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Buying first rMBP, have a few questions.

SS4Luck

SS4Luck

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 23, 2014
171
33
SoCal
Im going down to replace my broken MBA with a rMBP sometime this week and have a few questions

Im looking at a 15" model and am trying to decide between both
1) the low end and the high end
2) 1T SSD or an 480G OWC + Stock as an external upgrade.

The laptop itself is used mainly for school, but Im starting upper level engineering classes so there are a few design programs that will be installed/used. Also i shoot a lot of street/strip racing videos and do a lot of editing. (All video storage is handled by an existing hard drive). The idea of keeping all movie and itunes files on an external is nice so that i can take the external into my barn and hook it up to my Mac out there that controls my speaker system, but at the same time taking the rMBP out there is jsut as easy.

Pros and cons of both the low and high end with with SSD option?


(i really hope this post makes sense..)
 
The "low end" 15" comes with a 256gb SSD and 16gigs of RAM, and Intel's Iris Pro. The "high end" comes with a 512gb SSD, 16gigs of RAM and Intel Iris Pro and nVidia Geforce GT750 dedicated graphics.

For what you're doing, the low end 15" will be fine. What I'd recommend is putting all of your work on a separate external HD. I use a WD 1TB USB3 drive to keep all of my images and videos on, and simply plug it in when I need to do editing.

I haven't been totally impressed (more like unimpressed) with OWC's quality.
 
SS4Luck said:
Im honestly not 100% sure. I know i will have some rendering programs that will push it graphics wise
Click to expand...

Be aware that the dGPU will burn up your machine relatively fast, and Apple has a bad track record when it comes to dGPU; see Nvidiagate and Radeongate...
 
eezacque said:
Be aware that the dGPU will burn up your machine relatively fast, and Apple has a bad track record when it comes to dGPU; see Nvidiagate and Radeongate...
Click to expand...

That occurred due to other reasons. There is no reason the believe the same will happen to the dGPU model.
 
TechGod said:
That occurred due to other reasons. There is no reason the believe the same will happen to the dGPU model.
Click to expand...

I'm not exactly sure at this time which programs I will be running but I'm sure there will be one or two CAD programs being used daily
 
SS4Luck said:
I'm not exactly sure at this time which programs I will be running but I'm sure there will be one or two CAD programs being used daily
Click to expand...

Do you have the option of return periods? If so try both models and return the one that doesn't fit your needs.
 
TechGod said:
Do you have the option of return periods? If so try both models and return the one that doesn't fit your needs.
Click to expand...

I'll pry buy it from best buy. I have $400 credit there so after student discounts and everything I'll only have to come about 1800 for the high end.

I'm more concerned with wondering if I should go to 1T off of the bat or not
 
SS4Luck said:
I'll pry buy it from best buy. I have $400 credit there so after student discounts and everything I'll only have to come about 1800 for the high end.

I'm more concerned with wondering if I should go to 1T off of the bat or not
Click to expand...

Maybe purchase an external?
 
SS4Luck said:
Im looking at a 15" model and am trying to decide between both
1) the low end and the high end
2) 1T SSD or an 480G OWC + Stock as an external upgrade.
Click to expand...

OWC doesn't currently sell a version of their blade SSD that is compatible with Late 2013 and 2014 rMBP. It is something they have talked about bringing to the market but its been almost a year since they initially indicated it would be possible.
 
TechGod said:
That occurred due to other reasons. There is no reason the believe the same will happen to the dGPU model.
Click to expand...
can you expand on why this may or may not be expected of the newer dGPU models?

In prior models the dedicated GPU gets hot; crummy non-leaded solder can't take the heat over time and deteriorates. One would hope that they have learned and improved cooling or found a better solder to use. I haven't researched it, does the 650/750m run cooler, or have there been other improvements documented?
 
austinpike said:
In prior models the dedicated GPU gets hot; crummy non-leaded solder can't take the heat over time and deteriorates. One would hope that they have learned and improved cooling or found a better solder to use. I haven't researched it, does the 650/750m run cooler, or have there been other improvements documented?
Click to expand...

I've heard this repeated over and over by several folks. Do you have any links to back up the claim that it's simply due to lead free solder and heat cycles?

In this specific environment, lead free solder should not have any significant disadvantages compared to leaded solder. The GPU temperatures don't get anywhere near the temperatures needed to melt the solder. I'm curious if anyone has proven otherwise.
 
T5BRICK said:
I've heard this repeated over and over by several folks. Do you have any links to back up the claim that it's simply due to lead free solder and heat cycles?

In this specific environment, lead free solder should not have any significant disadvantages compared to leaded solder. The GPU temperatures don't get anywhere near the temperatures needed to melt the solder. I'm curious if anyone has proven otherwise.
Click to expand...

Not really proven. But it seems its not bad performance, just constant heating and cooling that cracks it.

I think proof to me is that some users have gotten their logic boards re-balled, and it worked after that.
 
dextr3k said:
I think proof to me is that some users have gotten their logic boards re-balled, and it worked after that.
Click to expand...

That certainly shows that something was wrong, but it doesn't really rule out a fault in the manufacturing process.
 
All laptops have this problem. That's why there are laptop coolers. Fans to put under your laptop. Go buy one. It's 15 dollars. It'll protect your 3000 dollar investment.

eezacque said:
Be aware that the dGPU will burn up your machine relatively fast, and Apple has a bad track record when it comes to dGPU; see Nvidiagate and Radeongate...
Click to expand...
 
I'm in a similar boat. I bought a low-end 15" rMBP less than a week before the new ones were announced. I bought it at Best Buy and I'm a Elite Plus member or whatever, so I have a 45 day return period, so I figured I'd try it out for size and see how things went before exchanging seeing as I had already bought it. I'm planning on exchanging them this week.

I don't push graphics very hard, but I could definitely go for the 2.5 GHz processor as I do push those hard with Logic/Pro Tools, and 512 GB SSD would be nice too, and by the time I were to add those on, it's only $100 less than the $2499 model with dedicated GPU.

If I get AppleCare for the thing, do I really need to worry about GPU failure? You'd think if it were going to be a problem, it'd be a problem in the first three years while it's covered.
 
T5BRICK said:
I've heard this repeated over and over by several folks. Do you have any links to back up the claim that it's simply due to lead free solder and heat cycles?
Click to expand...
I'm just repeating what I've heard over and over... ;) I researched it for half a day when i wanted to buy a used 17", starting with the 500 page thread on the Apple forums. I read all I wanted to read about it at the time; I've got no other links at hand.
 
T5BRICK said:
I've heard this repeated over and over by several folks. Do you have any links to back up the claim that it's simply due to lead free solder and heat cycles?
Click to expand...
I don't know about the details of lead free solder, but I do know that the 2008, 2010, and 2011 MBPs have dGPU issues. In a sense I don't care about the cause, the track record is such that for my next MBP, I'm avoiding the dGPU based model and I may decide to sell my 2012 model sooner then later.
 
Well, this post is coming from a 15" rMBP/2.5/16GB/512/GT750M

I bought it from Best Buy with the student discount and the change of address 10% coupon out the door was $2150. So far so good, but its been out of the box less than an hour.

Time to start doing some accessory research etc.

Im going to get an external later for large programs/music/photos.
 
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