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15" cMBP vs 15" rMBP Gamble

M

Monkey Trick

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 4, 2013
5
0
I'm a brand new Mac convert, so bear with me if I get a little lost.

I'm after a portable Mac for FCP, AVID, Logic Pro etc. I have a budget of strictly £1300 (Upcoming bills means my budget isn't going to increase).

I currently have my eyes on the stock 15" 2.3GHz Quad i7 cMBP (My student discount puts this at £1288 ). I'd upgrade the Ram and HDD post-purchase. If I didn't need the portability, I'd go for an iMac in a snap, but it seems that isn't going to be an option.

My question is, that with the supposed Haswell refresh on the horizon, is the 15" rMBP going to likely come down to my price point? If the cMBP disappears and the rMBP remains out of reach, i'd kick myself.

Cheers!
 
If you have a hard budget, then a £1288 laptop isn't going to work. Remember to include sales tax and/or VAT.
 
Apple will reduce the price of the current Ivy Bridge line up about 12%, but that's a discount on the retail price. You can buy from the refurb store or the education store at apple.com, that is you cannot combine discounts.

As for Haswell prices, I think the laptop prices will be about the same as the current line up.
 
stagmeister said:
If you have a hard budget, then a £1288 laptop isn't going to work. Remember to include sales tax and/or VAT.
Click to expand...

European prices usually include VAT (which is part of the reason that they appear so much higher than our pricing - and sometimes are).


__
 
Monkey Trick said:
So, with my 14% student discount, i'm looking at £1134 rather than £1288 ? Great!
Click to expand...

What do you mean by that :confused: You said that the student price was 1288.

My point was that apple typically reduces the price of the older generation by about 12% and sells them at the refurb store. You cannot apply your education discount at the refurb store. You can choose a laptop and pay the education price, or if available you can buy one as a refurb - either or, not both
 
maflynn said:
What do you mean by that :confused: You said that the student price was 1288.

My point was that apple typically reduces the price of the older generation by about 12% and sells them at the refurb store. You cannot apply your education discount at the refurb store. You can choose a laptop and pay the education price, or if available you can buy one as a refurb - either or, not both
Click to expand...

Ah, understood!
 
Monkey Trick said:
My question is, that with the supposed Haswell refresh on the horizon, is the 15" rMBP going to likely come down to my price point? If the cMBP disappears and the rMBP remains out of reach, i'd kick myself.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

You may find that the classic MBP doesn't get updated for haswell, and is discontinued!

Haswell won't be so relevant for machines with a discrete GPU. The big improvements are the integrated GPU and even then they mostly apply to the ultra book low voltage variants. Not to say the higher end higher power models don't get anything to speak of, but the gains are nowhere near as big in the higher voltage higher end mobile CPUs over ivy bridge.

In the 15" segment, It's only going to give you a minor speed bump and maybe a little better power consumption. Unless apple completely abandon discrete GPUs in the retinas, but i really don't think the intel GPU in the higher end CPUs is there quite yet. Maybe next generation after haswell... but for now, you will have both the CPU and a high power GPU sucking down power if you push the machine on battery.

What you MAY gain however by going for a classic, is the ability to install 32 gigs of RAM at a later date.

The Core i7 and motherboard chipset supports it - just nobody has it at the moment because I'm not even sure if 16 GB dimms are available yet (for laptops), and if they are they are likely bloody expensive.

However - when i bought mine in 2011, 8 gig DIMMs were $800 each. They are now about $40-50 each. It is quite possible that DDR3 16 GB DIMMs will become quite affordable within 18-24 months.

Whilst the retina peeps have RAM soldered to their motherboard, your classic will potentially be far more upgradable.

If you don't plan on keeping the machine that long, that point is kinda moot.

However, the classic is an older design and has several flaws (USB ports too close together, the screen is lower res, its heavier, noisier fans, etc).

If you aren't planning to get extended applecare, i'd also consider the classic over the retina - it is a lot more user serviceable inside.
 
Last edited:
throAU said:
You may find that the classic MBP doesn't get updated for haswell, and is discontinued!

Haswell won't be so relevant for machines with a discrete GPU. The big improvements are the integrated GPU and even then they mostly apply to the ultra book low voltage variants. Not to say the higher end higher power models don't get anything to speak of, but the gains are nowhere near as big in the higher voltage higher end mobile CPUs over ivy bridge.

In the 15" segment, It's only going to give you a minor speed bump and maybe a little better power consumption. Unless apple completely abandon discrete GPUs in the retinas, but i really don't think the intel GPU in the higher end CPUs is there quite yet. Maybe next generation after haswell... but for now, you will have both the CPU and a high power GPU sucking down power if you push the machine on battery.

What you MAY gain however by going for a classic, is the ability to install 32 gigs of RAM at a later date.

The Core i7 and motherboard chipset supports it - just nobody has it at the moment because I'm not even sure if 16 GB dimms are available yet (for laptops), and if they are they are likely bloody expensive.

However - when i bought mine in 2011, 8 gig DIMMs were $800 each. They are now about $40-50 each. It is quite possible that DDR3 16 GB DIMMs will become quite affordable within 18-24 months.

Whilst the retina peeps have RAM soldered to their motherboard, your classic will potentially be far more upgradable.

If you don't plan on keeping the machine that long, that point is kinda moot.

However, the classic is an older design and has several flaws (USB ports too close together, the screen is lower res, its heavier, noisier fans, etc).

If you aren't planning to get extended applecare, i'd also consider the classic over the retina - it is a lot more user serviceable inside.
Click to expand...

Great advice, thanks so much! I didn't realize Applecare would be only £60 for students. I could probably stretch to £40 over budget at an absolute maximum - probably worth it considering the price of this machine.

I have to say, you have near enough sold me on the cMBP though - I don't care if its heavy, I will really benefit from the use of the optical drive.
 
just be careful with the older models they come stock base line i think way under spec for what there asking for price wise. 5400rpm hard drive the new air with ssd well blow that hard drive away. and ram is low too on base line. its just getting back to apple cost to much. there new line 2013 i feel is there best release yet. actually get more for what u paying for. and optical drive usb one on amazon is 30 bucks shipping and handling so dont let the lack of dvd drive stop u from new line up.
 
Monkey Trick said:
Great advice, thanks so much! I didn't realize Applecare would be only £60 for students. I could probably stretch to £40 over budget at an absolute maximum - probably worth it considering the price of this machine.

I have to say, you have near enough sold me on the cMBP though - I don't care if its heavy, I will really benefit from the use of the optical drive.
Click to expand...

In case you can't stretch over budget, you have one year (within your manufacturer's warranty) to purchase AppleCare. So you can buy your cMBP now, and when the funds are available within the next year, buy AppleCare.
 
LoMonkey said:
In case you can't stretch over budget, you have one year (within your manufacturer's warranty) to purchase AppleCare. So you can buy your cMBP now, and when the funds are available within the next year, buy AppleCare.
Click to expand...

You get a free 3 year warranty, minus phone support with the online Education Apple Store in the UK

The only improvement for £50 is phone support iirc
 
codenamecueball said:
You get a free 3 year warranty, minus phone support with the online Education Apple Store in the UK

The only improvement for £50 is phone support iirc
Click to expand...

Oh, I was totally unaware of that. We don't get that in America. Only the discount, but let's be honest, we do pay less for Apple gear.
 
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