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JJ452

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 18, 2010
18
0
I was wondering if you could give me some advice on which Mac to purchase.

I am graduating in a few days and have got a job (Linux development environment mostly) and I have won a contract to develop an iOS and Android application for a different company.

With this in mind could you recommend me which Mac to get? I will be using it solely for work as I’ve a 2k gaming machine built 6 months ago. I will also be using this quite often on the bus or train or any place I get free time. It should also be noted I can still get the education discount.

I was initially thinking of the 13” air for its size (easy to use on the bus) but am worried the CPU may not be able to handle the virtualisation of the operating systems without having the fans on full blast all of the time.

I then moved to the low end MBP (added the high res antiglare screen and factored in an aftermarket 16GB RAM upgrade and 256GB SSD) but this comes in just about £100 lower than the low end rMBP with the 16GB RAM upgrade….. and doesn't have the awesomeness of the rMBP.

The only thing I’m worried about the rMBP is if I land another contract for larger apps and I need more storage etc I’d be forced to get an external drive which makes me think I should spring for the high end model (512GB). I’m also concerned about carrying a laptop that is worth almost 2k around with me everywhere and the fact that it will have to go back to apple for any sort of repairs.

I enjoy listening to music while I work usually through my headphones but sometimes through the speakers. If anyone could comment on the sound differences through each of these (if any) it would be appreciated.
 
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