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Help me choose a MacBook

shahin90

shahin90

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 23, 2012
136
66
Hey guys,

I want to buy a new 13 inch retina MBP. I need 16gb ram because I will be running Virtual machine for Windows and Linux, but what about CPU? Is the i7 noticably faster than the i5? Right now the i5 at 2.8 GHz is $200 cheaper than the i& at 3.0 GHz.

Also, would you buy a refurbished one right now? There are some on Apple's website that are released on July 2014. Are those the latest models?
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,478
43,405
Have you considered the 15" MBP, since you'll get a quad core processor? You'll be better off with more cores when it comes to virtualization.
 
shahin90

shahin90

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 23, 2012
136
66
maflynn said:
Have you considered the 15" MBP, since you'll get a quad core processor? You'll be better off with more cores when it comes to virtualization.
Click to expand...

I have had a 15inch model in the past and I find them too big to be honest because I travel a lot, and I usually just connect my MacBook to external displays at work/home, so 13 inch works out fine..
 
C

catan

macrumors member
Dec 9, 2014
51
0
shahin90 said:
Also, would you buy a refurbished one right now? There are some on Apple's website that are released on July 2014. Are those the latest models?
Click to expand...

Refurbished is always a great deal, try to find one in October 2013 since the only change for July 2014 was a marginal CPU speed bump.
 
shahin90

shahin90

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 23, 2012
136
66
catan said:
Refurbished is always a great deal, try to find one in October 2013 since the only change for July 2014 was a marginal CPU speed bump.
Click to expand...

What about core i5 vs core i7? I am trying to decide between the 2 CPUs. Is the difference noticeable?
 
cruisin

cruisin

macrumors 6502a
Apr 1, 2014
962
223
Canada
For short tasks the difference is probably not noticeable. If you have a task that uses a lot of CPU and it needs to run for a while, that is where you will notice it.

The bigger difference (for virtual machines at least) is that the 13 inch model does not have quad core. It may be hard to run OSX, Linux, and Windows at the same time. If you only run one virtual machine at a time it might work.
 
Natzoo

Natzoo

macrumors 68000
Sep 16, 2014
1,986
631
Get the 15" I'm sure you can find good prices on mac mall or apple refurb store.
 
shahin90

shahin90

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 23, 2012
136
66
yjchua95 said:
Zero. But the quad core will make it noticeable.

I wouldn't run a VM on a 13" to be honest. Get at least a 15".
Click to expand...

The 15 inch is too big and heavy for my day to day use and the fact that I use external monitors at work make it useless.:confused:
 
shahin90

shahin90

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 23, 2012
136
66
yjchua95 said:
How big are you?

I find that my 15" rMBP is pretty lightweight and small enough to be carried around everywhere.
Click to expand...

Dude! why do you question the basis of my question? I am not buying a 15 inch LOL
 
C

chipchen

macrumors 6502a
Oct 30, 2002
604
245
Haha... relax guys, OP doesn't want a 15".

I think in the real world there's nearly no noticeable difference between the i5 and i7 in 95% of situations. Use the money to bump the specs of the SSD instead. Some build to order options are there merely because they can charge for them.
 
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