Apple Store dropped MacBook, offering new one, advice needed.

[KPOM]

$1500 is exactly what they should do - but I am not afraid to ask for the $1800 model - I just im personally persuaded it would be foolish not to at least ask.

I guess it's just a difference in philosophy. It was a 2.2GHz "BlackBook" (not even Pro), so I'd be happy with pretty much anything in the MacBook Pro offered as a replacement. I certainly wouldn't expect an $1800 Mac in return. That said, there's no harm in asking (though I'd ask for the $1699 rMBP), but he should take $1500 if they don't budge (and I don't think they will).

To the OP, keep us posted. I'm sure you'll like whatever you get, as it will be a big improvement. I'm probably biased toward the Retina models since I was previously an Air user since February 2008 and am unfazed by the lack of legacy ports and drives.

 

[coldjeanzzz]

The 13 inch i5, 4 GB, 256 GB SSD MBA is $1499

Spend an extra $100 to get the 8 GB model

Spend another $100 and you'll end up with:

2.0 GHz i7, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD

I think that's your best bet since you don't want to spend more than $200-300 extra.

Just make sure you take advantage of this opportunity and don't get something outdated, personally I wouldn't get a cMBP. That MBA setup is plenty powerful and has sufficient storage while providing you with a super light laptop (I have the MBA and it seriously just feels like a paper notebook in my backpack)

 

[Arnezie]

WOW that sucks they dropped it but way cool of them to take care of you likr that.

 

[MattAKramer]

Thanks everyone for all of the input. It seems like everyone has a different opinion. Still confused on what to do. I need to narrow it down to two options if option one is an air model and they won't let me do that exchange.

For what it's worth, my wife said she thinks she doesn't care as much about the screen quality as much as she "doesn't want to see that damn pinwheel" when editing stuff in iMovie. Just to recap, she will use this for editing pictures, video, and generic web browsing, excel, word, etc.

So stick with what they offered for free which is the 1499 cMBP or
-13 rMBP for 1699 but only have 128ssd.
-15 cMBP for 1799 and upgrade ram on my own and maybe ssd later?
-same as above but 1899 for High res
-13 air i7, 8gb ram 256ssd 1699

Maybe I should make this a poll? Have to call first thing in morning and let the store know what I want to do. What are everyone's first and second pick?

 

[KPOM]

For what it's worth, my wife said she thinks she doesn't care as much about the screen quality as much as she "doesn't want to see that damn pinwheel" when editing stuff in iMovie. Just to recap, she will use this for editing pictures, video, and generic web browsing, excel, word, etc.

So stick with what they offered for free which is the 1499 cMBP or
-13 rMBP for 1699 but only have 128ssd.
-15 cMBP for 1799 and upgrade ram on my own and maybe ssd later?
-same as above but 1899 for High res
-13 air i7, 8gb ram 256ssd 1699

My ranking is as follows
1) rMBP and get a USB 3.0 enclosure for that external drive.
2) i7 Air 8GB SSD

She may not think she cares about the screen quality, but if she sees that rMBP display in person, I'm guessing she will have a sudden conversion. Any of the 3 options will address the pinwheel. They are all significantly faster than the 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo in the MacBook. Of course the cMBP will reduce the pinwheel the most since it has 4 cores and a dedicated GPU, but even the dual core chips will be a lot faster. Remember they turbo boost to over 3GHz and the new chips can process more as well. It's almost like having a 4.4GHz Core 2 Duo (if there were such a thing).

If you do go with the cMBP, I'd get an SSD first and think about RAM later. It will have a more noticeable impact on startup times than more RAM. There is a lot of affinity on these threads for the Samsung 830 and 840 series, but I'll refer you to the sticky thread.

 

[locoboi187]

pay a $200 more and just go with the 15 in cMBP. You mentioned iMovie, that dedicated GPU will help significantly.

however, if you can grab the 15 in retina, GO FOR IT. It's an amazing piece of machinery that you won't regret

 

[MattAKramer]

My ranking is as follows
1) rMBP and get a USB 3.0 enclosure for that external drive.
2) i7 Air 8GB SSD

She may not think she cares about the screen quality, but if she sees that rMBP display in person, I'm guessing she will have a sudden conversion. Any of the 3 options will address the pinwheel. They are all significantly faster than the 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo in the MacBook. Of course the cMBP will reduce the pinwheel the most since it has 4 cores, but even the dual core chips will be a lot faster.

If you do go with the cMBP, I'd get an SSD first and think about RAM later. It will have a more noticeable impact on startup times than more RAM. There is a lot of affinity on these threads for the Samsung 830 and 840 series, but I'll refer you to the sticky thread.

My only concern with this is I think she likes to have all pics/vids on the machine she uses as well as on the backup. The 128 may not be enough for that, although maybe it wouldn't be an issue if the machine is that much better.

 

[KPOM]

My only concern with this is I think she likes to have all pics/vids on the machine she uses as well as on the backup. The 128 may not be enough for that, although maybe it wouldn't be an issue if the machine is that much better.

There is certainly something to be said about having everything on the HDD. That said, USB 3.0 has changed the equation. With the right enclosure, the external drive will be as fast or faster than the internal one on the 2007. Plus, they are small enough now. The total weight of the rMBP and a small USB 3.0 enclosure with a 2.5" drive would be less than the weight of a 13 cMPB, much less a 15" cMBP.

How much of that 750GB is full right now?

 

[M5RahuL]

Like I said, either the 13" rMBP or 15" cMBP with HR [ AG or Glossy is a personal choice ]

The 15" rMBP will be a HUGE step up from your broken unit, but is it worth $800...hmmm... maybe it is! The screen is gorgeous... Plus, the 15" rMBP is light [ at least to me ] and runs cooler than the 15" cMBP [ I had the 2012 base 15" cMBP prior to the Retina ] and the HDMI port is very useful.

Will she need the optical drive ? Even if she does, you can get one from Amazon for as low as $29.99 [ Samsung made DVDRW ]

Honestly, the way I look at it... [ if you're comfortable spending $800-$900 ] you can get the 15" Retina for very cheap! I would recommend getting the base model with the 16GB RAM upgrade [ $100 ]

Basically, the 13" rMBP [ no dedicated GPU, but the HD 4000 is no slouch! ] ; the 15" cMBP [ base with HR screen upgrade ; although it comes with 512MB 650 GPU vs 1GB on the higher specced cMBPs or ANY 15" rMBPs ]

Do the RAM and SSD upgrades yourself! ; or the 15" Base rMBP with 16GB RAM Upgrade [ If $800-$900 ] is within your *comfort* zone!

Bottom line : If ~ 900 doesn't hurt, get the 15" rMBP w/16GB RAM
Total Portability : 13" rMBP or maxed out Air [ I don't like Airs, but that's me ]
Best Bang for your buck : 15" cMBP Base with HR screen [ con: weight ]

Good luck with whatever you decide. This is, regardless, a win-win for you!!

 

[MattAKramer]

There is certainly something to be said about having everything on the HDD. That said, USB 3.0 has changed the equation. With the right enclosure, the external drive will be as fast or faster than the internal one on the 2007. Plus, they are small enough now. The total weight of the rMBP and a small USB 3.0 enclosure with a 2.5" drive would be less than the weight of a 13 cMPB, much less a 15" cMBP.

How much of that 750GB is full right now?

I can't remember and it's now at the apple store. I think I probably have 40gb of music and maybe 100gb of pictures/videos. Probably 200gb of movies but those can be stored on external and put man a flash drive when we want to watch.

----------

Like I said, either the 13" rMBP or 15" cMBP with HR [ AG or Glossy is a personal choice ]

The 15" rMBP will be a HUGE step up from your broken unit, but is it worth $800...hmmm... maybe it is! The screen is gorgeous... Plus, the 15" rMBP is light [ at least to me ] and runs cooler than the 15" cMBP [ I had the 2012 base 15" cMBP prior to the Retina ] and the HDMI port is very useful.

Will she need the optical drive ? Even if she does, you can get one from Amazon for as low as $29.99 [ Samsung made DVDRW ]

Honestly, the way I look at it... [ if you're comfortable spending $800-$900 ] you can get the 15" Retina for very cheap! I would recommend getting the base model with the 16GB RAM upgrade [ $100 ]

Basically, the 13" rMBP [ no dedicated GPU, but the HD 4000 is no slouch! ] ; the 15" cMBP [ base with HR screen upgrade ; although it comes with 512MB 650 GPU vs 1GB on the higher specced cMBPs or ANY 15" rMBPs ]

Do the RAM and SSD upgrades yourself! ; or the 15" Base rMBP with 16GB RAM Upgrade [ If $800-$900 ] is within your *comfort* zone!

Bottom line : If ~ 900 doesn't hurt, get the 15" rMBP w/16GB RAM
Total Portability : 13" rMBP or maxed out Air [ I don't like Airs, but that's me ]
Best Bang for your buck : 15" cMBP Base with HR screen [ con: weight ]

Good luck with whatever you decide. This is, regardless, a win-win for you!!

Probably can't justify the cash for 15 rMBP even though I know how awesome it is. I've read that the 15 cMBP weighs about the same as my old 13 MacBook so I don't think weight will be a big issue if I went that route. She may need an optical dive for school but it sounds like I can get something dirt cheap for that if need be.

How much better would any of the four we have talked about be over another for video editing.

 

[skysailing]

Damn. They can drop my old Mac anytime they want to.
Get dat money.

 

[KPOM]

How much better would any of the four we have talked about be over another for video editing.

In terms of raw processing power, either of the 15" models would be better as they have twice the processor cores and a discrete GPU with 1GB of separate RAM.

With an SSD, the cMBP and rMBP would perform about equally to each other, and both would handily outperform the 2007 MacBook. That MacBook had an Intel x3100 integrated graphics chip that could access 144MB of your Mac's RAM. Both 13" MBP have an Intel HD 4000 that runs circles around even the mainstream discrete GPUs of 2007 and can access up to 768MB of system RAM as needed. The Air's HD4000 is limited to 512MB of shared RAM but otherwise should perform fairly similarly.

 

[MattAKramer]

In terms of raw processing power, either of the 15" models would be better as they have twice the processor cores and a discrete GPU with 1GB of separate RAM.

With an SSD, the cMBP and rMBP would perform about equally to each other, and both would handily outperform the 2007 MacBook. That MacBook had an Intel x3100 integrated graphics chip that could access 144MB of your Mac's RAM. The rMBP has an Intel HD 4000 that runs circles around even the mainstream discrete GPUs of 2007 and can access up to 768MB of system RAM as needed. The Air's HD4000 is limited to 512MB of shared RAM but otherwise should perform fairly similarly.

Wow. It sounds like any of them will basically do the job and shouldn't have any issues running iMovie or other editing software easily, right?

If so, I guess I'll need to ask my wife if she would rather have a better quality screen with the rMBP 13 inch or the air versus larger screen of the 15. If I literally don't plan on ever playing games or anything like that, is it really just a Toss up between any of these?

----------

I guess it's just a difference in philosophy. It was a 2.2GHz "BlackBook" (not even Pro), so I'd be happy with pretty much anything in the MacBook Pro offered as a replacement. I certainly wouldn't expect an $1800 Mac in return. That said, there's no harm in asking (though I'd ask for the $1699 rMBP), but he should take $1500 if they don't budge (and I don't think they will).

To the OP, keep us posted. I'm sure you'll like whatever you get, as it will be a big improvement. I'm probably biased toward the Retina models since I was previously an Air user since February 2008 and am unfazed by the lack of legacy ports and drives.

What is the biggest benefit of the retina 13 over the air. Just the higher resolution screen for the most part? But for close to the same price the air would have a larger ssd?

 

[M5RahuL]

I can't remember and it's now at the apple store. I think I probably have 40gb of music and maybe 100gb of pictures/videos. Probably 200gb of movies but those can be stored on external and put man a flash drive when we want to watch.

----------


Probably can't justify the cash for 15 rMBP even though I know how awesome it is. I've read that the 15 cMBP weighs about the same as my old 13 MacBook so I don't think weight will be a big issue if I went that route. She may need an optical dive for school but it sounds like I can get something dirt cheap for that if need be.

How much better would any of the four we have talked about be over another for video editing.

If weight isn't an issue, I strongly recommend the 15" cMBP... It's exactly like the rMBP minus the screen. The two extra cores over the 13" will come in handy down the road, if not today. Also, the thing with the 13" rMBP or Air is being a closed system in terms of RAM.

The cMBP [ esp. with the HR screen ] would def. be worth the extra $300 or so you'd have to dish out.

I also agree with Spink10 in the sense that you could ask them to give you the higher spec'd 15" cMBP w/o any out of pocket charge. The store manager can easily do this!!

 

[MattAKramer]

If weight isn't an issue, I strongly recommend the 15" cMBP... It's exactly like the rMBP minus the screen. The two extra cores over the 13" will come in handy down the road, if not today. Also, the thing with the 13" rMBP or Air is being a closed system in terms of RAM.

The cMBP [ esp. with the HR screen ] would def. be worth the extra $300 or so you'd have to dish out.

I also agree with Spink10 in the sense that you could ask them to give you the higher spec'd 15" cMBP w/o any out of pocket charge. The store manager can easily do this!!

I'm usually in the "it can't hurt to ask" camp, but in this case I feel like they are already being generous so I don't want to push it further. My wife says she might like the bigger screen. Is the high res worth it as an upgrade if I go with the 15"? I guess it would be nice to be able to upgrade ram on my own or get an ssd later when prices drop.

 

[GoCubsGo]

pay a $200 more and just go with the 15 in cMBP. You mentioned iMovie, that dedicated GPU will help significantly.

however, if you can grab the 15 in retina, GO FOR IT. It's an amazing piece of machinery that you won't regret

I agree with this kid. You've got $1500 now. I just wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth like others say.

 

[KPOM]

Wow. It sounds like any of them will basically do the job and shouldn't have any issues running iMovie or other editing software easily, right?

If so, I guess I'll need to ask my wife if she would rather have a better quality screen with the rMBP 13 inch or the air versus larger screen of the 15. If I literally don't plan on ever playing games or anything like that, is it really just a Toss up between any of these?

----------



What is the biggest benefit of the retina 13 over the air. Just the higher resolution screen for the most part? But for close to the same price the air would have a larger ssd?

Yes, all should be able to do the job. The primary benefit to the rMBP is the screen. The 2.0GHz ULV Core i7 in the Air performs almost identically to the 2.5GHz Core i5 in the rMBP (actually on some tests it might be slightly higher since it turbo boosts as high as 3.2GHz vs 3.1GHz and has an extra 1MB of CPU cache, but I doubt it is noticeable). That screen really is nice. While the Air's screen actually has more real estate "natively," the Retina Display looks better and has richer colors. It also can scale up to 1650x1080 (the same as the high-end 15" cMBP) if you need the extra screen real estate in a pinch, though you'd probably notice a performance hit during video editing at that resolution.


The rMBP also has 2 Thunderbolt ports vs. 1 for the Air, and a dedicated HDMI port. Therefore, theoretically you can connect the rMBP to an external monitor or TV through HDMI, and have two Thunderbolt devices connected, such as Apple's Ethernet and Firewire adapters. On the Air, unless you get a Thunderbolt display with a pass-through or get one of the forthcoming Thunderbolt docks, you wouldn't be able to connect to an external display and have a Thunderbolt accessory connected at the same time.

Realistically, Thunderbolt is most useful if you use Gigabit Ethernet or Firewire as those are cheap. There are other Thunderbolt devices out there but they are pricey. Belkin and Matrox are working on docks that include USB ports, Ethernet, etc. but they will be $250-$300. I have a Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt external hard drive dock, but the USB 3.0 models perform just as well and are cheaper.

 

[MattAKramer]

Yes, all should be able to do the job. The primary benefit to the rMBP is the screen. The 2.0GHz ULV Core i7 in the Air performs almost identically to the 2.5GHz Core i5 in the rMBP (actually on some tests it might be slightly higher since it turbo boosts as high as 3.2GHz vs 3.1GHz and has an extra 1MB of CPU cache, but I doubt it is noticeable).

The rMBP also has 2 Thunderbolt ports vs. 1 for the Air, and a dedicated HDMI port. Therefore, theoretically you can connect the rMBP to an external monitor or TV through HDMI, and have two Thunderbolt devices connected, such as Apple's Ethernet and Firewire adapters. On the Air, unless you get a Thunderbolt display with a pass-through or get one of the forthcoming Thunderbolt docks, you wouldn't be able to connect to an external display and have a Thunderbolt accessory connected at the same time.

Realistically, Thunderbolt is most useful if you use Gigabit Ethernet or Firewire as those are cheap. There are other Thunderbolt devices out there but they are pricey. Belkin and Matrox are working on docks that include USB ports, Ethernet, etc. but they will be $250-$300. I have a Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt external hard drive dock, but the USB 3.0 models perform just as well and are cheaper.

Part of me wants to do the 15" with high res because my wife mentioned she would like a larger screen plus as some have mentioned the extra cores might help with editing, however, that would cost 400 extra, plus if I did apple care it's 350 vs 250 on the 13" models so now I looking at 750 plus tax over what was going to be an awesome free exchange. I'm starting to think its overkill for what we will be using it.

I think if I was in the market for a new laptop I would probably do the 15 but seeing as I hadn't planned on getting a new one for a couple more years and I just bought a new ipad, I wonder if I should just take the free option or one of the cheaper upgrades in the retina 13 or air.

 

[WealthyBigPenis]

Can you not claim sensitive information was on the I'm guessing now ruined hard drive and blag a top end rMBP for free? Irreplaceable work was lost man!

It won't really put a dent in Apple, everybody wins!

 

[MattAKramer]

Can you not claim sensitive information was on the I'm guessing now ruined hard drive and blag a top end rMBP for free? Irreplaceable work was lost man!

It won't really put a dent in Apple, everybody wins!

This would work except the hard drive is technically still working for now and they are going to do a data transfer for us on the new machine.

 

[WealthyBigPenis]

Oh, hmmm..... well it's good of them that they are doing a data transfer I guess, also it shows the strength of the body if I'm assuming correctly here it was a waist high drop, my old w7 laptop would be shattered.

Claim you missed a very important work deadline or something?

If not, try and go for the rMBP anyways, even if it costs a few bob more, that machine is a thing of beauty.

 

[tigres]

For what it's worth OP. whatever your decesion is- I would be certain to get an ssd drive, and as much ram as possible.

As your wife does not want to see that spinning wheel, this would definitely help.

My vote is for the MBA- but I am partial to that machine.
Good luck- and perhaps congrats is in order on this mishap for you.

 

[M5RahuL]

Get the 15" cMBP [ preferably with the HR screen ] and upgrade the RAM and HDD/SSD yourself. It's easy as ABC!!!

Also, you don't have to get the AC today. You have a full year to add AC to the MBP!

 

[MattAKramer]

Get the 15" cMBP [ preferably with the HR screen ] and upgrade the RAM and HDD/SSD yourself. It's easy as ABC!!!

Also, you don't have to get the AC today. You have a full year to add AC to the MBP!

Yeah that's true about apple care. The only thing that worries me about the retina 13 inch is the small hard drive. 128 is pretty small, even if I don't keep any music on it at all.

The nice thing about the air is obviously the size, better screen than standard 13 mbp, larger ssd than the base 13 retina, but you are once again locked into specs and can't upgrade.

Nice thing about 13 non retina is ability to upgrade later and it would be free.

Obviously 15 would be nice for more cores, ability upgrade later, and high res screen, just costs more and apple care costs more.

Man this is tough deciding.

 

[tharitm]

I definitely don't want to pay that much more. I guess if I would be willing to pay 200 or 300 more, is there something better I should be looking at?

I know on our old macbook she would get frustrated editing in iMovie because it seemed to constantly lag or freeze up. We had a 2.2ghz intel black macbook with 4gb of ram, so I'd have to imagine the 1499 13" macbook pro would be a huge upgrade in general, just need to decide if it would be worth to it to upgrade to the base 15" model instead, the 13" rMBP instead, or maybe a 13" air with bumped up specs?

Thoughts?

As your wife is aiming to do video editing and such I'd highly suggest not to get the Retina versions as you'd have to shell out lot to get SSD space. cMBP with maxed out specs (13 inch high end) or base model then upgrade the RAM yourself. RAM plays a huge role. Plus the best thing with the cMBP is that it has everything, for retina you'll have to carry the external HDD with you.