Krazy Bill
macrumors 68030
You make it sound like the "Bank of Dad" did this all on his own.
rMBP13 & an iPad... or...
rMBP13 & a nice external monitor.
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What MacBook must I buy? Please help
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rMBP13 & an iPad... or...
rMBP13 & a nice external monitor.
Unless you have issues with the weight of the 15", you will see little performance difference between the MBA and the 13" rMBP for your uses. You won't be pushing a quad core processor in any way based on what you do so why even bother with the 13"? If you really want to take advantage of the money, get the 13" rMBP only and save the difference. Max out the RAM and SSD and enjoy. I just don't see a performance need listed for the 15" retina with dedicated GPU and a huge additional expense. Or add an iPad for mobility and the rMPB 13 for more general use.
If it were me I'd be looking to save dad a few dollars. If he truly isn't interested in saving money on the deal, buy whatever you like most.
If it were me I'd be looking to save dad a few dollars. If he truly isn't interested in saving money on the deal, buy whatever you like most.
When I buy a machine, I think about what I might want to do in the near future as well as more long-term. with the MBA, you would have to get the processor upgrade and the RAM upgrade to even get close to the performance of the MBP and that would make the MBA more expensive.
Personally, I would go with a standard and base-model 15" MBP. That way you get the ability to use more RAM(16GB max) a dedicated GPU, superdrive, and the screen resolution and clarity is still amazing.
Krazy Bill
macrumors 68030
Yes but the OP's key phrase is "4 to 5 years". To me, that precludes the MBA from any kind of future-proofing.
On the other hand... the MBA is fine for those people who have the same needs as the OP and recycle their machines every 2 years or so.
This simply does not make ay sense. Just get a 13" Mac Book Air (or the base 13" rMBP) and then after 3 years sell it and get a new one. It won't get any 'future-proofer' then that and will actually save your dad some money. Buying an expensive computer and wanting it to last 5 years is just asking for trouble. What if it breaks down after three years, when your warranty expires? And anyway, the 13" rMBP is not any future-proofer than the 11" MBA - the difference in everyday processing power is fairly insignificant and you won't be doing any intensive work on those machines from what it looks like.
B...
macrumors 68000
You don't need the 13" rMBP for performance because none of those criteria demand the processing power of even the 13". Having said that, I agree with leman- just get the 13" rMBP (base, 128 GB should be fine) for $1500 and then buy a new one in 2-4 years- you'll have $1300 dollars extra to spend and a new Air (if it still exists) should be great if your uses have not changed. Or you could just buy the 13" and use it until it no longer works (5+ years), and save your father $1300.
The 15" rMBP is thinner and lighter than the old 15", but still seems a bit big to me for carrying around at school all the time.
I would recommend a 13" rMBP or 13" Air and put the rest of the money in savings account, or maybe use some of it on a nice monitor to plug into on your desk at home.
Also it may be worth waiting until June or July to order since there are likely to be new models released soon with the new generation of Intel processors.
I would recommend a 13" rMBP or 13" Air and put the rest of the money in savings account, or maybe use some of it on a nice monitor to plug into on your desk at home.
Also it may be worth waiting until June or July to order since there are likely to be new models released soon with the new generation of Intel processors.
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I don't know. There are plenty of people here still pushing 2006-2008 machines doing all those things the OP does. I still have a 2008 desktop C2D that runs Linux like a top and the demands of Linux aren't much different than OS X. I expect to give mine at least a few more years' use.
I'd certainly go with the quad core myself, but a new MBA with 8GB RAM and SSD should be fast for quite some time. I can't argue against the higher powered machine handling future demands better, though.
stick with what youve got. if it proves too big get an iPad. i cant imagine youll need to use anything intensive in school that the ipad couldnt handle?
