Decided but undecided.. Need advice

[katit]

Decided to purchase Mac Book Pro 13 Retina, 2015 update. Will go with 16Gb of RAM.

The only questions remaining is: 128 or 512Gb sad. It's $1500 vs $2k, with 512 I will get 2.9 i5

Main usage: I'm software developer. There will be NO video or audio or image editing.

I will be using it for xCode (iOS development), general internet use and main work will be in VM (80%)

I will need to run Linux and Windows VM's, hence 16Gb. Windows VM (with my dev environment) is around 200Gb. Therefore, even 256Gb will not work, won't fit. 512 will work but $$$, 128 Gb will work just fine for me but I will have to go with external drive for VMs.

I already kind of decided to go with 512 because looking at USB3 speeds and cheaper drives if I use external - it will be much slower. If I buy external thunderbolt enclosure and fast drive - I will be close in price and have to carry additional piece..

Now, the question is where to buy to get best deal? BestBuy and Amazon seem to be not an option, they don't have 16Gb. MacMall doesn't charge sales tax where I'm at and best from what I can tell.. Any other decent places where I can save more?

 

[imaccooper]

Sounds like you have thought it through well and it sounds like a good decision to me as far as what to buy.

Depending on if you are willing to go for a previous year model or willing to wait a little bit for the new models to start coming back, apple refurb is always a good place to look for a decent discount.

 

[katit]

I'm definitely going with 2015 model - better battery and less heat is definitely worth it. Waiting for refurb probably bad idea, might wait forever for 512/16 configuration..

Any other online sources with decent discounts?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Your issue is BTO

Decided to purchase Mac Book Pro 13 Retina, 2015 update. Will go with 16Gb of RAM.

The only questions remaining is: 128 or 512Gb sad. It's $1500 vs $2k, with 512 I will get 2.9 i5

Main usage: I'm software developer. There will be NO video or audio or image editing.

I will be using it for xCode (iOS development), general internet use and main work will be in VM (80%)

I will need to run Linux and Windows VM's, hence 16Gb. Windows VM (with my dev environment) is around 200Gb. Therefore, even 256Gb will not work, won't fit. 512 will work but $$$, 128 Gb will work just fine for me but I will have to go with external drive for VMs.

I already kind of decided to go with 512 because looking at USB3 speeds and cheaper drives if I use external - it will be much slower. If I buy external thunderbolt enclosure and fast drive - I will be close in price and have to carry additional piece..

Now, the question is where to buy to get best deal? BestBuy and Amazon seem to be not an option, they don't have 16Gb. MacMall doesn't charge sales tax where I'm at and best from what I can tell.. Any other decent places where I can save more?

You want a buy to order spec, that means that only apple can provide it until they come onto the market second hand or in the Apple refurb store for a bargain. If Macmall has them (it does) then that is probably your only option. In the uk we have no choice at all if you want a CTO option it has to be apple or second hand.

 

[katit]

Thanks everybody! Ordered from macmall. 7 days to build.. Impatiently waiting