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Is the 2.2ghz 15inch macbook pro worth the extra few hundred $$$ over the base 2.0ghz

R

randomrazr

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 1, 2011
1,209
1
posting this for a friend who was thinking of getting a new machine.

im not sure what to tell him. all i know thereisnt much difference betweena 2.2 and the 2.0ghz for the average person, i know a big didffeeence would be the 1gb graphics card over the 256mb one.

the only thing he does is basic interneting surfing, youtube etc, and as a "hobby" making youtube videos but not like going into graphic editing or nothing that intensive.

none the less, would the high end be worth it?

the upgrade would be 400-450 i believe, including the anti glare res in addition.
 
randomrazr said:
posting this for a friend who was thinking of getting a new machine.

im not sure what to tell him. all i know thereisnt much difference betweena 2.2 and the 2.0ghz for the average person, i know a big didffeeence would be the 1gb graphics card over the 256mb one.

the only thing he does is basic interneting surfing, youtube etc, and as a "hobby" making youtube videos but not like going into graphic editing or nothing that intensive.

none the less, would the high end be worth it?

the upgrade would be 400-450 i believe, including the anti glare res in addition.
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Upgrade will not do anything for him.
 
If he is going to be doing basic stuff like you mentioned, the upgrade is a total waste of money for him. The difference in the processors is really negligible and he would only see a difference with the better graphics card if he was doing heavy video editing/photoshop/etc. Tell him not to waste his money.

Heck, if all he needs is internet browsing, word processing, and a little video editing tell him to get a MBA. Way more portable and it will do all he needs.
 
I would generally say no. In this case, I would say it twice.

Then again, there's the old theory, "if you have money, why the hell not?" I am not a person to ever be in such a situation but I guess it makes sense if you really just don't mind shelling out the extra funds.
 
Archlord said:
I would generally say no. In this case, I would say it twice.

Then again, there's the old theory, "if you have money, why the hell not?" I am not a person to ever be in such a situation but I guess it makes sense if you really just don't mind shelling out the extra funds.
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would it "future proof" it. like make it last longer ?
 
randomrazr said:
would it "future proof" it. like make it last longer ?
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only if he was doing something that actually required a faster video card, assuming that you are talking about the higher end model and not just a cpu upgrade
 
I just upgraded to the 2.2 from the 2.0...ill be honest they are neck and neck as far as performance 90 percent of the time...i wouldve been just as happy with the 2.0 version.
 
I recently purchased my first Mac. First I was decided for the base 15" MBP but the only Apple retailer in my area didn't have it in stock. Talked to the manager and she told me it was going to be a few weeks before they got another order of units in. The other closest retailer was 3 hours away depending on traffic. I was so desperate that I bought the second configuration, lol. I was also going to transfer to Digital Graphic Design and Computer Animation but I had some conflicts and won't be able to until next semester or probably next school year. The only reason I don't regret it is because I had the money and much more to spare plus I will be using the extra power later on.
 
Sam2lucky13 said:
I just upgraded to the 2.2 from the 2.0...ill be honest they are neck and neck as far as performance 90 percent of the time...i wouldve been just as happy with the 2.0 version.
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whated u do with the 2.0 macbook pro?

is ur usage any better with the 1gb video card?
 
If you don't need the extra gfx power for games then get the lower spec one. Personally the hires antiglare upgrade is worth far more to me that going to 2.2GHz or the gfx upgrade. An SSD and extra RAM likewise.

You also have to be aware that a lot of opinions will be based on what people have already bought, nobody wants to be thinking they have wasted a few hundred £££ extra on something they didn't need ;)

Personally I have just ordered a 2.0 base model with hires AG screen. The processing power is just not worth bothering about, it is so much higher than the previous gen anyway that you would be hard pressed to notice the difference.

I also think the graphics thing is over-egged. I am coming from a 2009 17" machine with the 9600M GT gfx chip in it which is not as fast as the 6490 coming in my new 15". I am sure it will play the odd game of HL2 or SC2 just a fine as my current one does.

For info I am upgrading for the increased processing power, I do a lot of work in virtual machines and the extra cores will make a lot of difference to me. Just going to transfer over my existing SSD.
 
mankymanning said:
If you don't need the extra gfx power for games then get the lower spec one. Personally the hires antiglare upgrade is worth far more to me that going to 2.2GHz or the gfx upgrade. An SSD and extra RAM likewise.

You also have to be aware that a lot of opinions will be based on what people have already bought, nobody wants to be thinking they have wasted a few hundred £££ extra on something they didn't need ;)

Personally I have just ordered a 2.0 base model with hires AG screen. The processing power is just not worth bothering about, it is so much higher than the previous gen anyway that you would be hard pressed to notice the difference.

I also think the graphics thing is over-egged. I am coming from a 2009 17" machine with the 9600M GT gfx chip in it which is not as fast as the 6490 coming in my new 15". I am sure it will play the odd game of HL2 or SC2 just a fine as my current one does.

For info I am upgrading for the increased processing power, I do a lot of work in virtual machines and the extra cores will make a lot of difference to me. Just going to transfer over my existing SSD.
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alright, sounds like the base model is the way to go.

sometimes exporting/editing video as a "hobby" for youtube. would the 1gb video card make a drastic difference?
 
randomrazr said:
alright, sounds like the base model is the way to go.

sometimes exporting/editing video as a "hobby" for youtube. would the 1gb video card make a drastic difference?
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It's my understanding that it will not. However, if your friend likes to play games, it will. Even if your friend doesn't play a game right now that could benefit from a 1GB GPU, who's to say that will still be the case 2-4 years from now?

You can always upgrade the HDD or RAM later, but not the GPU. Although, there's talk about external GPUs that use Thunderbolt...
 
Performa636CD said:
It's my understanding that it will not. However, if your friend likes to play games, it will. Even if your friend doesn't play a game right now that could benefit from a 1GB GPU, who's to say that will still be the case 2-4 years from now?

You can always upgrade the HDD or RAM later, but not the GPU. Although, there's talk about external GPUs that use Thunderbolt...
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what about games like angry birds or stuff off the mac app store? lol
 
randomrazr said:
whated u do with the 2.0 macbook pro?

is ur usage any better with the 1gb video card?
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I dont game much or do anything too graphic intensive most times but I wanted to know it was there.

the 2.0 version is a very capable machine though, i also added a 240 gb ssd drive from owc so it didnt make a lot of sense not going with the 2.2 model if i was putting that much money into it as far as upgrades.
 
Sam2lucky13 said:
I dont game much or do anything too graphic intensive most times but I wanted to know it was there.

the 2.0 version is a very capable machine though, i also added a 240 gb ssd drive from owc so it didnt make a lot of sense not going with the 2.2 model if i was putting that much money into it as far as upgrades.
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so for my uses, better to save the 400 bucks?
 
randomrazr said:
what about games like angry birds or stuff off the mac app store? lol
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That's not graphics intensive at all, if that's all the games he plays then the base MBP is plenty for his uses, he will not notice ANY difference between either models.
 
snaky69 said:
That's not graphics intensive at all, if that's all the games he plays then the base MBP is plenty for his uses, he will not notice ANY difference between either models.
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so if imovie is about the only app intensive application being used, then theres really no point of paying extra for higher specs if there not gonna be taken advantage of?
 
randomrazr said:
so if imovie is about the only app intensive application being used, then theres really no point of paying extra for higher specs if there not gonna be taken advantage of?
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That's right. Why buy a ferrari if you can't take it to a track?
 
snaky69 said:
That's right. Why buy a ferrari if you can't take it to a track?
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alright man, sticking with the 2.0 it is. i willl though upgrade to an anti glare :p

appreciate your help!

i hope i dont regret this later on :p
 
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