15" Macbook Pro (2015) vs. 15" Macbook Pro (2018)

[jerryk]

I'm so curious about the resale value of the 2016-2018 MBP in like 3-4 years (I guess it will be very low). 2015 MBP is still the best laptop Apple made. Of course it's striking people are considering paying premium for 3 years old laptop, but what else you can do if you want reliable MBP.

I got $1125 for my 2015 15" (512GB + dgu) 3 months ago on trade in. That was the top number after checking with 3 places.

 

[Polymorphic]

That's certainly one way to look at it.

I just know that it's become a huge issue in just the circle of people I personally know, beyond the forum here and simply that uptick of an issue that didn't exist before is alarming to me.

But - to your point - some only worry when it personally hits them.

I prefer to gather data from a wider swath in hopes of making an informed decision and hopefully avoid an issue for myself altogether.

[doublepost=1545442192][/doublepost]

Which combined with money outlay is what should be factored the highest, at least for me.
The right tool for the job with acquisition and ongoing maintenance costs or concerns factored in.

[doublepost=1545442359][/doublepost]
Final thought..
Speaking generally about longer term value concerns.

If I owned one and were concerned with value, I'd be pretty worried that Apple may have internally pushed up their timetables for a full redesign.

The values on the 2016-2018 gen of machines will likely crater if so.

As it is the 2016-2017's are on huge sales all across the web's major sites, brand new, essentially all the time even right now and Apple has priced them pretty high to begin with.

Having sold one, my own (admittedly anecdotal) experience is that the value of the 2017 models has already cratered (and did so even before the 2018 models were released). Their reputation seems to precede them in my region.

 

[puma1552]

Having sold one, my own (admittedly anecdotal) experience is that the value of the 2017 models has already cratered (and did so even before the 2018 models were released). Their reputation seems to precede them in my region.

Also doesn't help when BH was selling them for a whopping $800-$1000 off.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Also doesn't help when BH was selling them for a whopping $800-$1000 off.

I don’t blame them.
Who wants to be the one with inventory nobody wants when the music stops?

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

So I had a chance to go back to the Apple store this week and compare the SPACE GREY & SILVER 2018 15" MacBook Pro's. I had a chance to type a full paragraph on the butterfly keys and I did not find them hard or annoying at all to type. I actually liked it to be honest. I wasn't making any mistakes as I typed even though I was trying to make mistakes in typing. The screen looked crisp and bright and loading up applications was super fast. However I found out that SPACE GREY does scratch alot more easily as I was wearing my watch I scratched the wrist area of the laptop. I did the same with the SILVER but it did not scratch easily at all. I noticed that the SILVER covers up the scratch alot better than the SPACE GRAY.

I also wanted to ask you guys/girls why does the trackpad when pressed creates a gap at the top edge? The 2015 force touch never actually moved nor created a gap when pressed down hard. I am afraid dust, hair or small crumbs may get stuck in there..Why would it actually go down or create an opening on the edges? Do they all do that or was this a faulty Macbook Pro on display..Please someone let me know?

 

[turbineseaplane]

I am afraid dust or small crumbs make get stuck in there..

You're thinking of the keyboard..

lol
Sorry -- can't resist

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

You're thinking of the keyboard..

lol
Sorry -- can't resist

What do you mean? I am referring to the Big Track Pad not the butterfly key's. Try it out when pressed hard it creates a gap at the top edge of the trackpad. I thought these don't actually move when pressed like the 2015 Force Touch track pad...?

 

[jerryk]

What do you mean? I am referring to the Big Track Pad not the butterfly key's. Try it out when pressed hard it creates a gap at the top edge of the trackpad. I thought these don't actually move when pressed like the 2015 Force Touch track pad...?

Mine does that also. Never noticed it until you mentioned it. The movement does not seem to effect the trackpad operations.

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

Mine does that also. Never noticed it until you mentioned it. The movement does not seem to effect the trackpad operations.

Thank you for confirming...Wonder why Apple would actually make it move down that much to create an opening where hair, dust or small particles can get inside...?? The keyboard already is something to worry about and now the trackpad too..? Why couldn't they just stick with something that worked so well..2015 Trackpad and Keyboard.

I might wait for Sunny Cove in July 2019. Hopefully after 4yrs of this design they should have learned their lesson what needs to be fixed so it is almost trouble free like the mid 2015 MacBook Pro's.

 

[turbineseaplane]

What do you mean? I am referring to the Big Track Pad not the butterfly key's.

Sorry - thought it was more obvious that I was making a joke..

"dust and small crumbs" are some of the many things that have been known to derail butterfly keyboards..

 

[jerryk]

Thank you for confirming...Wonder why Apple would actually make it move down that much to create an opening where hair, dust or small particles can get inside...?? The keyboard already is something to worry about and now the trackpad too..? Why couldn't they just stick with something that worked so well..2015 Trackpad and Keyboard..

Might have something to do with the size. The glass is thin and only has a certain strength and is covering a bigger area.

But, I don't think you have to worry about anything getting into the machine from the trackpad. At least on my machine, the movement is very slight and it never exposed the inside of the machine, even when I pressed hard. In fact, it barely moves. As I said, I never even noticed it until you mentioned it.

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

Might have something to do with the size. The glass is thin and only has a certain strength and is covering a bigger area.

But, I don't think you have to worry about anything getting into the machine from the trackpad. At least on my machine, the movement is very slight and it never exposed the inside of the machine, even when I pressed hard. In fact, it barely moves. As I said, I never even noticed it until you mentioned it.

I see okay thank you for the reassurance...I hope 2019 Refresh/Spec Bump they fix some issues for the July 2019 release...
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One thing to think about, is just how many threads there are in recent months about 2015 machines, or 2015 machines vs. the new machines.

The 2015 model is that good, and the new machines are...well, you can make your own conclusion about that but it's a sad day when a 3.5, almost 4 year old machine is still relevant to current purchase discussions.

It is definitely a sad time in (2019) when a 5year old MacBook Pro is compared to the most recent MacBook Pro's and it has nothing to do with price...As some ppl are paying Top Dollars for a clean FULLY SPEC'D out Mid 2015 15" MacBook Pro's...To be honest it has everything a pro user wants like the ports, magsafe, keyboard, and the famous light up apple logo...

 

[Polymorphic]

I also wanted to ask you guys/girls why does the trackpad when pressed creates a gap at the top edge? The 2015 force touch never actually moved nor created a gap when pressed down hard. I am afraid dust, hair or small crumbs may get stuck in there..Why would it actually go down or create an opening on the edges? Do they all do that or was this a faulty Macbook Pro on display..Please someone let me know?
View attachment 813789

My 2015 Force Touch trackpad does move at the top edge when pressed.

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

I was on Apple.ca the Canadian Apple site and there are three 15" 2015 Macbook Pro's for sale on the reburb section of the site...It is still expensive considering we have to pay 13% taxes on these 5 year old Macbook Pro's. The $2,599.00 CAD Plus Tax comes to $2,936.87 CAD. Sad part is none of these come with the dedicated AMD Radeon R9 2GB card not sure why Apple would charge so much for a 5yr old Tech...

 

[turbineseaplane]

not sure why Apple would charge so much for a 5yr old Tech...

Probably because they can and they sell..

One thing more important that the price is "does it reliably do the job you need it to do?"

Older or not - 2015 models are tremendously capable, feature packed and supremely reliable.

 

[smirking]

The 2015 force touch never actually moved nor created a gap when pressed down hard. I am afraid dust, hair or small crumbs may get stuck in there..Why would it actually go down or create an opening on the edges?

I have a 2016. I can't see any gaps opening up in mine. I wasn't even aware that it really moved at all. Whatever movement I see in mine is very minimal... not enough for me to worry about contaiminants getting into the inner body.

Besides that, I do think the concern with dust is... overblown. (Sorry, that word always makes people angry.)

While I do believe that dust can be a problem, I don't believe iFixit's conclusion that a single grain of dust will kill a key on a normal butterfly keyboard. I believe that the ones that could be so easily jammed are actually defective and probably shouldn't have passed inspection. My 2016 MBP is a custom build placed in the initial batch of pre-orders in the winter of 2015. I have a machine from one of the most notorious batches. If dust can kill a key on any butterfly keyboard, I shouldn't have a single key left because I'm sure there is all sorts of junk a lot worse than dust in mine. I'd be embarrased to let someone inspect the inside of my keyboard.

Don't be a slob, but don't worry excessively about dust either.

 

[puma1552]

I was on Apple.ca the Canadian Apple site and there are three 15" 2015 Macbook Pro's for sale on the reburb section of the site...It is still expensive considering we have to pay 13% taxes on these 5 year old Macbook Pro's. The $2,599.00 CAD Plus Tax comes to $2,936.87 CAD. Sad part is none of these come with the dedicated AMD Radeon R9 2GB card not sure why Apple would charge so much for a 5yr old Tech...


View attachment 814119

Why do you keep saying these machines are 5 years old? They were released in May of 2015, so more like 3.5.

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

Why do you keep saying these machines are 5 years old? They were released in May of 2015, so more like 3.5.

If you think about it...It is 5yrs old as the 2015 uses the same processor and chassis as the 2013 Macbook Pro (Haswell/Crystalwell)...Only difference is spec bump in ghz and force touch and graphic card...

 

[jerryk]

If you think about it...It is 5yrs old as the 2015 uses the same processor and chassis as the 2013 Macbook Pro (Haswell/Crystalwell)...Only difference is spec bump in ghz and force touch and graphic card...

And much faster M.2 NVMe SSD and later GPUs on DGPU models and clearer screens. But get the 2013 unit if you want. It is a good machine and cheap.

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

Hey Guys,

Do you think this is a wise purchase? I plan to keep it forever...

15" Macbook Pro (2015) 2.8 GHZ, 16GB, 1TB with the AMD Graphic Card.

Remember this purchase is in Canadian currency $$...Or is it just way too much?

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[turbineseaplane]

This feels a little bit like you are trolling honestly

 

[Tech_Mac_Man]

This feels a little bit like you are trolling honestly

What are you talking about dude...? I asked for opinion on the purchase...?? How the heck is this trolling? smh...

 

[fokmik]

he means you pay too much for an 4 year old mac
How much is the difference in $ from that to the base 2018 15" MBP?

 

[sunapple]

Hey Guys,

Do you think this is a wise purchase? I plan to keep it forever...

15" Macbook Pro (2015) 2.8 GHZ, 16GB, 1TB with the AMD Graphic Card.

Remember this purchase is in Canadian currency $$...Or is it just way too much?

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View attachment 814325

It's not that bad actually. The model itself, as you’ve already established, is a decent machine. Compared to a new model, when getting 1TB, the price is substantially lower (if I’ve converted the currencies correctly). The new model only gains a slight edge in single-core benchmarks, but almost doubles the multi-core (if you care about that sort of thing).

I’ve said this before in this thread, don’t make it too complicated. If the 2015 feels right to you and you’re willing to pay the price, go for it. That’s as wise as a purchase can get and with 4 pages of discussion already, maybe it’s time to pull the trigger.

 

[smirking]

I’ve said this before in this thread, don’t make it too complicated. If the 2015 feels right to you and you’re willing to pay the price, go for it. That’s as wise as a purchase can get and with 4 pages of discussion already, maybe it’s time to pull the trigger.

I wish I could quote this a thousand times. Ultimately it boils down a simple choice. If you like... you buy. If you don't like... don't buy.

If after so much deliberation you can't decide which one is better, then for all intents and purposes, they're tied and you just need to set aside all the pros and cons and just pick the one that feels right to you. Nobody can determine that for you.