Which older generation MacBook Pro do I get?

[jpraider]

Hey all. I’m a video editor. I usually edit videos on a desktop but recently have found myself out of the house a lot more. I take my 2015 MacBook air with me to edit in premiere pro. Whilst I definitely don’t do super heavy editing on this machine I do find that it is very limited in performance. It holds up surprisingly well but I’d just like to weigh in if an older MacBook Pro would have more strength with graphics and processing without sounding like an airport is on my lap.

I’ve had a look at 2011 pros with i7s and pretty much every year up to around 2017. I’m really tight for money and preferably would like to spend the money I get for my air to buy a pro I can add a little if I can get better deals. Can anyone recomend me the sort of best MacBook Pro I can get that fits the budget. I understand dated computers will have set backs but I’m used to a 2015 already. I can’t imagine anything being much different.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Hey all. I’m a video editor. I usually edit videos on a desktop but recently have found myself out of the house a lot more. I take my 2015 MacBook air with me to edit in premiere pro. Whilst I definitely don’t do super heavy editing on this machine I do find that it is very limited in performance. It holds up surprisingly well but I’d just like to weigh in if an older MacBook Pro would have more strength with graphics and processing without sounding like an airport is on my lap.

I’ve had a look at 2011 pros with i7s and pretty much every year up to around 2017. I’m really tight for money and preferably would like to spend the money I get for my air to buy a pro I can add a little if I can get better deals. Can anyone recomend me the sort of best MacBook Pro I can get that fits the budget. I understand dated computers will have set backs but I’m used to a 2015 already. I can’t imagine anything being much different.

Just about any Intel Mac is going to sound like "an airport is on your lap". Incidentally, while it's still a great Mac, the only Intel Mac laptop that I'd recommend ANYONE get at this point is the "MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)".

I don't recommend ANY Intel 13-inch MacBook Pro. If someone gave you a KILLER deal on a 2020 4-port model, maybe I'd consider it. But even then, I'd say to get the Intel 16-inch model instead. A 2015 Intel 13-inch or even 15-inch MacBook Pro isn't that great of a value in 2023 either on account of macOS Monterey being those Macs' final supported version. Everything in between the 2015 MacBook Pros and the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro has the dreaded butterfly keyboard which is a reliability ticking time bomb (I can't recommend those to anyone not getting one for free).

I'd say that an M1 13-inch MacBook Pro or M1 MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM would probably be the best thing you can buy yourself, both in terms of being a really good upgrade over what you have, not being on the outgoing side of a massive processor architecture transition for the Mac, and not sounding like "an airport is on your lap". They're also fairly affordable. I like the M1 13-inch MacBook Pro over the M1 MacBook Air, but the difference isn't substantial at all, let alone enough to practically justify the added price tag and an M1 Air with 16GB of RAM and a roomy enough SSD is going to kick the crap out of any 2020 Intel 13-inch MacBook Pro, let alone what you have currently.

 

[jpraider]

Just about any Intel Mac is going to sound like "an airport is on your lap". Incidentally, while it's still a great Mac, the only Intel Mac laptop that I'd recommend ANYONE get at this point is the "MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)".

I don't recommend ANY Intel 13-inch MacBook Pro. If someone gave you a KILLER deal on a 2020 4-port model, maybe I'd consider it. But even then, I'd say to get the Intel 16-inch model instead. A 2015 Intel 13-inch or even 15-inch MacBook Pro isn't that great of a value in 2023 either on account of macOS Monterey being those Macs' final supported version. Everything in between the 2015 MacBook Pros and the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro has the dreaded butterfly keyboard which is a reliability ticking time bomb (I can't recommend those to anyone not getting one for free).

I'd say that an M1 13-inch MacBook Pro or M1 MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM would probably be the best thing you can buy yourself, both in terms of being a really good upgrade over what you have, not being on the outgoing side of a massive processor architecture transition for the Mac, and not sounding like "an airport is on your lap". They're also fairly affordable. I like the M1 13-inch MacBook Pro over the M1 MacBook Air, but the difference isn't substantial at all, let alone enough to practically justify the added price tag and an M1 Air with 16GB of RAM and a roomy enough SSD is going to kick the crap out of any 2020 Intel 13-inch MacBook Pro, let alone what you have currently.

Well ideally I’d love to get my hands on the newer models and I don’t mind the airport sound, I just don’t like my MacBook air not wanting to playback footage. If you were to recommend an intel model MacBook surely there’s one that Is at least slightly better than the 2015 MacBook Air within a reasonable budget. I’m in a sticky situation where I’ve been made redundant and no longer have the tools to continue work. Thus I’m trying to get my hands on a somewhat capable machine to at least get out into the world and start up freelancing video editing. It’s a tricky time for me and the income isn’t flowing anymore. That’s why I’m trying to recycle funds from machine to another

 

[Yebubbleman]

Well ideally I’d love to get my hands on the newer models and I don’t mind the airport sound, I just don’t like my MacBook air not wanting to playback footage. If you were to recommend an intel model MacBook surely there’s one that Is at least slightly better than the 2015 MacBook Air within a reasonable budget. I’m in a sticky situation where I’ve been made redundant and no longer have the tools to continue work. Thus I’m trying to get my hands on a somewhat capable machine to at least get out into the world and start up freelancing video editing. It’s a tricky time for me and the income isn’t flowing anymore. That’s why I’m trying to recycle funds from machine to another

I'd recommend either:

(a) MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)

OR

(b) MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) with no less than 16GB of RAM



With the following as runner-ups:

(c) MacBook Air (M1, 2020) with no less than 16GB of RAM

OR

(d) MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)


(a) and (d) both come standard with a minimum of 16GB of RAM; they will also support 32GB though that's much less common to find for (d) than it is for (a).

(b) and (c) both have 8GB and 16GB options; go with the latter.

I'd say that (d) really ought to be a last resort purchase since the cost difference won't be substantial over either M1 offering while the performance and battery life will be night and day better.

(b) and (c) aren't that different; but my guess is the active cooling will probably help you a little with a few tasks.

(c) is your only non-Touch-Bar option, if that matters to you (though in all cases, the Touch Bar is the version that has a physical escape key).

Do not get any Intel MacBook Air. Any Intel MacBook Air newer than what you have will either be (A) the same machine you have currently (if the 2017 model) or (B) a really horrible and even less performant machine barely capable of casual computing (if the 2018, 2019, or 2020 models).

Though, do be careful. To the naked eye, there's no obvious external differences between the 2020 Intel MacBook Air model and the 2020 M1 MacBook Air model (the M1 version will have a globe icon on the function key where the Intel one will not and that's the only obvious way to tell those two apart externally. The 2018 and 2019 models are very similar looking to both 2020 models, but different enough in other obvious ways; though they are otherwise physically identical to each other.

 

[Fishrrman]

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

 

[StoneJack]

Good advice. No pbm 2016-2019 rest are more less fine