Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Essenar

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2008
553
186
What does this mean?


My current 2011 Model 13" out performs a 2010 MBP in every case minus GPU (which Doesnt bother me). A 13" MBP is just as much a MBP as the 15" especially compared to the 2010 models pre Sandy/IVy bridge

He has dedicated GPU and a full sized mobile processor. Sure the new Pro's perform better than his and they should. They've been released two years later. But back in 2008-2009 the only "Pro" laptop from Apple was the MacBook Pro and having the 'pro' designation meant having dedicated graphics, top of the line CPU components and hardware.

The 13" MacBook Pro, while it's certainly a strong laptop (believe me I own one) is not in the same league as what "Pro" used to stand for. How I wish I had at the very least, a GT 640M underneath the hood of my cMBP.
 

Justinhub2003

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2012
137
0
Cincinnati Oh
How about the resolution?
The MBA has the same as the 15,4".
I mean... it should annoys you, doesnt it? Everything so small but not good quality...

I think I could consider buying a 13,3" MBP with high end specs (still cheaper than the MBA here in Brazil), but the resolution... I dont know...

I have never had a problem with the screen resolution. Sure it could be better but in no way is it a bad thing.

I mean you do realize that the 13" MBP has a higher PPI than the 15" MacBook Pro right? The 13" has a 113ppi whereas the standard MBP has a 110ppi. If you think things look good on your MBP, they look better on mine, but you just have more real estate. mine is crisper

The complaints of the world would have you believe the 15" MBP has a higher PPI but its not true. 1280x800 is perfectly fine for a 13" screen.
 

Essenar

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2008
553
186
I have never had a problem with the screen resolution. Sure it could be better but in no way is it a bad thing.

I mean you do realize that the 13" MBP has a higher PPI than the 15" MacBook Pro right? The 13" has a 113ppi whereas the standard MBP has a 110ppi. If you think things look good on your MBP, they look better on mine, but you just have more real estate. mine is crisper

The complaints of the world would have you believe the 15" MBP has a higher PPI but its not true. 1280x800 is perfectly fine for a 13" screen.

Dude, you're recommending him a laptop as if he doesn't have one already.

While it's true that, if he didn't even have a laptop, the cMBP 13" would be a great laptop to buy, the truth is he already HAS a laptop. And it's powerful enough of a laptop too that it would serve as an unreasonable upgrade if he we to splurge on a 13" MBA or cMBP. It's just NOT worth it.

The point of MacBooks is that you invest well into a model and use it for as much as 4 years. You don't upgrade unless you have a lot of money for it or you need another device and can retire your current one into some other use like a living room computer or a girlfriend's computer.
 

Justinhub2003

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2012
137
0
Cincinnati Oh
He has dedicated GPU and a full sized mobile processor. Sure the new Pro's perform better than his and they should. They've been released two years later. But back in 2008-2009 the only "Pro" laptop from Apple was the MacBook Pro and having the 'pro' designation meant having dedicated graphics, top of the line CPU components and hardware.

The 13" MacBook Pro, while it's certainly a strong laptop (believe me I own one) is not in the same league as what "Pro" used to stand for. How I wish I had at the very least, a GT 640M underneath the hood of my cMBP.

Which 13" MBP do you have?


I have a 2010 iMac at work w/ 8gb of Ram and standard HDD in it. My 2011 13" Core i5 2.3ghz MacBook Pro not only feels faster but the benchmarks prove it.

Sure if you think about what "used" to define "Pro", then you could say the 13" is not a Pro machine by old standards but... Integrated GPU's have come along way, as have dual core intel CPU's. I mean for the first time ever, the 13" Mbp was faster than the previous years 15" MBP starting in 2011 with my model MBP thanks to Sandy bridge. I have the same ports. A higher PPI. Same quality screen. Same spec Ram.... literally everything, minus the Dedicated GPU, which back in the day was bad, but have improved 10x compared to what they used to be.

Previous integrated GPU's couldnt game at all.. like not even on low. Where as the HD3000 and especially the HD4000 can run most games on low to med settings. And power GPU intensive apps like photoshop, illustrator and Aperture very easily.
 

bruleke

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 26, 2009
444
6
127.0.0.1
And it's powerful enough of a laptop too that it would serve as an unreasonable upgrade if he we to splurge on a 13" MBA or cMBP. It's just NOT worth it.

Hm...
I'm with you now.
Actually, this whole thread was to help me to answer this question: is it worth it to buy a MBA or to upgrade my 15,4 2010 MBP?

And there's something more: I live in Brazil. Here, every Apple product costs me the double of what americans pay. The cheapest Retina 15,4 MBP costs 5,000 dollars in the Online Apple Store, just as an example.

If I could pay USA's prices, I wouldnt even create this thread. I would definitely buy the MBA. But... "the prices are too damn high" in Brazil :)p), so I have to know if its worth the purchase before throwing money in the toilet.
 

Justinhub2003

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2012
137
0
Cincinnati Oh
Dude, you're recommending him a laptop as if he doesn't have one already.

While it's true that, if he didn't even have a laptop, the cMBP 13" would be a great laptop to buy, the truth is he already HAS a laptop. And it's powerful enough of a laptop too that it would serve as an unreasonable upgrade if he we to splurge on a 13" MBA or cMBP. It's just NOT worth it.

The point of MacBooks is that you invest well into a model and use it for as much as 4 years. You don't upgrade unless you have a lot of money for it or you need another device and can retire your current one into some other use like a living room computer or a girlfriend's computer.

My rant about the 13" MBP was not to reccomend it but because you said it wasn't a real MBP. Its just a friendly debate... calm down.


I think the MacBook Air is an upgrade to the 2010 MacBook Pro... if it were the 2011 MBP (any size) I'd say that its not because the 2011 15" stil dominates the Air in performance.

And with Mac resale value in my area on CL, He could literally upgrade to a MBA for just 200 bucks or so after selling the 15"
 

Essenar

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2008
553
186
Hm...
I'm with you now.
Actually, this whole thread was to help me to answer this question: is it worth it to buy a MBA or to upgrade my 15,4 2010 MBP?

And there's something more: I live in Brazil. Here, every Apple product costs me the double of what americans pay. The cheapest Retina 15,4 MBP costs 5,000 dollars in the Online Apple Store, just as an example.

If I could pay USA's prices, I wouldnt even create this thread. I would definitely buy the MBA. But... "the prices are too damn high" in Brazil :)p), so I have to know if its worth the purchase before throwing money in the toilet.

Even more reason for you to just wait until the cost is justified. Think about it this way: Let's say you gain 1000 GeekBench points from going to a new MacBook Air from your MacBook Pro. How much would it cost you to make the upgrade? Take that amount of money and divide 1000 by that dollar amount. That's how many GeekBench points you're 'gaining' per dollar.

The sad truth is, if you were to outright buy the 15" Retina Pro and not even sell your 15", you'd STILL be gaining more GeekBench points per dollar.

It's just not a REAL upgrade. You get a newer machine, an updated warranty and people will be envious of your upgraded machine. However, you won't really "see" the performance difference. You'll have to run those benchmarking suites just to notice.
 

bruleke

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 26, 2009
444
6
127.0.0.1
Which 13" MBP do you have?


I have a 2010 iMac at work w/ 8gb of Ram and standard HDD in it. My 2011 13" Core i5 2.3ghz MacBook Pro not only feels faster but the benchmarks prove it.

Sure if you think about what "used" to define "Pro", then you could say the 13" is not a Pro machine by old standards but... Integrated GPU's have come along way, as have dual core intel CPU's. I mean for the first time ever, the 13" Mbp was faster than the previous years 15" MBP starting in 2011 with my model MBP thanks to Sandy bridge. I have the same ports. A higher PPI. Same quality screen. Same spec Ram.... literally everything, minus the Dedicated GPU, which back in the day was bad, but have improved 10x compared to what they used to be.

Previous integrated GPU's couldnt game at all.. like not even on low. Where as the HD3000 and especially the HD4000 can run most games on low to med settings. And power GPU intensive apps like photoshop, illustrator and Aperture very easily.

Gaming is not my concern, but, of course, its nice to know that this little fellow can play games. It means it would definitely do a good job with my needs (Office, Stockbroker, 720p movies and series).
I like how you put things, how you talk about the power of the 13,3" mbp. As I said, I could really consider buy it.
But, then, again... I am not a teenager (actually, I wish I was 18 yrs ehehhe) asking and whining about "what should I buy?" (when actually my parents would spend the money). Its just that (1) I am not an expert in computers and (2) Apple products costs twice in my country, so I really need to 'hear' these expert comments.

----------

It's just not a REAL upgrade. You get a newer machine, an updated warranty and people will be envious of your upgraded machine. However, you won't really "see" the performance difference. You'll have to run those benchmarking suites just to notice.

Sorry, I got lost. What is not a REAL upgrade? The SSD that I could buy for my 15,4" 2010 MBP or the 2012 MBA?
 

Justinhub2003

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2012
137
0
Cincinnati Oh
Even more reason for you to just wait until the cost is justified. Think about it this way: Let's say you gain 1000 GeekBench points from going to a new MacBook Air from your MacBook Pro. How much would it cost you to make the upgrade? Take that amount of money and divide 1000 by that dollar amount. That's how many GeekBench points you're 'gaining' per dollar.

The sad truth is, if you were to outright buy the 15" Retina Pro and not even sell your 15", you'd STILL be gaining more GeekBench points per dollar.

It's just not a REAL upgrade. You get a newer machine, an updated warranty and people will be envious of your upgraded machine. However, you won't really "see" the performance difference. You'll have to run those benchmarking suites just to notice.


No way. He would totally notice the difference from a 2010 MBP to a 2012 MBA. And it would all be because of the SSD. It would feel like a completely new computer to him, not just the same. And to get the same speed "feel" he would have to spend a few hundred on an SSD and if your already spending a few hundred, might as well sell the MBP and get an AIR which comes with an SSD. No matter what he is spending around 200$ ( I could sell Macbook Pro here for 1200-1350) but wether its on a new machine (after selling the Pro) or a SSD is the choice he is trying to make
 

bruleke

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 26, 2009
444
6
127.0.0.1
Guys, I have to say.
Now, my doubt is: upgrade my MBP with a SSD or buy a new MBP? A 13,3" this time.
Why? Prices. Dot.
The Air is REALLY expensive here, just because its thin. Nah... not worth it.
So its nice to hear that the 13,3" are really powerful nowadays.

Are they more powerful than my 2010 MBP?

----------

No way. He would totally notice the difference from a 2010 MBP to a 2012 MBA. And it would all be because of the SSD. It would feel like a completely new computer to him, not just the same. And to get the same speed "feel" he would have to spend a few hundred on an SSD and if your already spending a few hundred, might as well sell the MBP and get an AIR which comes with an SSD. No matter what he is spending around 200$ ( I could sell Macbook Pro here for 1200-1350) but wether its on a new machine (after selling the Pro) or a SSD is the choice he is trying to make

Lets talk about numbers, so we can put things straight.

256gb SSD Vertex 4: 290 dollars
Macbook Air (1.8ghz; 4gb; 256gb): 2,100 dollars
My own 2010 15,4" Macbook Pro (when I sell it): 1,500 dollars.
 

Justinhub2003

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2012
137
0
Cincinnati Oh
Guys, I have to say.
Now, my doubt is: upgrade my MBP with a SSD or buy a new MBP? A 13,3" this time.
Why? Prices. Dot.
The Air is REALLY expensive here, just because its thin. Nah... not worth it.
So its nice to hear that the 13,3" are really powerful nowadays.

Are they more powerful than my 2010 MBP?

----------



Lets talk about numbers, so we can put things straight.

256gb SSD Vertex 4: 290 dollars
Macbook Air (1.8ghz; 4gb; 256gb): 2,100 dollars
My own 2010 15,4" Macbook Pro (when I sell it): 1,500 dollars.


Ok. You win. Thread is dead. Buy an SSD.

Just saying that the MacBook Air is faster than a 2010 MBP and is worthy of an upgrade IMO. But I tend to buy computers every 2-3 years because I want the latest.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.