Need help deciding which computer to choose

[kougra6541]

I currently have a 2011 MBP and am looking to upgrade. A salesperson at BestBuy told me the other day that an 8gb ram MBP is essentially the same in terms of a 16gb PC laptop because of OS and program sizes. And i'm not sure how accurate that statement is.

I am considering going away from a macbook because of the cost but i wanted to see what other people's opinions were and thoughts on these two models. I own an iPhone, iPad, and apple watch as well, so i am already invested into the apple ecosystem, however if the non-apple computer is a better option, then i am willing to switch which OS i use for a personal laptop.

I need a laptop to perform basic computing, as well as the ability to run Adobe Creative Cloud applications smoothly. (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and Dreamweaver are used the most). I am in marketing, and need to be able to perform essential graphic design jobs on whichever laptop i end up with.

The two computers i am looking at: (Lenovo vs. the Apple MBP that was recommended by BB salesperson)

I am looking to stay below $1500, if you have any other suggestions as to options i may have, i am open to your ideas! (i am also open to different screen sizes, 13-15" screen isnt a big deal to me)

Lenovo 710 Yoga = $1,199
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-...256gb-ssd-pearl-black/5579132.p?skuId=5579132

• 15.6" Screen Size
• 4K Screen (3840x2160 UHD)
• 256 SSD
• 16gb Ram (DDR4 SDRAM)
• 7th Generation Intel Core i7 (i7-7500U)
• 2.7ghz processor speed
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 940MX Graphics

Apple Mackbook Pro = $1,499 (would consider getting a refurbished for $1,269)
http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=MF840LL/A&step=config#

• 13.3" Screen Size
• Retina Display (2560x1600)
• 256gb PCle-based flash storage
• 8gb Ram (1866MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory)
• dual-core Intel Core i5
• 2.7ghz processor speed
• Intel Iris Graphics 6100 (Integrated?)

 

[keysofanxiety]

Wait for the MacBook Pros to be updated. Alternatively, upgrade your 2011 MacBook Pro. It's still a very capable machine. Throw in an SSD, max the RAM to 16GB, and it's like a new computer.

 

[kougra6541]

Would the 2016 Macbook, (not the pro-model) work well enough with adobe creative cloud programs?

 

[simon lefisch]

I have a 2011 MBP and it runs great. Slap an SSD and upgrade the RAM and you should be able to get a couple more years out of it.

 

[wegster]

Would the 2016 Macbook, (not the pro-model) work well enough with adobe creative cloud programs?

So, while the Yogas are transitioning to the Think lineup, if they aren't Think(pad) branded, they're generally made 'for' Lenovo by < insert cheapest vendor here >. As such, I think the Yogas are very cool from a hardware/form perspective (aside from the OS), but personally I wouldn't go with a non-Think/pad model.

What does your current MBP not do for you? Adding an SSD + increasing RAM is relatively cheap, and your 15" is likely still faster that the dual-core 13" MBP.

Not sure I'd have high expectations of a non Pro 1.1GHz MacBook running CC very well - possible, I suppose, but depends on what you're doing with it in Photoshop IMO. My 2011 MBP runs all Adobe apps just fine.

 

[kougra6541]

So, while the Yogas are transitioning to the Think lineup, if they aren't Think(pad) branded, they're generally made 'for' Lenovo by < insert cheapest vendor here >. As such, I think the Yogas are very cool from a hardware/form perspective (aside from the OS), but personally I wouldn't go with a non-Think/pad model.

What does your current MBP not do for you? Adding an SSD + increasing RAM is relatively cheap, and your 15" is likely still faster that the dual-core 13" MBP.

Not sure I'd have high expectations of a non Pro 1.1GHz MacBook running CC very well - possible, I suppose, but depends on what you're doing with it in Photoshop IMO. My 2011 MBP runs all Adobe apps just fine.

I have a 13" 2011, not a 15". And it is extremely slow and cant run anything without the spinning ball of death. I have taken it in to the apple store, and the genius bar people have wiped out programs and fixed files that were "out of place" which helped improve the speed by some, but im still having issues. The whole OS is slow and running into problems. It is having issues with not fully connecting to iCloud, randomly powers off, It takes a good 15 minutes after powering on before i can even do anything on the machine. ( i am only using around 50% of my hard drive storage, so the genius bar ruled that out for being a problem)


I looked up replacing the hard drive to a SSD and upping the RAM, and it looks like it would cost around $300 from OWC. If i did that upgrade, how would you expect it to compare to the mid-range 13" 2015 MBP? (i'd possibly wait and get the 2016 but i know that isnt announced yet)


Also, i can afford to upgrade and get a new model now vs. just updating the internals. would i really get long enough use out of just updating the ram and ssd to make up for the additional cost? Vs. just spending the money now for the newer machine?

 

[simon lefisch]

Buy the SSD and RAM from crucial.com. 500GB SSD for $120 and RAM for prob less.

 

[kougra6541]

If I'm going to be doing some graphic design stuff, wouldn't I benefit more from just upgrading to the new model?

Yes updating the RAM and SSD sound nice, won't I still notice some lag from an out of date processor and graphics setup?

And how much longer could I expect my computer to last if I upgrade the RAM and SSD?

Just trying to weigh the benefits of my two options and see which one makes more sense in the long run.

 

[halfbad]

I would wait until the announcement of new mbp and then go with a refurb from Apple. Anywhere in the last couple years will do you fine for another 4 years at the least.

As for 8gb mac or ram = 16 gb of pc, let's not kid ourselves here. Macs are great but not that magical. I know first hand.

Working with large/multiple files in photoshop, Or any program, almost always benefits from more ram.

You'll be fine with a recent, 13 mbp the only thing that would sway me would be if Apple announces an awesome new 13 Mbp with 16 gb ram. Then you have some thinking to do.

Upgrading is a very viable option. But sounds like you may have logic board issues with is why I'm advising a refurb.

 

[kougra6541]

I would wait until the announcement of new mbp and then go with a refurb from Apple. Anywhere in the last couple years will do you fine for another 4 years at the least.

As for 8gb mac or ram = 16 gb of pc, let's not kid ourselves here. Macs are great but not that magical. I know first hand.

Working with large/multiple files in photoshop, Or any program, almost always benefits from more ram.

You'll be fine with a recent, 13 mbp the only thing that would sway me would be if Apple announces an awesome new 13 Mbp with 16 gb ram. Then you have some thinking to do.

Upgrading is a very viable option. But sounds like you may have logic board issues with is why I'm advising a refurb.

Would I notice a huge difference between 8gb and 16gb on a MBP?

I'm not sure if it's the logic board or not, but when my MBPs AppleCare was about to run up, I had them run a diagnostics and fix anything that needed fixing, and they replaced the logic board, hard drive, Some part of the screen connection, and a bunch of other pieces. So that would have all been around 2.5 years ago.

 

[Floris]

Has Lenovo fixed their superfish scandal stuff yet? Or did they just change their backdoors to be harder to detect this time?

Nah, they're blacklisted. So not gonna vote for that one.

Get an Apple

 

[Samuelsan2001]

TO be honest to get the performance benefits you are looking for you need a quad core processor in the machine you buy. Preferably one with iris pro graphics or a dGPU.