16g 13 rmbp or 8g 15 rmbp without dGpu

[shly0718]

I'm tight with my money in pocket, though it's discussed a lot, my situation is quite specified. I only have this money and hopefully can use for more than 4 yrs.
16g 13' rmbp with APPLECARE or low-end 15' rmbp WITHOUT dGpu as well as AppleCare.
I'm a engineering student will graduate next yr, have to use one visual machine to run UG NX, 3d modeling but no rendering.
Which should I choose, because my current charger broke A LOT, I guess I may change adapter twice in 3 yrs, that's why I consider to buy apple care.
Hope can get new mac next week

 

[shly0718]

I heard that 5200 is quite near gt650m, and 8g is sufficient with PCIe storage for couple of years, but my roommate just repair her 2 yr old mbp for $700, which is heartbreaking

 

[dalupus]

I heard that 5200 is quite near gt650m, and 8g is sufficient with PCIe storage for couple of years, but my roommate just repair her 2 yr old mbp for $700, which is heartbreaking

If you don't mind the smaller screen I would go with the 16gb. If you want this to last 5 years you are going to need all the ram you can get. If you aren't hooking up to external monitors or gaming I doubt you would even need the dedicated gpu

 

[shly0718]

If you don't mind the smaller screen I would go with the 16gb. If you want this to last 5 years you are going to need all the ram you can get. If you aren't hooking up to external monitors or gaming I doubt you would even need the dedicated gpu

Thanks for replying.
No love for gaming, yes, I agree that go with 16g should run like silk, I just a bit worry about my 3D modeling with 5100

 

[iStrikeRx]

Thanks for replying.
No love for gaming, yes, I agree that go with 16g should run like silk, I just a bit worry about my 3D modeling with 5100

Go with the 15" or wait a bit and save for the 16gb upgrade.

I've used both, and while the 13" is nice for form factor, the screen real estate is very limited, especially for any real work like modelling or image/video editing.

While the 5100 might be better than the 5000 or 4600, it still can't handle any resolution other than the "best for retina" (1280x800) setting. If you attempt to go any higher, the integrated GPU just can't handle the strain. Even basic system animations will be crippled.

The iris pro in the 15" just handles things a lot better, and at higher resolutions. You also get the benefit of much larger screen estate. Even at the default settings, I find illustrator and photoshop perfectly usable, even for large documents and without full screen mode.

About the whole 5 years and 8gb not being enough, I disagree. I think 8gb will take you right to the edge until you need to upgrade again.

The only reason you'd need more would be if you were running VMs. At a push, if you were using anything heavy in boot camp on windows 7 (w8 seems to be better with memory), then 16gb would be an option.

If you plan on only using mavericks, then 8gb should be fine IMO.

Heck the windows gaming rig I built 4 years ago is still running strong with 4gb ram, albeit now on windows 8, even with somewhat heavy photoshop use.

 

[yjchua95]

Thanks for replying.
No love for gaming, yes, I agree that go with 16g should run like silk, I just a bit worry about my 3D modeling with 5100

If it's 3D modeling with OpenCL, the Iris actually trashes the NVIDIA.

The NVIDIA only trashes the Iris in CUDA-assisted apps and games. Other than that, the Iris will do fine.

 

[shly0718]

Of course I prefer 15' screen, but I'm so worried about any damage might occur in following 3 years, but the price of AppleCare for 15' even higher than that's for 13', so with this add on, 15' is way more expensive. There is no live way for poor student
No grands then must suffer a bit, I just try to choose which side I could sacrifice

 

[jayroc2k]

as a student, just get the cheapest option. the smaller one might work better if you carry it a lot.

lots of student live with $400 laptops right through to graduation. any Mac is good, way good.

 

[hartemop]

Well since you're a student you're entitled to the student discount and 3 years of Applecare. You get to pay less and don't have to fork out more for Applecare, problem solved!

 

[dalupus]

Well since you're a student you're entitled to the student discount and 3 years of Applecare. You get to pay less and don't have to fork out more for Applecare, problem solved!

students get free applecare? I didn't know that.

 

[TechZeke]

students get free applecare? I didn't know that.

No, they get discounted Apple Care. I only paid $249 or something like that for my 15" cMBP.

To the OP:
As an engineering student myself, In all honesty I'm not seeing the whole "poor college student" thing. A student buying a $1500-$2000 laptop is anything but poor or tight on money. Not to mention if you are about to graduate you will be making good dough soon anyway.

In all honesty I see tons of architects and engineers doing AutoCAD, Solidworks, Revit, Microstation, etc on the HD 4000 13"cMBP with no issues. Of course this is without the retina display. All the complaints are about RAM, and if you say you're going to be doing VMs then 16GB is a must. I would go with the 13" rMBP or look at a refurb.

Actually I have first hand experience. When I went to midwest to work with my father, I had to update as well as generate electrical drawings in AutoCAD for several metal-coating plants. To save battery I often used Gfxstatus to only use the HD 4000 and experienced little if any slowdown, just a little less smooth. Considering the massive performance boost of Haswell iGPUs, a 5100 should be enough, even with the retina display.

 

[gtjeta]

What about getting the 15" now and AppleCare in one year? You may wait for this and hopefully your financial situation will improve. Just not forget it!

 

[shly0718]

No, they get discounted Apple Care. I only paid $249 or something like that for my 15" cMBP.

To the OP:
As an engineering student myself, In all honesty I'm not seeing the whole "poor college student" thing. A student buying a $1500-$2000 laptop is anything but poor or tight on money. Not to mention if you are about to graduate you will be making good dough soon anyway.

In all honesty I see tons of architects and engineers doing AutoCAD, Solidworks, Revit, Microstation, etc on the HD 4000 13"cMBP with no issues. Of course this is without the retina display. All the complaints are about RAM, and if you say you're going to be doing VMs then 16GB is a must. I would go with the 13" rMBP or look at a refurb.

Actually I have first hand experience. When I went to midwest to work with my father, I had to update as well as generate electrical drawings in AutoCAD for several metal-coating plants. To save battery I often used Gfxstatus to only use the HD 4000 and experienced little if any slowdown, just a little less smooth. Considering the massive performance boost of Haswell iGPUs, a 5100 should be enough, even with the retina display.

Thanks, I guess I should take a experienced engineering students advice. And I'm not asking a perfect workflow at this configuration, but useable will do, as long as get work done, experiencing few sec lag a bit now and then is acceptable

 

[simon48]

What about getting the 15" now and AppleCare in one year? You may wait for this and hopefully your financial situation will improve. Just not forget it!

If it works for the OP I like this. 15" with 16GB of RAM and then get the AppleCare in a year.

 

[hartemop]

students get free applecare? I didn't know that.

That's correct. From the website:

"Every new Mac purchased from the Apple Store for Higher Education comes with complimentary telephone technical support for one year from your Mac purchase date and three years of repair coverage."

You can pay a little extra (£48 in UK) for 3 years of the telephone technical support.

 

[shly0718]

That's correct. From the website:


You can pay a little extra (£48 in UK) for 3 years of the telephone technical support.

Maybe it's only in Eru, I'm currently living in Singapore