MacBook Pro - Help!

DekHog

DekHog

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My daughter has 1k to spend on something for her photography and design work and wants a 13" MBP - I'm well versed with Windows PCs but have not a clue about Mac, so looking for some advice to assist her.

She's looking at a 2019 MBP on very.co.uk.... i5, 8Gb, 256Gb.... is this decent? Can it be upgraded to 16Gb? I'd rather she bought new, but know she can get a higher spec used....

Am I missing anything obvious when looking at them? Are there different display types? It'll be plugged into a monitor most of the time anyway, so display possibly not so important...

Like I say, I know nothing about them... Any advice welcome.

Thanks
 
Have a look at the Official Apple Refurbished store online, I picked mine up there and saved best part of £300.
 
Gone are the days when you'd get 20 replies to this in the first hour! :)
 
DekHog said:
My daughter has 1k to spend on something for her photography and design work and wants a 13" MBP - I'm well versed with Windows PCs but have not a clue about Mac, so looking for some advice to assist her.

She's looking at a 2019 MBP on very.co.uk.... i5, 8Gb, 256Gb.... is this decent? Can it be upgraded to 16Gb? I'd rather she bought new, but know she can get a higher spec used....

Am I missing anything obvious when looking at them? Are there different display types? It'll be plugged into a monitor most of the time anyway, so display possibly not so important...

Like I say, I know nothing about them... Any advice welcome.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I think all the ones from the last 5 years or so are very hard to upgrade at a later date due to being soldered in, so getting the bets you can afford now is good. I've got a 2018 MacBook Pro 15 which I upgraded to i7, 512gb hd and 16gb ram which should be enough for 5 years at least for me, unless the keyboard dies! But, Iv'e still got a 2015 MacBook Air 11 inch which is brilliant so they do age well.. and that only has 4gb Ram and a 128gb hard. And that runs photoshop, illustrator and indesign absolutely fine! Perhaps check out Amazon refurb store as well, I tend to buy everything with Amazon now, and have zero complaints!
 
stickytape said:
I think all the ones from the last 5 years or so are very hard to upgrade at a later date due to being soldered in, so getting the bets you can afford now is good. I've got a 2018 MacBook Pro 15 which I upgraded to i7, 512gb hd and 16gb ram which should be enough for 5 years at least for me, unless the keyboard dies! But, Iv'e still got a 2015 MacBook Air 11 inch which is brilliant so they do age well.. and that only has 4gb Ram and a 128gb hard. And that runs photoshop, illustrator and indesign absolutely fine! Perhaps check out Amazon refurb store as well, I tend to buy everything with Amazon now, and have zero complaints!
Click to expand...
Thanks for that.... I agree that Amazon are hard to beat for buyers.... probably not the greatest for sellers but, hey, I only buy!
 
Have a look a company called Deecies on eBay. Considerably cheaper brand new direct from Apple laptops.
I’ve Just bought a 16 inch fully loaded MacBook Pro for £300 quid less than Apple wanted, but it was delivered direct from Apple still.

As for the ram, what you buy is what you get, no modern macbooks are user upgradable anymore. That goes for everything, hard drive etc.

The displays are all the same.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Have a look a company called Deecies on eBay. Considerably cheaper brand new direct from Apple laptops.
I’ve Just bought a 16 inch fully loaded MacBook Pro for £300 quid less than Apple wanted, but it was delivered direct from Apple still.

As for the ram, what you buy is what you get, no modern macbooks are user upgradable anymore. That goes for everything, hard drive etc.

The displays are all the same.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that.... so you can upgrade basically nothing? Your only option is to pay through the nose for a higher spec initially.... gotta love (hate!) Apple....
 
Depending on what processing software she's going to use, the more RAM the better, especially if she's using layers. The 256 GB drive should give her plenty of storage space as long as she doesn't want to keep all of her photos on the MacBook. She can always use an external USB HD or SSD to add storage. As you now know the 8GB RAM in the machine you mention can't be upgraded, but it's worth looking elsewhere.

The display will be a 2560x1600 retina LED, which allows her to get a good magnified image. If the monitor she's plugging the MacBook into has a lower resolution, she might want to upgrade it. I'm assuming the one you're talking about is the 2-port model. They're Thunderbolt 3 so you might need new monitor cable. On the other hand you could invest £50 or less on a multiport hub. The one I use has HDMI and VGA as well as 2 x USB2-A ports and 2 USB3-A ports, Ethernet, an audio out, and USB-C power out, and it cost £50. If she doesn't need so many ports, you could save money. Or just get a suitable cable to plug into the Thunderbolt 3 port that the power cable isn't plugged into. And then there won't be enough ports to plug an external drive into. So you might want to look at spending a bit more and getting the 4-port model. Decisions, decisions!
 
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Does your daughter know about the keyboard problems? https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac/macbook-keyboard-not-working-3653458/

Less of a problem working in clamshell mode with external K&M but something to be aware of otherwise. The problem is relatively common.

DekHog said:
Thanks for that.... so you can upgrade basically nothing? Your only option is to pay through the nose for a higher spec initially.... gotta love (hate!) Apple....
Click to expand...

That's one of the reasons I didn't buy apple last time round.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Does your daughter know about the keyboard problems? https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac/macbook-keyboard-not-working-3653458/

Less of a problem working in clamshell mode with external K&M but something to be aware of otherwise. The problem is relatively common.



That's one of the reasons I didn't buy apple last time round.
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I had heard something about keyboard issues but never realised it was so common....

I'm still trying to talk her into a Huawei X Pro the same as I've got. i7, 16Gb, 512Gb, Nvidia graphics, etc.... :)

Thanks to all for the input and advice...
 
DekHog said:
I had heard something about keyboard issues but never realised it was so common....
Click to expand...

A good friend and his wife both have macbooks for business, both had keyboards replaced once and his was failing again last year. Replacement is not readily DIY-able either.
 
I'm a heavy Mac user (we have six here) but I'm going to suggest you get her to look at a Windows machine: the LG 17 gram. It's a bit more than her budget but I'm typing on it right now and here are some reasons why I like it...
  1. Really good 17" screen.
  2. Weighs 1.3 Kg.
  3. Very nice keyboard.
  4. The implentation of Windows is well done.
  5. Both RAM and storage easily expanded.
  6. Very fast SSD.
  7. Did I mention it only weighs 1.3Kg? :naughty:
MacBook Pro 13" on the left and LG17 on the right. They both weigh the same...

MacBook and LG17 TZ70 P1030675.jpg
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I'm a heavy Mac user (we have six here) but I'm going to suggest you get her to look at a Windows machine: the LG 17 gram. It's a bit more than her budget but I'm typing on it right now and here are some reasons why I like it...
  1. Really good 17" screen.
  2. Weighs 1.3 Kg.
  3. Very nice keyboard.
  4. The implentation of Windows is well done.
  5. Both RAM and storage easily expanded.
  6. Very fast SSD.
  7. Did I mention it only weighs 1.3Kg? :naughty:
MacBook Pro 13" on the left and LG17 on the right. They both weigh the same...

View attachment 285982
Click to expand...
Wow, a 17" laptop that weighs 1.3kg? Amazeballs! I'd rather she stuck with what she (and I) knows in the form of a high spec Windows laptop myself.... it's the age-old male problem of trying to convince a woman about something, when they obviously know everything about everything.... in other words, it looks pretty, so it must be fantastic, no? :D
 
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