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One weakness in Apple’s product lineup is that if you want a portable with a large screen you have to buy a MacBook Pro. I am a translator, so I don’t really need a super powerful computer for what I do on my job (it’s essentially just word processing) but I do need to be able to see more than one document at a time, plus reference materials like dictionaries at times.

And I do edit video and photos as a hobby so it’s nice to be able to do that without any problem as well. But if I could get a thinner, cooler and cheaper version of the MacBook Pro that still had the same size screen, I would definitely do it.

Agreed. I’m not in field that does any kind of media production or software development. And I use a a MacBook Pro every day. I work in finance. Most of what I do is in a browser or Office. But I do run a VM for a few different things and stay connected most of each day to two external monitors by way of a TS3 Plus dock, so I need more than what is offered by a MacBook Air (I’ve tried out of a desire for the lower cost alone), but don’t come close to using the full bandwidth of the MBP. Plus the 13” models, both Air and Pro, are just a bit too small for my needs.

So by default there is only one model that works for me and sadly enough it happens to be the most expensive one in the laptop line.
 
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Graphic design for print, web and multimedia (no video editing, animation, or development work). I spent years running a powerful desktop and light-duty laptop for work on the road. I got tired of maintaining two computers, as well as dealing with "oh crud, I forgot to transfer the files I need from the desktop to the laptop" issues. It was just a pain. Plus, the laptops were never really powerful enough to be my main "workhorse" Mac.

That changed with the 15" laptop when they added the ability to add 32GB of RAM and better video cards. Now with the 16" MBPro with Thunderbolt ports, you almost have to justify the expense and need for a desktop, rather than a laptop.

The question has become "Why would you NOT want to get a MacBook Pro?"
 
I am an UI designer, product manager and also do some developer, does this qualify according to your standard?
 
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I'm an illustrator and animator. I work only on a MAcbook Pro these days since my Imac 27 inch was stolen from my studio. So now i can take my computer home....
 
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I think the OP is trying to ask "is the MBP powerful enough to make you do your work on it" which I will answer "NO" for non GPU ones. As an everyday user I find the MBP with integrated graphics too weak and temperatures get too high on simple tasks. Not sure how it is on the Windows side of things but I believe no Laptop should run over 80C, its just too hot in that small-delicate-non-repiarable-everything-soldered enclosure. And with prices tages of $2000-2500 I am taking no risks.

It might be a different story with the ones carrying a GPU, but the integrated graphics ones should not be under the brand "PRO" at all.


Then real developers make a lot of money with MacBook Pros. In the Valley they are sort of the standard issue computer. At many companies they issue you one on day one. And throughout your time they replace them with upgrades every year or two.

I am a contractor and in my tiny company we replace laptops (MacBook Pros or Lenovo) ever year or two.

But in my case I use my desktop with Windows 10 or Linux, or cloud instances for most of my heavy work. More resources (multiple GPUs, unlimited storage, etc), better peripherals (multiple 24 or 27 inch monitors, full size keyboard with MX switches, big mouse), nice sound system with good speakers providing a great sound stage, etc.

I most often use a laptop in a mobile scenario, or to code and watch TV at the same time.

Why do you replace the laptop every year or two? Laptops easily survives at least 4 years now.
 
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I want to ask MAcBook Pro owners among you all who here is doing Professional level industry work on their MacBook Pro ?
Like you either have a career in Video Editing, Production, Printing, Publishing, Music, Photography and make a Living income based off work done on a MacBook Pro And Why ?


Why use a laptop and not a Mac Pro desktop why is a portable necessary ?

I'm a semi-retired producer, in film & TV for 42 years. I started experimenting with offline editing using a black Powerbook goodness how many years ago. Scripts, scheduling, comms, stills have been created on everything from a Apple II onward. Moved up to MBP as soon as they came out and have used them for every aspect of the work-flow ever since inc online editing if pushed.. If I'm in an edit suite or at home I use a desktop as available, on the road always a MBP. I don't like carrying a Mac Pro around ....

Nowadays ofc >4K is perfectly workable on a MBP with an SSD, max RAM and some small SSD thunderbolt drives.
 
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What's with all the gatekeeping in this thread?

A fair question. Some people browse forums such as this - yes, even on Christmas Day! - to see posts of interest to them, maybe to answer a question or two, to learn from other users in a good-natured and generous spirit. Others are more like the religious police in certain hot countries, always ready to pounce and criticise, to accuse the poster of asking the wrong/stupid/naive/irrelevant question, of being in the wrong section of the wrong forum on the wrong planet. And if we think forums are a hive of censorious killer bees, just dip a toe into Twitter!
 
A fair question. Some people browse forums such as this - yes, even on Christmas Day! - to see posts of interest to them, maybe to answer a question or two, to learn from other users in a good-natured and generous spirit. Others are more like the religious police in certain hot countries, always ready to pounce and criticise, to accuse the poster of asking the wrong/stupid/naive/irrelevant question, of being in the wrong section of the wrong forum on the wrong planet. And if we think forums are a hive of censorious killer bees, just dip a toe into Twitter!
Well Twitter now has automated A.I. computers run by 3rd parties that run A.I. Scripts to counter any Posts because Trolling is a business on Twitter now. Basically algorithms decide when a new Twitter post is worth responding to and generate a Counter post. For example if you Posts I love my new BMW, and you have a 200 Friends and they all Retweet and comments that sends up a Re Flag, and some AI bot will Tweet BMW Sucks and it has quality problems.
 
I’m a lighting designer, and rely on the power and portability of my Mac book pro every day. I use vectorworks, photoshop and a variety of spread sheet/data base applications. One down side of the MacBook Pro that people in my industry often point out is that you can’t get a smaller pro with a discrete graphics card, which is highly recommended for vectorworks. I have a 2017 15” mbp and am looking to upgrade to a 2019 16” for speed and better typing experience.
 
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Well Twitter now has automated A.I. computers run by 3rd parties that run A.I. Scripts to counter any Posts because Trolling is a business on Twitter now. Basically algorithms decide when a new Twitter post is worth responding to and generate a Counter post. For example if you Posts I love my new BMW, and you have a 200 Friends and they all Retweet and comments that sends up a Re Flag, and some AI bot will Tweet BMW Sucks and it has quality problems.

I didn’t know Twitter takes side like that to respond. Can you provide any link to learn deeper about this? Or are you saying random bots developed by some random are programmed to respond like that?
 
I want to ask MAcBook Pro owners among you all who here is doing Professional level industry work on their MacBook Pro ?
Like you either have a career in Video Editing, Production, Printing, Publishing, Music, Photography and make a Living income based off work done on a MacBook Pro And Why ?


Why use a laptop and not a Mac Pro desktop why is a portable necessary ?

Full time Commercial and fine art photographer for the past 32 years. Since about 1999 I have always used a combination of a laptop and desktop to both create backup computer systems and the portable for on location work on tight deadlines.
 
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Developers count too if that’s your routine source of income. I just don’t mean the FauxVelopers who buy a few Software packages a MacBook Pro attend a few conferences but never really produce anything. I can be A “Developer” tomorrow in name only I’d be a FauxVeloper.
Speaking of "gatekeepers", what's with the OP's mocking of people who mess around with developing as a hobby? I've been an application developer for over 25 years, but I don't disparage anyone who wants to learn on their own to do it. You've got to start somewhere. In fact, I think the free/cheap training options out there (e.g., YouTube, Udemy, etc.) are great, and if I had a college-aged child interested in becoming a software developer, I'd definitely encourage them to learn on their own and look for a niche in the market that they could run with, rather than spend 4 years at a college being taught by people who often haven't been actively involved in actively working in app development for many years (if ever).

This question also reminds me of the numerous threads and product reviews we see where someone is advising someone as to the most appropriate new computer they should purchase for their usage, and they say something like "a MacBook Air is perfectly fine for web browsing, word processing, and other light tasks, but if you're doing something more intensive like programming, video editing, etc., you should get a MacBook Pro." The fact of the matter is that a 2019 MacBook Air is a more powerful computer than a 2013 MacBook Pro 13, and that 2013 MacBook Pro was recommended for programming, video editing, etc. in 2013, and that level of power is lightyears ahead of older machines that were *also* capable of doing such things. And unless you're doing 4K-8K video editing (and most people don't need to, as 1080p is still perfectly great), the requirements really haven't changed much.
 
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I didn’t know Twitter takes side like that to respond. Can you provide any link to learn deeper about this? Or are you saying random bots developed by some random are programmed to respond like that?
Yes, views are views clicks are clicks. I’ve seen so many accounts grow just based on hate or taking the opposite viewpoint to major news. On purpose, ie there’s a mass shooting, theres accounts calling it a Hoax and actors. If a celebrity dies, these bots just Tweet out opposite what the general sentiment is. Heck just like you can buy followers from China or India, you can just pay a service to Tweet for you. People sell and trade accounts with 10K to 100k followers social media is a business unto itself.
 
MBP 13" with integrated graphics here, not editing videos nor photos (besides light adjustements with the photos app), but I work with several virtual machines to read/interpret neurophyisiological study data, and since I suspect a MBP is more suitable than the Air for this, I've always chosen the Pro.

As the translators, I work with lots of word processing also (teaching graduate classes, building presentations, writing papers and reading sources), but I remedy this with an external monitor on every site I work at (at my home office, at the 2 offices and at the hospital neurophysiology lab).

I rather have one machine than 4 different ones, I do not like the hassle of keeping them in sync. Not every location has reliable internet connectivity.
 
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I just don’t mean the FauxVelopers who buy a few Software packages a MacBook Pro attend a few conferences but never really produce anything. I can be A “Developer” tomorrow in name only I’d be a FauxVeloper.
I suppose you also meant to exclude FauxVideo Editing, FauxProduction, FauxPrinting, FauxPublishing, FauxMusic, FauxPhotography and FauxMake a Living.
 
For the record, the OP is pretty known around these boards, especially the phone sections. Most regulars know his company preferences. But either way, interesting question which seems to have backfired on him, but also kind of a pointless question. But I am curious what he is trying to say with it, guess you have to be a certain type of professional with a certain job to own a MacBook Pro.
 
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I needed a rig on the road as a wedding photog.

I don't shoot anymore but used to the flexibility and speed so ordered another after 9 years.
 
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