21" iMac (non retina) or 13" rMBP

[alteredxdesign]

I am a freelance graphic designer. 90% of my work is logo creation and branding. I run Illustrator as well as Photoshop & InDesign.

I am looking between these two Macs. I

21.5" iMac, non retina

• 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor
• Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
• 8GB of onboard memory, configurable up to 16GB
• 1TB hard drive1 (going for the fusion drive)
• Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200
• 1920-by-1080 sRGB display

13" retina Macbook Pro

• 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
• Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
• 8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory
• 128GB PCIe-based flash storage1
• Intel Iris Graphics 6100
• Built-in battery (10 hours)2
• Force Touch trackpad

I am perfectly fine with working off a laptop with an external display, I have a few dell ultrasharps BUT I dont ever do any work outside of my house (at least not currently). Around September I will be going to a graphic design course at college as well.

 

[26139]

Seems a waste of money to buy a lesser computer for portability you're not going to use, unless that rMBP is going to graphic design class.

 

[3568378]

21.5" iMac, non retina

• 8GB of onboard memory, configurable up to 16GB
• 1TB hard drive1 (going for the fusion drive)
• Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200
• 1920-by-1080 sRGB display

13" retina Macbook Pro

• 8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory
• 128GB PCIe-based flash storage1
• Intel Iris Graphics 6100

If you are doing graphic design I would at least have 16GB RAM, esp if you go with the MBP for the purpose of future proofing, but the MBP is dual-core not quad like on the iMac which may hinder you in the future. Both of these seem very standard baseline configurations that are more geared toward writing papers and sending emails. I'm sure price is of consideration but you may want to stretch a little now so you have something that will last you longer? Go to B&H Photo (bhphoto.com) for probably the best pricing you'll find on MacBooks and no sales tax if you live outside of NY...and they ship free. I recently bought my new MBP 15" there and with those considerations and the fact that their price was $210 below Apple's retail price for the same computer (new) I saved about $400-500 vs. Apple Store. They have a really good selection of Open Box and Used as well. Bet you can get a whole lot more bang for your buck for the same price by checking there.

 

[alteredxdesign]

If you are doing graphic design I would at least have 16GB RAM, esp if you go with the MBP for the purpose of future proofing, but the MBP is dual-core not quad like on the iMac which may hinder you in the future. Both of these seem very standard baseline configurations that are more geared toward writing papers and sending emails. I'm sure price is of consideration but you may want to stretch a little now so you have something that will last you longer? Go to B&H Photo (bhphoto.com) for probably the best pricing you'll find on MacBooks and no sales tax if you live outside of NY...and they ship free. I recently bought my new MBP 15" there and with those considerations and the fact that their price was $210 below Apple's retail price for the same computer (new) I saved about $400-500 vs. Apple Store. They have a really good selection of Open Box and Used as well. Bet you can get a whole lot more bang for your buck for the same price by checking there.

Thank you, this sounds great. If I buy through them, I can still get apple care through Apple?

 

[maflynn]

If possible, look to upgrade the 1TB drive to a SSD. I think you'll be seeing some significant performance issues with a 5400 RPM drive. If you opt for the 1TB Fusion drive, you only get 24GB of flash storage which again may not be all that helpful.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Thank you, this sounds great. If I buy through them, I can still get apple care through Apple?

Yeah Apple will give you apple care within the first year of purchase on new items, it's also worth looking at Apple refurbished they'll give full AppleCare on those as well.

I would try for a 2tb fusion as maflynn says.

 

[3568378]

Thank you, this sounds great. If I buy through them, I can still get apple care through Apple?

Yes, but I think you can also take the iMac in to an Apple Store within a year of purchase to buy it as well (they verify all is working so you're not trying to retroactively buy Apple Care in case you broke something already), in case you don't want to spend the money on it today. Don't quote me on that however - I'm pretty sure that's how I did it with a past computer or iPhone.
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If possible, look to upgrade the 1TB drive to a SSD. I think you'll be seeing some significant performance issues with a 5400 RPM drive. If you opt for the 1TB Fusion drive, you only get 24GB of flash storage which again may not be all that helpful.

+ on the SSD recommendation. I'm still not convinced a fusion drive is a good way to go at all, even if it is 2GB+ and thereby has more SSD space on it. I do a lot of photo and video editing on my MacBook Pro which has 512 SSD so when I need to store stuff that I'm not working on I just use an external hard drive--these are very cheap these days by the way and transfer speeds are great over USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt. Right now I have an external 512 SSD but will probably pick up a 3TB 7200 soon since it will be for finished files mostly, rather than stuff I need quick access to.