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13" macbook or 13"macbook pro

G

gingerman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 27, 2011
4
0
Im selling my imac and getting a macbook, im just stuck wondering which one of the two to buy.

Im looking at two options

Buying the macbook and putting in 4gb ram or simply buying the macbookpro.

Im looking at image editing, podcasting and regular use.

4gb ram is pretty cheap to install but is the macbookpro 13" better future proof?

thoughts please!

the macbookpro is obviously about £100 more so after ram it would be around £60 more expensive for me.. is it worth it?
 
13" MBP is a lot better buy now as it was updated a month ago. You get Thunderbolt and a lot faster CPU for example.
 
Is it worth it? Yes.

Not only it's got the much faster sandy bridge i5 processor (twice as fast compared to core 2 duo on macbook), it also has the aluminum uni-body which is much more durable. Screen is much, much better than the one found on macbook and not to mention, the macbook pro will have higher resale value.

Definitely go for the pro model, you wont regret it one bit.
 
Specification improvements, reason enough as they are, aside. The Pro model has the FW 800 port and SD card reader too.
 
I honestly don't see any value in the Macbook anymore. If you are spending $1000, you might as well spend $200 more and get so many more features and better performance.

Get a Macbook Pro.
 
The new MBP is much faster and comes with 4gb of ram. With
these new specs, the old MB just gets left behind.
 
I think that at this moment at Apple even Steve Jobs hates the MacBook, It's not durable and even the MacBook Air is way better value for 999$

I'm not Overrating aluminium, but the the Air is really fast because it's on SSD's and the MacBook Pro has the new processors and Thunderbolt which is total Future proofing




But if I were you I'd wait for the new Macs that will come out with Lion
 
The wait and see doesn't really hold for me as there will always be something newer just round the corner.

It kinda makes sense that they will drop the macbook now looking at their release dates.

I didnt realise the extra pros for macbookpro.
 
I don't see Apple dropping the MB, at least I wouldn't, because it is a way for someone to enter the world of Mac that has limited funds and limited needs. The difference between a newbie investing $600 for a PC vs $1200 for a MBP can make it difficult to make the move but at $999 one has to scratch their head a bit and then hopefully go for it. I do think it would be much better if the MB, with only 2GB of ram be prices at $899 instead.

As for MB vs MBP, I had the 2009 MB and then upgraded to a 13" base 2010 MBP mostly because I really wanted the backlit keys and faster transfer rates. For a $200 difference plus double the RAM, the MBP was a better investment. Today, with the significantly faster CPU's the MBP over a MB is a no brainer since it provides plenty of power making it is better investment - base model is the best deal. Of course the MB is due for an update which I suspect might happen when they update the iMac like they did in late 2009.

Currently I use a 15" base 2010 (I used to own the 13" and a 27" iMac but I prefer one machine)
 
thanks for the help.

i went for the 13" macbookpro.

i managed to also get a 8% discount as well

problem i have at the moment is getting all my activation keys! for my old software..
 
gingerman said:
thanks for the help.

i went for the 13" macbookpro.

i managed to also get a 8% discount as well

problem i have at the moment is getting all my activation keys! for my old software..
Click to expand...

Just an FYI: If you have a Microcenter close to you, they sell the newest 13" MBP for $1000.
 
OK - let me throw another spin on this topic... my wife got me a refurbed MBP for $850... but it has the Core2 Duo and other "old" MBP specs... but it does have 4gb ram... should I return it and get new machine (and spend $300 more), or is the $300 not worth it???
 
Anyone? Just trying to figure out what to do with this machine before I open it and start loading stuff... and it is burning a hole in my desk :)

Hammer
 
One more vote for the MBP. If you spec up the MB to have the same amount of memory and the same size disk as the default MBP you will see the price difference goes away, yet you get so much more with the MBP.
 
hammerg26 said:
OK - let me throw another spin on this topic... my wife got me a refurbed MBP for $850... but it has the Core2 Duo and other "old" MBP specs... but it does have 4gb ram... should I return it and get new machine (and spend $300 more), or is the $300 not worth it???
Click to expand...

I have a June 2009 MBP and it is still a great machine. I use it for hours every day. Only you can tell if the faster CPU & memory & thunderbolt port is worth 300 dollars to you.
 
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