MacBook Pro 2016 - Which is the best choice?

[iKl9kca]

So recently i decided i wanted to get the new APPLE MacBook PRO 2016 - my question is which is the best one to get; I live in New Zealand so the prices are quite hiked up - further more i do have a desktop being a GTX 1080 FE and a i7-6700K so i don't need that. I want something that will last me for two years of school and university and MacOS due to the nature of me already having iPhone etc.

1. MacBook PRO 2016 13" TouchBar, 8GB Ram, 256GB i5 Dual core ~ $2999.00 NZD
2. MacBook PRO 2016 13" TouchBar, 8GB Ram, 512GB i5 Dual core ~ $3,299.00 NZD
3. MacBook PRO 2016 15" TouchBar, 16GB Ram, RX 455, 256GB i7 Quad core ~ $3,999.00 NZD
4. MacBook PRO 2016 15" TouchBar, 16GB Ram, RX 455, 512GB i7 Quad core ~ $4,699.00 NZD

Those are the options, is it worth the hike for the 15" model; i will be doing computer science and general school stuff along with programming. 

[MilitantCro]

Are you shure you arent interested in something like dell xps 15 or a razer blade?

[ChasingPluto]

Aren't Macs like not the best for programming? I don't program so I'm just going off what I hear.

[iKl9kca]

5 minutes ago, MilitantCro said:

Are you shure you arent interested in something like dell xps 15 or a razer blade?

Yeah i don't like windows laptops - i love desktop but i just can't for the life of me use windows laptops and i have tried with dell laptops and some other ones before but they just don't work for me like the macbook does - used my sisters AIR and now a old 2012 macbook pro and it works so damn well and just flow; thats just my opinion and experience with the macbook.

2 minutes ago, ChasingPluto said:

Aren't Macs like not the best for programming? I don't program so I'm just going off what I hear.

No in fact they have a lot of programs that support it as such making it more ideal.

[MilitantCro]

Just now, iKl9kca said:

Yeah i don't like windows laptops - i love desktop but i just can't for the life of me use windows laptops and i have tried with dell laptops and some other ones before but they just don't work for me like the macbook does - used my sisters AIR and now a old 2012 macbook pro and it works so damn well and just flow; thats just my opinion and experience with the macbook.

No intact they have a lot of programs that support it as such making it more ideal.

I felt the same about windows laptops before, but now m.2 ssds are so freaking fast and i7 HQs are really powerful its a completely different experience, specially when a laptop has a glass touch pad and an aluminum build. Something like a UX501vw with dual boot linux would be amazing for programing.

[ChasingPluto]

5 minutes ago, iKl9kca said:

-snip-

Since you already have a killer desktop there's really no need to push the price of the laptop. "School stuff" doesnt take up much space on a drive.  I can't speak for programming but I keep almost all the word documents on a flash drive.  Personally I would recommend the 13in merely on the basis of saving weight since my 15in 2012 is pretty hefty. And I know that the newer models are all slim and fancy and lighters but a little bit goes a long way especially if you have those stupid big textbooks.

 

Edit: I also meant to add I have no idea how much space programming files take up so yeah.

[NA_NotAvailable]

did you consider a hackintosh? or uban2?

 

if you are 100% sure 

[NA_NotAvailable]

i would say 

1. MacBook PRO 2016 15" TouchBar, 16GB Ram, RX 455, 512GB i7 Quad core ~ $4,699.00 NZD or 
2. MacBook PRO 2016 15" TouchBar, 16GB Ram, RX 455, 256GB i7 Quad core ~ $3,999.00 NZD

 

but IF it was me I would be just trying it out so 13 inch with touch bar would be for me. if you need 4 cores (apple devices tend to make most use of everything) that would be my suggestion IF you 1are 100% sure.

 

[Castdeath97]

Frankly get a refurb for the 2015 models, the new model are really....underwhelming. 

[mrchow19910319]

If you have the budget, get the most high end model and use it for 10 years. 

I am serious. If money is no issue for me I will buy the most expensive one. 

And if you do programming, stick to macOS. Not saying that windows is no good, but like i said, if you have the budget, go for mac. 

[BlackJackLTT]

6 minutes ago, Castdeath97 said:

Frankly get a refurb for the 2015 models, the new model are really....underwhelming. 

The new models are home to dongle city...

[iKl9kca]

4 minutes ago, Castdeath97 said:

Frankly get a refurb for the 2015 models, the new model are really....underwhelming. 

I heard they have issues and many people were disappointed in the performance GPU wise but i think that the new keyboard is really nice to type on like a mix of mechanical and chiclet - on the latter note i wanted a refresh and last generation seemed ... last generation both interms of lacking TB3 and the bigger mousepad seems really nice

 

11 minutes ago, ChasingPluto said:

Since you already have a killer desktop there's really no need to push the price of the laptop. "School stuff" doesnt take up much space on a drive.  I can't speak for programming but I keep almost all the word documents on a flash drive.  Personally I would recommend the 13in merely on the basis of saving weight since my 15in 2012 is pretty hefty. And I know that the newer models are all slim and fancy and lighters but a little bit goes a long way especially if you have those stupid big textbooks.

 

Edit: I also meant to add I have no idea how much space programming files take up so yeah.

Yeah i guess the 13" model would make sense in this scenario as you described it, it seems logical.

2 minutes ago, mrchow19910319 said:

If you have the budget, get the most high end model and use it for 10 years. 

I am serious. If money is no issue for me I will buy the most expensive one. 

And if you do programming, stick to macOS. Not saying that windows is no good, but like i said, if you have the budget, go for mac. 

Are you sure - budget isn't a concern its more the "i work 6 weeks or i work 8 weeks argument" i don't mind working but i want to make sure i am making the right purchase, further more do you think the 15" serves a purpose for school and university so on and so fourth? i guess I'm a little hesitant on the 15" due to the lacking GPU but i'm not planning on gaming so thats not overly a concern as much.

 

for around $6,299.00 it will feature the 2TB SSD if thats worth it? what do you think?

[iKl9kca]

2 minutes ago, BlackJackLTT said:

The new models are home to dongle city...

Dependant on your work load i guess - if you aren't a photo professional the SD card isn't missed per say.

[jj9987]

I'd personally get a 15" laptop with an i5 or i7 processor and 16GB of RAM and throw Linux on it.

You save money, you can customize Linux to be like macOS.

[iKl9kca]

1 minute ago, jj9987 said:

I'd personally get a 15" laptop with an i5 or i7 processor and 16GB of RAM and throw Linux on it.

You save money, you can customize Linux to be like macOS.

I think its not just MacOS but rather that i have the eco system already being in  built with having an iPhone and an older macbook, my sister having the macbook air and herself and my mum having iPhone would make it easier continuing the ecosystem rather than getting something "like" MacOS.

[mrchow19910319]

2 minutes ago, iKl9kca said:

Are you sure - budget isn't a concern its more the "i work 6 weeks or i work 8 weeks argument" i don't mind working but i want to make sure i am making the right purchase, further more do you think the 15" serves a purpose for school and university so on and so fourth? i guess I'm a little hesitant on the 15" due to the lacking GPU but i'm not planning on gaming so thats not overly a concern as much.

 

for around $6,299.00 it will feature the 2TB SSD if thats worth it? what do you think?

Oh wow I did not know that you can configure it to 2TB SSD. It depends on your usage. Most dev I know (from the internet) use a 512GB model. If you wanna stick it to 13 inch, it is perfectly fine. It is still a beast machine. And personally I would not buy anything has more than 512GB storage on it... It is a waste for me. The choice is yours. 

 

About the 15 inch's usage/ Let's just put it this way, it is wayyyyyyyy beyond for college only. Like I said, if you buy one, stick to it for as long as possible. Don't use it for 2-3 years then buy a new model/ other laptops. There is absolutely no need to do that. Buy one, stick to it, use it 5-7 years or even more. You will be amazed that macs age really well. 

[ChasingPluto]

6 minutes ago, iKl9kca said:

Yeah i guess the 13" model would make sense in this scenario as you described it, it seems logical.

Yeah my MacBook stays firmly planted at my desk 99% of the time and I carry a chromebook around with me cause lets be real, the 2012 15in is heavy.  But at the end of the day you should really think about what you need it for and only buy what you need.  There's something to be said about buying the most expensive one but the price scaling on Macs is pretty terrible I can't actively support it.

[SCHISCHKA]

scroll to bottom where it says shop for university and you will get a nice discount.

I preferred a smaller 13" or less at uni coz of all the walking between classes.

8GB of ram

256GB storage

and the fastest CPU you can afford pref a i7 for programming 

I bought a MacBook air last year upgraded with i7 & 8GB and its pretty good as a portable machine for programming. I think it would be equivalent to the lowest i5 2016 MacBook pro in performance

 

 

[iKl9kca]

1 minute ago, SCHISCHKA said:

scroll to bottom where it says shop for university and you will get a nice discount.

I preferred a smaller 13" or less at uni coz of all the walking between classes.

8GB of ram

256GB storage

and the fastest CPU you can afford pref a i7 for programming 

I bought a MacBook air last year upgraded with i7 & 8GB and its pretty good as a portable machine for programming. I think it would be equivalent to the lowest i5 2016 MacBook pro in performance

 

 

You don't regret not having 16GB ram?

[Dackzy]

this thread is golden...

 

The new Macbook "Pros" has a lot of issues, shother battery life, really high temps if you push them, touch bar software that bugs out and 2.4 GHz wifi problems when using USB C device.

I would recommend getting a older model, the battery life would be better and you would you know not need dongles, but if you are dead set on the new model, then just get a 13", coding doesn't requere a lot of power.

 

The advantage that Macbooks has over windows laptops in coding is when you need to code for macOS

[SCHISCHKA]

1 minute ago, iKl9kca said:

You don't regret not having 16GB ram?

no. ram requirements are not being driven up as fast as they were in the past. I believe future ram increases will be driven by increases in GPU RAM, which will not be a factor in laptops with iGPU

[Castdeath97]

4 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

The advantage that Macbooks has over windows laptops in coding is when you need to code for macOS

Don't forget when you need to code C for UNIX and POSIX, but you could use a VM or Linux for that.

[SCHISCHKA]

thats a shame they're not selling the 11" MacBook air model anymore. I was hoping it would get an upgrade to the same screen as the iPad & upgraded to match the battery of the 13" model. It was the only 11" netbook in NZ that could be upgraded to i7. The 12" MacBook line looks terrible in comparison to the MacBook air

[mrchow19910319]

Also I don't know how "much" of coding you are intended to do. If you are serious about it, (want to become a dev), upgrade your ram to 16GB. Cos you are gonna need it. 8GB is barely enough for me. And I haven't even fire up any virtual machines and all those stuff. (Haven't learnt how to LUL...) You should have 16GB model. That is my advice. Other than that , it is entirely up to you. 15in vs 13in, all personal preference.

 

 

Edit: if others recommend you an i7 model, you should listen to them. I have no idea when it comes to i5 vs i7 in REALL development scenario.

Edited January 13, 2017 by mrchow19910319

[Dackzy]

8 minutes ago, mrchow19910319 said:

Edit: if others recommend you an i7 model, you should listen to them. I have no idea when it comes to i5 vs i7 in REALL development scenario.

a ULV i5 vs ULV i7 shows little to no difference at all, the core clock is a bit higher and you get a bit more cache, but it doesn't really help with performance and the price premium between i5 and i7 is huge.

 

The performance difference between i5 and i7 is really only in laptops when we talk real quad cores, because then it is 4 vs 4+HT, but that doesn't really matter in this case, because you can only get the Macbook 15 with a i7 (atleast that is the only CPU type you can get in Denmark)