Help, I'm buying my first Apple laptop. My uses are.....

Well if you are trying to future proof, you should probably go for the 16gb of ram. Many people have gone for the 2.6/16/512 and plan on using it for 3-4 years, so I think that would be a great option. I went for the 768 ssd due to the fact this is my main machine and I like to have a lot of movies and what not on the device. 512 would have been doable for me, no way the 256, but the 768 just made sense going forward for me.

 

This is an excellent suggestion. I'd ad the hi-res anti-glare option & you'll have one very nice new Mac.

 

um there is no anti-glare hi res option for the rmbp.

 

Future proofing is a myth The 2.7Ghz CPU will become outdated at the same time as the 2.3Ghz CPU. So the most important variable here is the storage. Is 512GB enough for you, or is it pushing it? I'd get the cheapest model which still offers enough storage. Also, if you intend to use Parallels heavily, consider upgrading to 16GB RAM.

 

Futureproofing

8GB is more then plenty, by getting 16GB of RAM it'll be safe to say that you're Mac will still be good 3-4 years down the road. Trying to future proof a processor would be very unlikely.

In addition the new Retina display is a game changer to most competitors out there, with the only high resolution laptop. 1080p is getting old and the Retina display may be the next standard resolution size out there.

If you can afford it go for it

 

Sorry, I missed that you were talking about the retina version.

 

I don't think we can answer that for you. You have to look and see what the movies are.

IMO, there is no point in "future proofing" your laptop. You're going to drop $2000 extra just trying to make this computer last an extra year or two. What is the point of that?

You could easily BUY ANOTHER LAPTOP with that $2000 in 2 years! And guaranteed that new laptop will be more powerful than any laptop this year. Spend ~$2000 now, and spend $2000 2 years from now. You'll have 2 laptops and the second one will be more powerful than any laptop currently available.

My suggested setup: 2.3/16/256. You already have an external drive, so what is the point in spending $500 for 256GB when you have and will use an external? The 2.6 might help, but the 16GB RAM will definitely help with your virtual machine.

 

Future proofing is a bit tenuous these days at the rate Apple is cutting off support for OS X earlier than ever. For years most user could think of keeping their Mac up to date with the latest OS.

However in today's highly charged "Apples Out To Destroy" mentality, it's anyone's guess as to the future moves of this once very positive & reliable company.

Just one look at the list of relatively new Macs that have been locked out of upgrading to Mountain Lion reveals the facts.

Apples on a tear to force upgrade everyone who wishes to run the latest into expensive new retina models. Based on current trends it won't be long & Apple will obsolete all current MBA's with more expensive MBAr Retina models, just wait and see.

Apples on a roll as the Cash Cow of the Century...

 

Agreed! It's going to be hard to keep up with Apple's latest trends but years down the road, performance wise may still satisfy users ! Especially with the extra RAM upgrade.

 

2.6/16/512

Eventually you'll be able to buy a third party SSD upgrade for it (likely through OWC) but the RAM is soldered so it's do or die upon order for that spec.

 

Yeah, the SSD isn't soldered, the RAM [however] is...

But, we don't know how expensive the aftermarket SSDs will be for the rMBP when they're released thru OWC or someone else...

I would def. go for the 16GB RAM model. That's the only real bottleneck I foresee with this portable computer!

 

No perceivable difference really. The bump to 16 GB of RAM is a wise one. Order away

And no, the SSD is not soldered. Just the RAM.