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Almost There on my purchase decision.

S

samo1215

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 26, 2008
87
1
I am very close to pulling the trigger on a new Mac but just have a couple final questions.

Ignoring price and size and focusing strictly on performance I'm trying to determine whether the 13 or 15 inch is the right model for me.

I plan on using my computer for some web browsing, office type work, web development (so light image editing) and personal audio recording (so just a couple tracks in Pro Tools or something similar). I do not do any video work, intensive audio production or gaming.

I'm worried that the 15-inch model is overkill for my needs but don't want to wind up with the 13-inch only to discover it doesn't have the horsepower to get the job done.

So which one should I go for?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Buck987 said:
15" for your needs and since portability is not a prime want
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. Can you elaborate a bit on why?

I should also clarify that it isn't that price and portability aren't important factors, I just didn't want to consider them in this conversation. If the 13-inch doesn't have the power I need then I'm left with no choice but to get the 15 but I would rather get the 13 if I can.
 
I do agree...the 13" will suffice for your needs based on performance only.

but for web development i think the 15" is nice to have
 
I couldn't use a 13" screen for any length of time but that's just me. Even if the 13 and 15 were the same price with the same specs I'd go 15" just for more viewable area.
 
Thank you all for the responses. I agree that the 15 inch is easier to work with in terms of screen real estate and it is something I am taking into consideration. However, I do have a nice 24-inch monitor and like I said, right now the last sticking point in my decision process is what machine has the performance capabilities to accomplish what I need it to.
 
samo1215 said:
Thank you all for the responses. I agree that the 15 inch is easier to work with in terms of screen real estate and it is something I am taking into consideration. However, I do have a nice 24-inch monitor and like I said, right now the last sticking point in my decision process is what machine has the performance capabilities to accomplish what I need it to.
Click to expand...

Well you wouldn't know further down the road whether you need the extra power or not. Since the rMBP isn't upgradeable, go with the max you can afford.

Go for a 15" rMBP with 1TB SSD (it's the only rMBP with a 4-lane PCIe SSD. Other capacities are only 2-lane. The 4-lane variant gives read/writes of around 1.2GB/s. Way faster than the 2-lane ones which give around 650-750MB/s)

Whether you need discrete graphics or not, that depends whether the stuff you use are CUDA-assisted or not.
 
yjchua95 said:
Go for a 15" rMBP with 1TB SSD (it's the only rMBP with a 4-lane PCIe SSD. Other capacities are only 2-lane. The 4-lane variant gives read/writes of around 1.2GB/s. Way faster than the 2-lane ones which give around 650-750MB/s)
Click to expand...

I saw that article too, it's BS, the 13" with the 1TB hits the same speeds as the 15", I should know, I have the 13" with the 1TB PCIe in it 1/2 full hitting 940MB/s+ on a daily basis.

I use my 13" for professional photo and some video work, it is *plenty* powerful, love the smaller form factor for on location work. No way I would get a 15" with the monster I have at home, but that is me, everyone is different...
 
dude the macbook pro in my sig runs VERY fast.

I run Logic pro, safari and like 4-8 other programs at the same time.

You have more than enough power.

CAUTION***
I upgraded from a (Late 2013) 4GB memory lower model to the 8GB a few days ago (late 2013).

AND IT IS A VERY NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO.

if I had the chance I would even try the 16GB memory upgrade.

DONT GET THE 4GB.
 
Even for your light usage, the difference between the 13" and the 15" is noticeable. The question is whether you care. It's not like you'll be saying, "Man, this 13" is so slow" any time soon.
 
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