Need some tips for buying a MBP as a secondary laptop @newbie alert

[L.Ovidiu]

Hello everyone, i'm new on this forum and same on "macbooks world", so don't blame me so hard if i'm asking something wrong.

First of all, i'm a student and i'm working as a web designer from home which demands the use of 1 browser with 5-15 tabs opened, sometimes even more, photoshop and illustrator for banners, logos, image touch-ups, generally medium level usage, not for very complicated things as rendering, at all.

Right now i'm using my 15" Asus ROG Sieres (i7-gen 4, 8gb ram, samsung ssd + hdd, nvidia 950 gtx, full hd display, and so on), a pretty powerful gaming laptop which works very well for my needs of web designing.

But, i'm very interested of buying an macbook pro, because of its design and functionality (i've done some research, and i found that MBP are very long lasting with some upgrades, even desktops from 2006 with maxed ram and ssd upgrades are working very well.

My interest in macbook started because sometimes when i'm staying in bed with my ASUS ROG laptop is kinda heavy, so i thought that a macbook pro 13" second hand fits very well for me.

Ok i need a macbook, but what model? what year? 13" or 15"?I'll explain to you which situations i need to debate:

A] MBP as secondary laptop:

1) Should i buy a 13" MBP second hand from 2009-2011 (around 275-500$) and upgrade with ssd and maxed ram? but what if i will like it THAT MUCH (the apple products effect ) and i'll regret that i didn't bought a newer and stronger macbook.

2) Should i buy a 15" MBP second hand from 2009-2010 (same price as MBP 2011)just because is worth the money more than the 2009-2011 MBP 13"?

Can anyone tell how it's working photoshop or illustrator on these models?

B] MBP as main laptop:

1]Should i wait more, save some money, sell my ASUS ROG (i bought it with 1000$ in september 2015, so i still have warranty until september 2017, so i can sell it with only 750-800$ with some luck) and then buy a better second hand 15" MBP as a main laptop, which is around 800$ for 2012 model, or a newer model for around 1000$ or more.

2]OR simply buy MBP from the previous point A1], see if i like it or not, keep it for some time, up to 1 year, or even after my ASUS ROG warranty expire, sell them both and buy the most expensive MBP 15" that can i afford?

So many questions, so many models with different hardwares, many software or hardware problems of these models which i don't know yet to make the right decission.

In the end guys, after you have the patience to read my thoughts, give me your best opinions with arguments and help a "lost" macbook to find his new owner .

Cheers!

 

[L.Ovidiu]

no one ?

 

[nicovh]

I don't know how much you are willing to spend, but at WWDC, June 13th, Apple will most likely announce the new MacBook Pro.
The new machines will have Skylake CPU's with GT4e integrated graphics. Which is a huge boost in graphic performance. The 13" will have Iris Pro 550 iGPU and the 15" will have the Iris Pro 580 iGPU. Both very powerful, and of course the 580 will be much faster than the 550.
We don't have any benchmarks yet so I couldn't tell you how it would compare to your current laptop.

Depending on how much you are willing to spend, i'd say sell your Windows Laptop and get a buff spec. 15" this coming june. (If apple doesn't decide to pull a thin MacBook design on it and thermally constrain the new rMBP)

If the price range does not fit your budget, the price of the current MacBook Pros will then drop in June. A 13" could then probably fit within your price range as a secondary laptop.
The ForceTouch Trackpad is very very nice, so if I were you, I would look for a mid 2015 model.

If still not in your budget, like you already researched, getting an older model is a good option. Buying older models is nice, especially because you can upgrade them yourself, but you don't know how the laptop has been treated and in what condition the battery is.
If the battery on your first option only lasts at most 2 hours away from a plug, then was it a good purchase? Other parts might give up too after a year or two. So getting a relatively new machine would be more cost efficient (no replacing parts etc)

But in the end it all comes down to what you want, how much you want to spend, and how much power you are looking for in a secondary laptop. I'd recommend getting a new 15" refurbished mid 2015 13" from Apple itself after WWDC.

Hope this helped.