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Resolved iMac 27" vs rMBP 15"

tudyniuz

tudyniuz

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 22, 2012
77
9
Amsterdam
I know there have been plenty of threads with this discussion, but in one month, I'll be ordering one of the two. I live in Holland, but I'll be getting the device from Canada where it's a lot cheaper. I will of course have to buy a different power cable for the device that I'll be buying, but that will not be an issue.

The first device I took into consideration is the following iMac model:

- 3,4 GHz i7 processor
- 8 GB RAM (which I'll upgrade myself to 32)
- 1 TB Fusion drive
- NVIDIA GeForce 680MX 2GB
- Magic Trackpad

The 15" rMBP that I want is the following:

- 2.7 GHz i7 processor
- 16 GB RAM
- 256 SSD
- NVIDIA GeForce 650M 1GB

I currently have a windows laptop and a 11" Macbook Air (late 2012). I carry the Air with me almost all the time, especially for college. The Windows laptop will be soon gone and one of the two from above will take it's place. I know that the biggest difference between the two is the portability, but from my experience, I have rarely taken the Windows laptop away from my desk. Very rarely. I usually use a tablet in the house, or even the Air.

Another big difference would be storage space, but to be honest even the space from the Retina model would be enough for me. Not to mention that I have two external HDD drives which are more than enough to store my data. And for apps or games the 256GB is enough. I have 128 GB on the Air and I still have more than half free, even with some apps and games installed.

I want the iMac for the huge and beautiful 27" screen. But also the performance is unbelievable. Not to mention with an upgrade to 32GB. It would run perfectly for at least 3 years. It's just gorgeous.

The rMBP is also very tempting. The screen resolution is very good, the form factor is excellent, but besides that, it seems to be a little underpowered compared to the iMac.

So, which one?
 
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A

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,437
744
Same boat as you buddy. The post right below yours is mine :)

I have an rmbp right now and love it. But really want the imac. Have decided why yet
 
xShane

xShane

macrumors 6502a
Nov 2, 2012
814
37
United States
It all comes down to performance vs. portability.

The iMac is better than any rMBP in every way possible. If you value performance more than portability, get the iMac.

If you have value portability more than performance, get the rMBP.
 
A

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,437
744
xShane said:
It all comes down to performance vs. portability.

The iMac is better than any rMBP in every way possible. If you value performance more than portability, get the iMac.

If you have value portability more than performance, get the rMBP.
Click to expand...

Yeah I guess it's that easy. Would you ever invest into a current gen mac pro 3.33 w/accelior ssd (pciex ssd)? I know they are outdated but would it hold up to an imac or imac would beat it? Also the acceslior would be useful for next gen mac pro if it ever came out. I'm just concerned on how many mac pros appeared on ebay lately.
 
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xShane

xShane

macrumors 6502a
Nov 2, 2012
814
37
United States
aloshka said:
Yeah I guess it's that easy. Would you ever invest into a current gen mac pro 3.33 w/accelior ssd (pciex ssd)? I know they are outdated but would it hold up to an imac or imac would beat it? Also the acceslior would be useful for next gen mac pro if it ever came out. I'm just concerned on how many mac pros appeared on ebay lately.
Click to expand...

Playing the speculation game is a bit tricky.

In all honesty, if you can wait for a refresh or possibly a new Mac Pro, then wait.
 
A

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,437
744
xShane said:
Cost appears to be an issue according to his first few sentences.

Although I'd have to admit, that would be the ideal situation.
Click to expand...

Cost isn't too much of a problem unless its dumb spending. What do you mean both? Imac and Mac Pro? That kind of be a waste because I can only keep my 500+ of vms on one box and what would be the pros of having both?
 
A

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,437
744
I really am leaning on Mac Pro. For a few reasons.

1. I need dual monitors that match (personal pref). But I can't stand when coloring, size, offset, or things not lining up.
2. I really need the extra cores. Vms eat them up physically so 6 is better than 4.
3. I do not like the idea of having screen attached to my computer. Having the screen go bad and taking the entire computer offline is bad.

My worries

1. Current Mac pros run on nehalem technology. The architecture itself is slower compared to ivy. While the CPU makes up the difference, I wonder overall how big is the difference in performance
2. And biggest worry of all. Next Mac pros released in June instead of oct/nov timeframe. In which case the investment would be a huge loss
 
tudyniuz

tudyniuz

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 22, 2012
77
9
Amsterdam
I'm leaning towards the iMac, but as someone said above, it would be horrible for me to spend so much money on a machine which will receive an update 2 months later. Just waste of money.

And as I'm only able to get it from Canada in 2 months, it's highly likely for the iMac or MBPr to get an update a little while after. In which case I know I'll be pissed.
 
T

Trinite

macrumors regular
Oct 22, 2010
105
0
tudyniuz said:
I'm leaning towards the iMac, but as someone said above, it would be horrible for me to spend so much money on a machine which will receive an update 2 months later. Just waste of money.

And as I'm only able to get it from Canada in 2 months, it's highly likely for the iMac or MBPr to get an update a little while after. In which case I know I'll be pissed.
Click to expand...

Forgive the question (perhaps I missed something), but how are you planning to get a 27" iMac back to Holland from Canada?
 
C

cjmillsnun

macrumors 68020
Aug 28, 2009
2,399
48
tudyniuz said:
I'm leaning towards the iMac, but as someone said above, it would be horrible for me to spend so much money on a machine which will receive an update 2 months later. Just waste of money.

And as I'm only able to get it from Canada in 2 months, it's highly likely for the iMac or MBPr to get an update a little while after. In which case I know I'll be pissed.
Click to expand...

As far as the either Mac goes they're pretty up to date and as you already have a portable, I would get the iMac. But have a look at the Canadian refurb store when you get there, you should probably be able to pick up the same Mac for a good saving, which should sweeten things somewhat should there be an update soon after.

Your only downer would be the baggage charges shipping it back to the Netherlands as it would weigh a little over 10kg boxed. But there is FedEx or UPS to get around that ;)
 
tudyniuz

tudyniuz

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 22, 2012
77
9
Amsterdam
I have someone shipping a container to Europe, so transportation won't be a problem. :D

Also, even if I do pay a couple hundreds more, I still prefer something brand new. So refurbished is out of the question for me.

I've played today with a friend's MBPr and I have to say it is pretty awesome. Super light, very quick, great keyboard. I don't think there's any better looking 15" laptop. But I'm still thinking a lot more about the iMac.
 
Tankmaze

Tankmaze

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2012
1,707
351
tudyniuz said:
I have someone shipping a container to Europe, so transportation won't be a problem. :D

Also, even if I do pay a couple hundreds more, I still prefer something brand new. So refurbished is out of the question for me.

I've played today with a friend's MBPr and I have to say it is pretty awesome. Super light, very quick, great keyboard. I don't think there's any better looking 15" laptop. But I'm still thinking a lot more about the iMac.
Click to expand...

buy the iMac then, i'm sure it would be worth it.
currently I use 1 machine which is the mbp, but in my work I need a big screen, so the mbp is stationary all the time, but I do need the portability sometimes to meet client so mbp is the way to go.

so it really depends on your needs.
 
A

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,437
744
tudyniuz said:
I have someone shipping a container to Europe, so transportation won't be a problem. :D

Also, even if I do pay a couple hundreds more, I still prefer something brand new. So refurbished is out of the question for me.

I've played today with a friend's MBPr and I have to say it is pretty awesome. Super light, very quick, great keyboard. I don't think there's any better looking 15" laptop. But I'm still thinking a lot more about the iMac.
Click to expand...


The problem with portability is that most of the time you don't need it. But then you get onetime that it's essential and the entire solutions becomes problematic. The iMAC will be faster, but I don't think it will be that much faster--depends what you do I guess. rMBP is beautiful and with a TB display it's better (with two daisy chained even better).
 
tudyniuz

tudyniuz

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 22, 2012
77
9
Amsterdam
I think that the iMac can hold up for 3-4 years and still be good enough for my use, but laptops usually don't last that long. Performance wise and reliability as well. This is also important for me.
 
A

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,437
744
Changing my original post. Love the rMBP and I think they fixed the issues that I was having with this latest update.
 
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