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2014 non-Retina MBP

B

BayRunner

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 24, 2010
10
1
Hi all. Need buying advice. We are looking to replace our 2007 MacBook and I have a tight budget (kid, baby, car, wife :) ) can can't go much over $1K.

Laptop will be used for educational needs, photo editing (Lightroom and PSE), word processing, and perhaps will need to use Windows. Current photos and music are 240GB, so going with a 256GB SSD on a rMBP is needed but not in the budget.

So I'm looking at the current non-Retina MBP Apple still carries (and can find for $900 elsewhere). Is the HDD upgradable because I would not mind putting in a SSD once prices drop further?

Oh, and yes, a Retina display would be great, but I have managed 7+ years without one and I'm not a pro photographer, so that isn't a huge sticking point. The size HDD I need+ Retina is likely out of the hard budget I've been given.

Any suggestions on the non-Retina or should I look at a refurb?

Thanks
Kevin
 
The non-retina 13" MBP that Apple currently sells is actually a 2012 model. It still has an Ivy Bridge processor from 2012.

The hard drive and RAM are both upgrade-able and if you do get one, swapping to an SSD would be highly recommended.

Personally I would see if maybe you could find a newer model machine with a 256GB SSD on the refurbished store.


http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...nch-macbook-pro-24ghz-dual-core-intel-core-i5
 
Stetrain said:
The non-retina 13" MBP that Apple currently sells is actually a 2012 model. It still has an Ivy Bridge processor from 2012.

The hard drive and RAM are both upgrade-able and if you do get one, swapping to an SSD would be highly recommended.

Personally I would see if maybe you could find a newer model machine with a 256GB SSD on the refurbished store.


http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...nch-macbook-pro-24ghz-dual-core-intel-core-i5
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. I've been unable to find a definitive answer - do you know of this model's SSD is upgradable? 256GB will be filled with our music and photos.
 
BayRunner said:
Thanks for the feedback. I've been unable to find a definitive answer - do you know of this model's SSD is upgradable? 256GB will be filled with our music and photos.
Click to expand...

You can change it, however they are only available as second user components at the moment.

Is it worth keeping the music and photos on an external drive? Something like a NAS??
 
cjmillsnun said:
You can change it, however they are only available as second user components at the moment.

Is it worth keeping the music and photos on an external drive? Something like a NAS??
Click to expand...

I upgraded my 2007 MacBook's HDD, so not too worried about doing it myself. Some of the info on the SSD upgrade was conflicting so I just wanted to make sure.

I've got a NAS set up, and connectivity has always been an issue. Perhaps Yosemite is easier. Needs to be somewhat straight forward for the wife.
 
BayRunner said:
Thanks for the feedback. I've been unable to find a definitive answer - do you know of this model's SSD is upgradable? 256GB will be filled with our music and photos.
Click to expand...

It is possible to upgrade the SSD in the retina models but they are not standard 2.5" SSDs, you have to be sure you get one that's compatible with the specific year/model:

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/Ma...-Inch-Retina-Late-2013-Mid-2014-SSD/IF123-026

(There might be cheaper places to get them as well)


The 2012 non-retina 13" MBP uses a standard 2.5" drive.
 
Stetrain said:
It is possible to upgrade the SSD in the retina models but they are not standard 2.5" SSDs, you have to be sure you get one that's compatible with the specific year/model:

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/Ma...-Inch-Retina-Late-2013-Mid-2014-SSD/IF123-026

(There might be cheaper places to get them as well)


The 2012 non-retina 13" MBP uses a standard 2.5" drive.
Click to expand...

Except that decent capacities of the PCIe SSDs cost nearly as much as the computer itself. If BayRunner has $600-$700 to spend on an SSD(Which I highly doubt) then he/she would be better off selling the Macbook and upgrading to an entirely new machine.

BayRunner, here is what I would suggest:
Get the base mobel 13" non Retina MBP. Speed $100 on third party 1TB hybrid drive. Maybe upgrade the RAM. Done.
 
I'd really suggest doing anything possible to avoid the non-retina. The CPU is from 2012, the case is from 2008, the 1280x800 screen resolution is from 2006. That is just a junkbox in so many ways, Tim Cook needs to be smacked in the genitals for still selling that POS in 2014. Seriously, 1280x800 in 2014... why? :(

You know your ****'s obsolete when Lenovo T series have better battery life AND are lighter than your laptop! It's not a BAD laptop... but for $1000 in 2014, it is a bad laptop.

Find an early 2013 retina refurb somewhere for that price point, just don't buy an A1278 in 2014.
 
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ryannel2003 said:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...nch-macbook-air-13ghz-dual-core-intel-core-i5

Just sayin.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. If money is a concern OP would be much better off buying a MacBook Air. The only issue I could see with that one in particular is the 4gb of RAM. That's bare minimum for today's use. 8gb would be a much better buy since you can't upgrade it after purchase. The Air has the same user access limitations as the rMBPs. But consider that compared to the cMBP you get a newer processor with excellent battery life, faster flash storage, and a slimmer and lighter design. Still no retina display, but that could change in a few months if the rumors about the 12" model are true. I would only buy a cMBP if you need a CD drive and/or Ethernet.
 
BayRunner said:
Thanks for the feedback. I've been unable to find a definitive answer - do you know of this model's SSD is upgradable? 256GB will be filled with our music and photos.
Click to expand...

If it has a retina display, it's not upgradable. If it doesn't, then it is.
 
snaky69 said:
If it has a retina display, it's not upgradable. If it doesn't, then it is.
Click to expand...

Rubbish. The SSD is a modular unit and replacement is simple. I've found out that OWC will be doing PCIe SSDs for the 2013/4 rMBP soon
 
cjmillsnun said:
Rubbish. The SSD is a modular unit and replacement is simple. I've found out that OWC will be doing PCIe SSDs for the 2013/4 rMBP soon
Click to expand...

At the moment, there is no components that can be upgraded in the MBP, so I think the statement is true. You buy a MBP today, you cannot upgrade the ram or storage. We're going on 2 years without the ability to upgrade the storage of the rMBP. I hope that will occur soon, but as it stands nothing exists today.
 
cjmillsnun said:
You can change it, however they are only available as second user components at the moment.

Is it worth keeping the music and photos on an external drive? Something like a NAS??
Click to expand...

This is exactly what i did, i went from an imac with huge photo and music libraries to a 256gb ssd rMBP and a synology NAS. Must admit it works great. Total space used on macbook is 45gb including 12Gb game.
 
l.a.rossmann said:
I'd really suggest doing anything possible to avoid the non-retina. The CPU is from 2012, the case is from 2008, the 1280x800 screen resolution is from 2006. That is just a junkbox in so many ways, Tim Cook needs to be smacked in the genitals for still selling that POS in 2014. Seriously, 1280x800 in 2014... why? :(

You know your ****'s obsolete when Lenovo T series have better battery life AND are lighter than your laptop! It's not a BAD laptop... but for $1000 in 2014, it is a bad laptop.

Find an early 2013 retina refurb somewhere for that price point, just don't buy an A1278 in 2014.
Click to expand...

Calling it a junkbox is extreme. This is still a MacBook Pro. The cMBP's upgradeability still gives it allot of value. Also, performance wise the CPU benches identical to the late 2013 rMBPs. The default retina settings scales to 1280x800, so this is hardly a point if you don't need retina. Yes, the vast majority 13" rMBP users use this setting, as much as the forum makes it to be that this resolution seem so terrible. I go to a university, there are 13" rMBPs everywhere, and when I show people the scaling settings, they all prefer to default 1280x800 setting. 7 people at least so far.

If you need allot of local storage, an i7, and 16GB of RAM, it's going to cost a fortune on a rMBP.

With that said, I did forget about the Air, and would totally tell OP to go for that.
 
I would strongly consider a current macbook air and a USB 3 external hard drive. Putting all the media on the external drive and keeping all the other data on the SSD would allow you to probably get a 128gb SSD and be fine.

Purchasing a 2012 mbp from third party is still a good option, but keep in mind that a 2014 macbook air will be faster, thinner, and cooler. The only thing the 2012 mbp has going for it is having a DVD drive and having upgradable ram and HD.
 
"kid, baby, car, wife ..."


Now, you see where you went wrong? :p




Anyhoo, just to give you some help deciding; my wife has a early 2011 non-retina with optical drive. So far, I've added a 256GB SSD, and bumped it to 8GB RAM.

It flies like the wind. I used it heavily for Photoshop for a couple of years and it didn't even flinch.

And I can always take it to 16GB RAM if I want.


When tweaked, it's not as bad an option as it sounds. And the 2012 version is faster.


Built like a tank too.
 
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