option again.

 

[EugW]

Pretty sure its just click bait. They may well announce a mid size version which people think is a new air but there has been as many rumours of this being pushed back until September for an education release. I find it hard that that will offer a 12" and a 13". More likely that it will be bigger 14-15"

The new 10nm Y CPUs that were slated for this product have been delayed until 2019. Those CPUs they talk about are more suited for the low end macbook pro without touchbar unless they add a higher watt CPU but doubtful they will. With no new hardware to add the likelihood of them adding another port is minimal... the only thing I can think will happen is that they will reduce the price.

The macbook and macbook pro dual cores are already so close together I doubt we will see a quad or hex in the macbook. Its a reason to make the 13" macbook pro look like a decent option again.

It's not just click bait. They seem to be going off other rumours from various articles analyst predictions around the net (including from Ming Chi-kuo), stating that a new 13" MacBook may be appearing in 2018. I can see that happening, even without updates to the Y series CPUs. They could simply re-use the existing Y-series CPUs or else even add an Apple A11(X) or A12(X) MacBook or two. I am confused by the predictions of the lower price though, unless they're comparing against the MacBook Pro, or if the 12" MacBook got a price drop too. The third option is that they would just continue to use non-Retina screens in a 13" model to keep pricing low, but that would mean it's an Air replacement (and a disappointment IMO).

I should point out there is a 10 nm Y CPU floating around out there that appears to have started shipping in low volume to OEMs back as early as December 2017, called the m3-8114Y, which on paper is rumoured to be faster than the current i7-7Y75, at least for base clock. (Turbo clock unknown as of yet.)

However, it doesn't seem like the m3-8114Y would be released in a MacBook in 2018 since Intel says they aren't producing 10 nm CPUs in high volume yet. Also, I haven't seen any reference to corresponding i5 or i7 models yet either.

We won't see quad in the MacBook until Ice Lake which won't be out until late 2019 or sometime in 2020. However, it would be nice to see all the 13" MacBook Pros get quad-core this year, with the 15" models getting hex-core. That would make for a great distinction from a dual-core 13" Y-series MacBook.

 

[tomscott1988]

Well this is why I feel it wont happen unless they have something else up their sleeve. Like you say with Apple chips but that would then mean that apple has re-written Mac OS. Could have been the plan since El Cap but they are only just about ready.

There could be some truth to this with the issues that apple has had with HS bugs etc. Even so if I understand correctly although those CPUs are quick, pretty much everything would run in emulation? Similar to how it did on Tiger? The likelihood is that the device probably wont feel as snappy as current intel machines? Whether its worth buying into the first couple of generations. I remember when they released the intel core duo macbook pros they were obsolete within 18 months because they were 32 bit.

My first mac was a 2007 17" macbook pro C2D and it shipped with leopard and support ended at Lion although it was a 64bit processor. Hopefully the map will be a little more concrete this time round.

Releasing a product with tech thats over 12 months old for a new variation of product doesn't really seem very Apple. Even if they use that new CPU there will be constraints and what about offering across the board?

The rumors are also very strange in terms of 13" there seems very little point in offering a 12" and 13" and a 13" macbook pro. From other sources there has been rumors of the 12" becoming and iBook the 13" becoming the macbook and the macbook pro being the same as it is.

Seems stupid which ever way I look at it, there is already so much product overlap that making choices is already very difficult. Although I suppose thats the way it is currently with the macbook air, on the other hand its £300 cheaper.

I think what could make more sense is that the 12" macbook is reduced to around the £$1000 price point to replace the base air then introduce the same product in a 14 or 15" size so you get the screen size but the weight reduction at £1300 drop the base macbook pro and the macbook pro with TB starts at £1500 replacing the mid range non TB MBP.

Doubt the line up will be that good value, they will probably increase prices again...

The main take away is that the 15" size is great but not everyone wants or needs the power of the 15" MBP, especially when they start at £2350.

A 14-15" macbook starting at £1300 would sell like hotcakes and would be a fantastic travel compromise for screen and weight. I love the 12" for that reason, just powerful enough to get what I need done.

Thats the only place I see room, the lineup is already very truncated and unclear.