MacBook Vs MacBook Pro w/ Retina? Forum

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34iplaw

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Re: MacBook Vs MacBook Pro w/ Retina?

Post by 34iplaw » Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:53 pm

conker wrote:
34iplaw wrote:
Rednala wrote:Make sure you go to the store and test drive both before you make a decision. I bought the MacBook online to find out I hate the keyboard. I'm actually very nervous about eventually taking it to law school because I already find it hard to work on it. I've read online that it just takes time to get used to it, but I've had it for 7 months now. Something else to consider is that you can't charge your MacBook and use a USB drive at the same time.

tl;dr - I regret not spending the extra money on the MacBook Pro.
Macbook Pro has the same keyboard I think. That said, I think they've made improvements. I'm planning to buy a late model high end Macbook Pro pre-butterfly keyboard. It's nonsense made for people who grew up typing on touch screens or something I think... far too little key travel. I find them very difficult to type on.

That said, your ability to type on the keyboard is probably the single most important item for a laptop. SSD is fairly nice. Retina is mostly a marketing gimmick.
The 2017 MacBook has a 2nd generation butterfly keyboard that has more key travel. Check it out.
Will do. Ultimately, I think I may try to buy a 2015 that's lightly used with low cycles. I saw some online where you'd be getting <60 cycles with battery at near 100% original charge and minor wear on case where you'd also have two years of apple care remaining. I'd be doing a 2015 with 2.5ghz i7 (not most recent gen, one before it), 512ssd, 16gig ram, and 2gig discrete graphics. All for ~$1600 seems like a kind of good way to go (rather than ~2700 for a marginally faster 2017 with a year more of coverage with a keyboard I dislike)

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Re: MacBook Vs MacBook Pro w/ Retina?

Post by conker » Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:52 pm

34iplaw wrote:
conker wrote:
34iplaw wrote:
Rednala wrote:Make sure you go to the store and test drive both before you make a decision. I bought the MacBook online to find out I hate the keyboard. I'm actually very nervous about eventually taking it to law school because I already find it hard to work on it. I've read online that it just takes time to get used to it, but I've had it for 7 months now. Something else to consider is that you can't charge your MacBook and use a USB drive at the same time.

tl;dr - I regret not spending the extra money on the MacBook Pro.
Macbook Pro has the same keyboard I think. That said, I think they've made improvements. I'm planning to buy a late model high end Macbook Pro pre-butterfly keyboard. It's nonsense made for people who grew up typing on touch screens or something I think... far too little key travel. I find them very difficult to type on.

That said, your ability to type on the keyboard is probably the single most important item for a laptop. SSD is fairly nice. Retina is mostly a marketing gimmick.
The 2017 MacBook has a 2nd generation butterfly keyboard that has more key travel. Check it out.
Will do. Ultimately, I think I may try to buy a 2015 that's lightly used with low cycles. I saw some online where you'd be getting <60 cycles with battery at near 100% original charge and minor wear on case where you'd also have two years of apple care remaining. I'd be doing a 2015 with 2.5ghz i7 (not most recent gen, one before it), 512ssd, 16gig ram, and 2gig discrete graphics. All for ~$1600 seems like a kind of good way to go (rather than ~2700 for a marginally faster 2017 with a year more of coverage with a keyboard I dislike)
Hi, just to clarify we are talking about different models: MacBook vs MacBook Pro. Hey, I happen to be selling a 2015 MacBook Pro. I sold it brand new and it was returned two days later (i.e., "open box"). I haven't been able to resell it since. It was $1700 brand new because of the upgrades to 16 GB RAM and 256 SSD. Only an i5, no discrete graphics, so not what you're looking for, but it's in perfect condition and comes with a hardshell case, all for $1400, free overnight shipping.

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34iplaw

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Re: MacBook Vs MacBook Pro w/ Retina?

Post by 34iplaw » Fri Jul 14, 2017 5:14 pm

conker wrote: Hi, just to clarify we are talking about different models: MacBook vs MacBook Pro. Hey, I happen to be selling a 2015 MacBook Pro. I sold it brand new and it was returned two days later (i.e., "open box"). I haven't been able to resell it since. It was $1700 brand new because of the upgrades to 16 GB RAM and 256 SSD. Only an i5, no discrete graphics, so not what you're looking for, but it's in perfect condition and comes with a hardshell case, all for $1400, free overnight shipping.
OH - my bad. I hadn't even considered checking out the MacBooks. I'll try the keyboard, but I avoided them initially because I'm used to larger 15" machines and I think 12" may be too much of a drop. I'll keep that in mind, but I think I want to stick with machines that have AppleCare and I think the i5->i7 + 256SSD + discrete GPU is probably worth $200 to me. I really do appreciate it though.

conker

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Re: MacBook Vs MacBook Pro w/ Retina?

Post by conker » Fri Jul 14, 2017 5:16 pm

34iplaw wrote:
conker wrote: Hi, just to clarify we are talking about different models: MacBook vs MacBook Pro. Hey, I happen to be selling a 2015 MacBook Pro. I sold it brand new and it was returned two days later (i.e., "open box"). I haven't been able to resell it since. It was $1700 brand new because of the upgrades to 16 GB RAM and 256 SSD. Only an i5, no discrete graphics, so not what you're looking for, but it's in perfect condition and comes with a hardshell case, all for $1400, free overnight shipping.
OH - my bad. I hadn't even considered checking out the MacBooks. I'll try the keyboard, but I avoided them initially because I'm used to larger 15" machines and I think 12" may be too much of a drop. I'll keep that in mind, but I think I want to stick with machines that have AppleCare and I think the i5->i7 + 256SSD + discrete GPU is probably worth $200 to me. I really do appreciate it though.
Honestly dude with the specs you listed that is a killer computer and I'd pick that over mine any day. My experience with all three has me going after only 15" and 12". The 13" is just too much compromise on screen real estate without enough portability to justify it.

My setup now is a 12" with a 21" 4K display. It's my favorite. It's about $1,800 total. It's either that or a killer 15", IMO.

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34iplaw

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Re: MacBook Vs MacBook Pro w/ Retina?

Post by 34iplaw » Fri Jul 14, 2017 5:22 pm

conker wrote:
34iplaw wrote:
conker wrote: Hi, just to clarify we are talking about different models: MacBook vs MacBook Pro. Hey, I happen to be selling a 2015 MacBook Pro. I sold it brand new and it was returned two days later (i.e., "open box"). I haven't been able to resell it since. It was $1700 brand new because of the upgrades to 16 GB RAM and 256 SSD. Only an i5, no discrete graphics, so not what you're looking for, but it's in perfect condition and comes with a hardshell case, all for $1400, free overnight shipping.
OH - my bad. I hadn't even considered checking out the MacBooks. I'll try the keyboard, but I avoided them initially because I'm used to larger 15" machines and I think 12" may be too much of a drop. I'll keep that in mind, but I think I want to stick with machines that have AppleCare and I think the i5->i7 + 256SSD + discrete GPU is probably worth $200 to me. I really do appreciate it though.
Honestly dude with the specs you listed that is a killer computer and I'd pick that over mine any day. My experience with all three has me going after only 15" and 12". The 13" is just too much compromise on screen real estate without enough portability to justify it.

My setup now is a 12" with a 21" display. It's my favorite. And I spent about $1,800 total. It's either that or a killer 15", IMO.
Yeah - I gotya... I appreciate all the insight. TBH - I'm mainly doing a Mac because I want to learn xcode/swift. My old laptop is still fast, but it's at the age where the battery and charger are not remotely reliable. It's an older Asus Zenbook Prime and the keys have the perfect amount of travel. It'll become a permanently docked PC once I get a new laptop. It's probably time I get vaguely familiar with MacOS as well.

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conker

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Re: MacBook Vs MacBook Pro w/ Retina?

Post by conker » Fri Jul 14, 2017 5:24 pm

34iplaw wrote:
conker wrote:
34iplaw wrote:
conker wrote: Hi, just to clarify we are talking about different models: MacBook vs MacBook Pro. Hey, I happen to be selling a 2015 MacBook Pro. I sold it brand new and it was returned two days later (i.e., "open box"). I haven't been able to resell it since. It was $1700 brand new because of the upgrades to 16 GB RAM and 256 SSD. Only an i5, no discrete graphics, so not what you're looking for, but it's in perfect condition and comes with a hardshell case, all for $1400, free overnight shipping.
OH - my bad. I hadn't even considered checking out the MacBooks. I'll try the keyboard, but I avoided them initially because I'm used to larger 15" machines and I think 12" may be too much of a drop. I'll keep that in mind, but I think I want to stick with machines that have AppleCare and I think the i5->i7 + 256SSD + discrete GPU is probably worth $200 to me. I really do appreciate it though.
Honestly dude with the specs you listed that is a killer computer and I'd pick that over mine any day. My experience with all three has me going after only 15" and 12". The 13" is just too much compromise on screen real estate without enough portability to justify it.

My setup now is a 12" with a 21" display. It's my favorite. And I spent about $1,800 total. It's either that or a killer 15", IMO.
Yeah - I gotya... I appreciate all the insight. TBH - I'm mainly doing a Mac because I want to learn xcode/swift. My old laptop is still fast, but it's at the age where the battery and charger are not remotely reliable. It's an older Asus Zenbook Prime and the keys have the perfect amount of travel. It'll become a permanently docked PC once I get a new laptop. It's probably time I get vaguely familiar with MacOS as well.
Sweet, man. I've never been into coding. I just love the pleasure the ecosystem and excellent hardware/software bring to my long-ass daily grind. Worth every penny.

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