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Just got MacBook 2016 ($2799 model) moving from Windows 10

C

Crowdx44

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 11, 2017
37
3
California
Hi all,
so I just bought a new MacBook 2016, i7 2.7ghz, 16gb, Radeon Pro 455. I am coming from Windows 10 and want to also run Windows 10 on this new MacBook. I have done a Windows install to an external SSD and this seems to work pretty ok, but I am now wondering should I return this unit and get a 1tb model and install to the internal SSD.
My main reason for running Windows 10 is that I have a UAD interface which only runs on Windows 10 as there are no Mac USB drivers. The windows install will be mainly music but the install will take several hundred gigs.
So is anyone else running Windows 10 on an SSD as a long term bootcamp solution? How much does the normal Mac install take for a regular setup? So far my system is using 150gb with WoW and Guild Wars 2 installed but I could move those over to Windows.
I really like the size and weight of the MacBook Pro and it's battery life is decent, I did a few tests playing local video HD movies and it is getting around 6.5 hours of playback time (VLC mkv playback).
I am running Sierra 10.12.2 , will the newer beta updates provide any better battery life for video playback? I assume the new betas are just plugging apps that are using too much power in the background and so would not affect video playback battery life?
Thank you all for your help
Patrick
 
Crowdx44 said:
Hi all,
so I just bought a new MacBook 2016, i7 2.7ghz, 16gb, Radeon Pro 455. I am coming from Windows 10 and want to also run Windows 10 on this new MacBook. I have done a Windows install to an external SSD and this seems to work pretty ok, but I am now wondering should I return this unit and get a 1tb model and install to the internal SSD.
My main reason for running Windows 10 is that I have a UAD interface which only runs on Windows 10 as there are no Mac USB drivers. The windows install will be mainly music but the install will take several hundred gigs.
So is anyone else running Windows 10 on an SSD as a long term bootcamp solution? How much does the normal Mac install take for a regular setup? So far my system is using 150gb with WoW and Guild Wars 2 installed but I could move those over to Windows.
I really like the size and weight of the MacBook Pro and it's battery life is decent, I did a few tests playing local video HD movies and it is getting around 6.5 hours of playback time (VLC mkv playback).
I am running Sierra 10.12.2 , will the newer beta updates provide any better battery life for video playback? I assume the new betas are just plugging apps that are using too much power in the background and so would not affect video playback battery life?
Thank you all for your help
Patrick
Click to expand...

The battery life is horrible.. I returned mine. I was using Vmware Fusion to run windows, and I p2v'd my laptop..
 
Well that is the thing, I am coming from the Windows side and my last quad core windows laptop that was similar size was an MSI GS60 Ghost 4k gaming laptop which only lasted about 2 hours on battery regardless of what I was using it for. I have also returned a Dell XPS 15 2016 model (Skylake) as the new model just got released and I had hopes that it's battery life would be considerably better.
Now that I have used the 2016 Macbook Pro, I find it a lot more portable, even though the dimensions are very similar to the XPS, the Mac just feels more portable.
Ironically, for all the complaints about the Macbook only having USB C ports, I find this a plus, as with the XPS it only has a single USB C port which the 2016 version did not have the thunderbolt running at full speed due to a chipset implementation.
I am still running battery tests on movie playback as that is the area that I will need the battery the most, i.e. when flying I like to watch movies on my laptop and so the more battery life the better.
 
Crowdx44 said:
Well that is the thing, I am coming from the Windows side and my last quad core windows laptop that was similar size was an MSI GS60 Ghost 4k gaming laptop which only lasted about 2 hours on battery regardless of what I was using it for. I have also returned a Dell XPS 15 2016 model (Skylake) as the new model just got released and I had hopes that it's battery life would be considerably better.
Now that I have used the 2016 Macbook Pro, I find it a lot more portable, even though the dimensions are very similar to the XPS, the Mac just feels more portable.
Ironically, for all the complaints about the Macbook only having USB C ports, I find this a plus, as with the XPS it only has a single USB C port which the 2016 version did not have the thunderbolt running at full speed due to a chipset implementation.
I am still running battery tests on movie playback as that is the area that I will need the battery the most, i.e. when flying I like to watch movies on my laptop and so the more battery life the better.
Click to expand...
Was your XPS 15 a 9550 or 9560? I know many are curious to find out whether the 9560 has 4 lanes PCIe.
 
The battery life for watching video is good as long as you're using the integrated GPU. (The dGPU that I think you'd get running Windows draws a lot more power.) 9 to 11 hours is typical.

Tests show the new MBP 15" has much better battery life than a new XPS 9550 for ordinary use. See reviews at Ars Technica, for example, which were done after the XPS battery software issues were fixed. The 9560 may improve its battery life with Kaby Lake and 13 more watt-hours, but with the same 4K screen and desktop RAM, I don't think it will catch up with the Mac.

I expect the 9560 will have a real Thunderbolt 3 port this time, but it still won't touch the 4 T3s offered on the MBP.
 
VLC is kinda crappy for battery life playing back videos. Since you are using MKVs, is there any particular reason to use that format? I would transcode them to MP4 format with Handbrake.app. More than likely the MKV is a wrapper for h.264 so the conversion should be really quick. There are other mac friendly video players out there that are better for battery than VLC. I use it basically as "last resort" to play videos.

As for basic macOS install, I think it's around 20-30gb. I wouldn't recommend running windows off a external drive just because there's a chance that the drive might disconnect, loose cable, etc. Also if you don't need need an app that relies on heavy graphics I would suggest parallels.app so you can run Windows in a VM and give apps a native mac app feel with coherence mode.
 
I did try re-encoding one of my mkv using the handbrake Apple TV 3 profile and it did not seem to make a difference although I was still using VLC. Is iTunes a better solution if I convert to mp4 or is there a better 3rd party player out there?
 
Crowdx44 said:
I did try re-encoding one of my mkv using the handbrake Apple TV 3 profile and it did not seem to make a difference although I was still using VLC. Is iTunes a better solution if I convert to mp4 or is there a better 3rd party player out there?
Click to expand...
I use QuickTime to play MP4 videos. Perhaps VLC is registered to play that extension? You can right click a file, get info, and check opens with to change the app that opens a file. Or right click a file and then choose open with and see if QuickTime is an option.
 
So back to your question, yes I would get the 1TB especially for what you're using for and it's nice to have more room to play with. I'm not a fan of external drives unless I have to.
 
Ok, well I see B&H have the 1tb and the Radeon 460 in stock. I may just return the one I have and order from them, without sales tax here in California it would only cost an extra $250 vs my current model.
Hum, decisions, decisions :p
 
Crowdx44 said:
Ok, well I see B&H have the 1tb and the Radeon 460 in stock. I may just return the one I have and order from them, without sales tax here in California it would only cost an extra $250 vs my current model.
Hum, decisions, decisions :p
Click to expand...

That's what I did. I went through 2 BTO (2.6/1TB/450) models that I got from Apple. One had graphics issues, the other a busted TB port. Instead of waiting on another one to to be put together and come over from China I took a look at the B&H site and picked up a 2.7/1TB/460 model for about $50 more than what the others were costing from Apple with tax included.

Machine has been rock solid and I was able to get the bump on the processor and graphics chip. B&H has great customer support too. Have bought a ton of stuff from them over the years and have always had a good experience.
 
If you are going to run Windows most of the time, then I can't recommend the MBP to you. Problems with drivers and power management, and the entire experience is simply not the same. Can't you get an UAD with OS X support?
 
Well I just ordered the 1tb and Radeon 460 from B&H for $3199. So for $150 I got the larger hard drive and the higher end gpu.
As an update, I really like the Mac hardware. For most of my daily stuff I have been in Mac OS and when I want to edit some music I have been running bootcamp from an external SSD.
I may add Apple Care before the apple warranty expires though, with such a large investment it would suck if the SSD died and I was left with a paper weight, seems to me that is the weak point of this machine as SSDs do fail and with it soldered onto the motherboard it is worrisome :)
 
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