Please give your opinion which 2nd hand macbook pro I should choose...

[apoenq]

Hi guys, this is my first time posting in this forum. hope I don't make mistakes that upset you. Sorry also for my bad English since I am not a native English speaker..

I am currently thinking to buy 2nd hand rMbp 15". Please give your opinion on which one I should choose. Thanks lot for the comment and help!

Background
I am using my laptop mainly for watching movies, web-browsing and remote desktop for working. I am a casual gamer who only play MMORPG GW2, LOL, Dota2 recently. I just started to do a simple video editing for my gopro footage using normal GoPro Studio software (not really an expert in video editing, just started to learn ) but not sure in the future if I am going to use more heavy or advance software. I am currently using HP Pavilion dv6-7090sf laptop for web browsing and watching movies (http://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Pavilion-dv6-7090sf.75532.0.html) and iMac mid 2011 - 2.5Ghz i5 core (with AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512MB) for playing GW2 and video editing.

rMbp Choice
1. rMbp 15" mid 2012 - 820 usd
- 2.3 Ghz i7 core 3rd generation (Ivy Bridge)
- 8Gb RAM 1600MHz
- 256Gb SSD (sata III)
- Intel Hd4000 + GT650M 1Gb
- Excellent exterior but with no warranty left

2. rMbP 15" late 2013 - 1050 USD
- 2.0GhZ i7 core 4th generation (Haswell)
- 8GB RAM 1600MHz
- 256GB SSD (PCIe-based)
- Intel Iris Pro 5200
- Excellent exterior and with warranty until Nov 2016

My Analysis and Questions

The good of mid 2012:
1. GT650M - I believe this dGPU is better compared to Iris Pro 5200. But is it worth it buy the older model because of this? I read about Iris Pro 5200 review and some people said it is quite good for daily use. Any idea if I can play GW2 in native resolution using Iris Pro 5200? low quality maybe? how bout for normal video editing, is Iris Pro 5200 good enough? My thought is although GT650M is better than Iris Pro 5200 but GT650M is also not a powerful GPU and cannot play high quality 2014/2015 games anyway so why bother to buy older model for GT650M. I am currently using laptop with GT630M and iMac with 6750M dGPU, will I be disappointed if my rMbp only using iGPU? how is the performance between Iris Pro 5200 vs GT630M/HD6750M? this is one of the comparison from game debate but the result is so confusing (http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/inde...s-pro-graphics-5200-mobile-vs-geforce-gt-630m). Individual category looks GT630M wins but the conclusion saying Iris Pro 5200 wins.. Can someone help me on this?

The good of late 2013:
1. Thunderbolt 2 - I am currently not using any peripherals that have TB connection so I dont think it will be matter for me although ability to connect to 4K display maybe be good for the future.
2. Wifi 802.11/ac - My wifi router at home is still using g or n version so even I have wifi ac laptop I wont see the impact, correct? but I think it is a good thing to have for future technology. any comments? is real life speed for ac is really much faster than g/n?
3. SSD PCIe - anyone can comment on the real life speed increase for PCIe compared to SATA connection which is in mid 2012? will PCIe improve boot up time? the main reason for me buying late 2013 will be this point and two points below.
4. Warranty - always a good thing to have and it is more than normal 1 year apple warranty.
5. higher resell value - i believe late 2013 will be in higher resell value compared to mid 2012. In addition, late 2013 also has a little bit of warranty left on it.. please correct me if I am wrong.

Sorry if it is a lengthy post. Appreciate all of the comments and help! thank you!!

 

[apoenq]

rMbp 15 mid 2012 more expensive than late 2013?? @@

Just now I checked on apple store refurbished shop and find that actually mid 2012 is more expensive than late 2013 version.. >.< the mid 2012 one does has higher specs on processor speed 2.6Ghz vs. 2.0Ghz but late 2013 is equipped with newer generation right?? @@

mid 2012 - 1829USD: http://store.apple.com/us/product/G...-26ghz-Quad-core-Intel-i7-with-retina-Display

late 2013 - 1439USD:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...-20ghz-quad-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display

 

[Samuelsan2001]

You game, so that will always be better on the NVIDIA dGPU. Other than that they'll perform pretty much the same to be honest.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Just now I checked on apple store refurbished shop and find that actually mid 2012 is more expensive than late 2013 version.. >.< the mid 2012 one does has higher specs on processor speed 2.6Ghz vs. 2.0Ghz but late 2013 is equipped with newer generation right?? @@

mid 2012 - 1829USD: http://store.apple.com/us/product/G...-26ghz-Quad-core-Intel-i7-with-retina-Display

late 2013 - 1439USD:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...-20ghz-quad-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display

The 2.6GHz (Intel Core i7-3720QM) in the Mid 2012 is powerful. Passmark rating of 8271.

The 2GHz (i7-4750HQ) in the 2013 clocks at 8228. So you're getting about the same performance from either CPU.

The 2.6 model you're looking at has 16GB RAM, whereas the other one has 8GB.

What's worth bearing in mind is the 2012 model has a SATA interface for the SSD, which means you get a theoretical maximum speed of around 660MB/s (though you're more than likely to get around 500-550). The 2013 model is PCI-e, so it'll be much quicker.

The nVidia 650M isn't that much more powerful than the Iris Pro 5200 in all honesty. You'll be getting slight benefits but not that much. I wouldn't buy on the merit of either the CPU or the GPU, as they're both identical to the point that it doesn't really matter.

Even with the 8GB soldered RAM compared to 16GB, I'd personally go for the newer Mac with the AppleCare on it. These machines are very expensive to repair if you're out of warranty. Plus as the 2013 model is cheaper, that's good. Also the 2012 models through to early 2013 are beginning to display Logic Board issues, so it's more likely to fail. See: http://www.apple.com/uk/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

TL;DR: IMHO, go for the Late 2013.

 

[apoenq]

You game, so that will always be better on the NVIDIA dGPU. Other than that they'll perform pretty much the same to be honest.

Thanks Samuelsan for the feedback!

----------

The 2.6GHz (Intel Core i7-3720QM) in the Mid 2012 is powerful. Passmark rating of 8271.

The 2GHz (i7-4750HQ) in the 2013 clocks at 8228. So you're getting about the same performance from either CPU.

The 2.6 model you're looking at has 16GB RAM, whereas the other one has 8GB.

What's worth bearing in mind is the 2012 model has a SATA interface for the SSD, which means you get a theoretical maximum speed of around 660MB/s (though you're more than likely to get around 500-550). The 2013 model is PCI-e, so it'll be much quicker.

The nVidia 650M isn't that much more powerful than the Iris Pro 5200 in all honesty. You'll be getting slight benefits but not that much. I wouldn't buy on the merit of either the CPU or the GPU, as they're both identical to the point that it doesn't really matter.

Even with the 8GB soldered RAM compared to 16GB, I'd personally go for the newer Mac with the AppleCare on it. These machines are very expensive to repair if you're out of warranty. Plus as the 2013 model is cheaper, that's good. Also the 2012 models through to early 2013 are beginning to display Logic Board issues, so it's more likely to fail. See: http://www.apple.com/uk/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

TL;DR: IMHO, go for the Late 2013.

Hi keysofanxiety, thanks for the feedback! actually the option that I have is 2.3Ghz version of mid 2012 (2nd hand macbook). 2.6Ghz version is just the one that I saw in apple store for refurbished macbook. regarding the price of the 2nd hand macbook, mid 2012 will cost me ~1K USD and late 2013 is ~1.15K USD. Do you think it is worth the price? or should I look for older model like late 2011 (non-retina) with cheaper price (600-700USD)? honestly I never use SSD in the laptop before so I am not sure if rMbp is the worth the money I spend for it.. since late 2011 2.4Ghz in mac geekbench only showing ~10%-15% lower socre than mid 2012/late 2013.. hmm...