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New Macbook Pro? Should I wait

cutting42

cutting42

Arrived at B4 Hacker Ergo
My daughter has just graduated and is entering the world of work as a freelance artist/illustrator and needs to get setup with Adobe and a Macbook Pro.

I see that Apple have teased us with promises of new ARM based processors in the future but how soon will that be. We need something soonish but can hang on a month or two at a push.

She is looking at a 16" MBP so it is a chunk of change but she has a friend who can get the staff discount which is worth a considerable amount so can purchase brand new from Apple.

I know nothing about them as a PC/Win user since an Amstrad CPC6128 many years ago.

Comments and suggestions welcome.
 
ARM by year-end apparently in both MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros (Macrumours). Sounds like that’s not fast enough for you, but I’d not expect them much before that. The full transition is over two years, my guess is the Mac Pro will be last as that is such a recent and expensive machine.
 
no need for mac for any dtp or graphics app. A Windows box will be much cheaper, a decent gaming laptop will dice and slice the mac for less money and run Adobe suite like nothing else. I use a 17" hp omen for all my graphics and cad work.
 
I’ve always used Macs and Windows laptops at the same time. I just can’t put up with fan noise – and cheap plastic.
HP/Compaq laptops are the worst I’ve had – 4 or 5 of them.
I can understand why people still want Macs.
 
The expected life of machines like this is 3-4 years if you are a working pro. She will be using the old tech for 2-3 years beyond when the initial arm based machines have been released, but it's not certain that the first generation will actually be that good (they may for example release lower powered machines first, and then release the pro aimed ones later, who knows).

The test boxes with the new processor and rosetta (the software for running Intel stuff on ARM) are out with developers, and the performance is excellent, and they work as expected. To be fair, Apple have been through this sort of transition twice before (68k to PPC, PPC to Intel) and both of these wen't really smoothly, so i'd expect the transition to be equally well managed.

If I were in her position, i'd get a mac now, and just get on with it. Worst case (and really unlikely) she can boot the machine as a Windows laptop, so she is in no worse state than buying a windows machine if that ends up being the direction she wants to take.
 
As this will be a tool for the job, there’s no point waiting for the next best thing, it should have paid for itself by the time the new machines come out.
If your daughter registers for VAT, this may be a larger discount than the staff discount her friend can get.
 
sq225917 said:
no need for mac for any dtp or graphics app. A Windows box will be much cheaper, a decent gaming laptop will dice and slice the mac for less money and run Adobe suite like nothing else. I use a 17" hp omen for all my graphics and cad work.
Click to expand...

I have to older MBP's. They have run without issue, but they have been looked after. These were purchased after two very reasonable spec Windows laptops. I got fed up of the constant updating of Windows, and see this is still the case with my mums very recently purchased laptop. Another fair question to ask is will the new owner look after her kit? If yes, then I'd go Mac.

Another htings is sure they are changing to a new processor, but the reviews say the latest MPB's are very good, at least.

david ellwood said:
Macs melt before they’ll run their fans.
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Certainly do. Something that has given me concern on occasions, especially when performing a gig and relying on the MAC to run my mixer and Mainstage into one keyboard. never failed, tho(yet:eek:)
 
I can’t recommend Mac Fan Control app strongly enough.

knowing what your temps are and knowing they are sensibly under control is good for the sanity.
 
david ellwood said:
I can’t recommend Mac Fan Control app strongly enough.

knowing what your temps are and knowing they are sensibly under control is good for the sanity.
Click to expand...

The fan control app is certainly useful, but it's a patch to control a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place.

I gave up on Macs years ago because of the thermal issues. :mad:
 
Thanks all. I just went through the responses with my daughter this morning and there are some excellent points made that helped us decide. I think we will get the 16 MBP fairly soon.
 
If she is a freelance illustrator then the quality of the screen is very important and this is where the Macbook will pay dividends. Additionally Adobe runs well on Windows, but is still better on a Mac (unlike Office) and this will doubtless be another important aspect to consider. If I were her I'd get the Macbook now and not worry about the future changes etc. Apple look after their previous customers pretty well so I doubt anything bought today will suddenly become unusable overnight when new processors are introduced. They aren't Microsoft at the end of the day and do still thrive on customer loyalty even if they're not quite the company they were a few years ago.
 
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