Upgrade Time Again - Need Intel Based MBP

[vr4playa]

I have been lucky that my Macbooks last about 6yrs before I usually sell or trade in for a "newer" model. Last time I posted in 2020 I was upgrading from a 2012 to a 2015 but then I got a killer deal on a 2017 which I am currently typing this on.

Current model is 2.9 quad Core i7, 16GB, 512 SSD model MPTT2LL/A

I need to stick with an Intel based as my primary use is for VM Ware Fusion and a tax software I use that is only compatible on an Intel chipset. I see there are options like UTM or QEMU to "emulate" an Intel chipset on the M1/M2 on Parallels or VM Fusion however for simplicity sake I want to just transfer what I got then in 3yrs or so will have to make the difficult decision to go back to a PC after having a Macbook since 2006.

With that in mind I am looking at the following 2 models which are the "final" Intel chipsets on an MBP. Please let me know any common issues and if there are any configurations I should absolutely avoid:

2019 16"

2020 13" w/ 4 Thunderbolt(3 ports)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Fishrrman]

2020 13" w/ 4 Thunderbolt(3 ports)
... Looks to be a good one.

Fishrrman's rules for used MacBook buying:

DO NOT BUY:
MacBook Pro 13" -- 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
MacBook Pro 15" -- 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
ALL of these have the disastrous "butterfly keyboards" that are highly-prone to failure. Although Apple has a free replacement program running for 4 years "from new", when that time expires YOU will pay for the repair.
And it's NOT CHEAP -- $750 for even a single key gone bad.
That's because the entire top case has to be replaced... even for a single key failure!

DO BUY:
MacBook Pro 13" -- 2020
MacBook Pro 16" -- 2019 and later.
These have the new "magic" (scissors) keyboards, as did the 2015 and earlier MBPs. These keyboards have been very reliable.

Also:
MacBook Pro 14" or 16" -- 2021

 

[vr4playa]

Thank you for the info. My current '17 thankfully had the keyboard replaced in time, but don't want to go through that again.

The same person I bought this from had a '21 14" for sale but after researching the M1 chip I realized I need to stay Intel so I will do the '20 13" or '19 16" per your suggestion.