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So $1499 13" is the best bang for the buck?

K

Kendo

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 4, 2011
2,363
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The $1299 13" is gimped with 4GB of RAM so for only $200 more you get 256GB storage and 8GB RAM.

The base 15" is gimped with a non-discrete GPU and the $2600 15" is quite expensive.

Does that make the $1499 13" model the best bang for the buck? I'm considering selling my 2011 13" Air and getting a Pro.
 
Kendo said:
The $1299 13" is gimped with 4GB of RAM so for only $200 more you get 256GB storage and 8GB RAM.

The base 15" is gimped with a non-discrete GPU and the $2600 15" is quite expensive.

Does that make the $1499 13" model the best bang for the buck? I'm considering selling my 2011 13" Air and getting a Pro.
Click to expand...

Yup. At least I think so. Before today, it was an extra $200 on top of that just to get the 256GB SSD.
 
Kendo said:
The $1299 13" is gimped with 4GB of RAM so for only $200 more you get 256GB storage and 8GB RAM.

The base 15" is gimped with a non-discrete GPU and the $2600 15" is quite expensive.

Does that make the $1499 13" model the best bang for the buck? I'm considering selling my 2011 13" Air and getting a Pro.
Click to expand...

I thought the same thing after I looked at the website. If I was going to buy one of the new MBPr today, which I am not, I would buy that configuration.
 
It is the model I'm looking at but I'll hold out for a Black Friday sale. This old 72 month old MacBook can putter on some more.
 
Eidorian said:
It is the model I'm looking at but I'll hold out for a Black Friday sale. This old 72 month old MacBook can putter on some more.
Click to expand...

What do you think are the odds that it will be on sale on black Friday? I have the employee discount now which gives 100 bucks off. Not sure if I will get a better deal than that.
 
Is it worth the extra $90-100 (depending on student discount) to upgrade to 2.6GHz i5?
 
nyc999 said:
What do you think are the odds that it will be on sale on black Friday? I have the employee discount now which gives 100 bucks off. Not sure if I will get a better deal than that.
Click to expand...

Pretty much 0. Even if it does go on sale, it'll be $50 off and that'll be through another seller like Fry's or Best Buy.
 
nyc999 said:
What do you think are the odds that it will be on sale on black Friday? I have the employee discount now which gives 100 bucks off. Not sure if I will get a better deal than that.
Click to expand...
I am under the impression that discounts do not stack from Apple. I've seen $50-200 discounts from other vendors on Black Friday.
 
Kendo said:
Does that make the $1499 13" model the best bang for the buck? I'm considering selling my 2011 13" Air and getting a Pro.
Click to expand...

That's the model I placed an order for. The $1299 seems like just an attempt to hit a price point. With Mavericks, I don't think as many of us will need 16GB, but 4GB is kind of tight, particularly if you plan to run any virtual machines or anything RAM-intensive.
 
I don't think I need to the extra 128gb of SSD, I definitely want the extra 4gb of ram (which is an extra $100 on the entry level).

Looking at the 1299 entry level one it is an extra $100 to go from the 2.4Ghz processor to 2.6Ghz processor. Anybody know how important that is and if it is worth the extra $100?

So basically my choices are:

$1399 - Entry level with bump up to 8gb RAM
$1499 - Entry level with bump up to 8gb RAM and 2.6Ghz
$1499 - Mid level and get the extra 128gb SSD just in case (almost certainly not needed)
$1599 - Mid level with bump up to 2.6Ghz

I'm leaning towards the first or second choice depending on the importance of the extra .2Ghz. This laptop is a secondary computer where I don't need to store anything of size as I have an iMac where I store all my photos and movies and a media server on my network. I use dropbox which if I sync to the MBP would take up the most storage but even that is only 45gb.

Thoughts?

--Edit---

I guess I should also ask along the lines of above, how much of a bump going from i5 to i7 for a dual core chip.
 
Last edited:
ks-man said:
I don't think I need to the extra 128gb of SSD, I definitely want the extra 4gb of ram (which is an extra $100 on the entry level).

Looking at the 1299 entry level one it is an extra $100 to go from the 2.4Ghz processor to 2.6Ghz processor. Anybody know how important that is and if it is worth the extra $100?

So basically my choices are:

$1399 - Entry level with bump up to 8gb RAM
$1499 - Entry level with bump up to 8gb RAM and 2.6Ghz
$1499 - Mid level and get the extra 128gb SSD just in case (almost certainly not needed)
$1599 - Mid level with bump up to 2.6Ghz

I'm leaning towards the first or second choice depending on the importance of the extra .2Ghz. This laptop is a secondary computer where I don't need to store anything of size as I have an iMac where I store all my photos and movies and a media server on my network. I use dropbox which if I sync to the MBP would take up the most storage but even that is only 45gb.

Thoughts?

--Edit---

I guess I should also ask along the lines of above, how much of a bump going from i5 to i7 for a dual core chip.
Click to expand...

I am in the same dilemma as you. I'm not a super heavy media user; just a little gaming here and there. However, I want to bootcamp Windows. I'm torn between your option 2 and 3. I got to weight the difference in processing speed and the importance of the extra 128. I need input lol.
 
ks-man said:
Looking at the 1299 entry level one it is an extra $100 to go from the 2.4Ghz processor to 2.6Ghz processor. Anybody know how important that is and if it is worth the extra $100?

So basically my choices are:

$1399 - Entry level with bump up to 8gb RAM
$1499 - Entry level with bump up to 8gb RAM and 2.6Ghz
$1499 - Mid level and get the extra 128gb SSD just in case (almost certainly not needed)
$1599 - Mid level with bump up to 2.6Ghz
Click to expand...

Get the $1499, processor bump wont' make a big diff, but once you start filling up that drive with media, apps and files it will be an expensive upgrade. so for 200 bucks you get the 8GB of ram and a bigger SSD. It's what I went with
 
Are the PCI-e drives potentially user upgradeable? Even 512GB is getting tight for what I want to do with this but the 1TB version is getting pretty expensive...
 
BlingBling said:
Get the $1499, processor bump wont' make a big diff, but once you start filling up that drive with media, apps and files it will be an expensive upgrade. so for 200 bucks you get the 8GB of ram and a bigger SSD. It's what I went with
Click to expand...

Would you say that the processor bump to the i7 (still dual-core) still wouldn't make a big difference?
 
I think I'll go with the middle model. With education discount, it's only $1399 + tax.

But here's some extra info I dug up via Wiki regarding the processors (the MHz numbers represent GPU clock speed):
  • i5 2.4GHz = Iris 5100 (GT3) | 1100MHz | 3MB L3 | +$0
  • i5 2.6GHz = Iris 5100 (GT3) | 1200MHz | 3MB L3 | +$100
  • i7 2.8GHz = Iris 5100 (GT3) | 1200MHz | 4MB L3 | +$300
So essentially you can get the higher GPU clock speed for an extra $100, but lose out on the additional L3 cache (which can be fairly important for CPU intensive tasks). An additional $300 seems too much for the i7 for my uses, that's for sure.

Coming from a 2011 i5/4GB/128GB MBA, this new 13in i5/8GB/256GB rMBP would be awesome :)

P.S. Correct me if I'm wrong regarding the specs, I don't mind!
 
Eidorian said:
I am under the impression that discounts do not stack from Apple. I've seen $50-200 discounts from other vendors on Black Friday.
Click to expand...

Can you customize RAM or other add ons during BF? I have vague memories of these deals being $100.00 off of stock configs.
 
ks-man said:
Would you say that the processor bump to the i7 (still dual-core) still wouldn't make a big difference?
Click to expand...

The i7 adds Hyperthreading, (for a total of four logical cores, two being physical) and a larger L3 Cache. Given that Anandtech stated the Retina framerate issues were actually due to CPU slowness, it might not be a bad idea, but we won't know until somebody compares.
 
It's definitely the sweet spot for me. Also a way better deal (CPU, gpu, ports, retina) than the $1399 13" MacBook Air (also 256 ssd and 8 gb ram)
 
Mr. Wonderful said:
The i7 adds Hyperthreading, (for a total of four logical cores, two being physical) and a larger L3 Cache. Given that Anandtech stated the Retina framerate issues were actually due to CPU slowness, it might not be a bad idea, but we won't know until somebody compares.
Click to expand...

You're thinking of desktop processors where i5 doesn't have hyperthreading. These mobile chips all hyperthread.
 
Mr. Wonderful said:
The i7 adds Hyperthreading, (for a total of four logical cores, two being physical) and a larger L3 Cache. Given that Anandtech stated the Retina framerate issues were actually due to CPU slowness, it might not be a bad idea, but we won't know until somebody compares.
Click to expand...

I want to see geekbench scores - then I can figure out which option to buy. To me, this 13" is a great combination between size and performance... Plus, you can hook it up to up to three external monitors.

The only thing that I'd like more is a 12" Air with retina.
 
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