Buying a new macbook pro for graphic design!

[stief]

Hello everyone!

I was wondering wich specs are most important to look for when buying a new macbook pro for graphic and web design. The machine will have to run programs like photoshop, illustrator, indesign, dreamweaver, flash... I'm looking to buy one of the newly released macbook pro's.

Now i'm wondering wich model to buy. My choices are limited to the two 13-inch and the low-end 15-inch model. Screen size is not an issue since i'll be using an external screen. From what i understand the most important thing would be to get as much ram as possible into the machine. I also would like as much storage space as possible. So wichever model i buy, i'm paying extra to upgrade it to 8gb's of ram and 750gb's of hard drive storage.

I'm still a student so money is an issue. I can afford the high end 13-inch model, or even the low end 15-inch model, but i'm wondering if it's worth the extra money? If i buy the low-end 13-inch model it would save me a lot of money, and give me the option to buy a drawing tablet, or maybe a new lens for my camera in the near future.

So do the processors matter much for what i'll be using it for if i max out the ram to 8gb? Will the increased clock speed and dual vs quad core make much of a difference for me? Is it worth the money? Will the low-end 13-inch model with 2,3 ghz and a dual core intel core i5 be able to handle the job just fine? Or is the increase in these specs required for my usage?

Also keep in mind that i'm not a professional, and it will take me 1,5 years from now before i graduate. And a desktop is not an option since i've got to be able to take it home with me from my study dorm...

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

 

[talmy]

Get the low end 13" and a nice IPS display. Save some more money by upgrading the RAM yourself if you find out you need it.

 

[leftyMac]

low end 13" and install 8GB RAM and a SSD (128GB is more than what you need) yourself. get an external FW drive or put an optibay to add another HD 72000RPM for storage.

my 2009 MBP (see my sig) is totally fast enough for Flash, dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, FCP, Logic Pro, etc. but I don't recommend a 15" just because of the weight.

 

[toxic]

13". most of your software isn't all that CPU-intensive. buy 8GB of RAM and a 1TB drive separately, as well as an enclosure to stick the stock 320/500GB drive in.

 

[Apple OC]

I run CS5 no problem on my base 2010 MBP 13

 

[opera57]

Yeah you should upgrade the RAM yourself if you feel competent enough to do it (its very easy, a 2 minute job), also upgrade the HDD yourself if you can - failing that a nice big external (you'll want to back up your creations anyway!)