lorper

Just curious if I should be recording and saving on my internal or making use of an external?

Sweet. There seems to be a lot of varying reviews on Amazon so it is hard to decipher what is good.

So USB A and HDMI.

Just purchased a 2016 MBP 15" and I need some USB-C help. What is a good reliable hub, adapter or cable to buy ?

Also to help with prices. How important is getting Apple care? I can afford a new base MBP 15" with touch bar if I drop the Apple care but I read that the repair ability is terrible on those . I can also afford the 2.8ghz 2015 with the 256gb SSD

I do not want the Beats headphones. Trust me I know better. There just bundled as a free gift right now. They would be placed on local classifieds immediately upon receiving. I just see it as away to salvage a bit of money back after my purchase. Basically $200 off from the purchase price because Im sure some teenager with mom and dads money will pay $200 for sealed Beats. Im not comfortable going with a 2012 model as I am a bit cautious when it comes to electronics and warranties. Being that it is a 5 year old computer Im not comfortable taking the chance. The 2015 model I listed above can still do SSD swaps. They are not soldered in. As far as I can tell they are a PCI-e connection. I watched a video online and it could be swapped if needed. Of course with storage I always have external options, as well as the option of a BaseQI with the 2015 Model if I needed a little extra storage. I know the R/W speeds wouldnt be as good but I have to look at the long run here. Storage is always achievable. Processor speed is not. Obviously swapping hard drives and data would be annoying but I could live with it. Especially for the amount of storage I need. I could easily get by with a 256gb SSD. 512gb SSD would be convenient as heck . However a 2.8ghz processor would be the better upgrade choice I think as I have no alternative in the future. My biggest concern is the Dual GPU of the 2016. Thats where I think I may see some difference. However that model eliminates having a BaseQI as a storage option as well as adds some additional costs for adapters and dongles.

I do not want the Beats headphones. There just bundled as a free gift right now. They would be placed on local classifieds immediately upon receiving. I just see it as away to salvage a bit of money back after my purchase.

I have it narrowed down to these 3. Which one do you think is the best bang for buck here and why ?

I was looking around on Ebay and there pretty plentiful. Do they still pop up on Apple Refurbished site. I like the idea of having Apples warranty when buying used from them. They seem to start around $600CDN and for roughly $1200CDN I can get one with 16gb of ram and 512gb - 756gb SSD. There seemed to be a few upgraded models already on Ebay. My biggest concern is since this is a 2012 MacBook. How long can I expect it to last before the mainboard, processor, screen or other hardware that is not upgradable to start s#!+ing the bed ?

No, only the 15-inch models. The retina versions are non-upgradable. As far as I know, the 13-inch models always had a dual-core, either i5 or i7. You want the 15-inch Mid 2012 i7 quad-core with 2.3 ghz, 2.6 ghz and 2.7 ghz (non-retina). These are user-upgradable. Sweet I'll check the geek bench results. I seen a bunch of 15" 2012 MBP on eBay. I'll look for the fastest processor. They don't seem to indicate that it's quad core in the "about my Mac" screen . Just sais speed of the processor basically. So good to know that all 15" are quad. Now, is there a limit to the amount of ram and HD size I can put in this machine ? I'd like atleast 512gb and 16gb ram. More ram if possible but not necessary.

Hrmmm, yea I checked them on the 2015 and current MBPs and the scores were almost double of what I had. I'll. check the 2012 when I get home. So all i7s are quad core on the 2012. 2.3ghz, 2.6ghz, and the 2.9ghz ? Thanks for all the help to everyone as well. I appreciate your input and patience. I realise I ask a lot of questions but I like to cross my Ts and dot my I's.

Ok I will keep my eye out for a used MBP. Seems like EBay has quite a few. Quick question. Can you upgrade the ram to more than 8gb and is the processor quad core? All I see is Intel Core i7. Doesn't state quad or dual. Otherwise thou if I can't find it both those machines would run Logic well but the Touch Bar would be a bit better.

To be honest, the non-touch bar computer is a waste of money. Why? it has 1600 Mhz Ram speed. That's the same as a non-retina 15-inch MBP from 2012, which you can find used for less than 1000 dollars and where you can upgrade the HD yourself to a 1 TB SSD if you wanted. Why pay 2600 bucks for an older architecture? The TB MBP has 2133 Mhz Ram speed, a significant improvement. I would really think about all your options. Trust me Im thinking it all through. As much as I want to have the latest and greatest I don't think my budget will allow . For me to buy a new MBP with apple care is roughly $3750CDN . Where as I can buy the older architecture with the maces out processor that it allows me to select with apple care for $3300. If it would make an absolute night and day difference than I will wait it out and buy the new one but if 1600 - 2133mhz ram is not that big of an improvement than maybe thats where I can save. Either way what Im trying to avoid is making the mistake I made with my 13" and having a severely underpowered machine for what I wanted. What do you think ? Keep in mind my main concern is "system overload" errors. Coming from my old 13" 2.7 ghz i5. Also, the other place I could save money is Apple Care but thats a gamble not having that

Yea I hear ya there. I'm hoping to get away with a 256 just because it's the only place I can really save money. If I should really go 512gb than I will . If I can get away with using external than I will do that. Not sure if it's wise to work on projects from an external. Triplets do you think the MacBook Pro non touchbar would help with my system overload issue ?

Would having a 256gb hard drive suffice or should I save for a 512gb?