Get 15” now or slum it with a cheaper option.

[Mathias Denichi]

With the announcements of the intel + AMD combo and hexacore processors, I feel like I should wait for the next 15” MacBook Pro; however, I need a laptop now.

Sold my 12.9 iPad to downsize to 10.5 iPad, and doing all my coding, photoshopping, schoolwork and running a business is getting tiring on my gaming pc and 10.5 iPad Pro. With all the typing, the nicer weather outside, I miss my freedom away from a desktop and Mac OS.

Should I slum it, and try to find a base nTB MBP and resell when the new 15” is released? Or should I just go for a 2017 15” now?

 

[eugen.hnm]

Skip this year, 2016 and 2017 have big GPU problems. Maybe next year or i rather say next update version.

 

[ZapNZs]

If you want the 15-inch or if the 15-inch will work best to make you money, I say buy a 2017 15-inch now, and sell it if/when an updated 15-inch comes out that is so much nicer you just have to have it (we don't know if the 15-inch MBP will get a hexacore CPU anytime soon or not.) You won't lose more than a few hundred bucks which can be offset pretty quickly by increased productivity.

Skip this year, 2016 and 2017 have big GPU problems. Maybe next year or i rather say next update version.

Huh?

 

[Hanson Eigilson]

Should I slum it, and try to find a base nTB MBP and resell when the new 15” is released? Or should I just go for a 2017 15” now?

i've been slumming it for 2 years now, and now i have to actually get a new macbook pro because work, and i resent getting the TB, and i resent the new keyboard (tried it out for half a day on a co-workers macbook pro 2016) and i resent not having the ports that i need.

i have never been this frustrated over getting a new laptop and i dont really understand how it's possible. I know this is probably not going to help you apart from the fact you are not the only one going through this type of deliberations.

best of luck whatever you choose!

 

[Mathias Denichi]

i've been slumming it for 2 years now, and now i have to actually get a new macbook pro because work, and i resent getting the TB, and i resent the new keyboard (tried it out for half a day on a co-workers macbook pro 2016) and i resent not having the ports that i need.

i have never been this frustrated over getting a new laptop and i dont really understand how it's possible. I know this is probably not going to help you apart from the fact you are not the only one going through this type of deliberations.

best of luck whatever you choose!

My issue is reading how many Keyboard issues the 2016/2017 versions have; however, I need a laptop right now.

Do I play it safe and try to find a low base nTB or just buy the 2.9/512GB/560 15” and sell it later?. I guess the main issue is how much money can I recover when the Intel + AMD Hexacore versions come out, the version is really want.

 

[mcpix]

I was saving up for a new 2016 or 2017 MBP, but instead opted for a refurbished 2015. Besides saving some money, it really fits my needs better right now (I still use firewire devices in my biz).

If you can't find a refurbished unit, check out used. I had previously purchased a 2014 MBP at a great price and it still had over a year of Applecare left!

If you buy new, there's no guarantee of how much you'll recover. I actually think the 2016 & 2017 MBPs will see more price depreciation than we're used to. Particularly since the hexacore MBPs will be much faster.

 

[doitdada]

I bit the bullet and bought a 15" baseline 2016. Will be good enough for the next three years. Adding more cores will also bring more heat, and fan noise has been a problem with all quad core laptops from Apple until 2016 when Skylake was introduced. That's five years with the first quad core Sandy Bridge Mac being released in 2011, until the first laptop that didn't spin up their fans for a YouTube HD movie and some light PS action got out in the wild at the end of last year.

There has been a few keyboard issues, but it seems like the loudest ones on this forum are the ones having the most problems. You know how 5% of the world speaks for the rest of us? If you are concerned, you can simply buy a can of air and blow at your keyboard once in a while to keep the butterfly mechanism clean.

For coding and PS you won't be able to feel the difference between a Skylake/Kaby Lake vs a Coffee Lake. I upgraded from a Kaby Lake 7700K to a Coffee Lake 8700K on my Windows 10 and I don't get anything out of it else than bragging rights at the moment. It has great Geekbench scores, but none of my productivity tasks feels different. I guess there will be a couple of years before we see more than four cores being utilized outside of tasks like video editing and 3D. Again, the additional cores consume more power, which equates to heat. Even though the processor utilizes an improved 14nm++ process, the basic rules dictate that something has to give somewhere.

IPC, instructions per cycle, has been "flat" since Haswell. In other words, Coffee Lake won't be faster by architecture, it will only bring more cores. AMD may also introduce a better integrated GPU to the new CPU, but it won't be much better than the Radeon 4xx and 5xx you already see in the current lineup. They will be based on the same chipset, Polaris. The main purpose of the collaboration between AMD and Intel is to shrink the size of the motherboard.

Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge: Average ~5.8% Up
Ivy Bridge to Haswell: Average ~11.2% Up
Haswell to Broadwell: Average ~3.3% Up
Broadwell to Skylake (DDR3): Average ~2.4% Up
Broadwell to Skylake (DDR4): Average ~2.7% Up
source

 

[ZapNZs]

however, I need a laptop right now.

I guess the main issue is how much money can I recover when the Intel + AMD Hexacore versions come out, the version is really want.

I think you are asking the wrong question, personally, if this system is both for education and business use.

The right question is, "how much money am I going to lose if I delay purchasing the right tool for the job?"

 

[Mathias Denichi]

I bit the bullet and bought a 15" baseline 2016. Will be good enough for the next three years. Adding more cores will also bring more heat, and fan noise has been a problem with all quad core laptops from Apple until 2016 when Skylake was introduced. That's five years with the first quad core Sandy Bridge Mac being released in 2011, until the first laptop that didn't spin up their fans for a YouTube HD movie and some light PS action got out in the wild at the end of last year.

There has been a few keyboard issues, but it seems like the loudest ones on this forum are the ones having the most problems. You know how 5% of the world speaks for the rest of us? If you are concerned, you can simply buy a can of air and blow at your keyboard once in a while to keep the butterfly mechanism clean.

For coding and PS you won't be able to feel the difference between a Skylake/Kaby Lake vs a Coffee Lake. I upgraded from a Kaby Lake 7700K to a Coffee Lake 8700K on my Windows 10 and I don't get anything out of it else than bragging rights at the moment. It has great Geekbench scores, but none of my productivity tasks feels different. I guess there will be a couple of years before we see more than four cores being utilized outside of tasks like video editing and 3D. Again, the additional cores consume more power, which equates to heat. Even though the processor utilizes an improved 14nm++ process, the basic rules dictate that something has to give somewhere.

IPC, instructions per cycle, has been "flat" since Haswell. In other words, Coffee Lake won't be faster by architecture, it will only bring more cores. AMD may also introduce a better integrated GPU to the new CPU, but it won't be much better than the Radeon 4xx and 5xx you already see in the current lineup. They will be based on the same chipset, Polaris. The main purpose of the collaboration between AMD and Intel is to shrink the size of the motherboard.

Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge: Average ~5.8% Up
Ivy Bridge to Haswell: Average ~11.2% Up
Haswell to Broadwell: Average ~3.3% Up
Broadwell to Skylake (DDR3): Average ~2.4% Up
Broadwell to Skylake (DDR4): Average ~2.7% Up
source

You make a good point. Intel has claimed that there is no temp difference, but we’ll see when it comes to fruition. I see the benefit of them shrinking the motherboard for more battery, less power usage with GPU switching, and less heat in the enclosure, and less graphical glitches from gpu switching when integrated.

I think you are asking the wrong question, personally, if this system is both for education and business use.

The right question is, "how much money am I going to lose if I delay purchasing the right tool for the job?"

I should say I want a laptop. I won’t lose any money, due to having a great desktop I built. It’s more of about convenience that I feel will help productivity.

 

[Hanson Eigilson]

My issue is reading how many Keyboard issues the 2016/2017 versions have; however, I need a laptop right now.

Do I play it safe and try to find a low base nTB or just buy the 2.9/512GB/560 15” and sell it later?. I guess the main issue is how much money can I recover when the Intel + AMD Hexacore versions come out, the version is really want.

I'm on exactly the same page apart from the hopes for future upgrades, it seems like Apple has been willing to sacrifice performance for gains in portability by a larger and larger factor for many years now, to the point that performance gains over previous generations are ....speculative. I wish they would change their tact and make Laptops for people that actually enjoy using the power of a laptop over say an ipad pro, but i doubt they will.

The right question is, "how much money am I going to lose if I delay purchasing the right tool for the job?"

much better question than the ones i have been asking myself lately, that said tho Apple doesnt really make the tool that i need, only a tool that i cannot avoid using i guess.

 

[Naimfan]

My issue is reading how many Keyboard issues the 2016/2017 versions have; however, I need a laptop right now.

Do I play it safe and try to find a low base nTB or just buy the 2.9/512GB/560 15” and sell it later?. I guess the main issue is how much money can I recover when the Intel + AMD Hexacore versions come out, the version is really want.

This may be . . . unexpected, coming from one of those people who have shared their (many) keyboard adventures, but . . .

Get the 2017 2.9/512/560 if you don't mind the other shortcomings. Kaby Lake appears to be just cooler enough to not warp the butterfly keys (which an Apple person finally said was the problem).

You're unlikely to lose much on resale, so go for it.

 

[Mathias Denichi]

This may be . . . unexpected, coming from one of those people who have shared their (many) keyboard adventures, but . . .

Get the 2017 2.9/512/560 if you don't mind the other shortcomings. Kaby Lake appears to be just cooler enough to not warp the butterfly keys (which an Apple person finally said was the problem).

You're unlikely to lose much on resale, so go for it.

I ended up getting the 15" 2017 512/560/2.9 for $1853 new and sealed on an almost dead eBay auction. I was the only bidder, got lucky on a Sunday late night. I actually like it much more than the 2016 13" I sold last year. Typing on it now.

I was able to buy Apple Care+ and the MacBook Pro for still less than a new one from Apple.

 

[madferret]

This may be . . . unexpected, coming from one of those people who have shared their (many) keyboard adventures, but . . .

Get the 2017 2.9/512/560 if you don't mind the other shortcomings. Kaby Lake appears to be just cooler enough to not warp the butterfly keys (which an Apple person finally said was the problem).

Urgh. Just got the 2016 2.9/256/460 from Adorama (for more than the OP got his Ebay steal!). Probably runs fairly hot considering it's the maxxed Skylake and upgraded GPU, so if what you were told by the Apple person about warping keyboard due to heat is true, it would be more common with the higher end units. Anyone know what the replacement cost for the keyboard is outside of Applecare/warranty? I guess there are just now starting to be folks out of warranty on these. We will probably hear more grumblings about the keyboard issues as folks who did not buy Applecare find out they need to foot the bill for what probably amounts to a design defect, and Apple will likely be forced to do something.

Hoping that a good BF deal pops up so I can go with a 2017.

 

[Naimfan]

Urgh. Just got the 2016 2.9/256/460 from Adorama (for more than the OP got his Ebay steal!). Probably runs fairly hot considering it's the maxxed Skylake and upgraded GPU, so if what you were told by the Apple person about warping keyboard due to heat is true, it would be more common with the higher end units. Anyone know what the replacement cost for the keyboard is outside of Applecare/warranty? I guess there are just now starting to be folks out of warranty on these. We will probably hear more grumblings about the keyboard issues as folks who did not buy Applecare find out they need to foot the bill for what probably amounts to a design defect, and Apple will likely be forced to do something.

Hoping that a good BF deal pops up so I can go with a 2017.

The repair orders for the two top case replacements I went through on the 2.6/460 I had both showed a parts cost of $795 and a $100 labor cost, totaling $895 plus any applicable sales tax.

Whether that's what Apple would actually charge or not I don't know.

Also, the 3.1/560 that Apple replaced it with worked properly for the time I had it; and the 2.9/560 I now have (along with a 2014 2.8) is working properly as well.

 

[Hanson Eigilson]

Also, the 3.1/560 that Apple replaced it with worked properly for the time I had it; and the 2.9/560 I now have (along with a 2014 2.8) is working properly as well.

how come you went from 3.1 to 2.9 ?
does new one run cooler ?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I was saving up for a new 2016 or 2017 MBP, but instead opted for a refurbished 2015. Besides saving some money, it really fits my needs better right now (I still use firewire devices in my biz).

If you can't find a refurbished unit, check out used. I had previously purchased a 2014 MBP at a great price and it still had over a year of Applecare left!

If you buy new, there's no guarantee of how much you'll recover. I actually think the 2016 & 2017 MBPs will see more price depreciation than we're used to. Particularly since the hexacore MBPs will be much faster.

I don't see how the 2015 fits firewire better you will still need some sort of dongle and cable to attach it, fire wire was dropped in 2011.

 

[Naimfan]

how come you went from 3.1 to 2.9 ?
does new one run cooler ?

Because there is no difference performance-wise, and I came out a little over $500 ahead.

The 2017 *appears* to run cooler than did the 2016 - I have not installed any kind of temperature monitoring software.