Hi guys,
First off, forgive my poor english, french user here, hope you will be able to understand all of my concerns !
I am finally ready ! After months of hesitation (should I be patient, keep my MBP 13" mid-2010 and upgrade it with SSD and RAM and wait for the next generation, etc...), I am ready to let my credit card explode and get this awesome machine.
Well, I am still in need for some final advices concerning the choice of proc/RAM/storage.
I know those concerns have probably been answered in various threads here, but in those cases, we alwayse want kind of a personal answer don't we
So here it is :
My daily use is kind of a mix between casual and geek. I spend most of my "home time" on my MBP. Always surfing, listening music, watching movies/tv shows, playing games (mostly Diablo, WoW, FIFA, NBA2K...) and doing all kind of useless stuff (thus essential).
So, I'm basically 4-5 hours a day on my Mac, with web browser open with multi tab, iTunes or Spotify in the background, etc...
I solicit my machine a lot. My games are not high end, cutting edge graphics, but still demanding. And I use from times to times softwares like PSP or Photoshop to do some image/photo editing.
OK, now we can get started.
So 3 variables here :
Proc : 2,3 Ghz or 2,6 Ghz ?
This is probably where I mostly need your help.
For my daily use, what is optimal ?
Is the 300Mhz upgrade worth the extra 100$ for me ?
I know, when you are ready to throw more than 2200$ in this, 100 more is just probably nothing. But still, those would be far more useful elsewhere if you think this is not mandatory.
So will I notice any day-to-day boost with a 2,6Ghz ? Like opening tabs faster, opening apps faster, using editing softwares more smmothly ?
Does it any kind of effect on my gaming experience ?
I am really not an hardware expert so I would appreciate your help on this specific point.
RAM : 8GB or 16 GB ?
This, I think, is a no-brainer from what I saw on this forum and on other websites.
RAM is not upgradable. So, let's jump on the 16GB model right ? Who knows what RAM-hungry OS will be on the market next year ? And I'm a fan of dual booting on my mac also.
So 16 GB will always be nice, or I will take full benefit of it in a couple of years I guess.
But once again, any advice is good here. As you can see, I'm not an heavy programmer or editor. I'm not pushing my mac to the limits with high end softwares. So do you think I may be able to save 200$ more here ?
Storage : 256 Go or 512 Go ?
This one was a tough one for me, before I saw a piece of information on the Internet the other day.
I thought that, as for the RAM, SSD storage was not upgradable on those new rMBP. So, the 256/512 question was a big big question mark for me.
But I just saw that a brand (OWC) launched a 480Go SSD totally compatible with rMBP. It is upgradable after all (and damn easy by the way) !!
So here is my question. Today, this 480Go SSD prices at more than 500$. It would be silly to not choose the 512Go option on AppleStore for an extra 500$ here.
But next year ? In 2 years ? What are your thoughts on this new SSD market for the rMBP ?
Do you think we may be able to find, I don't know, 512 Go SSD compatible for less than 350-300$ in a couple of years ? Thus, making the switch someday for less money ?
We can see today that SSD markets for cMBP are dropping prices like crazy. We can find 512Go SSD around 200$. So it may be a good idea to wait and see what future holds on this one.
But again, 256Go might be too small. I could wait. But not for too long. As I said earlier, I'm a fan of dual booting (primarily for games or softwares not available on Mac OS) and a Windows partition is already at least 60-70 Go with a bunch of big games I think.
I may feel cramped really fast with a 256Go SSD drive.
So it all comes down with your feeling on those new SSD that are hitting the market for the rMBP.
Conclusion :
What model should I buy.
Instinctively, I would aim for the 256Go/16GB/2,3Ghz for 2399$
But what about the proc upgrade ? And is it profitable to wait for future storage upgrade options ?
I thank all of you who read my entire message and the kind people who will answer me and help me to find the perfect rMBP for me
Once again, sorry for my english !
First off, forgive my poor english, french user here, hope you will be able to understand all of my concerns !
I am finally ready ! After months of hesitation (should I be patient, keep my MBP 13" mid-2010 and upgrade it with SSD and RAM and wait for the next generation, etc...), I am ready to let my credit card explode and get this awesome machine.
Well, I am still in need for some final advices concerning the choice of proc/RAM/storage.
I know those concerns have probably been answered in various threads here, but in those cases, we alwayse want kind of a personal answer don't we
So here it is :
My daily use is kind of a mix between casual and geek. I spend most of my "home time" on my MBP. Always surfing, listening music, watching movies/tv shows, playing games (mostly Diablo, WoW, FIFA, NBA2K...) and doing all kind of useless stuff (thus essential).
So, I'm basically 4-5 hours a day on my Mac, with web browser open with multi tab, iTunes or Spotify in the background, etc...
I solicit my machine a lot. My games are not high end, cutting edge graphics, but still demanding. And I use from times to times softwares like PSP or Photoshop to do some image/photo editing.
OK, now we can get started.
So 3 variables here :
Proc : 2,3 Ghz or 2,6 Ghz ?
This is probably where I mostly need your help.
For my daily use, what is optimal ?
Is the 300Mhz upgrade worth the extra 100$ for me ?
I know, when you are ready to throw more than 2200$ in this, 100 more is just probably nothing. But still, those would be far more useful elsewhere if you think this is not mandatory.
So will I notice any day-to-day boost with a 2,6Ghz ? Like opening tabs faster, opening apps faster, using editing softwares more smmothly ?
Does it any kind of effect on my gaming experience ?
I am really not an hardware expert so I would appreciate your help on this specific point.
RAM : 8GB or 16 GB ?
This, I think, is a no-brainer from what I saw on this forum and on other websites.
RAM is not upgradable. So, let's jump on the 16GB model right ? Who knows what RAM-hungry OS will be on the market next year ? And I'm a fan of dual booting on my mac also.
So 16 GB will always be nice, or I will take full benefit of it in a couple of years I guess.
But once again, any advice is good here. As you can see, I'm not an heavy programmer or editor. I'm not pushing my mac to the limits with high end softwares. So do you think I may be able to save 200$ more here ?
Storage : 256 Go or 512 Go ?
This one was a tough one for me, before I saw a piece of information on the Internet the other day.
I thought that, as for the RAM, SSD storage was not upgradable on those new rMBP. So, the 256/512 question was a big big question mark for me.
But I just saw that a brand (OWC) launched a 480Go SSD totally compatible with rMBP. It is upgradable after all (and damn easy by the way) !!
So here is my question. Today, this 480Go SSD prices at more than 500$. It would be silly to not choose the 512Go option on AppleStore for an extra 500$ here.
But next year ? In 2 years ? What are your thoughts on this new SSD market for the rMBP ?
Do you think we may be able to find, I don't know, 512 Go SSD compatible for less than 350-300$ in a couple of years ? Thus, making the switch someday for less money ?
We can see today that SSD markets for cMBP are dropping prices like crazy. We can find 512Go SSD around 200$. So it may be a good idea to wait and see what future holds on this one.
But again, 256Go might be too small. I could wait. But not for too long. As I said earlier, I'm a fan of dual booting (primarily for games or softwares not available on Mac OS) and a Windows partition is already at least 60-70 Go with a bunch of big games I think.
I may feel cramped really fast with a 256Go SSD drive.
So it all comes down with your feeling on those new SSD that are hitting the market for the rMBP.
Conclusion :
What model should I buy.
Instinctively, I would aim for the 256Go/16GB/2,3Ghz for 2399$
But what about the proc upgrade ? And is it profitable to wait for future storage upgrade options ?
I thank all of you who read my entire message and the kind people who will answer me and help me to find the perfect rMBP for me
Once again, sorry for my english !
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