Reluctantly looking at new MacBooks

Not going to go into my usual diatribe about the latest generations of MacBooks.

Unfortunately, my 2011 MBP is starting to become unstable. I really don't want to do the Hackintosh thing and I don't want to abandon all of the Mac software I've accumulated over the years.... and of course, I have no desire to downgrade to Windows.

So, I'm weighing my options at the moment. I know some of the 2017 MacBook Pros have some keyboard problems. Does anyone know if that's been corrected for the latest models? Are there similar complaints with the latest MacBook Air? Also, is memory and storage non-upgradeable across the board at this point?

I'm thinking I may just go the cheapest route possible, but upgrade the storage to 512GB (my current SSD is 480GB and is near capacity). I WANT the high end options (like an i7 and a discrete GPU), but I don't NEED them. I really just want a solid machine that will last me at least the next 5 years for the least cost. Your input is appreciated.

To replace a 2011 MacBook Pro, I ended up with a 2017 MacBook Air, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD.
That was the best fit for what I needed at a price I was willing to pay.

The Macs with USB-C ports either had too few ports, so I would have to use dongles which I did not want, or, with more USB-C ports, they were too expensive for what I needed.

You say your 2011 MBP is starting to become unstable - not sure what you mean by that, but the recommendation I often see is that one should not use more than 80% of the hard drive or SSD capacity.
You seem to be well above that - maybe that is causing the "instability"

Yes, memory and SSD locked down at order time. Haven't had any issues with the keyboards in my 2016 or 2017 MBP.

krs said:

To replace a 2011 MacBook Pro, I ended up with a 2017 MacBook Air, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD.
That was the best fit for what I needed at a price I was willing to pay.

The Macs with USB-C ports either had too few ports, so I would have to use dongles which I did not want, or, with more USB-C ports, they were too expensive for what I needed.

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I am leaning in that direction as well, though it's killing me to spend $1691 (with my EPP discount) on a machine with no GPU and memory I can't upgrade. That is incidentally the exact price of my 2011 15" MBP when it was new. So, I keep flipping back to the 15" MBP base model and upgrading it to greater storage. And that lands me at $2440, which would be far and away more than I've ever paid for a computer of any kind.

You say your 2011 MBP is starting to become unstable - not sure what you mean by that, but the recommendation I often see is that one should not use more than 80% of the hard drive or SSD capacity.

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Yeah, my issues are primarily with the display not coming on when the machine is actually running. This model is known to have issues with the GPU and Apple has already replaced the logic board once under extended warranty.

You seem to be well above that - maybe that is causing the "instability"

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Well, presently I have about 100GB free, so I don't think that's the issue. In the days of HDDs that was more of a problem due to the potential for fragmentation. I don't believe SSDs have quite the same trouble.

Hey there Chris great to hear from ya

I know you've had issues with Apple notebooks since 2012-ish when user expandability pretty much went away. Great to see you're in the market for something new. I know you mentioned keeping the budget smaller...but some of the newer 15" MacBook Pro models with 6-core CPU's seem pretty awesome!

- Nick

The bottom line to make a decision is really to be absolutely clear in what your requirements are, now and longer term, and to prioritize capabilities.
As I said, I needed the ports, I also wanted an SD slot, although that could have been handles with an SD/USB adapter. GPU was not an issue, memory update went out on MacBooks years ago, so the best option is get the max memory up front.
What I missed out on with the 2017 MBa which would have been nice is the high resolution display. But coming from a 2011 MBp this is at least not a step backwards.
RAM for me was because the 2011 MBp had 16GB of RAM installed....although I'm not sure I actually needed that.

And yes, with a 100GB free, that should be fine. I have about that on my Mini and it runs perfectly.

My son spent the big bucks on a top of the line MacBook pro; he can justify that because he needs the processing power for some very complex audio and video processing.
But he is also complaining about the dongles he has to buy and carry around and he had his keyboard replaced once already.

cwa107 said:

I am leaning in that direction as well, though it's killing me to spend $1691 (with my EPP discount) on a machine with no GPU and memory I can't upgrade. That is incidentally the exact price of my 2011 15" MBP when it was new. So, I keep flipping back to the 15" MBP base model and upgrading it to greater storage. And that lands me at $2440, which would be far and away more than I've ever paid for a computer of any kind.

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Well, it sounds like you're going to hate spending either $1691 or $2440, so just go with what you want and put it in perspective. If you use this machine for 8 years like your other one, that's $25/month. And if you want to break even, most people would be hard pressed not to be able to free up $25/month in their budget each month if they really wanted to.

usagora said:

Well, it sounds like you're going to hate spending either $1691 or $2440, so just go with what you want and put it in perspective. If you use this machine for 8 years like your other one, that's $25/month.

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I try to rationalize the purchase price of new MacBooks like that as well, but with no upgradability at all, I don't think the new MacBooks will last 8 years.
On my 2011 one, I had to replace the keyboard once already - it now has a column of eys again that don't work. I replaced the track pad as well
And of course I upped the RAM and the hard drive and the battery twice to say nothing of the power adapters.

Most of that can't be done with the new MacBooks or is so expensive that it's not worth it.
They have almost become 'throw-aways" if something major goes wrong.

krs said:

...but with no upgradability at all....

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Well, that's another reason to get what he wants up front (the $2440 setup) to somewhat future-proof it. It would be interesting to know some actual stats concerning major issues with the current generation of Apple notebooks that would render them paper-weights. I have a feeling the percentages are probably low, and that it is very likely that he could easily get 8 years out of it. But even if he only got 4 years out of it, that's still only $50/month.

Not going to go into my usual diatribe about the latest generations of MacBooks.

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Hey Chris...

Good to hear from you again. Buying a new MacBook Pro nowadays doesn't leave one with much choice. Macs are rapidly becoming appliances like your home wash machine or dryer.

Just wanted to mention that my wife has been after me to replace her aging Camry. Looks like I'll be car shopping before too long. I wish I could avoid that forthcoming painful and expensive experience but if I want to keep peace at home....

Tune in more often.

Charlie

You might also take a good look at the refurbished machines from Apple. I don't know what your discount amounts to, but a refurb from Apple is about 15% off list and has the same warranty and eligibility for AppleCare+. AC+ is, with the new machines, a pretty good insurance policy, IMHO.

I don't want to be alarmist about this but there is a worrying issue I became aware of a week ago called "Flexgate". I'd love to hear what others know about this. https://www.macrumors.com/2019/01/22/macbook-pro-flexgate/
My last purchase was a 2015 13" MBP Retina purchased specifically to avoid some of the issues already mentioned by cwa107 like the range of adaptors I would have needed for my existing USB peripherals not to mention the built in SAD card reader. It now appears I may have dodged a bullet with Flexgate. Unfortunately this does not help my wife who just bought a 2018 MBP with touchbar.



Sent from my ageing iPad Mini iOS 9.3.5 Mac-Forums

I appreciate all the helpful comments. Thank you. I have actually started to reply to a few of them and go on my usual rant about how much I hate the direction Apple has taken with these things, but I swore to myself that I wouldn't when I started this thread. It is what it is and at least I know exactly what I'm getting into.

So now that I've reached some amount of zen on the issue, I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on a MacBook Air with memory maxed out and a 512GB SSD. I just keep going back to the 13" MBP and seeing what I could get for the same pricepoint, but inevitably, I end up bumping up the specs and going well beyond the $1700 pricepoint I've been trying to stick to. And Rod, that 'Flexgate' issue is troubling, so maybe that's the final push I need to go with the Air instead.

I can't believe I spent this much, but I did it. Officially pulled the trigger.

I bought a 2018 model MacBook Air, 16GB and 512GB SSD. I ordered the AppleCare+ as well as I know this machine is in no way user-serviceable. I am even trading in my old MBP for a $210 credit.

Now I need a USB Type-C dock. I have one for my work laptop, but I don't think I want to share. Anyone have a recommendation?

Man, these USB Type C accessories are really very affordable. I can see why Apple is strongly pushing this consolidation to a single port style. I ended up buying an Anker USB Type C "hub" that has three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI with 4K support and an Gigabit Ethernet port for $40 (as it's a superseded model). That pretty much covers all of my port needs. Hard to complain about that, and it's fairly compact to boot.

cwa107 said:

Man, these USB Type C accessories are really very affordable. I can see why Apple is strongly pushing this consolidation to a single port style. I ended up buying an Anker USB Type C "hub" that has three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI with 4K support and an Gigabit Ethernet port for $40 (as it's a superseded model). That pretty much covers all of my port needs. Hard to complain about that, and it's fairly compact to boot.

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Good going. Sounds good. So you going with the Air? Might be the best deal due to the issues with the touchbar MBP's.

Did you go to an Apple store or order it? Let us know how you like it.

dtravis7 said:

Good going. Sounds good. So you going with the Air? Might be the best deal due to the issues with the touchbar MBP's.

Did you go to an Apple store or order it? Let us know how you like it.

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Yep, it's ordered! Just waiting on Apple to ship it. I wanted to pick it up from my local Apple Store, but evidently it's under refurbishment. The closest alternate is in Orlando and that's easily an hour drive with traffic (it's right in the heart of the tourist capitol of the world).

On the good side with my wife's MBP I checked her Apple Care+ plan and found it extends to September 2021 so that's reassuring.


Sent from my iPhone

Rod Sprague said:

On the good side with my wife's MBP I checked her Apple Care+ plan and found it extends to September 2021 so that's reassuring.


Sent from my iPhone

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Yeah, I don't think I've ever purchased AppleCare on any of the MBPs I've purchased in the past (and I've bought 3 of them), but in light of some of the issues I've seen with recent Macs, I figured that was a wise move this time. Louis Rossmann paints a pretty bleak picture of Apple's more recent engineering failures -- and though the jury is still out on the new MBA, I figure iI'll have peace of mind for at least the first three years (particularly on a design that's difficult or impossible to service).