15 MBPr to 13 MBPr with External Display?

[romanhdz]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to get everyone's opinions on the state of the MacBook Pros right now. I currently own a 15 inch model (with retina display, 2012) and I've been wanting to "trade-down" to a retina 13 inch model + external display combo. I mostly use my computer for day-to-day stuff, university stuff, and programming of all sorts (most of my code running on remote machines), so I find that I don't really need the quad-core processor. I'm also not much of a gamer, so aside from the occasional game here and there (Minecraft), I don't think that I need the discreet graphics on my 15 inch model.

One of the main reasons why I want to go to a 13 is for portability. I find that my 15 is too large to comfortably use in a train or plane. I wanted to get your opinions on wether now is a good time to purchase a 13 inch model and an external display. I know apple just did a spec-boost, but I feel that a design and feature-set change could be imminent. I also wanted to see what you think apple is going to do in terms of displays soon. I used a 27 cinema display all summer for work, and found that it was just alright compared to my 15 in. computer's display. Do y'all think a refresh for that display is coming soon?

I know some of these questions seem a bit redundant, but I appreciate everyone's input!

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Good time for Macbook bad for apple display.

Hey everyone,

I wanted to get everyone's opinions on the state of the MacBook Pros right now. I currently own a 15 inch model (with retina display, 2012) and I've been wanting to "trade-down" to a retina 13 inch model + external display combo. I mostly use my computer for day-to-day stuff, university stuff, and programming of all sorts (most of my code running on remote machines), so I find that I don't really need the quad-core processor. I'm also not much of a gamer, so aside from the occasional game here and there (Minecraft), I don't think that I need the discreet graphics on my 15 inch model.

One of the main reasons why I want to go to a 13 is for portability. I find that my 15 is too large to comfortably use in a train or plane. I wanted to get your opinions on wether now is a good time to purchase a 13 inch model and an external display. I know apple just did a spec-boost, but I feel that a design and feature-set change could be imminent. I also wanted to see what you think apple is going to do in terms of displays soon. I used a 27 cinema display all summer for work, and found that it was just alright compared to my 15 in. computer's display. Do y'all think a refresh for that display is coming soon?

I know some of these questions seem a bit redundant, but I appreciate everyone's input!

Well now is a good time for buying a 13 inch especially the great deals on refurb 2013 spec ones which are basically the same but cheaper.

I can't see a redesign for another 3 years and to be honest there is no new features that they could include on a slim light laptop.

Broadwell delays mean no change in specs until mid 2015 so not worth waiting for that.

As for displays there is almost certainly a 4K apple display in the works so a third party display is your best bet at the moment, unless you want to wait for the apple one maybe by christmas.

 

[maflynn]

We're many months away from seeing broadwell released so this is as good as any time to buy the MBP. I'd say go for it.