So I'm potentially looking to upgrade my current MBP (early 2011) and have been playing around with the 2013 rMBP in the Apple Store. I really like the portability of the 13" vs the 15". But I do love the nice screen of the 15". I don't really do much past the basic stuff like web browsing, iTunes, email. I do like to have lots (sometimes 20+) tabs open in Safari though. I've heard that going from i5 to i7 on the 13" is not much of a jump given they're both dual core. Plus I was considering going with the 16GB of ram. Also is there a big difference between Iris and Iris Pro?? I am concerned about longevity as I'm not made of money. No matter which one I do get I do want a 1TB SSD. In any event would the 15" be overkill??
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2013 rMBP 13" i5 vs i7 / Iris vs Iris Pro
- Thread starter bigpoppamac31
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Your usage pattern suggests you need more ram than processing power. I doubt you'll b using the CPU much at all. The i5 with 8GB ram will work well in your case. If u have the dough, then get 16Gb ram. And why 1TB ssd? It's really expensive in my opinion. Get an external or use microSDs?
As for gpu, u r not processing videos or gaming, the iris will work fine for you.
As for gpu, u r not processing videos or gaming, the iris will work fine for you.
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Well I want the 1TB SSD so I have lots of room. Unless I'm wrong there's no third party that makes SSDs for the 2013 rMBP. I already have an external drive for my backup. The 13" i5 rMBP seemed pretty fast but what about long term?? I want this to last me about 5 years if possible.
On the 13", the only set that allows you to configure a 1TB drive is the one that costs $1799. After adding the 1TB and 16GB ram, that set alone costs $2499! That's $100 away from the 15" set with GT750M.
Again, based on your usage pattern, you are not going to utilize the processing power. The i5 can last you 5 years, and 8GB ram is plentiful. 16GB is only optional for "future proofing".
As for storage space, this is your call. $500 more for extra 500GB on board. Do you really need 1TB on the machine while on the go? Or your external hdd is already sufficient? Not forgetting external HDDs are really going at low prices (eg: 4TB for $130)
I got both my wife and I each an external hdd to store files that we do not need on the go, since that is the more economical way. I also have a 3rd hdd for time machine.
For storage expansion, there is also the Nifty minidrive and the Apotop adapters that allows you to put a microSD on your Mac "permanently". another option is the PNY StorEdge.
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Well in Canada the high end 13" retina is $2,049 when upping the ram to 16GB. That's the same price as the base 15" with 8GB ram but only 256GB SSD. Thing is that even though I have a MBP it's actually very rare if I take it anywhere. I may carried it to another room in the house now and then. But I almost never take it outside the house with me. I want the 1TB SSD so I have lots of room for future files. I don't want to have to connect an external drive to get those files.
Maybe for now I'll go with an SSD for my current Mac and wait until the late 2013 comes down in price on the Apple Refurb site.
Maybe for now I'll go with an SSD for my current Mac and wait until the late 2013 comes down in price on the Apple Refurb site.
wow... if you don't even carry it around, all the more you shouldn't splurge on the storage...
You can get a NAS, set it up and forget it...
wow... if you don't even carry it around, all the more you shouldn't splurge on the storage...
You can get a NAS, set it up and forget it...
Well I do move it around the house now and then. But I have considered reverting to a desktop. Maybe when Apple finally upgraded the Mac Mini I'd get one of those and an iPad for on the go. I have no need to take my Mac with me anywhere. I'm not a student or in a job that would require me to do so. Still I would prefer to have all my storage internal. Makes the set up so much simpler.
I'm like you. I'd much rather have a big hard drive than ever hassle with carrying my files on another portable drive or finding wifi to access the cloud. That sucks.
Indeed it does. I mean I have about 130GB left on my 500GB HDD now. But if I can get a 1TB drive it would give me tons of room for a long time to come. But I'm still wrestling with 13" vs 15" and Iris vs Iris Pro. But I think for now I may just snag an SSD for my current MBP and wait for the current rMBP prices to come down in the Refurb section. An SSD even in my 2011 MBP will be pretty speedy.
I have thought of that. But it's not a retina display. It's a great display but I can definitely notice each pixel without having my face close to the screen. I'm actually quite undecided on what I want to do. Maybe I'll just get an SSD for my current Mac and be done with it.
MBP (early 2011)
15" hi-res antiglare display (1680 x 1050)
2.0Ghz quad core i7
8GB ram
500GB HDD @ 7200rpm
256MB AMD 6490M graphics
Intel HD3000 512MB (shared)
FW800
Thunderbolt
USB2
The only downside I have with my Mac is that the AMD is only 256MB. I wish it had been 512MB or 1GB. But with the early 2011 version Apple only offered a 256MB or 1GB graphics options. No 512MB option. 256MB for graphics is too low now.
What's a good brand of SSD to get. I've seen great reviews for the Samsung 840 EVO and the Crucial M500. Would those be the two best ones?
Interesting "downside"... Is the gpu affecting / limiting your usage in any way? From your listed usage, I'd assume you won't even be utilizing the gpu.
As for ssd, check out the sticky thread.
It's a downside cause it limits the longevity of my Mac. Like I said a 256MB graphics card won't give my Mac the longevity like a 1GB (or higher) graphics card would.
I've checked the SSD sticky.
What does that even mean? 256GB is enough to run a 4K display without any hiccups. What kind of longevity and in regards to which usage do you expect? The problem with the 6490M is that its dead slow by modern standards, not that it has little VRAM...
I think you are looking at it wrong. By the way you are using your mbp, most likely you are not even activating your card. How can it limit your longevity?
The amount of ram on the card does not define it's life. It only defines how fast / much the card itself can process graphics intensive stuff(video / photo processing / games) thrown at it. But, you are not even throwing anything at it in the first place, so it's not a limit to you.
Yes perhaps not right now. But if I want to get into any of those things down the road then those limits would reveal themselves. I do get the "beachball" a fair amount. Especially with Safari. But I can have around 20 tabs open at a given time. Maybe an SSD would help resolve that. I do have iStat in my dashboard and as my "swap" of memory gets higher the slower my Mac gets. Right now it's 3.4GB/4.0GB. If I restart my Mac it goes back to 0MB/64MB.
Swap memory is ram related, not Gpu. Having 20tabs open = high ram usage. But you already have 8GB, which is quite a lot based on your patterns.
Well when the swap hits 5GB or so I have to restart my Mac. Otherwise it's way to slow. Simply closing Safari and reopening won't resolve it. I believe mine came with 8GB ram when I ordered it. It was an Apple refurb. I got it in September 2011. A month or so later the "late 2011" models came out so I was kind of upset that I didn't wait.
16 GB of good RAM and a decent SSD like the Samsung 840 Evo or Pro would make all the difference... They are pretty affordable upgrades.
Well 16GB of Ram from OWC is $195. Pretty pricy. Do you know if I can get it cheaper somewhere else?
EDIT: Would this be the right one? Seems to be according to MacTracker. http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_326_327_609&item_id=044914