Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Ex-Demo of rMBP 15 (Mid-2014) or Refurb rMBP 13(Early 2015)

calvincty

calvincty

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 11, 2012
34
6
Malaysia
Currently I'm using a cMBP 13 mid-2012 with 16GB & 120GB SSD which is still working perfectly, but I'm going to sell it at around $650 and upgrade to a newer rMBP (too bad the 21 march event doesn't happened to release a new MBP).

Now I'm dilenmma for making a decision between these two and hope you guys could recommend me which 1 to go for.

Ex-demo rMBP 15 mid-2014 conditions: (base spec)
- a little bit of scratches
- watermark at the screen top corner
- no warranty
- the machine is factory reset, they not allowed me to login and check further (saying that I can only do that If I confirm to buy it), if not it will be very troublesome for them.

Refurb rMBP 13 early-2015 (8GB ram, 256 SSD)
- 1 year warranty

my daily task:
- a VM Ubuntu server running all the time
- a IDE such as PHPStorm or Eclipse
- lightweight IDE such as TextMate
- Firefox /chrome / safari mostly opened and running, for troubleshooting task.
- a few other productivity apps such as Evernote, wanderlist, Google sheets, chart etc.
- Terminals for SSH.
- half of working time hookup to a 23" monitor and another half mobile.

Pros of 13 rMBP:
- Warranty
- Faster SSD speed
- newer track pad technology

Cons of 13 rMBP:
- I did own a 2014 13 retina, and I noticed that sometimes the display is sluggish especially when it hook up to an external display, and when stretch the resolution larger than 1440x900. Not sure about if 15" has the same issue too.

Pros of 15 rMBP:
- larger screen estate
- perhaps smoother display and operation

Cons of 15 rMBP:
- no warranty
- unsure conditions of the machine
- slower ssd operation (might not aware that)

Both priced around $1,250.

which 1 should I go for?
 
Last edited:
Get the 15, use it for a week. If you don't like it, return it for the 13"?

But I would keep your cMBP until the new ones are released. As your list of tasks are not going to be considerably faster if you upgrade. The cMBP has held its value really well.
 
Sadly the ex-demo by the store is not returnable, no warranty, nothing is covered. You can only judge by how its looks and decide buy or not.

Not even can login to OS and check for the system report.
 
If you need quad core or a bigger screen get the 15 inch (SSD sequential speeds make little difference in every day use). The 2015 13 inch machine has no reports of sluggishness so if you are happy with the 13 inch size go for that.
 
friedkimchi said:
Get the 15, use it for a week. If you don't like it, return it for the 13"?

But I would keep your cMBP until the new ones are released. As your list of tasks are not going to be considerably faster if you upgrade. The cMBP has held its value really well.
Click to expand...
Any expectation for the new rMBP? Do you think if I sell my existing cMBP after WWDC can still getting hit he offer of $650?
 
Samuelsan2001 said:
If you need quad core or a bigger screen get the 15 inch (SSD sequential speeds make little difference in every day use). The 2015 13 inch machine has no reports of sluggishness so if you are happy with the 13 inch size go for that.
Click to expand...
I believe for my list of daily task a Quad Core doesn't help that much. But bigger screen is helpful when I'm on mobile and that's the reason why I noticed the sluggish in rMBP 13 2014 when stretch the resolution to 1600x900.

And one thing I noticed too when I hook up the rMBP 13 2014 to external monitor the sluggish gone. Do you think the 2015 will be handle better with the resolution of 1600x900? Or a 15 inch work better for retina? I have no idea about this.
 
73CortinaV8 said:
how the heck did a demo unit get a water mark? Did someone dump a drink on it in the store?
Click to expand...
I don't know. I try to use my finger to erase that (I though it was fingerprint) but couldn't do so. That even has a dented mark near HDMI port. But with that price is really tempted to get one, macbook pro in my country (Malaysia) is very expensive and 13 inch is the one that I can only afford if go to a new 1.

Too bad they don't allow me to login to the OS, I wanted to check the battery conditions and test all the Ports.
 
calvincty said:
Too bad they don't allow me to login to the OS, I wanted to check the battery conditions and test all the Ports.
Click to expand...

hmmm, why not? Are they trying to hide something? Then again, a demo unit would most likely be plugged in all the time so it probably has 0 battery cycles. (batteries still degrade over time, cycles or not).

Is this an apple store demo or some other retailer? The apple store re-oses their machines every night (it's automated), so there would definitely be some degrading of the ssd.
 
73CortinaV8 said:
hmmm, why not? Are they trying to hide something? Then again, a demo unit would most likely be plugged in all the time so it probably has 0 battery cycles. (batteries still degrade over time, cycles or not).

Is this an apple store demo or some other retailer? The apple store re-oses their machines every night (it's automated), so there would definitely be some degrading of the ssd.
Click to expand...
I obviously don't want to go into the conspiracy, but I would definitely insist on login in and checking to see if everything is working.
 
What's base spec ram on the 15"? Since you're running a VM I would not touch a machine with less than 8 Gb RAM, and you'll be happier with 16.

Normally I would vote for the 15" because of the extra screen real estate. (The only reason I have an MBP instead of an MBA is the 15" screen.) But I don't like the sound of the seller at all and I would not touch that deal if it were me. A seller that won't let you do anything with the machine is either an idiot or hiding something. Especially sans warranty!
 
73CortinaV8 said:
hmmm, why not? Are they trying to hide something? Then again, a demo unit would most likely be plugged in all the time so it probably has 0 battery cycles. (batteries still degrade over time, cycles or not).

Is this an apple store demo or some other retailer? The apple store re-oses their machines every night (it's automated), so there would definitely be some degrading of the ssd.
Click to expand...
It's a apple reseller store and the 15 inch is a Ex-demo. There's no official apple store in my country
 
kschendel said:
What's base spec ram on the 15"? Since you're running a VM I would not touch a machine with less than 8 Gb RAM, and you'll be happier with 16.

Normally I would vote for the 15" because of the extra screen real estate. (The only reason I have an MBP instead of an MBA is the 15" screen.) But I don't like the sound of the seller at all and I would not touch that deal if it were me. A seller that won't let you do anything with the machine is either an idiot or hiding something. Especially sans warranty!
Click to expand...
Base spec of the 15" is 16GB RAM and 256 ram with integrated graphics, the price of 15" is ridiculous high now after price hike last year due to the weak currency of my country.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back