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Indeed, the specs won't be anywhere near close to those of the quad core/6 core Pro's. However, the main difference is the fan for me, as you know the 12" MacBook is fanless, it's very hard to go back to something else once you have tried it/got used to it. I had to check something on my secondary windows laptop the other day and when the fan kicked in :( terrible.

You seriously basing your purchase on the sound of the fan which most NORMAL people won't hear or it won't kick in all the time? Maybe you should just get an iPad since all you do is Facebook and the occasional Candy Crush.
 
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You seriously basing your purchase on the sound of the fan which most NORMAL people won't hear or it won't kick in all the time? Maybe you should just get an iPad since all you do is Facebook and the occasional Candy Crush.

I never said I was normal lol. I do a lot of late night browsing/file transferring and the fan annoys the hell out of me. Have a nice day.
 
Just placed an order for my new system - should be quite the upgrade from my current 2013 machine (specs in sig).

Ordered:
15" MacBook Pro Space Grey
2.9GHz i9
Radeon Pro 560X
32GB 2400MHz DDR4 memory
512GB SSD storage

Also with AppleCare, the USB-C to USB Adapter, and got the free Solo3 Wireless Beats.

512GB SSD is plenty enough for me considering I have plenty of external drives! I will be using the following with the new system
- 500GB OWC Envoy Pro EX as a small portable drive
- 4TB OWC ThunderBlade V4 to be used as my main scratch/editing drive with FCPX
- QNAP NAS with 8x6TB drives in RAID 5, used as general storage and backups for everyone in the household.
- 12TB WD My Book Duo used to backup most important data from NAS and placed offsite.
- 8TB WD My Book - Spare at the moment!
- Several 240GB SSDs that I place into a caddy as and when needed, for SuperDuper backups of MacBooks etc

Hoping my new setup will last me a good 4-5 years now!
 
I wonder how many of these are bought without the "student" discount. Most people on here seem to be getting it.
 
I wonder how many of these are bought without the "student" discount. Most people on here seem to be getting it.
For student, this release is a perfect timing indeed. Not sure in the US, but in France we have to lg in through a special uni gate with our credentials so it's hard to get around.
 
The price difference is about $400, and unfortunately that is too big a difference for what will be my daughter’s high school computer.
I don't mean to be presumptuous by second guessing your financial decisions and I totally understand your frustration with the cheaper models not being updated, but in your original post you stated you bought her a 2017 refurb for $1609.
Assuming you're in the US, you can get a brand new, quad core, base 2018 model for $1,799, a difference of only $190 for a machine that will be twice as fast, and age much more gracefully over time. If your daughter is planning to use this throughout high school (four years?), I would strongly suggest you reconsider.

If you're worried about the storage (256GB vs 512GB), think of it this way: the inconvenience of an external HDD/SSD (which can be had for as low as $50-$75 or less if you watch Slickdeals) is far less than the inconvenience of a machine that just doesn't have the raw computing power (cores/threads) to get the job done. Another way of looking at it is: If you buy her the 2018 model, it should easily last her through high school and quite possibly into college, whereas the 2017 model will feel like a dinosaur (relatively) before she's even hit her senior year (assuming she's a freshman/sophomore now). So spend another $200 today and possibly save yourself (or her) from spending another $~1200+ down the line when the 2017 model just doesn't cut it anymore.

Again, just some friendly advice, it's your money, and if there's some reason she needs the internal storage more than the processing power, or, for whatever reason, you have a budget that has to be stuck to, then you do you.

Finally, see if you can't swing your daughter an education discount, as the lower price & free (resellable) Beats headphones could make all of this arguing over the 2018 model costing more a moot point. I know high school students aren't technically covered, but honestly Apple doesn't check so... (if you're not comfortable going that route, do you have any friends/family who are students/teachers/etc?)
 
I wonder how many of these are bought without the "student" discount. Most people on here seem to be getting it.

I work in education so managed to use the discount - I sent off my staff ID to the email address provided on my quotation. I'm not sure if Apple actually requests ID from all users though. My friend ordered and obtained an educational discount in the past without even working for education by just not sending any ID! That was a few years back - maybe they have changed their processes now though....
 
Just ordered mine this morning. I also ordered a couple dongles from Amazon in advance, so I can test my dual monitor + laptop setup right away. I also got a Magic Mouse because why the hell not. Fits great in the front pocket of my laptop sleeve.

13-inch MacBook Pro - Space Grey
2.3GHz quad-core 8th‑generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
512GB SSD storage
Backlit Keyboard - French Canadian

Got the student discount even I'm technically not a student (I have a university email address anyway, if asked).

Also got the Matt Black Beats Solo3, I hope I can sell them to offset the ludicrous price of my purchase. I already see them popping up on Kijiji.
 
I don't see b&h any more offering apple care as separate product. so confused. only some uni stores has for $259, but not sure if thats comparable with new MacBook Pro.
Yeah... I work at a university and noticed yesterday that they sell Applecare+ for $259. I already bought my MBP with the plans to buy Applecare+ later if I was satisfied with the machine (keyboard basically), which I am. I plan on walking down to the tech store tomorrow to see if they can sell me Applecare+ on a machine that was sold elsewhere - or if the laptop itself needed to be purchased from them. Not sure... But worth checking I guess.
 
Yeah... I work at a university and noticed yesterday that they sell Applecare+ for $259. I already bought my MBP with the plans to buy Applecare+ later if I was satisfied with the machine (keyboard basically), which I am. I plan on walking down to the tech store tomorrow to see if they can sell me Applecare+ on a machine that was sold elsewhere - or if the laptop itself needed to be purchased from them. Not sure... But worth checking I guess.
I happen to have called Apple about this. I bought my MBP from them and was willing to add AC. But in Europe at least it says AC needs to be purchased at the same time to have the edu discount. But on the phone they told me I will still be able to get the discount afterward. I just need to call them when I get my Mac so they can request a few informations (serial number etc)
 
I don't see b&h any more offering apple care as separate product. so confused. only some uni stores has for $259, but not sure if thats comparable with new MacBook Pro.

"Apple Care Protection Plans are only available at time of purchase of Apple products"

That's new. In the past, you could buy it separately, at a discounted price. :(
[doublepost=1531839760][/doublepost]
I wonder how many of these are bought without the "student" discount. Most people on here seem to be getting it.

Yeah, it can be as simple as having an email address with ".edu".
 
They are pretty lenient with the Student discount in the U.S. I have received it on numerous occasions without show any sort of ID or .edu address.
 
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Got security checked by BOA - over the lousy $300 free headphones. And after calling the bank, the Apple website kept saying "something went wrong". Had to call Apple to straighten it out. And it will probably happen again when the Macbook Pro itself ships. I really wish Apple would just charge the whole thing at once and stop this piecemeal stupidity - the headphones, the shipping and the Macbook are all separate charges. Dumb.

And then BOA says it was "unusual activity" even though I've charged thousands of dollars a year regularly to this card from Apple, to the same address. Even went through Apple Pay, which is harder to fake because of biometric security.

I really hate online ordering.
 
What’s more important for future proofing? Standard config 15 2.6 i7 with upgraded RAM from 16 to 32, or SSD from 512 to 1tb? I want it to last for the majority of the next decade....

Edit - or just forgo AppleCare and get both...
 
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Yeah... I work at a university and noticed yesterday that they sell Applecare+ for $259. I already bought my MBP with the plans to buy Applecare+ later if I was satisfied with the machine (keyboard basically), which I am. I plan on walking down to the tech store tomorrow to see if they can sell me Applecare+ on a machine that was sold elsewhere - or if the laptop itself needed to be purchased from them. Not sure... But worth checking I guess.


Thanks can you let me know how it goes. i wasn't sure if i can buy online for $259 from some university to store and apply to my MacBook pro.
 
Picked up a 13 like new open box 2017 13" 3.1 Touch Bar for a pretty good price about a week before the 18 release. Intrigued by the quad core eight gen, battery upgrade, and the t2 Touch Bar chip but not much else. Definitely not enough to justify an additional 600+$ difference between the 17 and 18 for my usage.

Ive been using a 12.9 second gen iPad Pro as my portable device for a while and its done well but it just doesn't replace some things, just wanted to get back to a laptop (replace my aging but upgraded '09 MBP)
 
What’s more important for future proofing? Standard config 15 2.6 i7 with upgraded RAM from 16 to 32, or SSD from 512 to 1tb? I want it to last for the majority of the next decade....

Edit - or just forgo AppleCare and get both...

I say for 10 years RAM without doubt. Cloud based storage solutions in 10 years will be the norm I think.
 
I say for 10 years RAM without doubt. Cloud based storage solutions in 10 years will be the norm I think.

I could afford both if I got the lower spec base model with 2.2 and 555x instead of upgrading the higher spec to have 1tb and 32gb. Are the differences between 2.2ghz and 555x and the higher versions really that big?
 
Well I took the plunge and ordered a 15" MBP with 512GB SSD. If you've noticed my prior posts, I had bought (and returned) a Razer. I really liked that, but I missed the apple ecosystem. My kids and even wife were pushing for the MBP over the Razer. Since I qualified for the edu discount, I'm saving some money and got a pair of Beats headphones. The cost of this model, is about a 100 dollars more then the Razer, so I'm not out more money. This also means the Razer is a very expensive laptop.

View attachment 770860

I'm so excited man! I got the same config as you!
 
I don't mean to be presumptuous by second guessing your financial decisions and I totally understand your frustration with the cheaper models not being updated, but in your original post you stated you bought her a 2017 refurb for $1609.
Assuming you're in the US, you can get a brand new, quad core, base 2018 model for $1,799, a difference of only $190 for a machine that will be twice as fast, and age much more gracefully over time. If your daughter is planning to use this throughout high school (four years?), I would strongly suggest you reconsider.

If you're worried about the storage (256GB vs 512GB), think of it this way: the inconvenience of an external HDD/SSD (which can be had for as low as $50-$75 or less if you watch Slickdeals) is far less than the inconvenience of a machine that just doesn't have the raw computing power (cores/threads) to get the job done. Another way of looking at it is: If you buy her the 2018 model, it should easily last her through high school and quite possibly into college, whereas the 2017 model will feel like a dinosaur (relatively) before she's even hit her senior year (assuming she's a freshman/sophomore now). So spend another $200 today and possibly save yourself (or her) from spending another $~1200+ down the line when the 2017 model just doesn't cut it anymore.

Again, just some friendly advice, it's your money, and if there's some reason she needs the internal storage more than the processing power, or, for whatever reason, you have a budget that has to be stuck to, then you do you.

Finally, see if you can't swing your daughter an education discount, as the lower price & free (resellable) Beats headphones could make all of this arguing over the 2018 model costing more a moot point. I know high school students aren't technically covered, but honestly Apple doesn't check so... (if you're not comfortable going that route, do you have any friends/family who are students/teachers/etc?)

Thanks. FWIW, I could have gotten the 256GB refurb for $200 less, so the apples to apples comparison would still make this $400 cheaper.

Definitely appreciate the advice. From my perspective, I look at my own 2013 MacBook Pro and find that it still performs as well as I need it to, so I don’t really feel like she’s going to run into any performance issues that will require her to replace hers anytime soon.
 
I asked this somewhere else, but probably more relevant here. For those who have theirs, is the charging lead white?
 
Got security checked by BOA - over the lousy $300 free headphones. And after calling the bank, the Apple website kept saying "something went wrong". Had to call Apple to straighten it out. And it will probably happen again when the Macbook Pro itself ships. I really wish Apple would just charge the whole thing at once and stop this piecemeal stupidity - the headphones, the shipping and the Macbook are all separate charges. Dumb.

And then BOA says it was "unusual activity" even though I've charged thousands of dollars a year regularly to this card from Apple, to the same address. Even went through Apple Pay, which is harder to fake because of biometric security.

I really hate online ordering.

You need to call you banks and tell them about the pending purchase. They will note it on the account and let it go though.
 
I just picked up a "stock CTO" high-end 13" with the 2.7 GHz i7 (8559u?), 16 GB, 1 TB SSD at my local Apple store to replace my 2016 15".

I've always like the 13" form factor better than the 15" but have been waiting forever for a quad-core 13".
 
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