2012 base vs 2011 15"MBP

What are YOUR computational needs?

"How to maximise your MacRumors troubleshooting experience" created by mad jew in 2006​

 

You can save a few dollars doing the ram yourself. Depending on the cpu options in each, I'd say it's most likely a negligible difference. The gpu can be a nice bump. The 650m is a respectable bump over the 6750m and 6770m. It's a huge bump over the 6490m. It could make a difference if you play games. USB3 is very nice to have if you plan to use external drives. That is only available on the 2012, because Apple was lazy. It wasn't in all notebooks last year, but it was in a huge percentage at the price range of these machines. Ivy Bridge supposedly runs a little cooler too. It's important to consider total configuration in either case. If you're a student, take advantage of it. If it was me, I'd go for the newer one at $150 difference, but it should be possible to save more than that on a 2011.

 

Then either will do fine, though the 2012 MBP has USB 3.0, which might come in handy for cheap external HDDs to back up to.
And you can add the RAM yourself, up to 16 GB currently, and that less than that what Apple wants.

Upgrading RAM in MacBooks and MacBook Pros​

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

the guide includes:

• 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
• 1. Getting a new HDD
• 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
• 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
• 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)

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To learn more about Mac OS X: Helpful Information for Any Mac User by GGJstudios​

 

One of the 15" models, their discrete graphics cards come in handy for gaming, the intel 4000HD graphics don't hold a candle to the 6750m or 650GT for games, especially newer games like D3, SC2, L4D2