Hi, I know that his has been posted quite a few times already but I'd still rather have opinions on this specific case.
I am looking to buy a MacBook, since I am leaving for 4 months and won't be taking my main PC with me. I can't make up my mind however which would be the better option. I am a mechanical engineering student and I also do graphic design (mostly UI). Right now I own a Windows desktop and 11" MBA 2011. I use the MBA for Sketch and it works borderline fine, but its getting slower and hotter for other regular tasks; the battery isn't great anymore either - about 2 hours regular usage. I use my main PC for other tasks like CAD, Photoshop, After Effects, 3DS max, etc. (I would be running Windows with Bootcamp for CAD). I don't really play games.
I was originally going to opt for the base 13" TB version, because of the better CPU, but I am worried whether 8GB RAM will suffice and whether I should rather go with nTB with 16GB RAM roughly at the same price. I don't really care for the touch bar and I might even rather have one without, but I don't mind it either. The two fewer ports I could probably live with, so the CPU is the main deal breaker (not sure how much better the GPU is, but I would use it for more CPU intensive tasks anyway). To be honest I haven't found any real world comparison between these two, just benchmarks, so I don't know what difference I am looking at, but I suppose it could be helpful in most of the tasks. I don't really care about longer waiting times (when rendering images or video), but rather about the general smoothness when working in 3D etc.
There is also the option to go with the TB and 16GB RAM which would be about 12% more expensive, though it might be worth considering for the long run. Another option is just the base nTB with 8GB which would be about 17% cheaper compared to the base TB and 25% cheaper than TB with 16GB RAM.
I am expecting it to last for +-5 years where it would be the "main" machine just for periods when I am out of the country or just not at home. I know this is mostly about if I am willing to sacrifice performance for less money and how often I need this performance, but I'd like to hear your opinions and what you think the real difference would be. Thank you.
Edit: Base non Touch bar meaning 256GB, sorry.
I am looking to buy a MacBook, since I am leaving for 4 months and won't be taking my main PC with me. I can't make up my mind however which would be the better option. I am a mechanical engineering student and I also do graphic design (mostly UI). Right now I own a Windows desktop and 11" MBA 2011. I use the MBA for Sketch and it works borderline fine, but its getting slower and hotter for other regular tasks; the battery isn't great anymore either - about 2 hours regular usage. I use my main PC for other tasks like CAD, Photoshop, After Effects, 3DS max, etc. (I would be running Windows with Bootcamp for CAD). I don't really play games.
I was originally going to opt for the base 13" TB version, because of the better CPU, but I am worried whether 8GB RAM will suffice and whether I should rather go with nTB with 16GB RAM roughly at the same price. I don't really care for the touch bar and I might even rather have one without, but I don't mind it either. The two fewer ports I could probably live with, so the CPU is the main deal breaker (not sure how much better the GPU is, but I would use it for more CPU intensive tasks anyway). To be honest I haven't found any real world comparison between these two, just benchmarks, so I don't know what difference I am looking at, but I suppose it could be helpful in most of the tasks. I don't really care about longer waiting times (when rendering images or video), but rather about the general smoothness when working in 3D etc.
There is also the option to go with the TB and 16GB RAM which would be about 12% more expensive, though it might be worth considering for the long run. Another option is just the base nTB with 8GB which would be about 17% cheaper compared to the base TB and 25% cheaper than TB with 16GB RAM.
I am expecting it to last for +-5 years where it would be the "main" machine just for periods when I am out of the country or just not at home. I know this is mostly about if I am willing to sacrifice performance for less money and how often I need this performance, but I'd like to hear your opinions and what you think the real difference would be. Thank you.
Edit: Base non Touch bar meaning 256GB, sorry.
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