Classic or the new

[zetosan]

Well I will be purchasing my first macbook pro, after having to deal with rather okay quality HP laptops. Okay so to the point, I cannot decide if I should get the classic one and upgrade it or just get the new retina one at 8gb and 256 gb ssd. I have read a lot of article and writes on the forum but still can't really decide it. I will be using it mainly for school and some photography(just a hobby). What do you guys think? Thank you.

Reasons why I like the cMBP
1. Ability to switch the internal hardwares
2. The design, it seems more sturdy. I like the location of the power button and how the power plug looks.

Reasons for the rMBP
1. It's the newest(newer processors and etc)
2. Screen looked rather nicer than the cMBP side by side

 

[Swampus]

I like to be able to easily take things apart. I also like the security of being able to quickly swap my drive to another Mac if it becomes necessary.

But I'm probably in the minority here and I don't deny that the rMBPs are very nice. That said, when working on my photography, I'd probably still use an external display even if I had a rMBP.

 

[wickerman1893]

Well I will be purchasing my first macbook pro and I cannot decide if I should get the classic one and upgrade it or just get the new retina one at 8gb and 256 gb ssd. I have read a lot of article and writes on the forum but still can't really decide it. I will be using it for mainly school and some photography(just a hobby). What do you guys think? Thank you.

It really depends on your budget. If you can spend the extra money, then go for the retina and get the nice screen along with peace of mind that your laptop will be great for 4-6 years to come.

If you are on a budget, go for the cheaper model. With your supplied use cases, it will be just fine for the tasks. You could even look into the Macbook Air and save even more money. You may just be looking for an upgrade a year or two earlier.

 

[zetosan]

It really depends on your budget. If you can spend the extra money, then go for the retina and get the nice screen along with peace of mind that your laptop will be great for 4-6 years to come.

If you are on a budget, go for the cheaper model. With your supplied use cases, it will be just fine for the tasks. You could even look into the Macbook Air and save even more money. You may just be looking for an upgrade a year or two earlier.

Well I have been saving since my last hp went in for repair in the hot days of summer so I have the money to buy the new retinas 13", but I just cant decide. I went to the Apple store and played with them both and I liked them both. Do you really think the retina one will be good for 4-6 years? even just with the 8gb of ram?

 

[KUguardgrl13]

As a student, you won't regret getting the rMBP over the cMBP. It's very light and easy to take to class (trust me, I carried a mid-2009 13" MBP for four years). To me, it feels just as sturdy as my old cMBP. In fact, if you're carrying it in a backpack with textbooks, the rMBP will hold up better most likely. With the cMBPs, it's easy for the hard drive cable to get pinched over time and quit working. The rMBP uses a different connector for the SSD. Speaking of, unless you upgrade to an SSD, the cMBP has a traditional HDD that could potentially fail down the road. If you do upgrade, the SSD in the rMBP will undoubtedly be faster. You're also looking at a CPU and other internals that are at least a year old and legacy hardware that you shouldn't really need. You probably won't need a superdrive or ethernet port unless your school is 5-10 years behind.

The choice is ultimately yours, and either machine is a good one. I can speak for both but would say that the rMBP is designed partially with the modern student in mind. It has portability like the Air without feeling fragile and the awesome screen to make Netflix study breaks that much better

 

[wickerman1893]

Well I have been saving since my last hp went in for repair in the hot days of summer so I have the money to buy the new retinas 13", but I just cant decide. I went to the Apple store and played with them both and I liked them both. Do you really think the retina one will be good for 4-6 years? even just with the 8gb of ram?

I would say so. 8gb or RAM might be low in 4-6 years, its really hard to say. Tech moves faster and faster every year, so even though my iMac lasted 5 years before an upgrade, now maybe it would last 3 years. If you go with 16gb of RAM, you should be good, as 8 seems to be the standard amount for most new Macs nowadays. Since you do not have a budget, I would definitely say the retina.

 

[scbond]

The cMBP screen still looks great and doesn't have any issues. I honestly can't understand how so many people justify the extra expense of the rMBP just for the sheer frill of the screen they won't need. Honestly, get the cMBP and you'll never once wish you'd gotten the rMBP.

 

[august49]

Just read the thread titles!

I bought a 2012 15" cMBP refurbished, upgraded to a ssd and added memory. Boots in 15 seconds and runs great. I have NO image retention problems, creaking, overheating problems, yellow tint issues, or other such issues that load up this forum. Nor have I had to do the swap carousel time and again to get one that works. I have better things to do with a computer than run back to the store and swap machines to get one that I'm happy with.

A computer is a tool. Buy it to use it.

 

[AbyssImpact]

The cMBP screen still looks great and doesn't have any issues. I honestly can't understand how so many people justify the extra expense of the rMBP just for the sheer frill of the screen they won't need. Honestly, get the cMBP and you'll never once wish you'd gotten the rMBP.

I went from CMBP to RMBP and to be honest, now I see why people say once you go retina, you don't go back.

 

[rapicell]

Retina is nice, but I couldn't justify the price for losing ability to upgrade my SSD and RAM. I ended up buying a used 15'' mid-2012. Then again, the use of PCIe flash wasn't going to make much of a difference in my life either

 

[makaveli559m]

No good high quality screen could compare to the lost of functions or options :/ forgive me all but it doesn't justify anything. A 128GB SSD to 512GB SSD is little space don't care how freaking fast it is! I still want my option to put in my own 2TB if I wanted to! No replies on your views of external devices. I keep getting odd replies about that :/

 

[raptor402]

Well, I would definitely have gone for the cMBP for the ability to customise but the low resolution screen is a deal breaker. Heck, we used to have 1280*800 displays back in 2005. It just gives too less screen real estate. I would much rather go for a properly configured (2.6GHz i5 / 16GB / 256GB) 13" rMBP.

So it's either a bad screen with option to upgrade or amazing screen but permanent hardware.

Regards
Raptor