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AFgixxer

AFgixxer

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 23, 2013
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I currently have a Late 2011 15” MacBook Pro and the battery is done on it and also it’s become very slow. I was looking at the 2017 at the beginning of the month but then the 2018 came out. I am reading the 2018 pro is having some issues. I don’t need the best, but I want my computer to be able to do what I need it for. I edit pictures for social media, starting to video edit and film workout videos for YouTube. I plan to also get a Mavic drone and would need it to be able to render 4K videos.

What is everyone’s recommendation? Go with a 2017 MacBook Pro or a 2018? Also what specs I should get would be helpful.
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Go with a 2018. The 2016/2017 models still had their fair share of problems (more so than the 2018 models) The new processor advancements are well worth it (the biggest leap we've seen in performance on both 13 and 15 inch models in quite some time) due to the new 4 and 6 core processors.
 
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Nbd1790 said:
Go with a 2018. The 2016/2017 models still had their fair share of problems (more so than the 2018 models) The new processor advancements are well worth it (the biggest leap we've seen in performance on both 13 and 15 inch models in quite some time) due to the new 4 and 6 core processors.
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Nice thanks! What specs for the 2018 should I be focused on? I7/I9 etc they can get pretty costly adding a bunch of stuff
 
I think the 2.6 may be the sweet spot in the Line up, but I don't edit videos, but I do see the i9 throttling more then the 2.6.
 
AFgixxer said:
Nice thanks! What specs for the 2018 should I be focused on? I7/I9 etc they can get pretty costly adding a bunch of stuff
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It's a tricky question to answer right now. From what I understand, the i9 is being throttled because it overheats frequently (not sure if that issue has been resolved)

If I was picking up a 2018, I'd probably go for an i7 with 32gb of ram. The fact that it is a 6 core processor alone will be much faster than previous version of the i7. I'd rather spend the extra money on Ram than the processor.
 
That’s a good point about the ram. I think anything would be faster than what I have now though lol I looked hard at a certified 2017 also
 
I understand the desire to update from a 7-year-old laptop. And the model your looking at, imho, is nice. But have you considered replacing the battery ($50-100) and installing an SSD ($100+)? These would breathe new life into your MBP.

But for a new system, if you're editing 4K video, there is never enough storage space. You'll need a lot for working (500GB - 1TB) but you certainly won't want to use tis expensive medium to archive projects. You may want to consider external USB- drives.

My experience with FCPX and using optimized media is projects get big without really trying. But different NLEs and workflows will have different requirements.
 
Well I also wanted a newer one 2018/17 is that the body is also a lot lighter and sleeker and just more updated. I could also go with something like this but someone suggested the 2018.
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I just don’t want to get a cheaper 18 and it not be enough. I also didn’t want to spend 4-5k on the 2018.. but adding 1tb, 32gb and the radio 560x gets the price real high. Just don’t want to be sluggish or take hours render YouTube videos.
 
You made a solid choice that will last you years to come. The 2018 doesn’t have the keyboard issues. The 1 TB should be sufficient if you run out of space you can always buy a thunderbolt drive.
 
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it seems to me that potential buyers should go the the apple store, buy their MBP2018, spend 1 hours testing the laptop there.
if everything is satisfactory- go home, happy!
if not, sales people are there to see the throttling, battery explode and the other frustrating experiences that are posted here.
 
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ggibson913 said:
You made a solid choice that will last you years to come. The 2018 doesn’t have the keyboard issues. The 1 TB should be sufficient if you run out of space you can always buy a thunderbolt drive.
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That was my thinking. I paid like 2800 for mine back in 2011 and it lasted this long so if the new one does, seems worth it. So is anything I selected an overkill or maybe not even enough?
 
AFgixxer said:
That was my thinking. I paid like 2800 for mine back in 2011 and it lasted this long so if the new one does, seems worth it. So is anything I selected an overkill or maybe not even enough?
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I REALLY hate purchasing RAM from Apple (One reason I have the 27 inch iMac). I understand that you basically have no choice. I don't do video renders so I am unable to tell you if the RAM Is overkill or not. My philosophy has always been for my personal computer, I can wait five minutes for something if it will save me hundreds.
 
ggibson913 said:
I REALLY hate purchasing RAM from Apple (One reason I have the 27 inch iMac). I understand that you basically have no choice. I don't do video renders so I am unable to tell you if the RAM Is overkill or not. My philosophy has always been for my personal computer, I can wait five minutes for something if it will save me hundreds.
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Well sometimes it can be a few hours for longer videos lol
 
AFgixxer said:
Is 1tb enough or is 2tb needed?
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Are you seriously going to spend $5000 on a laptop? With all due respect, you could spend half of that on last year's MBP (still a great computer) and put the rest in a CD or savings account or Apple stock or anything else that "appreciates," and have something that actually has value in five or ten years. But it's your money...
 
lambertjohn said:
Are you seriously going to spend $5000 on a laptop? With all due respect, you could spend half of that on last year's MBP (still a great computer) and put the rest in a CD or savings account or Apple stock or anything else that "appreciates," and have something that actually has value in five or ten years. But it's your money...
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Doesn’t everyone spend that or more buying a Mac? Lol
 
No haven’t bought it yet. Still deciding. Friend is pushing me hard towards the asus scar lol
 
AFgixxer said:
Friend is pushing me hard towards the asus scar lol
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That's a gaming laptop and its a different category then the MBP. The battery won't last as long, but it has a better GPU. The fit and finish is geared towards a more gaming style, where as the MBP is clean design. Its up to you, on one hand you have a windows machine that will be fast, and on the other hand, you have a macOS that's well built and runs well but has an inferior GPU, but doesn't have some of the windows short comings.
 
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