Configurations for the MacBook Pro Retina 15"

[BigHam]

I'm just as torn as you are. I originally planned to get a base 15 rmbp and use my old 2010 macbook pro 13 to supplement it. But then I figured get more ram. Then I figured that I should get more SSD space as well. Then that put it about $120 off the price of rmbp with dGPU.

Now I'm thinking maxed iMac 21 or 3TB fusion on a 27 iMac... As I can save a little. But damnnn that screen looks nice on the 15 retina. It never ends.

I'll be doing my thesis on the new machine this year and I have some pretty heavy (and bloody expensive) software for textual analysis of 3 languages. So my 13 + a 21 or 27 could work. Portability + processing power....

The decision process never ends....

 

[akdj]

Why not the 13" MBP? Its still absolutely sufficient for your tasks and more mobile.



The OP doesn't need a dedicated GPU.

He or she mentioned FCPx. Albeit as a hobby. If this is the case, a dGPU is essential. The 5000 in the Air and 5200 in the base iMac and 15"rMBP aren't for video editing. Neither is the 5100 in the 13".

Read Anand's assessment. The iGPU's while computationally exceptional lag when it comes to video rendering, transcoding, editing or gaming.
If FCP indeed is indeed 'just a hobby', it's spendy software at $300. Seems the $600 upgrade makes sense to actually utilize the program efficiently.

This has always been known. Only diluted die hard Apple fans think an integrated GPU will work for a "Pro" machine.

Where did this come from? What is a "Pro" machine anyway? I know an extremely well off surgeon that carries a 13” 2008 MacBook around. The white one

What does this have to do with "die hard Apple fans"? Both products are by Apple. I think it's just Intels marketing which is stuck in some peoples minds.
The Intel Iris Pro can manage low resolutions nearly as good as the nVidia 750m does. But with higher resolutions (like the Retina MacBook Pro!) this changes really substantially. We agree on this, so lets move on and don't get stuck in a Intel vs nVidia discussion

From my experience the higher resolutions on the MBP (looks like 1680x1050 and "looks like 1920x1200") are not handeled well by both graphic solutions. I don't know if MacOS is the reason for this because I can play Crysis 2 without lag, but the interface of OS X lags a little when scrolling and switching between spaces.

Agh, ya beat me
Have you updated to 10.9.1?
I'm running the latest OS on a 2012 2.7/16. No. More. Lag. Anywhere. It's been pretty amazing to me. Chrome. Safari. Transitioning between apps and Miss/Con. It's smooth. As buttah! I'm really enjoying these machines.

Is RAM or processor more important when considering a laptop if you use FCP as a hobby?

Neither. The GPU. Read Anand's review of the new rMBP. And the video tests specifically. Literally 400-600% faster in many/most...maybe it was every situation

I am definitely leaning towards the Retina. If you max out the MBA, its similar in cost to the retina's, but you don't have the nice screen or better speakers. I'm not sure 512GB of Flash HD is necessary, the 256 will probably do. Hard to make 'the best decision' since FCP is more of a hobby than anything, and many of these write-ups I"m reading are for serious editing.

If you own FCP, you owe yourself the ,750/512/2.3 model OR, as mentioned earlier a refurb or new 2012 model at 70% the cost! They have 650m cards, a slower version of the 750, albeit minor and the same architecture. Better battery life and PCIe storage on the 2013 models. But the storage on the 2012 models is extremely quick as well

Good Luck!

 

[Jaben3421]

Don't buy Broadwell. Go for Skylake. Skylake is also 14nm, but it has some great features.

- DDR4, much more power efficent.
- 20. PCI E lane. Dat bandwith.
- 128 MB L4 eDRAM cache on chip. mmm. dat buffer.
- quad-core as the default configuration(quad-cores in 13 inch).

Broadwell will be a small update with upgrades the iGPU. If you want the big stuff, wait 1,5 years for Skylake. Broadwell will hit the market in 6-9 months. If you wait 18 months instead you get skylake. game changer.

Just one question. What do you need that much power for?

 

[Wuiffi]

Neither. The GPU. Read Anand's review of the new rMBP. And the video tests specifically. Literally 400-600% faster in many/most...maybe it was every situation

What review to you mean? The new Mac Pro with a few benchmarks of the late 2013 rMBP?
Because afaik (and according to the 15 pages Waiting for Anandtech rMBP thread ^^) there is no review yet

 

[Omar Comin' Yo]

Been reading the anandtech site on mac computers for the past 2 hours. More information definitely can lead to making a decision even more difficult.

This seems like a decent deal.

$1659
Originally released February 2013
13.3-inch (diagonal) Retina display
i7
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM

512GB Flash Storage

Intel HD Graphics 4000

or

the current mid tier 13" retina
$1579
13.3-inch (diagonal) Retina display
2.4GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz
16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB PCIe-based Flash Storage

not sure which would be better, decent prices tho

 

[Omar Comin' Yo]

This seems like a good deal too -


$1569
Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
Originally released June 2013
13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution
8GB memory
512GB flash storage
Intel HD Graphics 5000

----------

I'm just as torn as you are. I originally planned to get a base 15 rmbp and use my old 2010 macbook pro 13 to supplement it. But then I figured get more ram. Then I figured that I should get more SSD space as well. Then that put it about $120 off the price of rmbp with dGPU.

Now I'm thinking maxed iMac 21 or 3TB fusion on a 27 iMac... As I can save a little. But damnnn that screen looks nice on the 15 retina. It never ends.

I'll be doing my thesis on the new machine this year and I have some pretty heavy (and bloody expensive) software for textual analysis of 3 languages. So my 13 + a 21 or 27 could work. Portability + processing power....

The decision process never ends....

Yeah the retina screen is nice, but i mean, if you don't go 15", i don't get the point with the retina.

I've narrowed it down to a 15" retina or a 13" air. at least i am making progress. I have to be honest with just how much editing I will be doing since the price difference will be a decent amount between these two.

 

[commac]

This seems like a good deal too -


$1569
Refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
Originally released June 2013
13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution
8GB memory
512GB flash storage
Intel HD Graphics 5000

----------




Yeah the retina screen is nice, but i mean, if you don't go 15", i don't get the point with the retina.

I've narrowed it down to a 15" retina or a 13" air. at least i am making progress. I have to be honest with just how much editing I will be doing since the price difference will be a decent amount between these two.

I had a 13" and returned it for a 15" but secretly wish I had an air. I went retina because I do web work and the screen is more versatile with its resolutions. I also have a primary desktop which makes the 15" overkill. If you have a desktop and/or travel a lot on battery go air. Otherwise the 15" would make a nice primary machine for the home and periodic outings.

 

[akdj]

What review to you mean? The new Mac Pro with a few benchmarks of the late 2013 rMBP?
Because afaik (and according to the 15 pages Waiting for Anandtech rMBP thread ^^) there is no review yet

The MacPro review is the one with benchmarks in the pro software arena (with Pros. MBPs. Et al)
Seen here

http://anandtech.com/show/7603/mac-pro-review-late-2013/6

His quote
"The difference in performance between Intel's Iris Pro graphics and NVIDIA's GeForce GT 750M is staggering. The Iris Pro rMBP15 configuration takes nearly an hour to complete my test, while the dGPU configuration does it in a little over 21 minutes. Here the 27-inch iMac's beefy GPU seems to help make it faster than the rMBP notebooks. The new Mac Pro pulls ahead of the upgraded 2009 model, though not by as much as I would've expected. The second GPU isn't being used as much as it could be it seems. Once again, a standard 2009 model wouldn't fare nearly as well here. Even with a Radeon HD 4870 I bet we'd be seeing significantly lower performance."

His review in comparison with other consumer Mac with Cinebench and photoshop results

http://anandtech.com/show/7603/mac-pro-review-late-2013/7


The new, Haswell rMBP is mentioned often....both in basic iGPU and dGPU configs as well as direct comparisons to last years 650m. Lots of help having the 750 if you're editing and transcoding video, playing with effects and rendering...the extra expense is justified

J