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Which MacBook Pro is right for you?
If you’re thinking about buying a Pro notebook from Apple, you’re probably wondering, ‘What’s the difference between them? Should I go for a 13-inch or a 15-inch model? How much storage should I get?’ And as Shakespeare’s Macbeth may well have said, ‘Touch Bar or not Touch Bar, that is the question…’
This post will go over the range in detail to help you make a decision. Specifically, we’re looking at the latest generation, released in June 2017. We’ve had the opportunity to use these beautiful machines for over a month and they’re all as great as we expected, but which of them is right for you?
The most significant thing to take into account is how you’re going to use them. The 15-inch models are significantly more powerful than the 13-inch models; you’re not just paying for extra screen size, there’s a whole lot more under the bonnet. If you’re a photographer or work with video or 3D design, you’ll need the power of the 15-inch. These all come with Touch Bar, so at least you don’t have to worry about making a decision there! You only need to think about the graphical power you need – you’ll be more than fine with the Radeon Pro 550 if you work on still images, and will want to think about upgrading to the 560 if you’re working with video or 3D.
Lastly, do you need extra storage capacity or can you get by with the pre-existing built-in storage and using supplementary external drives or cloud storage? Again this will vary depending on how many projects you need to have with you at all times, and the type of media you’re working in – video tend to be the biggest storage hogs. If you often work in a building (or on a train!) without decent Wi-Fi access for cloud storage, you might want to look at the extra onboard flash options. Bear in mind that the storage will be fixed for the entire lifetime of the machine, so it might be wise to err on the side of more than you need now, and grow into the space as you do more with your Mac.
If you believe bigger isn’t necessarily better, you should look at the 13-inch models, which have a superb balance of portability and power. But should you go for the Touch Bar version or the ‘function key’ version aka MacBook Pro with 2 Thunderbolt ports? I think you’ll have realised by now that I’m going to say ‘it depends!’ It’s important to remember that the Touch Bar is bundled with a Touch ID sensor, which allows you to unlock your Mac and authorise payments with a fingerprint. Goodbye passwords! The security and convenience it offers is probably more attractive than the Touch Bar itself for a lot of users.
Having said that, if you’re into graphic design, photography or music, there are many tasks which the Touch Bar makes amazingly smooth and immersive. Ultimately, it can become part of a faster, more satisfying workflow. For example, compare clicking and dragging on a palette of colour options with tapping and sliding on the Touch Bar – the latter lets you try ideas out quicker and gives you a more visceral feeling of craft, pushing a slider for a little deeper hue or transparency. In short, it just feels better, gives a more direct physical feedback, and means your finger isn’t stuck in one place, trembling on the trackpad while you make up your mind! Similarly musicians can use the Touch Bar to play MIDI notes and adjust faders or knobs in GarageBand or Logic, which will soon feel like the most natural way to tweak your sounds.
I’d argue that there are a lot of good reasons to recommend the Touch Bar and especially Touch ID, but not everyone will be convinced of the necessity. The ‘function key’ version certainly feels more familiar, and not everyone has the interest or time to learn a new way of interacting with their computer. Especially if your work is centred around creating documents and spreadsheets, web-browsing and email and little else, the ‘function key’ models have all the power you need and more. Again, you’ll need to think about storage but 128GB is plenty for moderate usage and this option means a really nice entry-level price.
So which one will you go for? Hit the ‘chat with us’ button if you’re still not sure.
