2015 MBP 13": 8 or 16 GO? 256 or 512 SSD?

[lillumultipass]

Hi to all!

I come here to get a bit of an advice (see title thread), but before that, I will start with some background about me...I think this is useful for what follows. I have been a geek for about 15 years (I am 36 now), a huge apple fan since at least 2007 (before that, I tried a lot of different computers, including tablet PCs)
I have had all iphones since 2007, many different ipads, and I now also own an apple Watch…So, one can say I am an apple fanboy ;-)

I have always loved thin and light laptops, that why, when I hesitated between a 13” MBP retina and a MBA, I chose the MBA. Then, when the 12” Macbook was introduced this year, I hesitated a little bit, but decided to try it rather quickly (also because my MBA only had 4 Gb RAM, which I found limitating). I was amazed by the thinness…but I soon also found that it was a bit slow. And despite the 8 Gb RAM, using a VM with Parallels was…complicated to say the least. Finally, when used outside under the sun, the MB would slow to a crawl, telling me that I should close some apps to prevent the temperature from rising.
I was getting a bit dissatisfied…then I read a bit more about Windows 10, and decided to try the hybrid Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro. It was a great machine, but agonizingly slow. Then I tried a Dell XPS 13 with a QHD touchscreen (one thing that lured me back to windows was indeed the possibility of having a touchscreen). It had a gorgeous screen and was rather quick…but I found that battery life was lackluster as soon as you would run a few programs in the background, as well as Chrome, Evernote….

Hence, I am back to square one ! Given that I loved Cortana, my idea is now to run a Win 10 VM via Parallels 11. I am thus considering buying a 13” rMBP, but I am hesitating between the different configurations. At first, I thought I would take the 8GB/256G SSD but then I thought a little bit, and wondered whether 8G would be enough, if I intend to run Win 10 in Parallels, as well as having Chrome, Excel, Evernote, Airmail 2 open and Hazel, Alfred, Onedrive, Dropbox, text expander in the background...
I also do a bit of R programming from time to time. My only gaming habits consist in playing CCGs such as Hearthstone, Solforge...

Finally, with regard to the size of the SSD: I usually can manage with 256 (I have 14 GO left right now, but I have to clean regularly, and sometimes I am a bit tight…notably when I have to edit some GoPro videos…but it does not happen very often)

One thing to consider as well is that I won’t keep it for 3 years…if the next generation is slimmer, thinner and lighter, I will probably buy a new one a months after it’s out.

Any thoughts/advices?
Thanks for your help!

 

[CoastalOR]

I think get the 512 Gb. The 8 Gb should be fine, even using Parallels, but if you can afford the 16 Gb then go ahead.

 

[Cuniac]

Ya this is tuff. Neither are upgradable right now. The HD might be if OWC ever makes one but we are still waiting on one for the 2013 model...

So Parallels as well as any VM software is only going to run as well as the resources you can allocate to it. 8GB will work but 16 will be better. Hard drive space may a tougher situation as where it will work with 8GB ran but better with 16GB if your out of hard drive space its a wall. You can always get external storage such as Samsung's portable SSD but then its not as portable per-say.

16GB is a cheaper upgrade than then 512GB too. In the long term more HDD may be the better option. I ran Parallels on my 2011MBP with only 8GB for years and it worked just fine. But if you can, do both lol or spend the extra to get the 15in as it comes with 16gb and a 4 core CPU so things such as VM will be much faster

 

[alexmarchuk]

Agree on Cunica's advice, get the 15" with 16GB and it will last you for many years.

 

[lillumultipass]

Hi,

thanks for your replies.

Well, the thing is, as I said, I am too much of a geek to keep my laptop for years. I guess at most 1 year- 1year and a half...
Also, I am bringing my laptop at work almost everyday (it's not that I really need it, but there are so many things blocked at work, like Evernote, all google stuff, Dropbox...that I prefer having.
hence, the 15", although very attractive (I had one a few years ago), it too heavy and large for my taste.

 

[borntomac448]

I just recently purchased a 13 Inch Macbook Pro with the dual core i7 with 16gb of ram and the 512SSD. I could not be happier. I am coming from a Dell 13" XPS touch screen laptop (hated the trackpad and the battery life) The mac is far superior in my opinion and worth the larger footprint. I upgrade my computers every couple of years like you. I am running Parallels and windows 10, along with photoshop and have not had 1 hiccup.