Which MacBook Pro Should I Get for What I Need?

• 

  MS Paint on 11/05/2020 - 23:33

  +1

  Dust in fan. Thermal paste shot.

  • 

    Fliedlice on 11/05/2020 - 23:44

    I just googled that. Had no idea I could have even done this. Thank you for that!

• 

  Strahany on 11/05/2020 - 23:35

  If you want to regularly output to 2 monitors, then you’ll want the top model so you have 4 Thunderbolt ports, and the extra graphical horsepower that comes with the 10th gen CPU. But if you’re really just using it like a word processing + social media machine, then the base model will be plenty fine.

  • 

    Fliedlice on 11/05/2020 - 23:46

    Interesting that you mentioned this, because that did tempt me to purchase the upper model. Could I not still run 2 external monitors (including my laptop as well) with just the base MacBook Pro? With its current graphics.

    I’d probably want to use it for 10% adobe premiere pro in the future.

  • 

    zigzagoonmemes on 12/05/2020 - 11:58

    …What?
    You can do 2 4k displays on a single thunderbolt port.
    The previous gen processors can easily do this… Sure, you can't game on them, but 4k video on two screens, easy.

• 

  bdl on 11/05/2020 - 23:39

  Wait a little while until proper reviews of the 2020 MBP come out

  • 

    Fliedlice on 11/05/2020 - 23:48

    Haha I know, there’s just not many reviews on it yet. I am thinking of waiting for a few months… there was some YouTube tech influencer who made a video about recommending everyone to get the 2020 MacBook Air and then 3 months later he recommended people NOT to buy it because of the thermals.

    He still kept the older video up as well though, what a bum lol.

• 

  Mechz on 12/05/2020 - 00:10

  +1

  Interesting that you would spend all that extra money on an apple tax given none of the programs are apple specific.

  • 

    Icecold5000 on 12/05/2020 - 00:37

    +1

    His MBA is 5 years old. Most friends who own windows seem to replace them in 2-3 years. I own a MBP which is over 5 years old with Mojave installed and no degeneration in performance. Its worth paying more for quality and support.

    • 

      Mechz on 12/05/2020 - 01:18

      +1

      You'd be surprised how good win10 runs on old hardware. I replaced my wife's '13 MBA with a 2016 Dell Latitude and it destroys the mac for photoshop and the millions of tabs she has open. I think in the last few years people are drawn to upgrades because of USB-C and touchscreen support (the latter of which you'll never get on a mac).

      • 

        FIVEDOLLAR on 12/05/2020 - 01:32

        +1

        I don't think people are buying Macbooks mainly for their specs nowadays…
        It's just an argument over different and very strong opinions of what's value in people's minds.

      • 

        Icecold5000 on 12/05/2020 - 08:59

        I used Dell laptops for work. Honestly cannot stand them and They were about 3k each. Build was inferior and something was always going wrong with them. I just need a laptop to works. Interestingly enough all of the graphics and marketing people somehow persuaded finance to get them MacBooks. No idea what programs they were using though. I have owned Apple laptops from 2005 and I will never buy a windows machines as I do not perceive them to be good value.

        People talk about specs like they are the be all and end all but I’m more concerned about reliability, stability and not having to replace my laptop every 3’years.

        • 

          Ghost47 on 12/05/2020 - 10:05

          @Icecold5000: I've used Dell laptops and HP and I think they're fine. I also own a Macbook Pro personally. I honestly think you're blowing it out of proportion about how Windows users have to replace laptops every 2-3 years, that's ridiculous and would depend entirely on the laptop your friends are buying (if they're buying cheap crap then I wouldn't be surprised).

          There are pros and cons to both, for example if you stick with Apple and get stuck in their ecosystem, any change they make to their hardware means you just have to suck it up and if they make a change you don't like (e.g. butterfly keyboard and touch bar), you have to complain and hope they change their ways. Apple aren't infallible either, as I said their butterfly keyboard was extremely unreliable, and to spend $3000 on a laptop that doesn't even has a keyboard that can malfunction as a result of a piece of dust is a joke.

          • 

            Icecold5000 on 12/05/2020 - 10:33

            @Ghost47: Windows laptop replacement is just something I’ve noticed and it is ridiculous. I don’t know why they do it. Maybe it’s for gaming or something but it does happen. I think they’re spending about 1k to 1.5k so it isn’t really that much. Maybe they have the money and just want something new. Overall I have gotten more value out of my 5 year old 1700 MBP than if I had gone windows allowing me to spend more on overseas flights so it’s worked well for me.

            The butterfly keyboard was a big mistake and it’s taken some time to rectify. Overall I don’t mind being stuck in the Apple ecosystem. Some of us prefer this. As long as alternatives exist it’s not really a problem.

    • 

      brendanm on 12/05/2020 - 09:57

      My Lenovo x230t is still going quite well thanks very much.

      Sounds like ops MacBook would be fine with a bit of dedusting as well.

  • 

    Fliedlice on 12/05/2020 - 07:07

    +1

    Fair point, I do prefer the MacBook though I have a PC desktop but I prefer the design of the MacBook, it’s just a preference for a laptop.

    I also don’t want this post to end up being an Apple vs PC post as I’m aware it’s expensive, although valid point.

• 

  lordezekiel on 12/05/2020 - 08:27

  +1

  So it runs fine, just gets hot and the fans run fast to try and keep it cool?
  This is pretty normal behaviour when doing something demanding.
  Most people vastly underestimate how much processing power some modern websites can require, and if using flash, well that's a very common system hog.

  Maybe dusty inside sure, but could also be a software glitch with either an application or the operating system.
  I would suggest next time you hear the fans spin up loudly, open up "Activity Monitor", click on CPU along the top bar, then click on %CPU button to organise all the processes running by cpu usage in order from most to least.
  This should help you idenitfy what is using all your CPU power, and thus creating heat, which then neccessitates the fans running fast and loud.
  If anything in the list is sitting at or near 100% then that could be the culprit - sometimes it is a stuck print job, or spotlight indexing, or some other process.

  I'm still running a Mid-2012 MacBook Pro 15" i7 - it certainly runs hot (common for the that generation of i7s) but it's rare the fans spin up audibly unless im playing a game or something very demanding.

  • 

    Fliedlice on 21/05/2020 - 00:02

    Thank you for the tip my man. I've never used the 'activity monitor' feature before :)

• 

  verio on 12/05/2020 - 11:39

  +1

  I would suggest ditching Chrome in favour of Safari. Just give it a go for a few days to see if there is a difference in terms of fan noise (don't forget to close Chrome completely). Safari is way more efficient in terms of CPU and RAM consumption on Mac.

  • 

    Fliedlice on 21/05/2020 - 00:03

    Ah i have heard chrome uses up a lot of power for some reason, but i mainly use Chrome and Safari both at the same time as i use gmail for two different accounts that i have.

• 

  casho on 22/05/2020 - 11:05

  Try using Safari browser, it is a lot more efficient, check out https://youtu.be/IULkXAHjL_s He also reviews macs and specs suitable for different use types, perfect for your question.