▲ 8 points

Ask HN: Should I buy a 2015 Macbook Pro?

by deepaksurti·8y ago·28 comments·view on hn ↗

The non butterfly keyboard one, with no touchbar, 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD.

Any suggestions with reasoning appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

28 comments

I did exactly that, coming from the 2012 MBPr, to make sure I’ll have a reasonable machine for the next 3 years (having warranty again). It’s better to pay relatively much for relatively old hardware that works well, than more for newer hardware that doesn’t. The only serious issue with the 2015 model, the screen coating, gets fixed easily. Newer models have fragile keyboards, oversized trackpads, a lack of ports, and more. Good luck having those fixed. If you do want a Mac and can get away with its performance (graphics in particular), get the 2015 over the 2017, no doubt.

In my opinion, it mostly comes down to whether you can live with the lack of ports.

If you often do presentations the HDMI port is going to be very useful. If you take a lot of photos, the SD card slot is a huge time saver (compared to downloading via USB, depending on camera model).

But if you only need those ports at your desk, a docking station is a fine solution. There are TB 3 docks available now that have all the ports and can charge 2017 Macbook all over a single cable, which is pretty awesome. They cost around 250€.

Sure, the 2017 model might have keyboard issues, but my 2015 model has the problem with the screen coating, and it doesn‘t connect to some Wifi hotspots, so it‘s not like it is a perfect machine either.

At least the issue with the coating is fixed for free, no questions asked, even after regular warranty expired. On the other hand, there have been several reports of butterfly keyboard replacements not being covered half a year into warranty.

How do I contact Apple regarding the screen coating issue? When I try to call them, the bot just tells me my warranty coverage has expired.

If you have the 2012 MBPr, you’re out of luck since it’s considered too outdated to qualify for service. Otherwise, try to make an appointment at a Genius Bar or walk into any authorized service provider who should be able to handle the claim for you.

This dell has 32gb ram, a 1tb m.2 disk and a very large battery for under 2300 right now: http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-xps-15-touch.... I would personally use that with Windows or Linux and run some VMs with your 32gb ram.

I bought one at the end of 2016 when the TB models were announced. I wrote this: https://medium.com/@Pier/why-i-bought-a-2015-macbook-pro-fad...

In that article you can see the positive points.

I ended up selling that machine in early 2018 because between the 4th gen CPU and the integrated GPU it got really hot. Lots of fan noise and useless for working on my lap. Also, when connected to an external display the idle temps jumped 10ºC to about 50ºC.

Since the machine rarely left my desk at home I ended up buying an iMac, and have other options for meetings and presentations (iPad, Chromebook, wife's MBA...).

I moved from a 2015MBP to the new MBP with a touch bar.

It was the worst mistake in my computing Mac Life (been using them since 2001).

- Crap Keyboard - bad palm rejection - random freezing - keychain app slow and unusable l (guessing because of bug with Touch ID) - no SD slot - ports are a disaster

The only good thing I can say about the machine is it’s nice to be able to charge with USB-C on either side of the machine.

If I were you I’d get the 2015 and hold out to see if Apple makes things better.

To tide me over I purchased a couple of iMacs (one for work and one for home). Improvements to iCloud + git + autoSSH have made this quite workable.

I have a late 2012 rMBP 13" and a 2017 MBP. I love everything about the 2012 and I really dislike the butterfly keyboard on the new MBP. There's just not enough travel, it's like typing on one of those cheap crappy iPad cover keyboards. I haven't had trouble with keys falling off yet, but I highly doubt it has the same bulletproof build quality of my 2012.

No. The keyboard will probably need to be repaired at some point, but it's worth it to have a computer that's generally much better and a couple pounds lighter. Of course the ideal would be to wait three months until the next generation gets released.

You realize this version doesn't have the faulty butterfly keyboard

Yes, I'm saying the faulty keyboard isn't enough of a reason not to get the newer one.

Going to have to completely disagree from experience, owning a 2017 13”, a 2015” 13” and a 2011, 13”, my daily driver is the 2015 due to the craptacular keyboard on the 2017. The heaviness of the 2015 vs. the 2011 makes all the difference but the crappy keyboard is not worth the two pounds and more importantly, ports, that the 2015 offers.

IMO there is also virtually no noticeable performance differnence between my 2015 and 2017. Both i7, 16GB RAM, 1532MB VRAM.

No, you shouldn't have to buy hardware that's 3 generations behind to get a reliable laptop from Apple. Don't encourage that behaviour.

Better options right now:

- Lenovo X1 Carbon 6th gen

- Huawei Matebook X Pro

The latter one is a bargain at $1500 for an intel i7, Nvidia MX150 GPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD

It sounds strange to consider if you "should have to" when buying something. I wanted the previous model macbook pro, so I bought one and I didn't really care what behavior I was encouraging.

Fair point, but many people buy Mac for the OS as much as the hardware. That means I'd have to get a laptop that can be converted i to a hackintosh and that's a whole separate headache.

but is any of those options "hackintoshable" ( to develop iOS apps ) in a reliable way ? i have no idea if this use case applies to the original poster, but i would (seriously) consider a macbook 2015 for this purpose.

Last I checked there was success with running OSX via VirtualBox. Google might be helpful, although YMMV and IANAL.

Get a Mi Book Pro, it's working fairly well Hackintosh wise.

Yes. Great computer. I got the 13” refurb from Apple last summer.

I bought one in January and am very pleased with it.

I did it two years ago. No regrets so far.

I say go for it, I still love my mid-2014.

What is your budget?

and what is your use case ( development ? iOS development ? anything else ? ) for this machine ?

I already own an iMac, I am looking at this for the following:

1. iOS development, Using Unity for games Development, (edit: Mac app development)

2. 1 VM with Windows

3. 1 VM with Linux

edit: also when travelling, to use this for all work demos

only buy it if you don't know how to install any software other than Mac applications and you're happy overpaying on hardware by 200%. Good luck in your quest.