15" Macbook Pro Dilemma

If you can afford to wait a month and you don't need a new machine right at this moment, then why not wait to see what is coming around the corner?

As for your choices, I'm not sure any of those would last you the next 5 years. The cMBP that you have listed would need an obvious RAM upgrade, so if considering that machine, why not look into just getting a refurb instead?

The retina MBP that you are considering would be outdated within 5 years as 8GB of RAM will likely not be enough within 5 years and so you may be better of buying a retina MBP with less storage and buy an external drive instead.

With the savings you can then buy another new machine in less than 5 years which is modern for that time that will likely have much more RAM and HD space, along with whatever new technologies are available.

 

If you can it would be certainly worth waiting for what is around the corner. Only problem there is that it usually takes a few months before products appear in the refurb store.

Do make the consideration if a desktop + iPad could better fill your needs at all. Remember that this combination could be cheaper.

 

I would wait and get the new rMBP they will introduce with 16GB. You don't really need the 512 SSD as a student; you can get external storage solutions that are much cheaper and much larger for the price of the upgrade. It's more important to upgrade your computer's RAM to 16 GB, which should make your computer last for at least 5 years, especially if you're using it to mostly do school-related tasks.

 

Consider that the rMBP has very limited upgrade option (no "s") - there are SSD upgrades available from OWC. So the storage that comes with the rMBP can be updated at a later date. For the moment, it's pricey. Who knows, in 3-4 years cloud storage may be viable.

The cMBP can be upgraded with more memory and disk, and comes with optical drive.

While nothing beats real memory, the faster SSD will soften out-of-real-memory issues--SSDs offer better performance than HDD.

The 15-in MBP I bought 5 years ago came with 2GB, and 320GB drive. It now has 8 GB and 256GB SSD. FWIW, I can't remember the last time I used the optical drive.

If you can, try and swing the higher resolution for the cMBP. It's nice.

Wait for June 10 - it will certainly bring more performance for the same price, and push down the price of your first two options.

 

I'd wait, as you can see what comes from the refresh, and also what the base model of RAM ends up being this time around. Knowing this will potentially help you make a decision on if 8GB is suitable to last five years.

I know the above sounds strange, but it makes sense in my head! Even if you do opt for an older model after the refresh, you could potentially get it cheaper once the new ones are out.