Ask HN: Should I buy the new Macbook Pro with Touch Bar or the previous model?

[vienno]

I've seen a lot of discussion of the new Macbook Pro with Touch Bar here at HN, but most discussion revolves around comparisons of the new Macbook and other brands of laptops. I'm about to buy a new computer and I want to stick with a Macbook Pro.

The Touch Bar in itself seems annoying. However, the new model has some upgrades. For example, – 2.70 gHz (vs 2.20) – 8 MB CPU cache (vs 6 MB) – 512 GB storage (vs 256 GB).

So, given that my work includes the occasional fairly heavy-weight computation, and speed is important, should I buy the "old" MJLQ2KS/A model or upgrade to the Touch Bar model MLW82? Money is an issue, and the difference is almost 1200 dollars. What would you do?

[stephenr]

> The Touch Bar in itself seems annoying

Based on what? People who haven't used it commenting on HN?

The comments I've seen from people who have used it, are overwhelmingly positive.

I would recommend you actually try one for yourself.

[shotgungg]

Personal experience. You ignore the fact that there's a touch bar. A bit of getting used to it though. Especially muscle memory when pressing esc.

In the end it's still a machine that gets things done.

[vienno]

Thanks for the input. So, ignoring the touch bar for now, is the (hefty) increase in price justified by the other differences between the models?

[somecallitblues]

Isn't there a new model without touchbar? I'm pretty sure I've seen it in one of the stores...

[vienno]

Yeah, but it seems there's only 13' version of that.