
Ask HN: Should I buy a 2015 Macbook Pro? - deepaksurti
The non butterfly keyboard one, with no touchbar, 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD.<p>Any suggestions with reasoning appreciated.<p>Thanks in advance.
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thijsvandien
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.

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jakobegger
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.

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thijsvandien
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.

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jakobegger
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.

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thijsvandien
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outdated to qualify for service.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.

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emidln
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...](http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-
xps-15-touch/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop/dncwxb1609s). I would personally use that
with Windows or Linux and run some VMs with your 32gb ram.

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pier25
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...](https://medium.com/@Pier/why-i-bought-a-2015-macbook-pro-fadf27ab4b)

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...).

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schappim
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.

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dirktheman
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.

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Alex3917
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.

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

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Alex3917
Yes, I'm saying the faulty keyboard isn't enough of a reason not to get the
newer one.

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lostgame
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.

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alt_f4
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

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slipwalker
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.

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

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

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

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

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

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jaytaylor
What is your budget?

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deepaksurti
3K

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

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deepaksurti
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

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suff
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.

