Macbook Pro for university?

[Mikemike123]

Hello guys, I'm matriculating into SIT as an engineering student this year. Is a Macbook Pro 2018 suitable for my school needs or do you have other recommendation.

Reasons for choosing Macbook Pro : Big fan of MacOS ( Only use it a few times before) and the ability to run both windows and MacOS

Usage: Strictly school software and photo editing.

 

[Shawshankredempti0n]

In your opinion how common do you think it is for you to use Mac OS in a work place environment?

 

[narkizy]

Hello guys, I'm matriculating into SIT as an engineering student this year. Is a Macbook Pro 2018 suitable for my school needs or do you have other recommendation.

Reasons for choosing Macbook Pro : Big fan of MacOS ( Only use it a few times before) and the ability to run both windows and MacOS

Usage: Strictly school software and photo editing.

Pretty damn overpriced choice of laptop purely based on OS but if you're not budget-limited, then sure. Go for it.

I personally like MacOS too, but the crappy(pure crap) butterfly keyboard, useless touch bar(that's bloody expensive) and generally worse specs than an equivalently priced windows laptop makes me lean to a premium thin-and-light gaming laptop or a max specced windows ultrabook instead.

Keep in mind:
1) It does run pretty hot, contrary to what reviews say. Especially the 15in version. Blame it on the crappy design flaws.
2) Butterfly keyboard failure is actually pretty common and damn annoying
3) You can easily afford a windows-based gaming laptop with 5x the performance for the same price (Think decently specced Razer Blade 2070 VS Macbook Pro 15/13 inch)
4) You honestly won't be able to run Bootcamp(windows+macOS) properly unless you bump up the specs to at least a 512GB/1TB SSD version, which again, the price for that is bloody horrendous.

Note that you're gonna be using it for four years or more. Note that the SSD is soldered on. Get a 256GB SSD, good luck to you trying to run windows and MacOS together

If you still want to work with MacOS, get the 13inch Macbook Pro.

 

[Mikemike123]

In your opinion how common do you think it is for you to use Mac OS in a work place environment?

Tbh, I'm only using the laptop for that 3 years of school. After that, I'm probably going to sell the laptop or give the laptop to my younger siblings. I heard the resale value for apple products is always higher than the rest if u take care of it

 

[Mikemike123]

Pretty damn overpriced choice of laptop purely based on OS but if you're not budget-limited, then sure. Go for it.

I personally like MacOS too, but the crappy(pure crap) butterfly keyboard, useless touch bar(that's bloody expensive) and generally worse specs than an equivalently priced windows laptop makes me lean to a premium thin-and-light gaming laptop or a max specced windows ultrabook instead.

Keep in mind:
1) It does run pretty hot, contrary to what reviews say. Especially the 15in version. Blame it on the crappy design flaws.
2) Butterfly keyboard failure is actually pretty common and damn annoying
3) You can easily afford a windows-based gaming laptop with 5x the performance for the same price (Think decently specced Razer Blade 2070 VS Macbook Pro 15/13 inch)
4) You honestly won't be able to run Bootcamp(windows+macOS) properly unless you bump up the specs to at least a 512GB/1TB SSD version, which again, the price for that is bloody horrendous.

Note that you're gonna be using it for four years or more. Note that the SSD is soldered on. Get a 256GB SSD, good luck to you trying to run windows and MacOS together

If you still want to work with MacOS, get the 13inch Macbook Pro.

I'm abit sceptical to jumping to MacOS, I have only used it a few times and found it better than the windows in some situation but I have been using windows for my entire life and don't mind using it.

Having thunderbolt 3 ports is also a plus point for me as I'm planning to use it in the near future so I'm currently looking into Macbook Pro and XPS 13

 

[Aaagogo]

the only macbook pro worth buying is the 2015 model that has the ports and sd card slot.

i implore you to do the research on the myriad issues of the macbook pro models after 2016;

keyboard
motherboard
heat
wifi issue when dongle is connected
and many others

best to check if your engineering softwares can run on macs, i know fortran doesn't run natively and you need to tinker to make it work.

Catia doesn't work on a mac
Solidworks doesn't work on a mac

3 rather important engineering software that don't work with mac.

i suggest u stick to windows OS, and if you really want Mac, do a dual boot hackintosh on a supported windows laptop.

Engineering and Mac don't play well together

 

[narkizy]

I'm abit sceptical to jumping to MacOS, I have only used it a few times and found it better than the windows in some situation but I have been using windows for my entire life and don't mind using it.

Having thunderbolt 3 ports is also a plus point for me as I'm planning to use it in the near future so I'm currently looking into Macbook Pro and XPS 13

If you're not a hardcore MacOS fanboy, I'd suggest avoiding Macbook Pro completely and just go with a good windows laptop.

Loads of premium-grade ultrabooks come loaded with multiple thunderbolt 3 ports AND SD card slots AND USB A ports(no dongle needed).

1) Razer blade stealth 2019 has one thunderbolt 3 port, one USB-C charging port, two USB A ports

2) XPS 9380 has two thunderbolt ports, a headphone jack, microsd slot, one USB-c power port

3) Lenovo's premium thinkpad line has the same as the above, plus best-in-industry(arguably) build quality compared to the other two

Both are cheaper than the Macbook Pro 13inch even when decently specced and have BETTER port selection. I suggest ditching the Macbook Pro altogether if you're not into MacOS all that much. You're losing alot of money and performance simply for the 'brandname'.

Tbh, I'm only using the laptop for that 3 years of school. After that, I'm probably going to sell the laptop or give the laptop to my younger siblings. I heard the resale value for apple products is always higher than the rest if u take care of it

Take into account the extra premium you had to pay for an Apple product and the lower depreciation rate instantly becomes a null argument.

 

[Mikemike123]

the only macbook pro worth buying is the 2015 model that has the ports and sd card slot.

i implore you to do the research on the myriad issues of the macbook pro models after 2016;

keyboard
motherboard
heat
wifi issue when dongle is connected
and many others

best to check if your engineering softwares can run on macs, i know fortran doesn't run natively and you need to tinker to make it work.

Catia doesn't work on a mac
Solidworks doesn't work on a mac

3 rather important engineering software that don't work with mac.

i suggest u stick to windows OS, and if you really want Mac, do a dual boot hackintosh on a supported windows laptop.

Engineering and Mac don't play well together

Thanks for your input, now I'm leaning more towards a Windows laptop. Still got some time to consider before I make a purchase

 

[Mikemike123]

If you're not a hardcore MacOS fanboy, I'd suggest avoiding Macbook Pro completely and just go with a good windows laptop.

Loads of premium-grade ultrabooks come loaded with multiple thunderbolt 3 ports AND SD card slots AND USB A ports(no dongle needed).

1) Razer blade stealth 2019 has one thunderbolt 3 port, one USB-C charging port, two USB A ports

2) XPS 9380 has two thunderbolt ports, a headphone jack, microsd slot, one USB-c power port

3) Lenovo's premium thinkpad line has the same as the above, plus best-in-industry(arguably) build quality compared to the other two

Both are cheaper than the Macbook Pro 13inch even when decently specced and have BETTER port selection. I suggest ditching the Macbook Pro altogether if you're not into MacOS all that much. You're losing alot of money and performance simply for the 'brandname'.



Take into account the extra premium you had to pay for an Apple product and the lower depreciation rate instantly becomes a null argument.

XPS 9380 might be the way to go. Thanks for your input

 

[Ark Law]

I'm abit sceptical to jumping to MacOS, I have only used it a few times and found it better than the windows in some situation but I have been using windows for my entire life and don't mind using it.

Having thunderbolt 3 ports is also a plus point for me as I'm planning to use it in the near future so I'm currently looking into Macbook Pro and XPS 13

I'd personally avoid XPS. History of being flaky machines. If you can afford, go for the Latitude 7390 instead.

 

[tutonic]

Just something to remember. The XPS line is the Windows equivalent of mac laptops. It's inordinately pricey, due to the brand name. You can get similarly specced devices for much cheaper. Also, the xps doesn't have USB A, if I recall correctly.

If you're going to spend that kind of money, might as well get X1 Carbon.

 

[endlssorrow]

TS get this:

https://www.asus.com/sg/Laptops/ASUS-Zenbook-15-UX533FD/

 

[Mikemike123]

TS get this:

https://www.asus.com/sg/Laptops/ASUS-Zenbook-15-UX533FD/

Is there any laptop similar to this, this Asus Zenbook 15 doesn't have a thunderbolt port. I really need one for future purpose

 

[Mikemike123]

Just something to remember. The XPS line is the Windows equivalent of mac laptops. It's inordinately pricey, due to the brand name. You can get similarly specced devices for much cheaper. Also, the xps doesn't have USB A, if I recall correctly.

If you're going to spend that kind of money, might as well get X1 Carbon.

USB A not really applicable to me, I can buy those dongle. What really matters is I need at least a thunderbolt 3 port for my home use

 

[wizardmao]

I'm abit sceptical to jumping to MacOS, I have only used it a few times and found it better than the windows in some situation but I have been using windows for my entire life and don't mind using it.

Having thunderbolt 3 ports is also a plus point for me as I'm planning to use it in the near future so I'm currently looking into Macbook Pro and XPS 13

Do you have a specific purpose for needing the tb3 ports yet?

Have you checked with your degree programme coordinators on what is their recommendation? E.g. windows or mac preferred.

 

[wizardmao]

USB A not really applicable to me, I can buy those dongle. What really matters is I need at least a thunderbolt 3 port for my home use

If you do not require a dedicated gpu, consider looking at aftershock p14 ultrabook.

I bought the p13(now renamed to p14 i think) for university use in SIT in 2017 too.

Only downside of the aftershock p13/p14 is the small battery capacity. I run high performance constantly and am never working on my notebook without a power socket so isnt much of an issue. But on high performance 100-10% around 4-4.5hrs at most.

I chose the aftershock p13 because i simply dislike half sized arrow keys. Liked the design of the keyboard layout, it has home pgup pgdown end for easy access on the right side(i use those a lot). Also the default spec is priced at only 1.2k. Should you require upgrades you can add ssd capacity, add ram etc. I opted for 16gb ram spec. Cost me just under 1.3k back then.

In case you didnt know, SIT students can obtain a free copy of windows 10 education from student portal. That saved me about $100+ as well.

The p13 has two ssd slots, if you dont wish to partition can also install windows on one disk, linux on another.

 

[Mikemike123]

Do you have a specific purpose for needing the tb3 ports yet?

Have you checked with your degree programme coordinators on what is their recommendation? E.g. windows or mac preferred.

Tb3 ports for docking and external graphics card.
Most of my seniors said there's no preference on the OS but I'm most likely going for windows

 

[narkizy]

Do you have a specific purpose for needing the tb3 ports yet?

Have you checked with your degree programme coordinators on what is their recommendation? E.g. windows or mac preferred.

TB3 ports is the future. There's much more you can do with TB3 than simply connecting it to an external GPU. Not a smart move honestly to sacrifice TB3 for 'cheaper' pricing.

That said,

1) P13/14 isn't sold anymore
2) P14 Build quality is subpar compared to the XPS/premium ultrabook line, albeit cheaper

Not sure what the others mean by XPS having 'subpar' quality. I've used my colleague's 3 year old XPS 13 and it still feels like new. Reviews on the XPS line are also consistently good. Unlike Asus, where build quality can often be subpar, there's quality check issues, throttling issues etc. Wouldn't go with ASUS.

 

[rabbit1]

Wouldn't recommend aftershock p14. There are many other ultrabooks with larger specs and battery capacity at similar costs.

 

[wizardmao]

Tb3 ports for docking and external graphics card.
Most of my seniors said there's no preference on the OS but I'm most likely going for windows

The p13/14 has one tb3 port