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rMBP 13" buy now or wait for refresh/update?

serban1189

serban1189

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 30, 2014
2
0
I'm in the market for a 13" mac, and with refresh of airs as of yesterday, I still inclining towards a rMBP 13" as the air's display is kind of a deal breaker and I'm a bit of a power user, and as far as portability and battery is concerned rMBP 13" is way better than my current 15.6", 2.5Kg Dell XPS 15z.

Is it a good time to buy a rMBP 13" ? Considering Intel's processors road map, I expect the Broadwell rMBP 13" to be launched around Feb 2015. Any chance WWDC 14 will bring a refresh/price drop for rMBPs like the one yesterday for MBAs or that is more likely to happen this fall? I would wait another month if a refresh is likely.

Also, would the mid-specced version (2,4 - i5, 8GB ram) be able to run games like WOW on med-high settings @ a decent FPS (>30), or would you recommend a CPU/RAM upgrade if I'm planning on using it on gaming sometimes?
 
B

BaddestArvai

macrumors regular
Mar 21, 2014
134
2
Wisconsin USA
serban1189 said:
I'm in the market for a 13" mac, and with refresh of airs as of yesterday, I still inclining towards a rMBP 13" as the air's display is kind of a deal breaker and I'm a bit of a power user, and as far as portability and battery is concerned rMBP 13" is way better than my current 15.6", 2.5Kg Dell XPS 15z.



Is it a good time to buy a rMBP 13" ? Considering Intel's processors road map, I expect the Broadwell rMBP 13" to be launched around Feb 2015. Any chance WWDC 14 will bring a refresh/price drop for rMBPs like the one yesterday for MBAs or that is more likely to happen this fall? I would wait another month if a refresh is likely.



Also, would the mid-specced version (2,4 - i5, 8GB ram) be able to run games like WOW on med-high settings @ a decent FPS (>30), or would you recommend a CPU/RAM upgrade if I'm planning on using it on gaming sometimes?
Click to expand...


The new iris graphic chipset isn't as good as the last generation graphics. Gaming is okay, but not nearly as good as the last generation. The last generation MBP had dedicated graphics unlike the new MBPr.
 
M

mad3inch1na

macrumors 6502a
Oct 21, 2013
662
6
BaddestArvai said:
The new iris graphic chipset isn't as good as the last generation graphics. Gaming is okay, but not nearly as good as the last generation. The last generation MBP had dedicated graphics unlike the new MBPr.
Click to expand...


I think you are confusing the 13" and 15" models. The 13" never had discreet graphics. The 2013 13" has iris, the 2013 15" has iris pro. Gaming on the 2013 13" is definitely better with iris than it was with the hd 4000 in 2012.

The rMBP will most likely be updated by the end of 2014. There has been a delay in broadwell by a quarter, but Apple has a pretty tight relationship with Intel, so a 2015 release is possible, but I think a 2014 release is likely.

In terms of gaming performance, medium-high settings with integrated graphics is unlikely. You might get 30 fps. On low settings, WOW would run fine, maybe even at 60fps. Also, please note that your RAM and CPU will not be a bottleneck for your games in any way at all. GPU will be your bottleneck.

Edit: If you want better gaming performance, the 2012 15" rMBP is the way to go. It will cost you 1400$ used on ebay, or 1600$ refurb on the Apple website. It comes with 8GB RAM/gtx 650m/i5 quadcore. You will be able to play games much better. If you care about performance more than portability and battery life, the 15" has a beautiful display, and will perform better.

Matt
 
serban1189

serban1189

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 30, 2014
2
0
Thanks for all the tips and clarifications guys. I have thought about it and since portability is still my main reason I am aiming a 13" and battery is important (still rMBP has a decent enough one, for my needs), I've ordered a mid specced rMBP 13" (2.6Ghz i5, 16gb ram, 256 ssd). Am planning on keeping it some years as my "on the go machine", so hopefully those specs will keep up with time.

For all the issues concerning gaming it was more out of curiosity, I guess I never envisioned playing a game like WoW on integrated graphics. For a moment I thought the dedicated GPU's power comes from the CPU's power and ram will directly impact the video memory since the GPU shares it with the CPU on integrated graphics. Will probably get a non-portable machine for more serious gaming in a couple of years. For now, my Dell with dedicated GPU will do just fine.

I guess I only needed to convince myself that a 13" rMBP is a better investment than a 13" MBA as they're presented right now since the price difference is negligible. Also I needed the upgrade rather soon and MBA's battery and weight factors don't seem that attractive to me, when compared to what the rMBP brings to the table.
 
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