Thinking of a Mac laptop, but which one?

I'm a long-time Android/Google/Windows kind of guy.  As I start into my Master's degree it occurs to me that a 5-year old HP isn't the best laptop so its time for a new one.  I'm also getting into video and audio editing/composing/songwriting, so I figured I should consider a Mac.

Uses: 
- Schoolwork for online classes (internet research, word processing, etc)
- HD Video editing (making mini episodes of current topics, etc for a youtube channel)
- Audio editing (voice overs for the videos, etc)
- Composing, songwriting, recording

As of yet I don't have a keyboard, but I do have a guitar with a pickup.  Other musical things can be acquired as needed.

Must be a laptop.  I travel way too much to be carrying an all-in-one or a tower around.

The Apple website is pretty useless.  The specs all look similar and the prices are all over the place.

I’m in the same boat. The $500 fell from 4yrs ago is great for what I normally need it to do but isn’t going to cut it for paper writing for my BSN...

I last looked at Best Buy and saw they had a pro with 16/256 for $1500 on sale. Almost pulled the trigger but didn’t.

I've been working on Apple hardware for about a decade now, including the laptops. I'm anything but thrilled with their current offerings (especially the Macbook Pro line - I'm super sensitive to keyboard quality and don't like them much). Most of the Apple line is also quite dated hardware wise - while they've been bringing out phones annually, the hardware on most desktops (with potentially the exception of the iMac Pro) and laptops hasn't been refreshed for a while. Even the current generation MacBook Pro wasn't cutting edge when it came out.

Also, you don't need a Mac for any of the above - most of the software needed is available on Mac and Windows. Although to be fair, Macs come with iMovie and Garageband to cover the basic functionality for free.

First question is, how big do you want the screen to be? More portable equals smaller screen, but that's not an issue if you also have an external monitor.

Second, new or used?

My picks would be the following, roughly in this order:

• Microsoft Surface Book 2 - pretty much everybody I know who has a Surface Book (2 or not 2) raves about it, and those are not die-hard Windows fans. Yes, I know, you asked about Apple.
• Previous generation MacBook Pro - I have a 15" for work and I do like it. Actually I like it enough to consider buying it from my employer when I have to go through a hardware refresh. You might still be able to get an official Apple refurb one, too. They're also available in 13" IIRC. Just keep in mind that they're basically not user upgradable (not even RAM or storage).
• MacBook Air for ease of travel at the expense of raw computing horsepower. I'd look for refurb or used.

Just to throw some fuel on the fire I am super happy with this used Lenovo W540 I got from the bay.  Nvidiga6 2gb graphics, Core i7, 16 gb RAM, 256g SSD, full HD screen, 6 hrs of battery life, and best of all it was $400.  Put it on a dock, its still plenty capable as the old machine it replaced. 

Tough to touch used Windows laptops for bang for the buck.

Ok, so maybe I add some memory to my HP and get it tuned up?  I already upped the HD to 500gb and I have a 2TB external which is a bit slow over USB but it works.

Tim, as far as size and portability is concerned, I'm not too picky.  Any laptop will be portable enough for me.  Bigger screen is always nice, but 13" or 15" will suffice.  Current HP is 15"

I did download Lightworks for free (video editing software that lacks a few features of the full paid version).  Its a learning curve, but it was supposedly the best.  They used it to edit a few big-screen movies like The Departed and others

What software should I get for audio/composing/recording?  Free is great, but don't mind paying for it.  I would like software that not only records and lets me edit audio (like Audacity) but one that I can compose music on the screen and have it playback with different instruments, (like band in a box) and also let's me play something on a keyboard and it writes the music as I play.

Curtis said:

Ok, so maybe I add some memory to my HP and get it tuned up?  I already upped the HD to 500gb and I have a 2TB external which is a bit slow over USB but it works.

I would look into the cost of that. If it's got enough processing power, then that would be more cost effective. I'd also look into putting an SSD in instead of a HDD (assuming that's not what you already did when bumping up the HD capacity).

Tim, as far as size and portability is concerned, I'm not too picky.  Any laptop will be portable enough for me.  Bigger screen is always nice, but 13" or 15" will suffice.  Current HP is 15"

15" is the max Apple has been doing for laptops for a while. They used to offer 17" as well, but that was quite a while ago. Right now the choices are 11", 13" and 15" IIRC.

Thought about SSD, but the money tree I just planted hasn't blossomed yet.

I'm typing this on a mid-2012 15" MacBook Pro. It's the model just before Retina came out and it's user upgradeable. It can still handle the latest operating system and thanks to some RAM upgrades and an SSD/HDD combo it has both storage and speed. The hardware is rock solid. It's even got real I/O ports and the Magsafe quick release power plug. The case is billet aluminum so it'll take some real abuse. It's built on a Unix base. I'm a big fan.

When my wife wanted a laptop, I hunted down the 13" version of the same thing. 

It was more expensive to buy than a Windows box of the same horsepower at the time, but I would have had to replace the Windows box a couple of times by this point.

So, Curtis, if I were in your place I'd go looking for a used mid-2012 15" MacBook Pro and throw some RAM and an SSD at it 

About the music software question - I'm not doing a bunch of sequencing these days, but I'd start by exploring Garage Band (included in MacOS) and then I'd call Sweetwater and ask them.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Those are definitely rock solid and as you mentioned, the last generation of user upgradable ones.

One thing to keep in mind is that they're very likely to roll off the Apple support list pretty soon if they haven't already and that means no more OEM parts or repair. Again, not that different from other brands, but something to keep in mind. Same goes for the OS although they've been pretty good with the few recent releases of OS X - I'm typing this on a Frankenstein'd 2009/10 Mac Pro that somehow still gets OS support.

My take is that if Curtis wants one that he can take into a Genius bar, I would recommend one generation newer. If it's a DIY proposition, anything with enough oomph and reasonable parts supply shout do the trick. Especially as the Apple hardware from about 2008-2013/14 tends to be rock solid.

I just bought a 15" Macbook today with the SSD drive.  The biggest computer/drive they had.  It is to replace one of the 17" models

The 17" is still good as are my other 2 15" MacBooks so why did I buy this one?  Because the PC computer I had crapped out.  So I bought this one to run Windoze.  I will only have to run Win for probably 6-7 more months so then I can ditch the Win OS and have me a good computer.

I have a couple of companies who have programmers trying to give themselves job stability by convincing the powers that be to keep everything window oriented rather than open platform or cloud based.  Both place also require certain versions of IE to even connect to them. 

One thing I don't like is that they only have 4 USB C connectors.  True they do everything in any port, but have you tried to find cables with the USB C connector?  I'm just about through porting over the 17" computer to the 15" by wifi because no one, even Apple had a cable that would connect the 2 machines.

Why didn't I just use one of the 2012-2014 models I already had?  There are certain hardware limitations on the older machines.  Some of the newer features you can't do on the older machines.  For instance one of the older ones won't connect to Apple TV.  You have to have a 6 month newer model to do that. 

The one cable I could find has an hdmi port so I can get a cheap TV to use as a second monitor and this allows me to have 2 different things up and visible at the same time. 

 

BoxheadTim said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Those are definitely rock solid and as you mentioned, the last generation of user upgradable ones.

One thing to keep in mind is that they're very likely to roll off the Apple support list pretty soon if they haven't already and that means no more OEM parts or repair. Again, not that different from other brands, but something to keep in mind. Same goes for the OS although they've been pretty good with the few recent releases of OS X - I'm typing this on a Frankenstein'd 2009/10 Mac Pro that somehow still gets OS support.

My take is that if Curtis wants one that he can take into a Genius bar, I would recommend one generation newer. If it's a DIY proposition, anything with enough oomph and reasonable parts supply shout do the trick. Especially as the Apple hardware from about 2008-2013/14 tends to be rock solid.

Good point, I never considered pro service since the nearest Genius bar is five hours away Still, how many other laptops still have OEM repair after six years?

I can confirm that the mid-2012 MBP can connect to Apple TV, by the way.

The HP Spectre x360 turns me on.  Apple's laptops haven't for quite a while.  That's all I can add.

I have a 13" Macbook and have been happy with it.  At home I do plug it into a larger monitor, and use an old wireless Apple keyboard.

From what I hear from the tech people, as mentioned, the MacBook line is dated.  If you want a MacBook, best to wait for the next version if you can (no idea when that will happen)

In reply to aircooled :

That's the thing - a lot of the current Apple lineup needs a refresh - the MacBook Pro got one, but I'm not a fan and IIRC it's not really cutting edge hardware - and there aren't even any rumours as to when that is going to happen.

Keith Tanner said:

So, Curtis, if I were in your place I'd go looking for a used mid-2012 15" MacBook Pro and throw some RAM and an SSD at it 

This.

That's exactly what I bought (except mine was a refurb). The absolute last upgradeable MacBook Pro. I'm already rocking 16GB and a SSD will be next. It has been rock solid. I just use an external screen when I need more real estate. It is my main work computer.

I have no idea what I'm going to do when this one finally dies. I refuse to spend decent money on a "disposable" laptop with hardwired RAM and hard drive. I may build a desktop for my office and buy a cheap Chromebook for on the go work.

In looking over the MacBook and Pro specs, the strange thing I noticed was that there was nothing remarkable about them.  Slow processors, modest memory, and no real specs on the sound/audio cards.  Makes me wonder what voodoo makes them so great for audio/video/music stuff and why everyone says they're so superior.  At least on paper, they fall way short of most PCs and cost 4 times as much.

It was always the software.  The thing is, I think a lot of the tools have migrated to Windows entirely or exist on both platforms.  The audio chipset in a laptop is probably never a big deal as you have to go through a headphone jack to get audio out of the thing, or else you're running an external DAC of some sort.  In other words, don't worry about that, a USB audio interface is what you'd use if you're serious.  

Power management, battery management, and general ease of use is why I went with Apple for my last two laptops.  Only they killed MagSafe on the latest Pro's and that stupid touch bar is nearly useless, the port configuration in general is kind of silly, and there isn't anything that compelling to me on these either.    I've had something from Apple in use around me since I was a little kid in the 80's and at this point I think I'm basically done, iPod Classic not withstanding.

A lot of it was the availability of software that you couldn't get for Windows. Plus build quality used to be spectacular. You paid a lot of money for stuff that just worked. 

These dates most of the software is available for both Windows and OSX so it's less of an issue. 

Curtis said:

In looking over the MacBook and Pro specs, the strange thing I noticed was that there was nothing remarkable about them.  Slow processors, modest memory, and no real specs on the sound/audio cards.  Makes me wonder what voodoo makes them so great for audio/video/music stuff and why everyone says they're so superior.  At least on paper, they fall way short of most PCs and cost 4 times as much.

Don't forget the keyboard, which has so many issues with dust etc jamming the keys, there have been two class action law suits over it.  I think Apple finally admitted in some way that the design is bad.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/05/23/second-macbook-pro-keyboard-class-action/

The Porsche 911 has much less power than many of it's rivals, the engine is in the wrong place, and the design is dated.  Yet, it outperforms all of them on the street and track, despite what the spec sheet says.  The MacBook is the 911 of laptops.  

My MacBook Air is small, so it travels really well and the battery lasts forever.  At home, I hook it to a larger monitor and add a mouse and I never run into anything I can't do, and that includes photo retouching and video editing. In the 10 years I have been on a Mac, I have never stared at a blue screen of death, never had to take it in for repairs, never had to Google how to undo some malware or overcome some glitch.  Not once.  It just works and works and works.  

My wife has a MS Surface Pro and it causes her headaches every single week.  It cannot connect to networks, the keyboard is spotty at best, it locks up all the time, and she has to turn it in to her IT department for repairs at least every month.  The hardware is just not as reliable as a Mac, and the operating system, user interface and infrastructure are a joke.  Any time I have to use hers, I want to pull my hair out.  (if I had hair) 

So my response is get a Mac, any Mac, it will be better than a PC. I went from a MacBook Pro with all the bells and whistles to a MacBook Air that was all I could afford, and I haven't missed a beat yet.    

When I bought mine in 2012, the hardware spec was as good as the best Windows laptops and the build quality was superior. That's probably one reason it's stayed relevant compared to the new Apple hardware. It was an expensive buy-in at the time, but over the lifespan of the product I think it's proven to be a pretty good choice from a financial standpoint. Free OS upgrades were always nice too. And one of the cool things about Apple not refreshing the hardware much is that the OS has become more efficient and faster with time instead of bloating up and assuming the processors will follow. I know, that seems like a backhanded compliment but I appreciate better code over more code.

Historically, Apple aimed at the media market and their machines and software were well adapted to it. They simply did graphics and music better than Windows. That may not be the case anymore, but you always used to be able to tell that tools like Photoshop were designed for use on the Mac and the Windows version were an adaptation. Thus more media folks used them, thus Apple optimized the machines further and we have a closed loop cycle.

I have a 2010 15" MBP, it's got an SSD and maxed out ram (only 8GB max for that model I think.) It still does great for most things. It has had some random reboots more recently, so I will be looking at upgrading sooner or later. I would definitely consider a 2012 MBP, but possibly go one step newer than that. I've also thought about a  2012+ MBA just for the mobility since I regularly carry 3 laptops for work right now... 

Figure out what software and peripherals you want to use first and let that dictate the platform you choose. Also, it's 2018. Any machine you buy, desktop or laptop should have an SSD in it. They are completely transformative.