Help with Macbook Pro buying

[mikejefferson3]

Hi all,

This is my first post so I will introduce myself quickly. My name is Mike, I currently have an iPhone 5, iPad 2 and a mac pro with 16gb RAM and 4tb Hard drive, which I want to start upgrading again soon but first I went to get myself a macbook pro!

I do a bit of recording with logic but I tend to do it at various different locations which is why I am investing in the macbook. My girlfriend will probably use it for a bit of photoshop work as well and I'm also a regular user of iMovie.

I'm fairly dead set on getting the 13" macbook pro with retina display but I'm a little stuck on speccing it. I don't want to pay for loads of extras but at the same time I don't want to regret not getting the upgrade later on. For my uses, which processor, RAM and hard drive options would you choose.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[B...]

Hi Mike.

The 13" rMBP is a great computer for those needs. I would consider maybe waiting since the 13" cannot be spec'ed with 16 GB RAM. That might be a key option with the new ones at WWDC 2013 in June. That aside, the i7 processor might be a good ugrade but it, in all honesty, will probably not help so much that it is necessary over the i5. SSD is next, and since you have a 4 TB HDD in your MP, you should be able to survive on 256 GB, and maybe even 128.

So, if you were to buy a computer NOW, I would say:

1) MacBook Pro with Retina 13"
2.6 GHz processor i5
256 GB SSD
$1699

2) MacBook Pro with Retina 13"
2.9/3.0 GHz processor i7
256/128 GB SSD
$1599-1799

3) MAYBE consider a 15"
i7 quad core processor 2.4 GHz
256 GB SSD
$2200

 

[Colpeas]

I would vote for current 15" cMBP or wait for haswell update (in case you insist on having a Retina display). It will surely bring substantially better integrated graphics performance, which is essential for work of that kind. I mean, for decent performance is such apps.
Current retinas reportedly have a lot of problems with handling their own screen, especially if they need to scale the content. That said, even Safari can lag on an i7 Retina. I don't want to imagine, how would it handle photoshop or iMovie stuff. Seriously, wait for Haswell or get the 15-incher with GT650M.

 

[ColdCase]

The cMBP is kinda clunky, however, not all that portable. It is more flexible as far as upgrades but is otherwise more old school.

The rMBP lagging and performance complaints have tailed off with recent SW upgrades and the 2013 refresh. But those beautiful IPS screens are going to lag to someone with OCD regardless of whether it is a laptop or 27 inch display.