Dilemma - MBP 15" 2012 swap for Retina?

[peejack]

Hi guys just after a bit of advice.

I currently have the Mid 2012 MBP 15". Its hi-res anti-glare with 8gb ram 2.3ghz and 512 crucial ssd I put in.

Im seriously considering getting the 256GB 15" MBP retina.

It won't cost me any extra to get it and I won't be losing any money, my question is to you though is it worth the drop from a 512gb to 256gb?

I would get the 512GB model but I really can't afford that.

Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks.

 

[Orlandoech]

Although I love the 15" cMBP w/ AG-HighRes but nothing compares to the Retina Screen imo. I love mine, couldnt be without it.

I was very anti-one storage/HDD for awhile, now that I am use to it, I wouldnt trade screen for an extra HDD (Optibay) at all.

I have lots of media and live with the 256GB SSD and External Storage.

 

[peejack]

Thanks for your reply mate

 

[bogatyr]

You can always upgrade the SSD in the rMBP later on. Just opt for the 16GB of RAM if you can - can't upgrade that later.

 

[peejack]

You can always upgrade the SSD in the rMBP later on. Just opt for the 16GB of RAM if you can - can't upgrade that later.

How can you upgrade the ssd? Is 16gb ram necessary i thought 8gb would suffice?

 

[Orlandoech]

You can always upgrade the SSD in the rMBP later on. Just opt for the 16GB of RAM if you can - can't upgrade that later.

Exactly. I will get 512GB SSD when I need it, not when I want it.

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How can you upgrade the ssd? Is 16gb ram necessary i thought 8gb would suffice?

Easy, swap it out. Takes 3 minutes.

Check my tutorial. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1505484/

 

[peejack]

Exactly. I will get 512GB SSD when I need it, not when I want it.

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Easy, swap it out. Takes 3 minutes.

Check my tutorial. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1505484/

Thats great I didn't know that.

What about the ram, is 8gb not enough then?

 

[bogatyr]

Is 16gb ram necessary i thought 8gb would suffice?

Most likely it is fine today. Depending on how long you're keeping this laptop, there may come a time when it isn't and you have no way to upgrade it on the rMBP.

 

[NewishMacGuy]

256GB is tight for many folks (myself included and I'm light on storage). If you can get by on 256GB, I'd probably swap (8GB is fine for most people). But if you do swap be ready to trade her in in a couple years time when you need more RAM and storage. You need to be OK with the depreciation curve, and if you wait until EVERYBODY needs more than 8GB and 256GB, you'll be on the steep part of that curve.

 

[DarwinOSX]

The only problem with getting the retina is that everything else will look like crap after using a retina display. So I say get the retina.

 

[alphaod]

For me 256GB is not enough, for a lot of folks I don't see 128GB (or even 64GB) being much of an issue.

Personally I love the formfactor of the rMBP; if I didn't need more than 256GB of space I would go for it.

 

[thekev]

How can you upgrade the ssd? Is 16gb ram necessary i thought 8gb would suffice?

The only ssd upgrade options cost far more than generic parts. I'd ignore that. Note the $580 for a 480GB ssd upgrade. It's also not officially upgradable on the retina version, meaning I'd put everything back to normal if you need to send the computer in for warranty.