Bought the 2015 MacBook Pro: Best Model for My Usage at a Big Savings
See all my previous discussion on the 2016 MacBook Pro, which I returned, as did Jason O'Grady of Apple Insider.
My main issue with my rock-solid 2013 MacBook Pro has been simple: its 512GB SSD has been an increasing headache (only 180GB free space given other necessary stuff, a problem on my photography trips). So I’ve been wanting a MacBook Pro with a 1TB SSD for a while, but I didn’t want to pay full fare.
As well, ergonomics and performance and compatibility all matter to me—all a 'fail' with the 2016 MacBook Pro. The 2015 MacBook pro is the best one Apple ever made (for my needs) when those things are all taken into consideration—not the 2016 MacBook Pro.
Bonus wins:
- The 2015 MacBook Pro is faster than the 2013 model on everything, and faster than the 2016 model (since 2013 faster than 2016, at least on some things.
- The 2015 MacBook Pro internal PCIe SSD should be a simple swap with the 2013 Mac Pro. Since the 2015 MBP PCIe SSD is quite a lot faster, I can not only get a better laptop, I can speed up my Mac Pro.
And while the 2016 model has Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C, that brings adapter hassles and I really don’t need TB3 anyway, since I expect an iMac or Mac Pro to bring TB3 sometime soon in 2017—and when I am working at home I don’t use the laptop anyway. So TB3 doesn’t do anything for me on a laptop.
For a lot less money, I bit the bullet and ordered a 2015 MacBook Pro 2.8 GHz / 16GB / 1TB 2015 from OWC. Which is faster on what I do anyway! It is factory sealed Apple refurbished with a one year warrant and eligible for AppleCare, so just like a new one.