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

Can an Argument Be Made That The 2012 15inch rMBP is Still Great?

HappyDude20

HappyDude20

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
3,688
1,479
Los Angeles, Ca
In my eyes, though I don't own one, feel that the original 2012 15inch rMBP had that great graphics gaming card and an impressive amount of RAM included..

As opposed to the latest models (13inch or 15) that now come with 4GB's of RAM and no dedicated graphics card.

Would I be a fool to purchase a 15inch 2012 rMBP, or can a case be made to purchase the newest current models?

Or may this thread be completely irrelevant when new rMB's are introduced in the coming months? Of course expecting these coming updates to not include their own dedicated graphics or higher RAM capacity?
 
The current 15" rMBP comes with a minimum of 8GB RAM; for another $600 you get a faster processor, 16GB RAM, 512GB of storage, and dedicated graphics. Considering the cost to go to 16GB RAM and 512GB storage on the base 15" model, $100 extra for the CPU bump and dedicated graphics doesn't seem like a bad deal.
 
HappyDude20 said:
As opposed to the latest models (13inch or 15) that now come with 4GB's of RAM and no dedicated graphics card.
Click to expand...

The base 15" rMBP comes with 8GB of RAM and an Iris Pro 5200, which far outperforms the GT650M in OpenCL tasks. That said, if you're into gaming and CUDA-accelerated software, the GT650M will still completely trash that Iris Pro.

Like the poster above me said, $600 not only gives you a better GPU; it doubles your RAM, SSD and gives you a processor bump.

If you configure both Iris-only and Iris+750M variant of the 15" to 2.3/16/512, both cost exactly the same, so the 750M is a freebie.

Only the base 13" rMBP comes with 4GB of RAM, but is still a very capable machine. Read here: http://bgr.com/2013/11/18/apple-13-inch-retina-macbook-pro-review-late-2013/ and you'll know why.
 
The 2012 version is, by no means, incapable. Is it great for gaming? No. A custom PC may be better.

Is it great value for money? Certainly. In the refurb store, it is significantly cheaper than new models and the power difference is not significant. Sure you have a bump in certain aspects (processor, drive speed, graphics maybe), but it doesn't take anything away from the 2012 model. The 2012 model is still a very good machine for what it is.

You'll be able to do most things with the 2012 model as you would with the 2013 model.
 
Of the 2012 15" rMBP is an excellent computer.

It's fast, has basically all the latest features and is just as fast as the 2013 models in most tasks.

It also has a terribly underrated graphics card which by all counts is excellent.

I would have kept mine had the Apple Store not broken mine.
 
yjchua95 said:
The base 15" rMBP comes with 8GB of RAM and an Iris Pro 5200, which far outperforms the GT650M in OpenCL tasks. That said, if you're into gaming and CUDA-accelerated software, the GT650M will still completely trash that Iris Pro.

Like the poster above me said, $600 not only gives you a better GPU; it doubles your RAM, SSD and gives you a processor bump.

If you configure both Iris-only and Iris+750M variant of the 15" to 2.3/16/512, both cost exactly the same, so the 750M is a freebie.

Only the base 13" rMBP comes with 4GB of RAM, but is still a very capable machine. Read here: http://bgr.com/2013/11/18/apple-13-inch-retina-macbook-pro-review-late-2013/ and you'll know why.
Click to expand...

While I can understand this logic, it is also quite a bump in price if you wanted nvidia gfx but weren't interested in 16gb or 512gb. In 2012 you could just buy the base 8gb/256gb and still get 650m

Personally if I wanted to save a bit of cash I would get the 2012, the 650m is as powerful as the 750 (the 750m is just a rebrand with very similar clocks).
When I recently had this choice I chose the 2012 classic as I wanted the anti glare and threw in a 960gb ssd. The machine feels as fast as a 2013 and I clock my gpu at 1100/2500 with nvidia inspector
 
Yes, the 2012 15'' rMBP is a good machine.

I would instead go for a late 2013 high-end model from the refurb store, if a discrete GPU is what you want. Or get the base model and look into the external GPU business (TB2 will make a difference here btw!).
 
I'm, rocking with a 2012 rMBP and its great. I think as long as it does what you want it to, then there's no need to upgrade.

Heck my wife and kids are using a 2010 MBP and 2009 Mac Mini respectively and those machines are great.
 
Great replies.

Perhaps my reservations stem from purchasing the first 13in rMBP model which stuttered quite a bit. Not to mention being a tad bit fatter than it's 15inch brother. I've since ridden that laptop and given it as a gift and have been rocking an iPad 3rd gen ever since.

I used my families 2009 MBP which is incredibly slow when performing certain tasks, but it just may be time to do a restore.

I'm currently going to keep on keeping on with this iPad until Apple does their 2014 announcements and then purchase a retina MacBook. My criteria is simply that I want it fast, and I'll need at least 512gb. Price is somewhat of an issue, cheaper is better but if I can get even something like 1TB, then I know I'll be good on my laptop search for the next 3-4 years.
 
HappyDude20 said:
I used my families 2009 MBP which is incredibly slow when performing certain tasks, but it just may be time to do a restore.
Click to expand...

Put an SSD in that machine, and with a clean OS install, it will feel like new. Much better investment than buying a whole new machine, especially if it otherwise performs adequately for the tasks you're doing.
 
I know this is not a dependable variable, but you can get some really good deals on a used 2012 15" rMBP still under warranty (extended Applecare on those will be expiring in 2015-16). If you factor that in and you come across the right deal, I think the argument could be made for going with a used 2012 rMBP, instead of a brand new 2013.
 
HappyDude20 said:
Great replies.

Perhaps my reservations stem from purchasing the first 13in rMBP model which stuttered quite a bit. Not to mention being a tad bit fatter than it's 15inch brother. I've since ridden that laptop and given it as a gift and have been rocking an iPad 3rd gen ever since.

I used my families 2009 MBP which is incredibly slow when performing certain tasks, but it just may be time to do a restore.

I'm currently going to keep on keeping on with this iPad until Apple does their 2014 announcements and then purchase a retina MacBook. My criteria is simply that I want it fast, and I'll need at least 512gb. Price is somewhat of an issue, cheaper is better but if I can get even something like 1TB, then I know I'll be good on my laptop search for the next 3-4 years.
Click to expand...

I would say that the ram is the important upgrade. The PCI-E SSD can be removed so it's just a matter of time before someone builds aftermarket SSD's. Transcend just dropped JetDrive SSD upgrades for the past generation MacBook's and the prices aren't bad (About $350 for a 480GB) and their speeds are pretty snappy.

An 8GB upgrade on a Retina 13 is only $90. You could use the 128GB until Transcend drops a 480GB kit for it which probably won't be longer than 6-7 months.
 
Some other things to consider other than SSD size and speed:

- Is Thunderbolt 2 important to you?
- Do you plan on upgrading to a 4k display in the future?
- Do you typically keep a machine for a long time or upgrade every few years?
- Is slightly improved battery life important?
 
This what scares me about Apple.

You buy the latest computer and everyone swears by it that it is the Alpha, the Omega, and the Holy Grail. Like THIS is the model you want to get.

Then a year later it's like "Meh, idk, it's OK at best. The graphics don't have XYZ, the processor doesn't do ABC. The wifi is not AC."

I want to keep my MacBook for 10 years!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back