The macrumors buying guide says not to buy right now, but what's everyone's thoughts about dropping money down for a new 16 inch MBP around this time of year now?
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Buying a new 16 inch MBP, should I wait?
- Thread starter adamryan1983
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Depends what your level of need/want and urgency is of course. If your ability to work relies on having one, and you currently don’t, get one yesterday.
If it doesn’t really affect you very much at all whether you have it or not... Well, wait. But I don’t foresee any bigger changes until like next June or maybe a bit earlier, but not this year. I could very easily be wrong, but I don’t think the 16” specifically is in for an upgrade soon. Maybe a small and fairly insignificant spec-bump, but nothing huge.
If it doesn’t really affect you very much at all whether you have it or not... Well, wait. But I don’t foresee any bigger changes until like next June or maybe a bit earlier, but not this year. I could very easily be wrong, but I don’t think the 16” specifically is in for an upgrade soon. Maybe a small and fairly insignificant spec-bump, but nothing huge.
It’s very unlikely that a new 16” is released this year. Intel doesn’t really have any new high-performance CPUs (Tiger Lake is 4 cores max and Comet Lake is a joke) with H-series Tiger Lake rumored to launch next year. AMD Navi 2 is coming out this autumn but there is little chance that this means new mobile GPUs. I wouldn’t expect upgrades to 16” until spring at earliest (and summer more likely).
My feeling is if you need it now/pretty soon then go for it. The 2019 16-inch is very well regarded overall/powerful, and even if the new Apple Silicon version blows us all away you'll still have a fantastic machine and shouldn't feel too disheartened. There are other reasons for sticking with Intel Mac's too as @NewUsername mentioned and you could always sell it on down the line if you really want/need the updated one. You can also get pretty good deals on 16-inch models now, either new/refurb/lightly used, I've seen the base model dip under £2k and that would be a solid buy. I'm in a similar situation and in the market for a new machine but I have a machine that's still functioning now so I will wait a bit to see how the new chips work in the real world before making a decision. Don't sweat it too much either, it's just a tool for getting things done after all! Good luck!
Thanks everyone. I do have a working 2015 13 inch right now but it's getting long in the tooth. 8gb ram, 256 ssd, dual core. etc. I do photography and find that this machine is barely keeping up spec wise. Also I am doing software dev in school. I am looking to get a new machine this month and thought the 16 inch is currently the best option but don't wanna chance getting it and then a month later a new machine come out.
I'll probably take my chances and go for the 16 inch currently. I mean, even if something new comes out, the current spec 16 inch is still an amazing laptop.
I'll probably take my chances and go for the 16 inch currently. I mean, even if something new comes out, the current spec 16 inch is still an amazing laptop.
If you're happy with a 13" screen, it might be worth to wait. The 2TB3 port MBP model will likely be updated soon, there are rumours for an ARM replacement and with shipping times of 3-4 weeks, at least something seems to be going on. Though we don't know anything of course, perhaps they'll just replace it with an ARM MacBook Air. But for things like photography, ARM should give excellent performance. An iPad Pro has Geekbench scores of 1118/4631, base model 16" has 1022/5372. The new ARM MacBook Air will blow away the iPad Pro and so probably also your brand-new 16" which costs 1400$ more. Of course, there are other aspects as well, the 16" has 4TB3 ports, has a dGPU, can run Windows, can run Intel apps natively, has a bigger screen, and the new MacBook Air might have none of that and won't necessarily have the same price tag as the current Intel model. But keep it in mind.
If you really want a 16" though, there haven't been rumours of an imminent announcement, and that might easily still take many many months. The 16" is pretty expensive and buying a 2019 model now when ARM is coming soon might not feel like it's the best choice. But: if you need it now, go ahead and buy it. If you buy the 16" now, you can easily use it until for another couple of years and then sell it for an ARM Mac. So you have a great computer at all times.
I would make a decision after the event Tuesday, there is a chance (albeit a small one) that we'll hear more about the ARM Macs.
If you really want a 16" though, there haven't been rumours of an imminent announcement, and that might easily still take many many months. The 16" is pretty expensive and buying a 2019 model now when ARM is coming soon might not feel like it's the best choice. But: if you need it now, go ahead and buy it. If you buy the 16" now, you can easily use it until for another couple of years and then sell it for an ARM Mac. So you have a great computer at all times.
I would make a decision after the event Tuesday, there is a chance (albeit a small one) that we'll hear more about the ARM Macs.
Seems like you're in a bit of a tough position as the computer you have now is definitely affecting your workflow. In saying that, I'd definitely hold out for a few weeks just to see if anything is on the horizon. There def won't be a 16 Arm this year, but there will be some type of Arm laptop released and you might find that you'd like that.
Personally, I think the Arm portables are going to be a massive improvement for the majority of users and this is the most exciting thing to happen to Apple lappies since Retina. And it's actually far bigger than retina. I'll be stunned if these new machines aren't amazing.
I haven't been this excited about a new Apple computer since the KeyLime Clamshell was released!
Personally, I think the Arm portables are going to be a massive improvement for the majority of users and this is the most exciting thing to happen to Apple lappies since Retina. And it's actually far bigger than retina. I'll be stunned if these new machines aren't amazing.
I haven't been this excited about a new Apple computer since the KeyLime Clamshell was released!
Another thing to consider, I think apple is going to slow roll this new line of chips. The first release isn't going to be thier strongest hand. The second or third revisions will really shine. That's the type of company Apple is. Hold out on what they can potentially do to save for future versions so people will keep wanting to upgrade.
I do feel like that when apple updates thier macbook line, many people are going to be waiting again for the second or third revision of it which I think will happen relativly quickly.
Also if Apple doesnt release thier ARM mac before November, I think that means they're not as far ahead as we might they think are. Releasing a lightweight spec macbook air in December vs a power house macbook pro in October will determine the status of thier progress on these chips I think. If it's the macbook air in December (the minimum they can do to fulfull thier promise), I dont expect solid pro machines until the end of next year. We'll see!
I do feel like that when apple updates thier macbook line, many people are going to be waiting again for the second or third revision of it which I think will happen relativly quickly.
Also if Apple doesnt release thier ARM mac before November, I think that means they're not as far ahead as we might they think are. Releasing a lightweight spec macbook air in December vs a power house macbook pro in October will determine the status of thier progress on these chips I think. If it's the macbook air in December (the minimum they can do to fulfull thier promise), I dont expect solid pro machines until the end of next year. We'll see!
Now is a good time to buy as the ins and outs of the computer are completely understood and the OS it runs is pretty mature. If its strengths suits your needs and its weaknesses are not an issue, the 16 inch a great and reliable design and there are a ton of refurb options available at the moment.
I personally feel the rumors about an Intel refresh on the 16-inch make a whole lot more sense than an ARM version for the 16 inch product line for the moment being, and that premier ARM models will be the more affordable product lines. If this is the case, it will be a minor update.
I personally feel the rumors about an Intel refresh on the 16-inch make a whole lot more sense than an ARM version for the 16 inch product line for the moment being, and that premier ARM models will be the more affordable product lines. If this is the case, it will be a minor update.
Leakers have suggested there won't be anymore updates to the 16" intel this year, so go for it
For Software Development I would stick with Intel based Macs for the time being.
Keep in mind only Apple's in house software will work right off release. Software development/Coding/etc might require programs that aren't built for the arm platform. Like Visual Studio Code, Pycharm, Node.Js, Robo T3, etc. Since Apple is going all in on ARM for the future, likely every program will eventually get ported over at some point, but that may take a while. Look how long it took them to get Photoshop on the iPad and that's still a work in progress. And even if they do attempt to use an Emulation mode to run older intel/based software, just judging from relative failure of the Surface Pro X, emulation mode might be a sucky and/or subpar experience. By the time the Apple Silicon/Arm Macs prove capable for developing, you might be finished with school by then.
I think you will do just fine with the 16". It may be better for someone developing for a few years. 3rd party apps and libraries will take a while to migrate to AS. And it would be bad not to be able to do an assignment because there is no AS version of a critical library or another resource.
Ordered and received my 16 inch. She's a beaut and a big step up over my current 13 inch 2015 model.
I'm going from dual core to 6 core. Step up in screen size, twice the hd size, twice the ram, a dedicated gnu, and amazing sound for a laptop.
Also the keyboard is like butter to type on, so nice. Thanks to everyone who responded. Much love.
I'm going from dual core to 6 core. Step up in screen size, twice the hd size, twice the ram, a dedicated gnu, and amazing sound for a laptop.
Also the keyboard is like butter to type on, so nice. Thanks to everyone who responded. Much love.
If you need Intel (for Boot Camp, for x86-64 Windows in any capacity, for x86 virtualization [including older macOS releases that predate Big Sur], buy now.
If you can't wait another year when the first Apple Silicon 16" MacBook Pro comes out, buy now.
If you're pretty sure that there won't be one last Intel release of this and you need Intel, buy now.
Otherwise, wait a year.
Similarly, the Apple Silicon version of the MacBook Air and/or 13" MacBook Pro appear to be launching imminently.
You're thinking there will be an 11th Gen based 16" MacBook Pro?
I'd say we're gonna be lucky if there's even a 10th Gen model. The 2019 model may be the last one with Intel Inside. Though, I'm hoping against hope that I'm wrong on that one.
All depends on timelines we don't know. If Intel has volume availability of H series more then a half a year before Apple is ready with their high-end Apple Silicon solution, I don't see why not.
What would be even the point? They are the same CPU that we already have, just with nominally higher clocks, and even that on paper only. Third-party benchmarks fail to determine any meaningful difference between Coffee Lake R and Comet Lake...
Tiger Lake H-series chips will, at best, be out in time for summer. Apple would rather do what they did to the 21.5" iMac and Mac mini this year for the 16" MacBook Pro next year and just keep whatever is out at the start of 2021 until it can be replaced with their own silicon. You know this as well, if not better, than I do. The only scenario where they NEED to produce a Tiger Lake version is if their chips are seriously lagging behind on the high end (which by that point would certainly spell doom for the transition). But that's not gonna happen.
AMD Radeon Pro 6000 series. Thunderbolt 3 controller built into the die. Also tweaks to remedy the multi-monitor issues people are having on every 16" MacBook Pro that doesn't have the 5600. Apple has definitely put out newer models with newer graphics but the same CPUs in tow before. Even if 10th Gen is nominal in performance difference, the CPU isn't everything. And they really just need to hold out until that Mac is ready to make the jump (which I don't see it not being by 2H 2021).
Are we talking about the same 10th gen here? The H-Series 10th gen doesn't have Thunderbolt support AFAIk, you re probably talking about the Ice Lake which is only limited to quad-core models (and which Apple already offers). Radeon 6000, yes, if AMD has new entry-level Navi 2 out by then.
Yeah, maybe. It all depends on how much time they need to get those chips in mass production. Could be 2021, could be 2022...
For some reason, I thought that was all 10th Gen and not just Ice Lake. Stupid Intel with their multiple codenames for the same generation chips. Certainly, with the advent of eGPUs, that'd be a reason to upgrade. Though, if it's only applicable to Ice Lake, then nevermind that one.
I would think that this would be enough. Apple has refreshed the larger MacBook Pro with same-gen-as-previous processors before on multiple occasions (they had three different revs for Haswell 15" MacBook Pros, the latter of which had different graphics options and a whole new trackpad).
Again, I seriously doubt they'll lag on this one, especially if the smaller MacBook Pro is to make the jump in any capacity 6-8 months beforehand.