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How much RAM and storage should I get?

L

Luz Rodríguez

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 4, 2015
5
0
So I have an early-2011 13" Macbook Pro and I've been holding out for a new rMBP for a while since it's getting slower and slower every day. I use a lot of Photoshop and Illustrator and some video editing on Premiere since I'm a digital media major. I'm considering a 13" rMBP and I'm wondering if I should upgrade to the 16GB RAM option, is it worth it? And for storage I'm thinking 256 or 512 GB, currently I have an almost full 320GB HDD and an external HDD of 1TB, but the price jump is quite significant, so I'm not sure.

What do you guys think?
 
Luz Rodríguez said:
So I have an early-2011 13" Macbook Pro and I've been holding out for a new rMBP for a while since it's getting slower and slower every day. I use a lot of Photoshop and Illustrator and some video editing on Premiere since I'm a digital media major. I'm considering a 13" rMBP and I'm wondering if I should upgrade to the 16GB RAM option, is it worth it? And for storage I'm thinking 256 or 512 GB, currently I have an almost full 320GB HDD and an external HDD of 1TB, but the price jump is quite significant, so I'm not sure.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

I think you should consider upgrading your existing MPB. You can install 16 GB RAM in your model, plus add in a 500 GB SSD and I am sure you will be very pleased with the performance.

RAM here:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_1333MHz_SDRAM

SSD here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4P02T78963

The hardware are just suggestions to give you an idea of the prices involved, but for a total of $334, that is a whole lot less than the $2000 (depending on the options you select) you are likely to spend on a new model.

Hope it helps.
 
Luz Rodríguez said:
So I have an early-2011 13" Macbook Pro and I've been holding out for a new rMBP for a while since it's getting slower and slower every day. I use a lot of Photoshop and Illustrator and some video editing on Premiere since I'm a digital media major. I'm considering a 13" rMBP and I'm wondering if I should upgrade to the 16GB RAM option, is it worth it? And for storage I'm thinking 256 or 512 GB, currently I have an almost full 320GB HDD and an external HDD of 1TB, but the price jump is quite significant, so I'm not sure.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Like the guy above said, I would consider upgrading your computer. What processor do you have? If it's an i5/i7, I'd just add ram and swap the HDD for a new SSD. Save the money, today's 13" rMBP are still rocking dual-core ultra low power cpus.
 
prisstratton said:
I think you should consider upgrading your existing MPB. You can install 16 GB RAM in your model, plus add in a 500 GB SSD and I am sure you will be very pleased with the performance.

RAM here:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_1333MHz_SDRAM

SSD here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4P02T78963

The hardware are just suggestions to give you an idea of the prices involved, but for a total of $334, that is a whole lot less than the $2000 (depending on the options you select) you are likely to spend on a new model.

Hope it helps.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much. I've considered this, too, of course. The thing is, right now I have the economic possibility of getting a new Macbook and it's very likely that if I don't do it now, I won't be able to do so in a few years so I'm weighing both options and leaning towards getting a new one altogether.
 
I have an early 2011 13'' too. I think SSD swap will increase your machine's performance. Mine has 8 GB ram and it's plenty for my usage (look at my signature for my MBP specs). You should check the Activity Monitor when you are working on you assignment. Do you have Photoshop and Illustrator and some video editing on Premiere open at the same time? If yes then 16GB will benefit it. Do you NEED to have all those applications open at the same time? If not then open when you need it.
 
If you are content with the screen size and resolution of your current machine than you should absolutely go the extra RAM/SSD route. As someone who works with digital media myself constantly (Photoshop/FCPX/After Effects etc.) I would recommend you go the 15" route if you are indeed going to upgrade now. The extra screen real estate, quad-core CPU plus dedicated GPU make a pretty big difference.
 
Your computer isn't any slower than it used to be. If it suddenly started becoming slow it could very well be that your hard drive is on its way out. Hard drives tend to slow to a crawl before dying.
 
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