Is the 15inch 2015 MacBook Pro still worth getting?

[Anthony_jardine]

i produce and record music, and I'm worried the lack of Standard USB support on the MacBooks that are to be announced with put me at a disadvantage when doing my work. How much of a performance difference will I see in the 2016 15inc MacBook Pro, and what will the advantages be of both? also when will this years macbook be release? As I honestly need one pretty sharpish. Thanks

 

[Trahearne]

In terms of CPU, Skylake is marginally better in normalised performance than Haswell across a bucket of workloads. Can't say for sure for the real machine though, since the clock speed isn't known.

In terms of GPU, Intel iGPU has nice improvements thanks to the new process technology. If you are looking for models with discrete GPU though, you would definitely want a 2016 with latest 16/14nm graphics.

In other words, if you game seriously or care about the battery life, you probably would want the latest model, depending on the final spec. If you are just using it as desktop replacement, maybe not.

 

[jerryk]

There should be no issue using the USB-C for devices. I use it with my USB based mixing interface. It is only 2 channels (Podcasting), but works fine. I just had to buy the correct ended cables for $12 or so from Amazon.

 

[dumastudetto]

Go with the new MBP's coming this week. They are going to be truly incredible. You can always get dongles and adapters to fix any connectivity issues you may have with legacy hardware.

 

[fs454]

And to be honest you're not going to be using dongles or adapters if you're worried solely about USB devices. USB-C is USB, after all, and USB-C to whatever other end you need without having to use an adapter to get back to USB 2.0/3.0. USB-C to micro-usb, USB-C to those large USB 2.0 or 3.0 ends you usually see on printers and DACs, USB-C to lightning, they're all readily available and cheap.

 

[arbitrage]

Having 4 USB-Cs is not an issue, $5 cables will get you all set up. The issue was only having one USB-C on the rMB and having to charge through it also....that was an issue. Having 4 won't be....

 

[UltimateSyn]

Personally I think you would regret not getting the 2016 MacBook Pro

It will likely have better speakers, longer battery life, a brighter and more color-accurate screen, a thinner and lighter form factor, smaller footprint, TouchID, the Magic Toolbar, the (probably) improved keyboard, larger trackpad with possible Pencil support, etc etc etc

Oh and it will be faster too! By probably ~10% I think