MacBook Pro 13? Pros and cons for buying at this time?

[coop]

We would like to replace my son's 2018 MacBook Air with a 13" MacBook Pro. Currently my son, a junior in high school who does graphic design and a little CAD, has been having a little sluggishness on his computer. The 13" MBP looks like a good replacement and I do not want to go the full school year waiting for a M3, but the battery life is definitely enticing to wait for.

If an October release was really coming it would make the new MBP have the staying power through college. I would take his air and use it as my laptop since mine is a 2015 MBP. I do not really have any high power programs since the death of Aperture years ago.

Pros to buying now- new school year, fresh computer to start it, immediate speed and battery gains, lack of ports and SD slot, fan that Air does not have

Cons- Touch Bar (my son sees this as a positive), MBP M3 really comes out in October, M3 has better battery life

What are your thoughts? We can hold out a little, we could look at the MBP 14 since it is a newer model, but I would need to justify why it is better.

By the way, I am no stranger to Macs and our family tends to be on a 5-9 year replacement plan. We usually wait until they are too slow for the new OS system, but I want my son to feel his computer is zippy.

Thank you!

 

[Basic75]

Whatever you buy, get more than 8GB of RAM. For graphic design and CAD the 14" MBP with M1 Pro or M2 Pro and 32GB would last a lot longer than a base M1 or M2. I agree that the Touch Bar is a "con" of the 13" MBP. As for "feeling zippy", as long as they are not RAM starved there is no difference between an M2 and an M2 Ultra as both have the same single-threaded performance. Similarly the improvement of the M2 generation of the M1 is not very large.

 

[OrenLindsey]

The M2 MacBook Air is a much better buy right now. It is $100 cheaper and has a newer design. It also has more ports (since you can charge via MagSafe, you have 1 extra thunderbolt port). And it has more battery. The only problems I could see would be thermal throttling (which is barely a problem, benchmarks show only a 17-point difference single core and the pro is actually slightly worse multi-core!).

For your son's usage and because of your 5-9 year replacement plan, I would definitely not suggest the base M2 chip. I would get him a 14-inch MacBook Pro. It has a much better chip that would last much longer. It is much better for graphic design and CAD. It will last a lot longer, like 2 or 3 years longer.

Also, the normal advice is to buy a new computer when you need it, not wait for the next generation. It's not like the current model is bad at all.

Of course, whatever model you get, you can get it much cheaper on the apple refurbished store. And since he's in college, you can get it from the education store which has a discount. Be sure to check those.

 

[GMShadow]

Kinda depends on how serious the graphic design and CAD needs are - if he's just drawing lines in AutoCAD and fiddling in CSP occasionally, a 13" Pro is probably fine. If he's doing more serious work you might want to look at a 14" Pro, especially if he's using it for 5-9 years.

Either way I'd get more than base RAM - there's no way 8GB will be at all fun in 3-4 years, let alone longer.

 

[OrenLindsey]

Kinda depends on how serious the graphic design and CAD needs are - if he's just drawing lines in AutoCAD and fiddling in CSP occasionally, a 13" Pro is probably fine. If he's doing more serious work you might want to look at a 14" Pro, especially if he's using it for 5-9 years.

Yes, or an M2 Air

 

[coop]

Thank you, we originally ruled out the air due to longer battery life, more rugged shell and the fan.

We can wait, but I would like him to have a new computer by Thanksgiving. I wonder if it is worth holding out until then. We do qualify for the education discount and there is a $150 gift card right now. However I would forgo it if I knew the M3 13” air was released in November.

However right now is the start of a new school year. If the 13” MBP was the 14” at that price I would buy it now. It really looks like the choice is go for the 14” ($150 apple gift card helps with the price) or hold out and hope a new 13” is out by thanksgiving.

 

[OrenLindsey]

It really looks like the choice is go for the 14” ($150 apple gift card helps with the price) or hold out and hope a new 13” is out by thanksgiving.

I would go for 14-inch. In total (with the gift card and student discount) it's $1600, while the 13-inch with 16gb ram is $1380. For the extra $220 you get more SSD, a better chip (M2 Pro is better than a base M3 chip will be), a much better screen, more ports, and better tech overall (newer specs such as Wi-fi 6E, bluetooth 3.1, faster RAM and Ssd, all minor stuff but better for future-proofing).

Either way, you'll be getting a very nice laptop.
Also, even if you go for the 14-inch, wait for the September 12 event, in case they release anything new.

 

[coop]

I would go for 14-inch. In total (with the gift card and student discount) it's $1600, while the 13-inch with 16gb ram is $1380. For the extra $220 you get more SSD, a better chip (M2 Pro is better than a base M3 chip will be), a much better screen, more ports, and better tech overall (newer specs such as Wi-fi 6E, bluetooth 3.1, faster RAM and Ssd, all minor stuff but better for future-proofing).

Either way, you'll be getting a very nice laptop.
Also, even if you go for the 14-inch, wait for the September 12 event, in case they release anything new.

Thank you for the justification on why the 14 is better. I really appreciate the fact about the base M3 chip as well because I am sure that is what the 13" MBP will have. I just don't have time these days to follow apple products like I have in the past.