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MacBook Pro retina 13''

A

aoaaron

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 4, 2010
454
41
I think my MBP 15'' is nearly finished.

I need an ultra portable device for my next laptop a I found the 13'' base model suits most of my requirements.

I was going to go for the 13'' base + 16GB RAM + upgrade in procc.

The only problem I have is memory. Most of my music is on icloud, etc.

However, I sometimes like to boot into windows to play dolphin emulator. Is it possible I can do this via HDD or via an SD card or would it be too slow?



Users with 13'' 128GB, how is storage for you?
 
SarcasticJoe

SarcasticJoe

macrumors 6502a
Nov 5, 2013
607
221
Finland
I don't have a 13" model, but I couldn't stand having only a 128GB SSD. The one in my machine right now is a 250GB aftermarket one and I've only got about 40GB to spare.
 
S

Samuelsan2001

macrumors 604
Oct 24, 2013
7,729
2,153
Don't bother with the upgraded CPU

I would say keep the stock CPU (currently 2.6ghz as I have in my high end 2013 rMBP 13) and use the money for the higher SSD size (not only bigger but faster). The .2 mHz increase is not worth the effort and makes littler difference but storage is always nice.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,575
43,562
You hadn't gone into detailed specifics of your needs other then streaming music, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you probably won't need 16GB of storage.

I'd recommend the 8GB/256GB model over a 16GB/128GB configuration.

Running OS X and Windows on a 128GB drive is really tight.
 
Yakibomb

Yakibomb

macrumors 6502
May 13, 2014
413
60
Cape Town
aoaaron said:
However, I sometimes like to boot into windows to play dolphin emulator. Is it possible I can do this via HDD or via an SD card or would it be too slow?

Users with 13'' 128GB, how is storage for you?
Click to expand...

My previous mac was a MBP 13" 128GB. Due to school I was occasionally required to install windows for certain apps (or just to game :p), although it can be done I would definitely say get a bigger HDD. I was pretty much forced to keep all my larger apps and files on my external HDD, this worked at first till I realized I couldn't store my movies or DMG's on it due to FAT32 having a file limit of 4GB:mad:
 
L

librarian

macrumors regular
Sep 24, 2011
107
3
Dolphin is also available for OSX, there is no need to install windows.
Just a note: dolphin performance will be inferior because of integrated gpu and dual core cpu, unless your 15" is a really, really old model. If you're coming from a 2011 or 2012 model, expect a huge performance loss.
 
G

Gjwilly

macrumors 68040
May 1, 2011
3,216
701
SF Bay Area
An other vote for upgrading the SSD instead of the CPU but if you insist on the smaller SDD then I recommend offloading things like your pics and your iTunes library onto a PNY Storedge or a Transcend JetDrive Lite.
 
Jesla

Jesla

macrumors 6502a
Jan 7, 2013
541
170
Tennessee USA
I have a 13" 8 x 128 and after two years I still have 69gig free though i do
use a 1T external and a 64gig SDX to store stuff on and back up too. If I had
it to do again I might consider a 256 upgrade just for the small bump in speed.
 
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,457
12,573
Just wondering, what is troubling your 15" MBPro that makes you think it is "finished"....??
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,575
43,562
theEconomist said:
That isn't the case in my experience. What are you doing with OSX and Windows to require more than 128GB?
Click to expand...

The updates to windows alone start consuming a lot of space. True you can install both, but after that both will be rather tight on space.

What am I doing with the space, lightroom, office apps, visio on windows, OmniGraffle on OS X. iPhone backups consume a lot, as does my music.

I could not give both OS X and Windows 64GB of space each (assuming a 50-50 split).
 
T

TBFoxRDMS

macrumors newbie
Sep 15, 2007
25
3
I bought a refurb 13" rMBP, and it was so inexpensive I was able to get the 512 instead of the 256. Truth be told, the 256 would have been fine with me (with an external hard drive), but I love having the space because I do a lot with video. Yea, refurbs!
 
Q

Qaanol

macrumors 6502a
Jun 21, 2010
571
11
As pretty much everyone has already said, the sweet-spot is 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD.

Indeed, if you want to save several hundred dollars, look at getting a late-2013 refurb with 2.4 GHz CPU, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB SSD. Its performance will be indistinguishable from the 2014 models.
 
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