Considering rMBP for College

macnoob22 said:

I start in the Fall and am considering this refurbished Macbook from Apple.com

http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...-23ghz-quad-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display

1. Is this a good price for the Retina Macbook Pro?
- yes for the 15" rMBP with quad core

2. Should I wait for Haswell or buy now? I would like it when I begin classes but it's not 100% necessary and I'm not sure if Haswell will be that big of a difference.
- definitely wait for 2nd gen if not rush, plus the price may come down if you buy the above model.
Haswell may give you 802ac (3x wireless speed, 7->10h battery)

3. Has anyone had any experience with Apple refurbished products?
- just like new with cheaper price

4. Should I purchase AppleCare or some sort of warranty/protection plan, and if so from where?
Buy AppleCare for retina as a must, any repair will cost a lot
Apply online or from B&H for cheaper price

Thanks

Click to expand...

See reply in - above

Mba

macnoob22 said:

I'm confused... (Never mind)

Click to expand...

If you need to carry it andmove around in college, I would suggest a 11"/ 13" MacBook air Haswell model as it provides 9/ 12 hours of battery life (15" 7 hours) and is way lighter 1/ 1.35 kg (vs 2kg of 15" rMBP). Buy a bigger display at home and you'll be happy.

New haswell model of 15" rMBP will probably be released in months, no one knows but probably before Ocrober. New model will have faster wireless speed (3x) and longer battery hours as shown in air. Also the SSD may be the same model as air, which means 2x faster.

If your study requires using programs like 3D rendering/ Graphic design, the quad core of 15" with discreet graphic card will give you more power. There's rumor that it may not come with discreet gpu but intel iris pro 5200.

Otherwise a MBA will be enough for your use.

Of course the big difference is the retina display ( it's really hard to go back...)

Hope it help