Help With Purchasing Next Laptop

[jdm3gee]

So I am nearing the end of life of my 2011 Macbook Pro.  It has the 2.2GHz i7, 12GB DDR3-1600 memory, an SSD for local storage and an ancient Radeon 6750m with 1GB dedicated memory.  I use it for web surfing, YouTube, word processing, and light photo editing for school.  It has taken TWO trips into the oven to "reflow" the GPU and I'm having issues with my temps going haywire.  I intend on sticking with the MacBooks.  Since I am a student, I can get the i7 model of the MacBook Air for less than 1000USD.  I will be losing 4 GB of ram but I'll gain reliability and USB3.  If I remember correctly, I can get a base model macbook pro for a couple hundred more.  At under 1500USD i can get the base model with 16GB of ram.  I'll also get a much better screen/iGPU and TB3... and dongles galore.

 

TL;DR If i can limp along my MBP another couple months or more, is the 13" MBP the better option?  Keep in mind I game on my windows desktop or PS4.  What do you think will be better price to performance in terms of a mac?

 

MacBook Air-$959-2.2GHz 5th Gen i7 dual core, 8GB DDR3-1600, 128GB SSD I think its SATA3

Macbook Pro-$1249(1429)-2.3GHz 7th Gen i7 dual core, 8GB(16GB) DDR3-2133, 128GB SSD I think NVMe

[Senzelian]

I'd go with the more expensive Pro.

 

The newer gen i7 and 16GB of RAM are worth the cash. Battery life should be better and TB3 is a really nice feature.

[genexis_x]

@DrMacintosh your thread

[jdm3gee]

21 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

I'd go with the more expensive Pro.

 

The newer gen i7 and 16GB of RAM are worth the cash. Battery life should be better and TB3 is a really nice feature.

That's what I'm leaning towards but I find it hard for myself to justify the cost even with a student discount.  I'm hoping I either get a good amount saved up, or a new model comes out again to lower the price of the one I'm looking at.  I'm looking at Refurbished machines too.  A little cheaper but with the full warranty. Sigh... Balancing wants and needs is difficult.

[Senzelian]

9 minutes ago, jdm3gee said:

That's what I'm leaning towards but I find it hard for myself to justify the cost even with a student discount.  I'm hoping I either get a good amount saved up, or a new model comes out again to lower the price of the one I'm looking at.  I'm looking at Refurbished machines too.  A little cheaper but with the full warranty. Sigh... Balancing wants and needs is difficult.

And Windows notebooks are a no-go?

[PineyCreek]

The sad truth at least as far as I can tell is that the RAM is soldered in on the Macbook Air (that's what I've read...I have no verification).  If that's the case, I would get the 16GB model.  If the Air can actually be upgraded like a normal laptop, then get the cheaper model and upgrade the memory later if you need to.

[jdm3gee]

7 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

And Windows notebooks are a no-go?

For now a no-go only because I intend on going into the IT field and I want to keep up my knowledge with macOS.  I know of a couple windows laptops I'd want to go with, LG Gram, Dell XPS 13... lol

5 minutes ago, PineyCreek said:

The sad truth at least as far as I can tell is that the RAM is soldered in on the Macbook Air (that's what I've read...I have no verification).  If that's the case, I would get the 16GB model.  If the Air can actually be upgraded like a normal laptop, then get the cheaper model and upgrade the memory later if you need to.

Yes the RAM is soldered on the Air and can't go passed 8GB. It sucks... I would so take the 16GB option if available... I can only upgrade the CPU and SSD at time or purchase.

[PineyCreek]

Just now, jdm3gee said:

For now a no-go only because I intend on going into the IT field and I want to keep up my knowledge with macOS.  I know of a couple windows laptops I'd want to go with, LG Gram, Dell XPS 13... lol

Yes the RAM is soldered on the Air and can't go passed 8GB. It sucks... I would so take the 16GB option if available... I can only upgrade the CPU and SSD at time or purchase.

...that sucks...I understand and can even appreciate to some point the advantages controlling every aspect of a system design, but that's just way too unfriendly to the consumer...I still have to lean towards the 16GB model then, unfortunately, or maybe a refurb Mac desktop if you have to have a Mac.

[jdm3gee]

Yeah I am not happy with Apple over the passed 5 or so years in terms of repairability.  That's why i've stuck with the 2011 MBP for so long.  Thankfully my Piledriver desktop is upgradable.  That's a little long in the tooth but i can get it to last a bit longer if i really wanted to.

[DrMacintosh]

Do not buy a MacBook Air. The Air is utter garbage for the money. 

 

The 13” MacBook Pro is so much better it’s not even funny. 

 

Consider going Refurbished or even a 2016 Refurbished on Apple’s Wesbtie. Though I think they only sell refurbished 13” 2017 models with a TouchBar. 

 

I have a 2016 MacBook Pro without a TouchBar and love it. Got it on sale for Presidents for $1,250 for the 256GB model with 8GB of RAM and the Iris 540. 

 

The GPUs in the 13” models are good enough for most games to run at 900p with decent frame rates on low-medium settings. 

 

edit* found a 2016 13" without a Touchbar: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MLL42LL/A 

Only thing is it only has 8GB of RAM. TBH on macOS that is enough since the OS is pretty lightweight, especially if you use Safari. 

[jdm3gee]

Wow... That is really good. I didn't, and still don't see that on their refurb page.  I hope it's still around when I get some cash in a little later this week.  I got to consider my budget and that is near the top of it. heh...  I'll look around more for decent models. Thanks!

[jdm3gee]

Actually, at $1179 with discount code how is this comparatively? Fry's MBP 13"

[DrMacintosh]

48 minutes ago, jdm3gee said:

Actually, at $1179 with discount code how is this comparatively? Fry's MBP 13"

Only issue is the SSD being only 128GB. Unless you are ok with carrying external drives all the time that is rather limiting. 

[jdm3gee]

Totally thought I replied to this. I was going to say that I don't mind that.  I keep that in my everyday bag anyway. I'm actually typing this on my new Space Gray 13" MBP without touch bar.  Thankfully I have a USB A-C adapter.  I appreciate your input.

[Jrasero]

On 4/17/2018 at 4:04 AM, jdm3gee said:

So I am nearing the end of life of my 2011 Macbook Pro.  It has the 2.2GHz i7, 12GB DDR3-1600 memory, an SSD for local storage and an ancient Radeon 6750m with 1GB dedicated memory.  I use it for web surfing, YouTube, word processing, and light photo editing for school.  It has taken TWO trips into the oven to "reflow" the GPU and I'm having issues with my temps going haywire.  I intend on sticking with the MacBooks.  Since I am a student, I can get the i7 model of the MacBook Air for less than 1000USD.  I will be losing 4 GB of ram but I'll gain reliability and USB3.  If I remember correctly, I can get a base model macbook pro for a couple hundred more.  At under 1500USD i can get the base model with 16GB of ram.  I'll also get a much better screen/iGPU and TB3... and dongles galore.

 

TL;DR If i can limp along my MBP another couple months or more, is the 13" MBP the better option?  Keep in mind I game on my windows desktop or PS4.  What do you think will be better price to performance in terms of a mac?

 

MacBook Air-$959-2.2GHz 5th Gen i7 dual core, 8GB DDR3-1600, 128GB SSD I think its SATA3

Macbook Pro-$1249(1429)-2.3GHz 7th Gen i7 dual core, 8GB(16GB) DDR3-2133, 128GB SSD I think NVMe

Either way wait for June unless you need a computer desperately, even then I would buy a computer at Costco and then return it under there 90 no questions ask policy just so I can see what Apples releases this summer.  Either way whenever the new Macbooks are released the last gen will only get cheaper and cheaper.  As of right now I would never buy a MBA just because of the screen: massive bezels and grainy AF screen and that is a hard thing to accomplish in 2018 when 1080P should be mandatory.  

[Damascus]

21 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

Only issue is the SSD being only 128GB. Unless you are ok with carrying external drives all the time that is rather limiting. 

 

12 hours ago, jdm3gee said:

Totally thought I replied to this. I was going to say that I don't mind that.  I keep that in my everyday bag anyway. I'm actually typing this on my new Space Gray 13" MBP without touch bar.  Thankfully I have a USB A-C adapter.  I appreciate your input.

Very nice pick my dude

[jdm3gee]

Actually... This is where I should have done more research.  I've come to the realization that the 2017 MBP 13" without touchbar still has the issue of not being able to use WiFi and an external drive.  I'm taking this thing back to Fry's Electronics and I'm putting my 2011 MBP back into the oven to get more time out of it.