Entry MBP 13 vs Upper Level MBP 2012

[twennywonn]

Tomorrow I'm looking to buy a new Mac Book Pro 13 my question is does the higher end ones processor justify the price difference? I had planed on getting the entry model and upgrading the ram to 8gb and it looks like the upgrade if I do it myself will be $60ish. I will also be installing a Crucial M4 I pulled out of my Windows laptop so the bump in HDD is irrelevant. I use my laptop mainly for media consumption, browsing forums and lots of you tube, I know both these machines are overkill for these tasks but I am excited to try Mac OS and enjoy Apples build quality.

So is the CPU upgrade worth the $250? <---(Minus the ram upgrade I was going to do anyway)


My Current Laptop that I will be replacing:

14" LED Backlit Screen 1366x768
8GB DDR3 System Memory
640GB Hard Drive Capacity
7 hours battery life
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Intel CoreTM i5-460M
Multiformat DVDRW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support
NVIDIA GeForce 310M graphics
Weighs 4.7 lbs. and measures just 1.1" thin

 

[mohsy90]

Tomorrow I'm looking to buy a new Mac Book Pro 13 my question is does the higher end ones processor justify the price difference? I had planed on getting the entry model and upgrading the ram to 8gb and it looks like the upgrade if I do it myself will be $60ish. I will also be installing a Crucial M4 I pulled out of my Windows laptop so the bump in HDD is irrelevant. I use my laptop mainly for media consumption, browsing forums and lots of you tube, I know both these machines are overkill for these tasks but I am excited to try Mac OS and enjoy Apples build quality.

So is the CPU upgrade worth the $250? <---(Minus the ram upgrade I was going to do anyway)


My Current Laptop that I will be replacing:

14" LED Backlit Screen 1366x768
8GB DDR3 System Memory
640GB Hard Drive Capacity
7 hours battery life
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Intel CoreTM i5-460M
Multiformat DVDRW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support
NVIDIA GeForce 310M graphics
Weighs 4.7 lbs. and measures just 1.1" thin

I just posted this on another thread:
i7 is not worth it. If your getting the 13" MBP. Just buy the basic model and upgrade the Ram yourself and buy a third party SSD. You'll notice a drastic difference in speed. Update the Ram to 8gb and get a 256 SSD. It should still come out to less than the i7 13" MBP. The processor upgrade is not worth it, trust me.

 

[twennywonn]

I just posted this on another thread:
i7 is not worth it. If your getting the 13" MBP. Just buy the basic model and upgrade the Ram yourself and buy a third party SSD. You'll notice a drastic difference in speed. Update the Ram to 8gb and get a 256 SSD. It should still come out to less than the i7 13" MBP. The processor upgrade is not worth it, trust me.

Can you link me to your thread?

You don't think the i7 will last longer in terms of speed or have better resale value?

 

[mohsy90]

Can you link me to your thread?

You don't think the i7 will last longer in terms of speed or have better resale value?

It's someone else thread and that's all that's posted there.

No it will not last longer in terms of speed or better resale. Resale value will definitely depreciate more on the higher end model.

If you look at the basics, your paying an extra $300 just for an upgrade from an i5 to an i7, extra 4gb of ram ($25) and extra 250gb oh HDD space (like $25 as well). Trust me when i tell you that if you use that extra $300 to buy a 256GB sdd ($199) and upgrade your ram to 8gb. You will end up spending less but end up with a faster laptop and one that will likely retain an overall higher value than the i7.

The processor alone is no where near worth the $300. I even once asked an Apple genius at my local apple store. And he clearly said it's a waste of money and not worth it.

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The SSD alone will be such a huge difference!

 

[twennywonn]

It's someone else thread and that's all that's posted there.

No it will not last longer in terms of speed or better resale. Resale value will definitely depreciate more on the higher end model.

If you look at the basics, your paying an extra $300 just for an upgrade from an i5 to an i7, extra 4gb of ram ($25) and extra 250gb oh HDD space (like $25 as well). Trust me when i tell you that if you use that extra $300 to buy a 256GB sdd ($199) and upgrade your ram to 8gb. You will end up spending less but end up with a faster laptop and one that will likely retain an overall higher value than the i7.

The processor alone is no where near worth the $300. I even once asked an Apple genius at my local apple store. And he clearly said it's a waste of money and not worth it.

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The SSD alone will be such a huge difference!

Thanks so much. One last question If Im going to buy ram can I just buy something like this since it seems within spec: http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Modu...XAAK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1339567236&sr=8-6
Or do I need to buy "Mac Ram"?

 

[mohsy90]

Thanks so much. One last question If Im going to buy ram can I just buy something like this since it seems within spec: http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Modu...XAAK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1339567236&sr=8-6
Or do I need to buy "Mac Ram"?

I actually totally forgot that you'd need to buy two 4GB sticks. i guess you could always sell the two 2GB ones that come with it. Anyways, go with these: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_1333MHz_SDRAM

These are tested with MBP and will work without any issues. It also comes with lifetime warranty. The OWC 8.0GB set is also cheaper than the link you gave. They also have factory samsung 4gb ram.

One thing to note. OWC has not updated their website yet. I'm pretty sure that the newly released MBP 13" uses the same Ram but wait till it's confirmed by their website. They test out everything to make sure it works properly.

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Thanks so much. One last question If Im going to buy ram can I just buy something like this since it seems within spec: http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Modu...XAAK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1339567236&sr=8-6
Or do I need to buy "Mac Ram"?

The ram you linked is still good and faster at 1600MHZ. I guess it all depends on your preference. I have relied on OWC quite a few times just because of their lifetime warranty and customer service.

 

[quicksketch]

You may find these comparisons interesting to compare the i5 vs. the i7:

http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/search?utf8=✓&q=MacBook+Pro+13-inch+Mid+2012+64-bit

GeekBench doesn't test the disk afaik, so whether you have an SSD or not the scores are roughly equal. I personally just bought the i7 version and am planning on swapping in the 540GB SSD I already have into it.

 

[odraude]

hello i`ve just read that the 2011 vs the mid 2012 models comparisons are just nearly 700 points different, so i ask is it really a great upgrade the 2012 model vs the 2011 one??
cuz in stores the price is like 350dlls different, 700 benchmark points worth 350usd?