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The Macbook pro 13" 2010 is capable for handling mid/heavy graphic design work?

C

Crypanda

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I wish i got the money for the 2011 model but, I really want to make the change to mac and also, i´m needing a laptop ASAP.

Which are your opinions about the MBP 13" 2010 for graphic design?

(Photoshop, corel painter, illustrator, maybe cinema 4d)
 
Hmm well it probably wouldn't handle "heavy" graphic design work to well. If you are doing that intense graphic designing, it doesn't really make too much sense to get that 13 inch as in my opinion it is the complete opposite of what you would want for a graphic design laptop. Pretty small screen, fairly low res, not that fast.

The 2011 one wouldn't be too bad since the cpu is insanely faster, so you could still have a fluid experience.

I'm pretty sure it could technically run these, yet it wouldn't be excellent performance.
 
Will you be using an external display? Because the 13-incher's 1280x800 resolution would be a joke for what you're planing on doing.
 
13 inch Core 2 Duo? No way Jose!

See if you can get a refurb 15 with the dual core i5/i7 at least. Even the 2010's aren't cheap and you want something that you like and will remain modern for as long as possible. I financed my first MBP which was an earlier 13 and I don't regret it as it ultimately helped me make a lot more money than it cost.

Are you a student by chance?
 
I use the low model for very demanding 2d design. it works great. don't let people condemn you for getting a 13". if that's all you can afford it will work for you. anyways, i use CS4 and my files are 1 to 4 GB .psd's between 100 and 200 megapixels. sometimes i work in 16-bit. i never feel like my computer is too slow. i wonder if more RAM would make it snappier for some things but i haven't read up on it. i already use a SSD. a lot of times when i am low on disk space (really low, <1 GB) the scratchdisk takes up too much space and CS4 pauses.
 
NickZac said:
13 inch Core 2 Duo? No way Jose!

See if you can get a refurb 15 with the dual core i5/i7 at least. Even the 2010's aren't cheap and you want something that you like and will remain modern for as long as possible. I financed my first MBP which was an earlier 13 and I don't regret it as it ultimately helped me make a lot more money than it cost.

Are you a student by chance?
Click to expand...

I cant get a refurb or financed it, the jose thing its cause of my ***** english right?, lol.

I live in colombia so, getting a mac its something really expensive and difficult.

And i´m not a student, just a freelancer for a couple agencies.
 
i just want to make it clear that i use a 2010 C2D MBP. it can completely handle graphic design. anyone who says it is a joke doesn't have experience with it. the C2D is a strong processor. yes, new ones are better, but the C2D can handle graphic design. graphic design is not that demanding and i'm not just talking about fooling around making memes.
 
Crypanda said:
I cant get a refurb or financed it, the jose thing its cause of my ***** english right?, lol.

I live in colombia so, getting a mac its something really expensive and difficult.

And i´m not a student, just a freelancer for a couple agencies.
Click to expand...

"No way Jose!" is a phrase used by many people in the Eastern US to emphasize. Your English is perfectly understandable.

How much are MBPs to import to Colombia?
 
treestar said:
I use the low model for very demanding 2d design. it works great. don't let people condemn you for getting a 13". if that's all you can afford it will work for you. anyways, i use CS4 and my files are 1 to 4 GB .psd's between 100 and 200 megapixels. sometimes i work in 16-bit. i never feel like my computer is too slow. i wonder if more RAM would make it snappier for some things but i haven't read up on it. i already use a SSD. a lot of times when i am low on disk space (really low, <1 GB) the scratchdisk takes up too much space and CS4 pauses.
Click to expand...

Thats sounds cool, but SSD are really expensive where i live, i planning to get a HDD 7200 rpm, so it would be ok ?
 
NickZac said:
"No way Jose!" is a phrase used by many people in the Eastern US to emphasize. Your English is perfectly understandable.

How much are MBPs to import to Colombia?
Click to expand...

Thats the problem, we almost "can´t" import it, the price could be twice expensive, for example, the base model 15" its 5.000.000 colombian pesos, thats 2300 or 2500 dollars.
 
Crypanda said:
Thats the problem, we almost "can´t" import it, the price could be twice expensive, for example, the base model 15" its 5.000.000 colombian pesos, thats 2300 or 2500 dollars.
Click to expand...

Is that the base new model in which Apple lists as starting at $1799?!?!?! That is a lot more so I see where you are coming from. Is the 13 significantly cheaper? The newer 13 MBPs that use the iSeries processors are leaps ahead of the older Core 2 Duo processors. None-the-less, the 13 w/ the C2D is still a great computer and I would take it over any dual core iSeries PC due to the great overall design and quality.
 
NickZac said:
Is that the base new model in which Apple lists as starting at $1799?!?!?! That is a lot more so I see where you are coming from. Is the 13 significantly cheaper? The newer 13 MBPs that use the iSeries processors are leaps ahead of the older Core 2 Duo processors. None-the-less, the 13 w/ the C2D is still a great computer and I would take it over any dual core iSeries PC due to the great overall design and quality.
Click to expand...

Not cheaper, the base model 13" 2011 is 3.000.000 colombian pesos, 1500 dollars i say. Its just that the new models came out so the old one´s prices are lower.
 
NickZac said:
That is crazy! Is that because of shipping and customs?
Click to expand...

i think so but it´s not even a apple store it´s a "premium reseller" or something, so i cant get all the financial plans and stuff.

there is no real apple store in colombia by the way.

So my final plan is:

1. get 13" 2010
2. bump the ram to 8gb
3. get a 7200 HDD
4. ?????
5. enjoy it.
 
I own a 2010 13" macbook pro and a 2011 17" macbook pro.

It annoys me when people slate the 2010 as not capable just because there is a newer faster cpu out!
My 2010 13" goes everywhere with me as I often have to work on site. I use it for xcode, cs4, the odd bit of media encoding and office. It still does all of these jobs very well despite there being a new model out. Yes my 17" quad core is faster at encoding, but it is also a lot hotter and noisier too.

The biggest limitation of the 13" for me is the 1280x800 screen. I often wish for more screen real estate when coding or using cs4. But if you have a 22" for home use then you should be set.

Another thing I love about the c2d's is the fact you can undervolt them. I run my 2.4ghz cpu at 0.95v and even when I am encoding the fans dont spin up past 2700! My 17" fans hit 4500 whilst encoding and the laptop is scorching in comparison.
 
Crypanda said:
ay.

So my final plan is:

1. get 13" 2010
2. bump the ram to 8gb
3. get a 7200 HDD
4. ?????
5. enjoy it.
Click to expand...


I think you'd be happy with that.

In my opinion, when people arbitrarily proclaim the 13" is not good for graphic design, it's the SCREEN SIZE that is an issue and not the computer behind it.

With an external display it is a viable package.
 
treestar said:
i just want to make it clear that i use a 2010 C2D MBP. it can completely handle graphic design. anyone who says it is a joke doesn't have experience with it. the C2D is a strong processor. yes, new ones are better, but the C2D can handle graphic design. graphic design is not that demanding and i'm not just talking about fooling around making memes.
Click to expand...

Heck, I was doing some fairly heavy graphic design stuff on my original Macbook pro (with the Core Duo 1.83ghz and 2GB of memory), multiple 300+ dpi 11x17" images open in Photoshop and InDesign and it got a little pokey at times, but not anything unusable.

Really, it'll be fine. People here freak out about older hardware and make it sound like it won't possibly ever work ever! It'll be fine as long as you're cool with the decreased screen size.
 
Well, that would be, I´m getting the 13" mbp cause right now I can´t afford (in colombia) a 2011 model.

Thanks for your help, really appreciated.
 
Crypanda said:
Well, that would be, I´m getting the 13" mbp cause right now I can´t afford (in colombia) a 2011 model.

Thanks for your help, really appreciated.
Click to expand...

The 2010 13" MBP is more than capable of handling graphic design work, period, even with just 4GB of ram. I've since updated to 8GB, and an SSD, but with 8GB alone you wont run into any problems.
 
buy a plane ticket to america.. finance a new maxed out mac pro for like 23000 dollars and the move back to columbia never show up in america again and presto you have the fastest computer ever for free 😀

or just buy a 13" and pay for it i mean its up to you
 
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