Help choosing a macbook pro URGENT

I'd go with the 2012 15" model. The Quad core cpu is a big jump up especially for music production. If your buying used however, make sure to check your screen out and do the burn-in checkerboard test...I made the mistake of buying a used MacBook Pro 15" off craigslist and didn't give time to check for burn in, sure enough it had terrible burn in and I had to replace the screen myself. Personally if you can stretch the budget the 2013 models with the Iris Pro graphics are pretty solid. You get a nice bump in battery life, wireless AC, and little risk of burn in and display issues. (In another note...shame on Apple for not issuing a repair program on the lcd with burn in. My view of Apple has really gone done in the last 5 years...)

 

Agree with fenderbass146 - the i7 processor on the 2012 model is great and you can max out the memory for a reasonable price. You didn't mention the hard drives - but would suggest you add the cost of 500G ( or more) SSD for the 2012 if not already upgraded.

 

Definitely the 15" 2012 model for the extra processing power.

 

Also I should have added - unless you see a value of the HD screen ( I don't see the screen as an issue) - more processing power of the i7 and the faster HD upgrade to SSD will give you a super fast response for recording = less latency