Can someone pro/con these two options for me?

[soxguy17]

Hey everyone. Student here that knows I'll probably get torn apart, but I swear I've done my research on this. I'd still like some input from those of you with a little more technical knowledge about my options.

Matlab and VisualBasic will be my biggest issues as far as computing power go. No video editing. No photo editing. If I desperately need any modeling software and am out of storage space to install it, I can use Citrix or the labs on campus.

Music: Spotify mostly. Any files I need I can keep in the cloud or an external.
Movies: same. I can transfer.

That said, between these two options, which makes more sense? I have to say, I love the size of the 15 inch screen. Was any upgrade to the screen made that I should be aware of before going with a refurb'd 15 inch? Also, which processor will better suit my needs? With student pricing, they're essentially the same price.

Sorry for the questions.... I know these get old. I used to deal with a lot of this stuff in the jailbreak forum back in the day, but I forgot the account name.

Option 1: Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display

Originally released February 2013
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

Option 2: Haswell

2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
8GB 1600MHz memory
512GB PCIe-based flash storage1
Intel Iris Graphics

 

[Kariya]

Its down to larger PCIe storage vs dedicated GPU.

You say your workflow doesn't include anything GPU intensive so...Option 2

That said, Option 1 gives you more versatility overall.

 

[soxguy17]

Its down to larger PCIe storage vs dedicated GPU.

You say your workflow doesn't include anything GPU intensive so...

I guess, which one is more "future-proof"? Let's say that down the road I want to go to a bigger SSD, is that possible with the refurb? I think it is with the new ones, but I'm not sure.

I'm also weighing 15 inches v. 13 inches.

 

[Raunien]

Both of them will be ssd-upgradable in the future. The Haswell one is not currently. With that said, get the size that you think you will need right now.

----------

I still think option 2 is better considering that you are worried about disk size.

 

[soxguy17]

Both of them will be ssd-upgradable in the future. The Haswell one is not currently. With that said, get the size that you think you will need right now.

Is RAM the only thing that's always non-upgradeable with the rMBP's? I know I can do everything I need to do on 256 as I'm running a white Macbook on 250 right now. That's with a lot of music I barely use any more due to Spotify.

 

[Raunien]

Ram is definitely non-upgradable. It's soldered into the ram.

 

[Kariya]

I guess, which one is more "future-proof"? Let's say that down the road I want to go to a bigger SSD, is that possible with the refurb? I think it is with the new ones, but I'm not sure.

I'm also weighing 15 inches v. 13 inches.

Option 1 is upgradeable but its expensive so if you're unsure about storage needs going forward pick Option 2. Option 2 i doubt is upgradeable currently.

 

[teotuf]

Is RAM the only thing that's always non-upgradeable with the rMBP's? I know I can do everything I need to do on 256 as I'm running a white Macbook on 250 right now. That's with a lot of music I barely use any more due to Spotify.

Neither is the CPU, GPU, nor screen size. 15 inch is going to perform better than the 13 inch one. Period. Ask yourself do you need the portability of the 13 incher - if not, the 15 inch has a bigger screen and better performance.

 

[soxguy17]

Neither is the CPU, GPU, nor screen size. 15 inch is going to perform better than the 13 inch one. Period. Ask yourself do you need the portability of the 13 incher - if not, the 15 inch has a bigger screen and better performance.

Portability isn't really an issue. If it's in my backpack, I can't tell if it's 13 or 15 inches. I suppose the hard drive is the only issue I'm running in to, and even then, there are alternatives which include a future upgrade if absolutely necessary.