Greetings everyone! My new 16" order finally went to "preparing to ship" status today and just wanted to share my excitement. I'm still operating on a very broken 2011 15" macbook pro that has been plagued with issues. I can barely run my image processing applications for my research. I vacillated over what new machine to get, but knew I wanted the bigger screen. I kept it modest and went with the i7 6-core, but did up the ram to 32GB (and a 1TB drive). With the Education discount, it kept things reasonable and I know based on my needs, it will be more than enough for at least 5 years. I'll need to keep the old beast around for a little while to use Photoshop 6 (not supported on catalina), but can't wait for the new machine. I'm a little nervous about all of these kernel panics I've been reading about lately, so hopefuly I don't end up with any of those issues.
At any rate, thanks for many of the useful comments and suggestions everyone. It helped inform my decision.
For some history....here's a little info about my current macbook....
---------------------------------------
So here's what I currently have:
Late 2011, 15” MacBook Pro (8,2)
Primary Use: I’m an Academic/Researcher. I do a lot of sample image processing, Matlab, python, R, coding/compiling, lectures, presentations, photoshop, illustrator, and all other day-to-day regular stuff. This is my primary workstation for work, home, and travel. I don’t use a desktop. Some applications I use are x86 dependent and/or proprietary. I should note that I do also work with some 3D imagery/rendering, as well as a a little FinalCut movie creation/editing.
What it originally came with:
- 2.2 Ghz Intel Core i7 (Quad Core)
- 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 Ram
- Integrated Graphics - Intel HD 3000 512 MB
- Dedicated GPU - AMD Radeon HD 6750M - 512 MB
- Disk 750 GB 5400-rpm Drive
- MacOS - Snow Leopard?
What I've upgraded over the years:
- 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 Ram (OWC)
- 1 TB Solid State Hard Drive (OWC)
- MacOS (Currently Sierra)
What I’ve replaced:
- 78 Watt-Hour Replacement Battery (OWC)
- New Mag-safe power adapter (Ebay)
- Wifi Bluetooth Flex Cable
- 2015 - GPU Failed (known Radeon defect) - motherboard replaced under Apple replacement plan
- 2019 - GPU Failed again (same defect) - Currently using ‘MacBook Pro dGPU Disabler’ and force-running on Intel graphics only.
What is failing:
- Because of broken dGPU, I cannot connect to an external display without a special USB video dongle/contraption (this stinks for lecturing)
- Because of broken dGPU, I cannot do heavy image processing/rendering right now. It slows the computer to a halt and spikes thermals.
- Keyboard - multiple minor issues (some keys don’t respond well or stick, etc)
- Screen - Some bad pixels
- Wifi - sometimes drops
- New Battery - already failing again (holds charge for maybe 2 hrs max)
- Track pad sometimes doesn’t click fully
- I cannot upgrade macOS right now because it will break my dGPU disabler and render my laptop a 'brick'
What I love and/or will miss:
- I LOVE the anti-glare screen and will miss this terribly. I have a 2019 iPad Air that is so glossy to me, I had to buy the ‘Paperlike’ brand screen protector for it to make it more matte (which I highly recommend btw)
- All of the ports! (and yes, even the DVD player). Not looking forward to dongle hell. I use the ethernet port at work. I'll probably get a thunderbolt mini-hub of some kind.
- The little battery life indicator button on the side (I know...it's silly)
- MagSafe power cord!
- Most of all though, the ability to upgrade it and/or work on it myself.
- Yes this laptop has had its share of issues, but I always know I can take it apart and tinker with it. Had it not been for the damn Radeon issue, this machine would have done really well over its almost 10 years.
