I'm a graphic designer using a 2013 15 in MacBook Pro and its time to upgrade. I've had my eye on the brand new 16 in MBP M3 (late 2023) but a friend is offering to sell me their 2019 MBP i7. Will that be enough power to run Adobe CC? I use InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator 8+ hours a day, every day. Or should I go for the new MBP M3?
MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.7
While the price of a 5 year old MacBook Pro might be tempting, it's still a 5 year old Mac. The new M3 MacBook Pros use Apple Silicon, which is is significantly more powerful than the i7 Intel Mac.
For your intended uses, spec your new MacBook Pro with the M3 Max chip and 32GB RAM.
Actually, I misspoke earlier. The M3 Pro would be fine, provided you'll never have a need for more than 2 external monitors. (Gotta look close at the Tech Specs sometimes to see these differences). But for sure, I think 36GB RAM makes more sense than 8, or even 16GB, as RAM and internal SSD storage can't be upgraded. Even Adobe recommends at least 16GB RAM for most of their Creative Cloud apps.
Thank you so much for the feedback! I was hoping to get by with the M3 Pro and not the Max but I'll rethink that.
Upgrading MacBook Pro
