Buy a new MacBook Pro for distance teaching?

[Anonymous]

I am an elementary ESL teacher, and had nightmare issues this past spring (freezing, dropped Zoom meetings, etc.). I have recently upgraded router, WiFi, and extenders.

I do not want the quality of my tech to interfere with my distance teaching, if at all possible.

I have an early 2015 MacBook Pro with 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of 1866MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory, 256GB PCIe-based flash storage.

Zoom says that “Dual and single core laptops have a reduced frame rate when screen sharing (around 5 frames per second). For optimum screen sharing performance on laptops we recommend a quad core processor or higher.” Does this mean my processor is slow?

Things I think I would like to be able to do:

- use a secondary device (monitor, iPad, etc.) so that I can simultaneously share my screen and see ALL of my students (when I use only my mbp and share my screen, I can only see a few of my students — others disappear) — this is crucial because of the language issue. I think duet display and sidecar enable this?
- have no issues with showing a video with sound
- use a document camera
- have the full options of the Zoom application (I don’t think all the options show up on my current mbp?)
- use my iPad and Apple Pencil as a whiteboard
- not have to worry about having several applications running at the same time
- be able to use other peripherals that might help (external webcam, external microphone, etc.)

My current mbp has audio jack issues (microphone cuts in and out). I’d like my new laptop to be good for 5+ years.

Should I upgrade now? Suggestions on specs?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I would wait a year. Apple is switching chips in its laptops and it will make a difference and future proof your machine longer. I have a 2012 MacBook pro and I am waiting one more year.

[Anonymous]

I do everything you are doing now minus the doc cam. I teach college classes. I have a 2020 16” MacBook Pro with 32 gb ram and a quad core processor. I have not had any performance problems but it was like a $3k machine so I would certainly hope not. The SSD drives have also gotten faster year by year. Zoom is incredibly processor intensive, I was shocked. The cooling fan is often operating full blast. When recording video to hard drive while lecturing and sharing screen, it sometimes will drain my battery a bit despite being plugged into the wall!

I would not bank on the first gen Apple processors. Don’t be an early innovator. I guarantee there will be compatibility and performance problems in the first couple of years.

[Anonymous]

I had gotten myself a new Macbook pro summer 2019 and ended up using it for distance teaching. My school-issued laptop was an old student one that they reimaged for a teacher. It barely worked in the classroom, but then couldn't run a Teams video call. I gave them a pass since we were all quickly adapting. If they want me to distance teach this school year they will need to provide me the appropriate technology.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the helpful replies!

I tend to be wary of the first release of new tech (i.e. the Apple processors) because there always seem to be unanticipated issues.

I am in MCPS and was given an old student chrome book to use — wish teachers were provided with the tech we need to do our jobs well.

Lots of great info, 13:04, much appreciated. I hadn’t even considered that it would take more oomph to record while teaching, which is something that I may need to do as well.

[Anonymous]

If you’re doing Zoom, consider https://dten.com/me

[Anonymous]

I am buying a MacBook Pro for my high schooler. I think your 2015 is a bit old.

[Anonymous]

I'm a cyclical buyer of Mac products, in that I buy a new machine every other cycle of releases (more or less). This also generally is in sync with the expiration of Apple Care (3 years) which, for laptops, is a really good investment.

Some of the other reasons for doing it this way include:

a) always having up to date tech that never is overtaxed by the newest software.
b) the resale value on Macs is really quite, quite good (you can easily get a good percentage back reselling on eBay or even through Apple's return program)
c) it enables me to plan budget-wise over a 2-3 year cycle to have enough money when the new machine is introduced.

I just purchased two new MBPros for my kids yesterday and yes, I probably would have preferred to wait until the new processors come out (rumored Q4 2020) but their existing machines will fall out of Apple Care warranty in a few weeks, they are incredibly hard on the machines (one is coming back from the Genius bar today), and the Apple return pricing is giving me about 40% off the cost of the new machine, plus the student discount and free AirPods (which I was about to buy for me anyway, so score $150). I'm also worried about the first-gen tech as will be the Q4 2020 Macbooks, though I am kind of excited about the new chips.

As always, check the "When to buy a Mac" listings for the current rumors and update times. This is really an essential site:

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#mac

[Anonymous]

PP here.

One more reason: I have a mega iMac desktop fully-loaded. I cycle that in between the laptop purchases so one year I buy a desktop, the next year a laptop, later, rinse, repeat.

Helps to spread out my technology costs.

[Anonymous]

Very belated thanks for the additional replies, especially 11:20. Great info!

I bought a 16” mbp (with upgraded processor and storage) with my education discount and paid extra for the AirPods Pro.