New laptop

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So my current laptop just died on me and I'm looking to get a new one. This one would eventually be the laptop that I use in medical school if I get in so I'm looking to purchase it with that intent in mind. I've pretty much decided on a macbook pro because I'm just an apple guy and like their products. With that being said, would a standard macbook pro with standard storage be sufficient for med school? How does one go about storing all of their lectures? Is it with their laptop storage or dropbox/google drive?

Thanks for the help!
 
With the way technology is going, more and more information is being stored on Clouds and less information needs to be stored offline. How you store your lecture information is really up to you and it could be a matter of personal preference. I store all of my research files both locally and in Dropbox because it's always good to have a back-up somewhere. But storage capacity isn't what you should be focusing on in a laptop.

In terms of hard drive, 256 GB now is the bare minimum because programs are using more and more of that space nowadays. If you can, 500 GB is always a safe bet. Try to get a solid state drive if you can, as those are more durable than conventional hard-drives.

In terms of RAM, you should aim for around 8 GB of RAM. Again, as programs become more advanced, running them will eat up more and more of that. Years ago, 2 or 4 GB was industry standard but nowadays, fewer laptops are made with that little RAM. Industry standard is around 8 GB but crawling up there slowly but steadily.

Another very important thing is processor. I know you said you're getting a MacBook Pro so you don't have to worry about the Core M processor but always try to go with the new Skylake-class processors. They're coming out with new Kaby Lake ones soon, so the Skylake processors will be out of date soon anyway.
 
So the base model that I'm looking at is a 128 GB SSD with 8GB RAM and a 2.7 GHZ I5 processor. I would likely need to upgrade to a 256GB storage? What if I ended up getting a refurbished IPad to use for note taking and such?
 
georgia_boy1 said:
So the base model that I'm looking at is a 128 GB SSD with 8GB RAM and a 2.7 GHZ I5 processor. I would likely need to upgrade to a 256GB storage? What if I ended up getting a refurbished IPad to use for note taking and such?
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I'm not saying that you need one or the other. I'm saying that you should think about all the specs you want and then buy a laptop based on what you want. What will take up a lot of memory is not your notes and such things. Those are relatively minor. The big memory hogs are software programs. So things like the Microsoft Office package, any photo or video editing software if you use them, games (or Steam), etc. Think ahead. If you're going to be doing research, you'll probably have some sort of statistical software package; if you're into basic science, there is an array of programs for data analysis and processing. You should be thinking of all these things as you decide which specs are the best for you because unless you're filthy rich, you're going to be using this laptop for the next 4+ years. Notes and such will not take much space.
 
I'm not sure if you'll need 128GB of storage. Lectures don't take much space at all, and they can all be saved on a cloud system anyway. I agree that 8GB of RAM is probably a good call. You probably won't need too much processing power, but you should know that even the newest MacBooks aren't using the latest generation of Intel CPUs.

I know you've already decided on the MBP, but I'm still going to throw my recommendation out there for the Surface Book. Check it out at Best Buy. Way more bang for your buck!
 
RunawayGrape said:
I'm not sure if you'll need 128GB of storage. Lectures don't take much space at all, and they can all be saved on a cloud system anyway. I agree that 8GB of RAM is probably a good call. You probably won't need too much processing power, but you should know that even the newest MacBooks aren't using the latest generation of Intel CPUs.
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Lectures aren't the top concern when it comes to storage at all. You have to take into account all the software.

The newest Macbooks are using the latest generation of processors - the Skylake. The Kaby Lake hasn't been released yet for laptops, so of course the Macbooks aren't using it. The argument here is to wait a few months if one can.
 
If I were getting a computer right now, I would get the 13 inch Macbook pro + touchbar with 16 GB RAM, i7 3.3 GHz processor, 512 GB HD. Yes, it's very expensive (though purchasing through the Apple education store mitigates that slightly), but I think that buying a computer that will serve you well for 5-6 years is worth paying extra for. I bought a MBP Retina 15" the year they came out (2012) for a similar price with similar specs and so far it's lasted me over 4 years and works exactly the same as the first day it came out of the package. You will be using your computer A LOT during medical school - get one that's extremely reliable, relatively powerful, and with a good deal of longevity (at least 4 years).

You could probably get away with the basic configuration of the MBP 13", but I would at least do 512GB HD, especially if this is your only computer. Some people just have an external HD that they move old stuff onto, but I like having all my stuff in one place where it's not likely to get lost and using a cheap external HD for doing regular backups.
 
WedgeDawg said:
If I were getting a computer right now, I would get the 13 inch Macbook pro + touchbar with 16 GB RAM, i7 3.3 GHz processor, 512 GB HD. Yes, it's very expensive (though purchasing through the Apple education store mitigates that slightly), but I think that buying a computer that will serve you well for 5-6 years is worth paying extra for. I bought a MBP Retina 15" the year they came out (2012) for a similar price with similar specs and so far it's lasted me over 4 years and works exactly the same as the first day it came out of the package. You will be using your computer A LOT during medical school - get one that's extremely reliable, relatively powerful, and with a good deal of longevity (at least 4 years).

You could probably get away with the basic configuration of the MBP 13", but I would at least do 512GB HD, especially if this is your only computer. Some people just have an external HD that they move old stuff onto, but I like having all my stuff in one place where it's not likely to get lost and using a cheap external HD for doing regular backups.
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Agreed, OP... great advice from wedge.

... Except that the touch bar is an incredibly stupid piece of technology. I mean, cmon, apple. Rant over.
 
To be MD said:
Agreed, OP... great advice from wedge.

... Except that the touch bar is an incredibly stupid piece of technology. I mean, cmon, apple. Rant over.
Click to expand...

I had the opportunity to play with the touch bar at the apple store last week. I thought it was a cool feature, but I'm not sure how it will affect day to day use. The important thing about the touch bar is that if you're trying to get the most souped up version of the MBP 13", you have to get the touch bar version.
 
Get the most powerful new pre-touchbar MBP you can get. It'll last you med school no problem.
 
To be MD said:
... Except that the touch bar is an incredibly stupid piece of technology. I mean, cmon, apple. Rant over.
Click to expand...

WedgeDawg said:
I had the opportunity to play with the touch bar at the apple store last week. I thought it was a cool feature, but I'm not sure how it will affect day to day use. The important thing about the touch bar is that if you're trying to get the most souped up version of the MBP 13", you have to get the touch bar version.
Click to expand...

The Touch Bar is one of those things you make an investment on now because it's such a cool piece of technology with a lot of potential and you wait for the third-party software to catch up with the hardware. Lots of capacity for growth there in the next few years. Then again, every failed piece of technology was marketed the same way.
 
JustAPhD said:
Get the most powerful new pre-touchbar MBP you can get. It'll last you med school no problem.
Click to expand...

The problem is, the pre-touch bar MBPs aren't very powerful compared to the Touch Bar MBPs. I did see one 13-inch MBP with a 2.7 GHz processor but that one only gave you 128 GB of drive space which won't be enough for software over the next 5-6 years.
 
aldol16 said:
The problem is, the pre-touch bar MBPs aren't very powerful compared to the Touch Bar MBPs. I did see one 13-inch MBP with a 2.7 GHz processor but that one only gave you 128 GB of drive space which won't be enough for software over the next 5-6 years.
Click to expand...

Powerful enough and future-proof enough for taking notes and watching lectures. OP needs stability, not necessarily power. Now if he's going to use it for other purposes then it's a different story.
 
JustAPhD said:
Powerful enough and future-proof enough for taking notes and watching lectures. OP needs stability, not necessarily power. Now if he's going to use it for other purposes then it's a different story.
Click to expand...

A Chromebook is powerful and future-proof enough for that. If OP is using this computer solely for those purposes (and basic web browsing, of course) then there's no need for a MBP. That's like taking a Ferrari to a horse race. If OP wants to use the computer for the next few years for all purposes (for those tasks that are anticipated and those that are not), then a MBP is warranted and in that case, OP should think carefully about specs because depending on what he/she anticipates in his/her future, the required specs will vary widely. A MBP is overkill for web browsing and basic note-taking.
 
I have a standard MacBook Pro 13" that I purchased in 2012 that works great and does what it needs to do to get me through school. My notes are all taken on my ipad, though, and I have 128 gb on storage + the 50 GB iCloud upgrade for everything.
 
aldol16 said:
A Chromebook is powerful and future-proof enough for that. If OP is using this computer solely for those purposes (and basic web browsing, of course) then there's no need for a MBP. That's like taking a Ferrari to a horse race. If OP wants to use the computer for the next few years for all purposes (for those tasks that are anticipated and those that are not), then a MBP is warranted and in that case, OP should think carefully about specs because depending on what he/she anticipates in his/her future, the required specs will vary widely. A MBP is overkill for web browsing and basic note-taking.
Click to expand...

I agree, but when it comes to stability the MBP is second to none IMO. If you want a laptop that will last through school (unless you accidentally kill it) it's not a bad buy.
 
Im just going to say unless you plan on doing some heavy bioinformatics stuff, heavy video editing, or other comperable tasks you the base model has more than enough processing power and what have you for anything you do. EG, are you just going to be spending time on lectures and dicking around on fb, youtube, insta, etc you'll be fine with the base model

If nothing has changed from 2015 I believe you can buy your own hard drive and save yourself 100 or so if you want to put it in your self, or you could buy a portable hard drive and save like 200, but most ppl arent going to do that. For most people the biggest sink on your HDD is media. If you tend to stream all your media you can easily get by with 256.
 
JustAPhD said:
I agree, but when it comes to stability the MBP is second to none IMO. If you want a laptop that will last through school (unless you accidentally kill it) it's not a bad buy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that fact has always amazed me. I had a MBP that lasted through almost everything. Dropping it multiple times without a case on, spilling multiple liquids on it, stepping on it, etc. Alas, I spilled one drink too many on it and the poor little thing gave out. In terms of individual hardware components, the MBP can hardly match custom-specified PCs on a dollar-per-dollar basis. But somehow, Apple turns the whole into more than the simple sum of its parts!
 
Touch bar is a Stupid Now Might Not Be So Dumb Later technology (although it is admittedly very a e s t h e t i c). The instant touch manual pages for bash in terminal are convenient (although the lack of a tactile escape key is less so) and will be three times as useful if development happens to make a similar feature for all programming languages (for those of us that program just enough to have to remember the syntax of a variety of languages, but not enough to never forget it). Sadly, you can't get a brand-spanking-new pre-touch bar gen retina MBP right now from Apple. You could probably get one in very good condition from somewhere or one of those refurbished dealers.

In any case, the display on the touch bar gen MBPs is indeed dope. I've heard the touch bar MBP has a very significant battery problem right now (some owners are reporting 3 hour battery life while working off charger as opposed to the advertised 10...) and that also sucks because in spite of these problems I would have to say apple still makes some of the best hardware you can get in terms of Power + Aesthetics + Utility / Longevity. I know you are set on apple, but you might at least want to consider the Microsoft Surface Book Pro. It's a great laptop, very powerful, I hate touchscreens, and it seemed flimsy to me when I played with it -- but you might want to consider it as an alternative at least.

Whatever you choose, I would personally go with 512 gb of storage. It's not so much that you can't store most if not all academic material in "the cloud", but that if you plan to have a laptop for a very long time it is difficult to anticipate what things you will need a hard copy of. For example, I have my data from my laboratory backed up in a portable hard drive but I also have it on my laptop in highly-compressed zip files. Over four years this adds up to a lot of storage and it would be less than convenient if I had to whip out my external hard drive every time I needed to look at an old presentation I did, or look at some old data, or someone asks to see some results from months ago.
I currently have a 5-year old 128 GB laptop and the storage on it is kept almost perpetually near zero in spite of aggressive use of cloud-based services (App storage adds up too) -- it annoys me.

One last thing I recommend is using Google Photos. I don't take a lot of pictures (compared to most people my age) and even then pictures take up GBs and GBs of space on my phone and laptop. Google Photos is the best cloud-based service for photos right now (if someone disagrees, please let me know) and using it will save you TONS of space on your phone and computer and it is free with your google account.
 
You dont need anything more than an i5, 512 is probably nice but 256 should be sufficent for most purposes and future proof you enough for four years. You should really reach out to your medical school and ask them what they reccomend as some schools have very specific requirements in terms of the OS they want and the specs they want you to have. I would personally go for a Surfacebook i5 with 256gb of storage and 8GB of ram.
 
I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest a Thinkpad T430 used off ebay if you are looking for something cheap but with a lot of power. For 300 bucks you can get a very solid laptop.
 
A 128gb Samsung flash drive can be had for $29. I got 50gb of Dropbox space for free from all the promotions they do. OP, you should get whatever is the best deal you can afford. Technology moves too fast to keep up with the latest and greatest
 
Thank you all for the advice!! I didn't think this would get so many responses. When it comes to buying technology I'm going to be using every day, I'm not afraid to spend extra money for quality like a MBP. The question becomes do I want the ability to take notes on my technology. My previous laptop was a Lenovo thinkpad yoga 2 with the built in stylus which I used a lot for taking notes on powerpoint. However, I've had experience with notability and it's INCREDIBLE to me. I may be wasting money but getting a very quality MBP and then down the road getting a refurbished iPad to take to class, especially with the ability to sync with my MBP or iPhone sounds pretty efficient.
 
georgia_boy1 said:
Thank you all for the advice!! I didn't think this would get so many responses. When it comes to buying technology I'm going to be using every day, I'm not afraid to spend extra money for quality like a MBP. The question becomes do I want the ability to take notes on my technology. My previous laptop was a Lenovo thinkpad yoga 2 with the built in stylus which I used a lot for taking notes on powerpoint. However, I've had experience with notability and it's INCREDIBLE to me. I may be wasting money but getting a very quality MBP and then down the road getting a refurbished iPad to take to class, especially with the ability to sync with my MBP or iPhone sounds pretty efficient.
Click to expand...

Macbooks are noticeably missing touchscreens for note-taking - a feature which has been around for awhile in PCs (Lenova Yoga series, Surface Book/Pro, etc.). But I prefer typing notes because I hate writing with styluses. It's all a matter of personal preference, but it sounds like if you're set on MBP, you'll have to get an iPad if you want stylus note-taking.
 
The only thing I don't like about the surface book is that you have to disconnect it to flip it around.
 
libertyyne said:
And the Mac does that how?
Click to expand...

No sorry I was comparing the Lenovo yoga and the surface book. Laptopmag.com considers the surface book to be the best laptop for medical students for what it's worth so I'm going to look into that one.
 
georgia_boy1 said:
No sorry I was comparing the Lenovo yoga and the surface book. Laptopmag.com considers the surface book to be the best laptop for medical students for what it's worth so I'm going to look into that one.
Click to expand...

Yeah, so the one thing going for the Surface Book is that like Apple's Mac, it allows Microsoft to seamlessly integrate software and hardware. That does a lot and it's really apparent. But I never thought that it justified the hefty price tag.
 
aldol16 said:
Yeah, so the one thing going for the Surface Book is that like Apple's Mac, it allows Microsoft to seamlessly integrate software and hardware. That does a lot and it's really apparent. But I never thought that it justified the hefty price tag.
Click to expand...
I wonder if they offer student discounts. The 8gb, 256 , i5,dgpu for 1200 would be a fair deal.
 
If you have the money, I suggest getting the 15 inch rather than the 13 inch. My laptop recently has been slowing down a lot os I switched from a 2012 13" MacBook Pro to the 2016 15" MacBook Pro with the Touchbar, and the extra space is just really helpful. Moreover, I think the best the 13 inch offers is a duo core i7 while the 15 inch starts you off with a quad core i7 and I'm not a tech expert but according to some friends the quad core is a significant input. Just my 2 cents but you can't go with any MacBook Pro tbh. It's just they're price. Also if you're a student btw Apple takes off 100 for either laptop I believe or even 200. I got 200 off for mine because I customized mine.
 
libertyyne said:
I wonder if they offer student discounts. The 8gb, 256 , i5,dgpu for 1200 would be a fair deal.
Click to expand...

I doubt they'll price it that low. They want to be seen as being on the same level as MBPs and they won't go that low on their flagship line. Although right now, those specs with i7 is only like $50 more.
 
aldol16 said:
I doubt they'll price it that low. They want to be seen as being on the same level as MBPs and they won't go that low on their flagship line. Although right now, those specs with i7 is only like $50 more.
Click to expand...
1250? Or 1500
 
What about apps? Are they all pretty much on both apple and Microsoft/android or whatever you would call that? Mainly apps for like anatomy and such. That's another thing that I would be considering.
 
73bbe655b02d4221b4c58ae7918d8544

This about sums up why the new Macs are silly (Not mine, from Reddit).
 
I recently got the older macbook pro retina and I love it. Battery life is ridiculous. The keyboard is great. 2 USB ports, HDMI port, headphone jack, SD card reader. The keyboard on the new MBP is the ultra thin keyboard featured on the macbook. I haven't heard good things about it.
 
I was, and to some extent still am, a die hard apple fan for about 7-8 years.

There are two reasons I can think of that logically explains apples recent "courage" in making a phone that can't even plug into their laptop. And keeping the headphone jack on their laptop but not there phone.

Apple was always a great buy for someone who was already in the apple ecosystem. But with this recent lineup of products, that coherency has been completely lost.

The two reasons that I speculate are:

1) Apple truly became a **** company with no coherent vision after the passing of SJ

2) this was an intermediary step for the next line of products that will be completely wireless and apple wanted to kickstart innovation in the accessory industries

2 seems like a reach at this point compared to 1. I'd say get a 2015 retina MacBook Pro or literally anything else. This generation of MacBooks is pathetic
 
kb1900 said:
2 seems like a reach at this point compared to 1. I'd say get a 2015 retina MacBook Pro or literally anything else. This generation of MacBooks is pathetic
Click to expand...

Macbook Pros are pathetic. Macbooks are worse than pathetic unless you want to drop a **** ton of money on what is essentially a tablet with no touchscreen.
 
aldol16 said:
Macbook Pros are pathetic. Macbooks are worse than pathetic unless you want to drop a **** ton of money on what is essentially a tablet with no touchscreen.
Click to expand...
Apple as a company circled the drain late 80s/90 with the attitude of "we know what's best" and they're doing it again only caring about profit margins of X for Y. I mean look at how **** Siri is compared to Alexa or google now...and Siri is supposed to be a big feature
 
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