Tipex Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 (edited) It seems my trusty old laptop (bought in 2008) is finally in it's death throws, the screen spazzes out every now and again and then it crashes. I'm wanting to ditch Windows now and move to a Mac, is there any particular model I should be looking at that represents the best value for money? Mostly it'll just be used for browsing, banking, kids homework (eldest is only 8 so nothing too taxing) every now and again I'll be editing HD GoPro footage so it needs to cope with that smoothly and i also like the idea of super fast start up so SSD would be preferable, currently have a 14" screen and wouldn't want anything bigger I don't think. Alternatively, does anyone have anything for sale, or imminently for sale that might fit the bill? I'll pre-empt the obvious 'buy a newer/more expensive one, the interior is nicer TSN replies by saying feck orf! Edited June 23, 2016 by Tipex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 (edited) The video element rules out the 12" Macbook in my opinion. It's good, and I don't mind doing the 'odd' bit of video processing when I'm on the go on it, but it's not a nice experience. The problem you have is that the current range of laptops are, in my opinion, behind the technology curve. They're older chips, and Skylake units are due pretty much any minute. I wouldn't be surprised if the form factor changes too. Honestly though if none of that matters to you check out the refurb store. As to the 13 or 15" MBP units it really comes down to whether you're lugging it about or not. There's not a massive difference to be honest, but I do know when I have my 15" unit in my bag compared to the 12 or 13" units I used. It's just bulkier. Decent 13/15 retina will fly, and last years. Best value for money is a tough measure as it's a subjective one isn't it. Personally I'd avoid the Air units, and go for the rMBP. Refurb store is here: http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac These are the 13" refurbs http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/13 ...but make sure you go for Retina with PCIe SSD. New one at 1199GBP. If you could, I'd hang on - they're all due a refresh. The thing is though, that doesn't make the current range terrible! I just get people kick themselves a bit when they buy something, and then something comes along 6 weeks later for the same price that's 20% faster/newer/flashier etc. As for nearly new kit, mine goes really quick as I get a fairly decent discount, and I generally pass that on - so I don't have anything right now. Once the refreshes come I'll have a couple of 15" units going. Edited June 25, 2016 by Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Get a Macbook Pro 15" as new as you can afford. All models post 2012 are SSD and even the mid 2012 models can have SSD drives added. I'm still using my 2012 MBP and its still super fast and I feel no need to get anything newer especially for what I use it for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipex Posted June 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Many thanks for the replies, I'm not in a massive rush, I can cope without for a while as I have a desktop at work and various iPads/Phones at home, the Windows unit isn't completely dead yet either, but It's spazz attacks are getting more frequent. 15" is fine as I'm not likely to be carrying it about, it'll spend most of it's life sitting in the lounge. How imminent is the refresh? Could I be so bold as to ask to have first refusal on one of yours as and when available Mac? appreciate you may have other 'more important to you' people after them too, I completely understand that, but if you don't ask... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Ahah, you're welcome to one of them. I was expecting the refresh at WWDC at the beginning of the month - they are massively behind. Of course the current range are still awesome bits of kit - I know people think I'm an Apple fan boy, but I do genuinely pretty much get to pick and choose what I get to use, and I've yet to find a Windows laptop that comes close to the combination of a rMBP & OSX macOS. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 (edited) To be honest, the 13" Macbook Pro Retina with 128gb flash storage absolutely flies. I bought MrsMe one in September. I have actually used it for editing video footage in iMovie that she's shot on her iPhone from a school concert. No issues whatsoever. It smashed it. £999, new. Storage is easily solved as we never hold much locally anyway and it is all backed up. Plus, if you're an Amazon Prime customer, you can use Photo's to back video content up too.+++ Edited June 24, 2016 by NewNiceMrMe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted June 25, 2016 Report Share Posted June 25, 2016 As Mac said, they may not be the newest on the block (but geez, seen the crap build quality on that new HP macbook clone? crap! $3000 worth f crap!) but last for years... My main luggable is a 13" retina MBP with 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD and even though it is 2+ years old, just screams along with OS X10.11.5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted June 25, 2016 Report Share Posted June 25, 2016 (edited) To put things into perspective, and following on from Rachel's point about age of machine versus relative performance... My workhorse (for everything) is a Macbook Pro 15" Retina with a 250gb SSD (a replacement I fitted in lieu of a slightly slower 500gb drive that failed but is a faster unit), 16gb RAM, 1gb dedicated graphics etc was a top end machine in October 2013 when I bought it (I think £2200). However, the reason I mention that is because it was superceded 2 days after I bought it! The new model came out. I could have taken a new unit (I spoke to Apple Business who supplied it) or an offer they gave me on an iPad Air. I took the Air offer. 2 years and 8 months on and it is as fast as it ever was (faster if you factor in the replacement SSD). It destroys everything I throw at it because I'm little more than an average user in what I'm asking it to do from a memory and processing load. The present units are therefore better. The new units that are pending will obviously be better still. The question is - where do you draw the line? I have never upgraded for the sake of it although I did buy an iMac 27 I didn't need and that never gets used - so that should tell you how good the MBP's are. If you need it now, buy it now. If you can wait a little while, do so. The difference will, for most average users, be completely un-noticeable. Edited June 25, 2016 by NewNiceMrMe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riz Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 Regarding the whole life-span argument, I'm running a mid-2010 MacBook Pro with a couple of SSD drives which will be 6 years old this October, doubt any Windows based laptop would have lasted as long as my Mac has and there is nothing really wrong with it. I've got my use/monies worth out of it I'm waiting for the 2016 models to arrive as just want something a bit quicker. MacBook Pro's may cost a lot vs Windows laptops initially but they are way longer lasting in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipex Posted July 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 4 hours ago, Riz said: Regarding the whole life-span argument, I'm running a mid-2010 MacBook Pro with a couple of SSD drives which will be 6 years old this October, doubt any Windows based laptop would have lasted as long as my Mac has. Well, I bought my Windows laptop in 2008 (might have been 2007 now I think about it), so it's lasted pretty well I think. I suspect it would still be working perfectly were it not for a laptop/floor interface after suffering an attack due to printer rage! That said, I do get the Apple value/lifespan argument as I'm no stranger to their products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted July 9, 2016 Report Share Posted July 9, 2016 The cost of Apple hardware, especially with MBP"s, in respect of initial investment if always offset by their residual value. A PC laptop is worth a bag of crisps after a few years. An Apple laptop is worth real, hard, decent cash. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted August 26, 2016 Report Share Posted August 26, 2016 Any more thoughts on when models arenlikely to be refreshed? I kind of drunkenly promised Molly a MacBook for her A-Levels but don't want to buy something that will be superseded next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted August 26, 2016 Report Share Posted August 26, 2016 There are several laptops that are WAY overdue but no firm rumours as to when they are going to be out. http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac Read that through and it will give you an idea of potentially when they are expected, but as you can see all models are on don't buy due to the lack of any recent updates. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonC Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 Very useful link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pincher Posted August 28, 2016 Report Share Posted August 28, 2016 So basically, don't buy anything at all for the time being? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted August 28, 2016 Report Share Posted August 28, 2016 I'd expect an update soon, but if you need to buy something get it they are all stunning machines. I've typing this on a 2012 MacBook Pro and its still fantastically quick and not slow in the slightest. I've got a top of the range iMac in the other room and its a little faster but for most situations the two are hard to tell apart. But if you can wait and its not urgent then there are some fairly big changes due across the range, but Apple aren't a company to predict unless its the iPhone and then thats the same time every year without fail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 So it seems the new processors for the Macbook Air are out soon so you might see them refreshed as early as October, Macbook Pro and iMac not expected until Jan 2017 ish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 There's a lot of talk on Mac forums at present about this. Many are saying Apple is abandoning the core laptop and desktop base. Updates are coming less frequently and they're less revolutionary when they do. When I think about it, they may have a point. The focus is clearly on iOS, or so it seems to me, and OSX will still be important but could be said to be secondary now to their corporate aims? The iPad Pro is a brilliant example of a very quick device (it still surprises me every time I use it and that is daily) that is going to get even faster. A lot of people in the graphic design industry, particularly the desktop Mac Pro users, are seeing very little in terms of development or improvement and feeling rather hacked off as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-bmw Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 Which apple laptop? The low tax one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted August 31, 2016 Report Share Posted August 31, 2016 12 hours ago, NewNiceMrMe said: There's a lot of talk on Mac forums at present about this. Many are saying Apple is abandoning the core laptop and desktop base. Updates are coming less frequently and they're less revolutionary when they do. When I think about it, they may have a point. The focus is clearly on iOS, or so it seems to me, and OSX will still be important but could be said to be secondary now to their corporate aims? The iPad Pro is a brilliant example of a very quick device (it still surprises me every time I use it and that is daily) that is going to get even faster. A lot of people in the graphic design industry, particularly the desktop Mac Pro users, are seeing very little in terms of development or improvement and feeling rather hacked off as a result. They are like small children. Every time its the same, they haven't updated X they are abandoning it, this was for the iMac. So then when they made it super thin, and also added a 5k screen way ahead of anyone else that has a stunning colour gamut they stopped moaning for all of 2 days. Now they want faster graphics, but still want the super think sexy design and non of the compromise, erm what? Apple have been caught out by Intel having significant delays in one of its chips recently, then another being released almost straight afterwards. That and the lack of any major graphics improvements until the last month or so have kicked them in terms of timing to create big change. On the MacPro, it uses very specific processors that aren't changed and released very often which is why they rarely change. Again it was dead, never to be updated then suddenly a revolutionary design and they are fine for a month or two. Apple do focus on iOS now as that is the major revenue but they still update the rest even for those models with low volumes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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