Hi, I am going to buy a new mac laptop soon, have had a MB Air 11" (4GB RAM, core i5, 128GB SSD) for two years, and it is starting to slow down a lot. I want a powerful, future-proof and very portable Mac. I will mostly be using it for Lightroom editing, light Final Cut Pro use and smaller Illustrator and Indesign projects. My budget is maximum $2000. Which specs do you think will be important? Which MBP model?
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Which specs do I need?
- Thread starter mattisgr
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I'd suggest the 2015 15" MacBook Pro. It's an absolute workhorse and will handle absolutely anything you could throw at it. Though that's currently $2000 on Apple's website, you can buy them considerably cheaper elsewhere, still with the one-year warranty. So you could probably buy one along with AppleCare for within your maximum budget.
Otherwise a 2016 15" would be a slightly better bet for longevity, due to the dGPU and much thinner/lighter enclosure (useful if you're coming from a MacBook Air); this again can be sourced cheaper through refurb/reseller channels than the $2400 asking price on Apple's website.
Otherwise a 2016 15" would be a slightly better bet for longevity, due to the dGPU and much thinner/lighter enclosure (useful if you're coming from a MacBook Air); this again can be sourced cheaper through refurb/reseller channels than the $2400 asking price on Apple's website.
Sometime between last generation in this generation, $2000 became an awkward spot. You have an 11 inch MacBook Air and as far as laptops go, that's about as small as they get. But a $2000 13 inch MacBook Pro is a very lackluster machine for two grand. As suggested above, spending $1800 on the 2015 15 inch is probably the most bang for your buck way to spend your money. But that is a huge size difference.
$2000 for a MacBook Pro won't go very far unfortunately.
For $1899 plus tax you could get a 13" MacBook Pro without the touch bar. It would be a 2GHz Dual Core i5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD.
Another option, I'm not sure if it will be viable for your uses because I don't have experience with it, is the MacBook. For $1749 you can max it out with a 1.3GHz dual core i7, 8GB RAM and a 512GB SSD.
I would personally go with the 13" MacBook Pro.
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A 2015 MacBook Pro is a very good option if you can get one of those for the $2000 price point!
For $1899 plus tax you could get a 13" MacBook Pro without the touch bar. It would be a 2GHz Dual Core i5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD.
Another option, I'm not sure if it will be viable for your uses because I don't have experience with it, is the MacBook. For $1749 you can max it out with a 1.3GHz dual core i7, 8GB RAM and a 512GB SSD.
I would personally go with the 13" MacBook Pro.
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A 2015 MacBook Pro is a very good option if you can get one of those for the $2000 price point!
A 2015 MacBook Pro is a very good option if you can get one of those for the $2000 price point!
You sure can! http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=MJLQ2LL/A&step=config
But they're even cheaper elsewhere. I've read threads here where people have been getting them for $1300 in some cases. That's an absolute steal.
If you buy the 2015 through the link above then it would come with a years warranty and be eligible for you to purchase AppleCare. I think that peace of mind would be worth it.
I don't know if there are any unused 2014 MacBooks floating around anymore but if they had AppleCare they could be months away from expiration and being unwarranted. I don't know if I would take that chance for so much money.
Absolutely the 2015 edition is worth it. The SSD speeds are ferocious and the CPU is a golem for performance.
Also it's still being sold by Apple. This is important because Apple's EOL timeframe is around 5 years from the date last manufactured (i.e., when Apple stop selling it on their store). That means you're guaranteed to have support on it until 2022 at the earliest,which is really important for longevity.
Assuming you're in the U.S., Best Buy is selling the 15" MBP (2015 model with 2.2 GHz Core i7, 16GB RAM, 256 GB SSD) for $1749.99 ($250 off). I've seen this price as low as $1699. B&H Video has this same model on sale for $1799. If you live outside NY, you may want to consider B&H video as they don't charge sales tax to out of state customers. Not sure if B&H offers price match...
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1293727-REG/apple_mlh42ll_a_15_4_macbook_pro_with.html
If you can add an extra $400, you'd get a very well speced 2016 version, unless you're in NY you wouldn't get taxed either.
If you can add an extra $400, you'd get a very well speced 2016 version, unless you're in NY you wouldn't get taxed either.
Keep in mind that most of the 2015 15" models available new now don't have a discrete graphics card, so they'll be great for most things, but if you ever try to, say, play a video game or edit a 4K video in FCPX, you'll see a big difference compared to machines that have a dGPU. On the other hand, it's one less thing to have problems with if you don't have one, and your needs don't seem to require one.
A refurbished 2015 MacBook Pro, with a 2.5 GHz i7 quad core, 16GB of RAM, 512 SSD, and discrete GPU - you can get it for $2,100, and it comes with the standard 1 year warranty, with the option of purchasing AppleCare.
You get quad core processing power, the RAM needed for video editing, a very fast SSD, and a decent graphics card, for less money than the current generation dual core 13-inch touchbar model with comparatively matched tier. You are also getting a computer that has probably undergone more rigorous quality testing than a brand new unit.
OR
You could buy a used model from an Apple Authorized Service Provider, whom will often provide their own warranties on used products, and sell them for less than Apple's official refurbished outlet.
You get quad core processing power, the RAM needed for video editing, a very fast SSD, and a decent graphics card, for less money than the current generation dual core 13-inch touchbar model with comparatively matched tier. You are also getting a computer that has probably undergone more rigorous quality testing than a brand new unit.
OR
You could buy a used model from an Apple Authorized Service Provider, whom will often provide their own warranties on used products, and sell them for less than Apple's official refurbished outlet.
The 2015 rMBP is the best bang for your buck; the hardware inside is still stellar for your needs and you can get the dGPU model far cheaper for 1900$ new in box on sites such as eBay.
It's also much more future proof than the 2016 MBP as you can replace the SSDs inside the 2015 MBP should it fail; it's soldered down in the 2016 MBP models that have a touchbar.
We can only wait for the day Apple puts a dGPU back in the 13" models. Still, if you're on the go, the 15" screen is about as perfect as it gets for seeing a lot of content on the screen at one time without an external monitor.
It's also much more future proof than the 2016 MBP as you can replace the SSDs inside the 2015 MBP should it fail; it's soldered down in the 2016 MBP models that have a touchbar.
We can only wait for the day Apple puts a dGPU back in the 13" models. Still, if you're on the go, the 15" screen is about as perfect as it gets for seeing a lot of content on the screen at one time without an external monitor.
That would be a 2016 15" MBP — the most powerful and also the most portable performance oriented Apple laptop ever.
Well, this is where it gets a it awkward
The 15" MBP starts at $2,399. You can get a refurb model for $2,039.00 though.Being future proof involves a good deal more than being able to replace the SSD, of course. By that standard, my 2004 is more future proof than my 2016, and more than the 2015 too, as the 2004 also has replaceable RAM, though I never needed to replace it.
In general, and in this case, the most recent model is the most future proof. The ports and processors are more likely to have a direct impact on future usefulness than whether the SSD can be replaced. However, it's only one factor among others, including price, where the 2015 has a clear advantage. And a 2014 even more! It's a matter of balancing competing goods.
Haha, so true! Part of future proofing to me means being able to go beyond the specs of what I have and being able to fix what's broken, although maybe my definition isn't totally correct.
By all means the newest is generally always going to be the strongest save for a few exceptions (looking at you 2014 Mac mini!)
Still though, the 2015 will be a fantastic value if you need power and cost savings.
Just like everyone else has stated, the 2015 MPB w/ a dGPU would be your best bet. There's also the refurbished 15" 2016 models which are $2039. But also, I'm not sure if your $2000 limit is including tax or not. Because that adds up real quick.
The 13 inch never had a dGPU the 320m etc in the 2009 2010 models were igpu's that used system ram and are much worse than what Intel now includes on the chips Apple uses.
the 13 inch 2016 in particular has 64mb of eDRAM that can be used by both the cpu and GPU and is a great boost to performance.
Well, technically, the refurb 2016 model is better performance for almost the same price (unless you can get the 2015 one really cheap).
Thats a very situational definition of future-proof
Usually, this term refers to the ability to update the device with newer tech to keep it relevant for longer. As neither laptops feature upgradeable CPUs or GPUs, their "future-proofing" is about the same. Except of course the fact that the 2016 is much more future-oriented, as it supports some important new technologies (e.g. Intel SGX, which is an important privacy feature), USB-C (the new standard connection port), wide-gamut color (it is expected that a lot of visual content will take advantage of this in the coming years). Especially since OP seems to do image processing, having access to a wider colourspace can be a plus in the future. No 13" Apple laptop ever had a dGPU. And the current GPUs used there are as fast as it gets. I mean, those GPUs outperform low-level dGPUs such as 930M. In fact, it can fairly well compete with the 650M/750M series in the older-gen 15" MBP.
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The graphics on my 2016 13-inch are comparable to my 2014 15-inch. Thats a HUGE advancement in just two years, for an iGPU on an entry level model to match the dGPU on the flagship model!
If CPUs advanced that fast, our brains would have been replaced by now!!!
If CPUs advanced that fast, our brains would have been replaced by now!!!
This is what happens when you have no competition for a decade! Why bother pushing boundaries when there's no one around to motivate you?
Here's hoping AMD's Ryzen architecture gives Intel a kick in the pants.
Back to the topic at hand though, it all depends on what you want; do you want a machine that's top of the line but not current and is also a little chunkier and heavier, or do you think that 600$~ is worth it to have the latest machine that's also slimmer and lighter?
Just saw this today at dealnews.com:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/401292239646?rmvSB=true
No financial interest, other than having bought a MacBook Pro from this seller.
Product received as advertised, it arrived in 2 days.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/401292239646?rmvSB=true
No financial interest, other than having bought a MacBook Pro from this seller.
Product received as advertised, it arrived in 2 days.