Hi guys.
I need your help. I know there are hundreds, if not thousands of similar threads out there. I read many of these, I read buyers' guides, I talked to friends. Still I couldn't figure out which rMBP to buy.
So my ideal MBP, which of course doesn't exist, would be a 13" model with quad core i7, 16GB, 512GB and dedicated graphics.
So basically it'sa trade-off between power and mobility.
What do I do?
I'm a student. In the past I used to take my MacBook to university almost every day. Now that I do my Master's degree I almost never take it to university. In case I need a "computer" there I take my 10" inch tablet with me. Also: I'll finish university next year. So at the latest by the end of next year I will hopefully have a full-time job and I do not need to take a computer with me at all. Or at least not my own. So, mobility is not as important to me as it used to be. On the other hand, the latest 13" rMBP being so thin and light and having a reasonable battery life - maybe I'd take it with me more often again. (My current battery drains within 1-2 hours so I always need to take the cahrger with me, which is annoying as *****)
What do I do with the laptop?
Mainly getting office work done or surfing the Internet. Probably 80% of the time I do things that would not call for a Mac anyway. But the rest of the time I'm into all kinds of media-stuff. Especially music production. I love Logic Pro and my home studio has been growing the last months. This is the main reason why I wanna get a new computer anyway. My good ol' Late 2008 aluminum MacBook just isn't the right machine for producing.
In addition I also use Photoshop from time to time and I do ScreenCasts with ScreenFlow (Tutorials etc.). What else? I'm also a little bit into coding and day-trading and therefore I love to run several VMs at one time. Right now, the computer can handle OSX and a Parallels VM running Windows 8 quite good although CPU usage goes up and the fan is more or less constantly running high rpm in that time. Last but not least from time to time I'd like to run Boot Camp and do little gaming sessions.
At home screen size is not so important. I use a 24" inch IPS display with it.
What exact models do I have in mind?
- The high-end 15" inch with dedicated graphics.
- The mid 13" inch with 8GB RAM and 256GB.
The high-end 13" inch is out of the question because I think it's too little value-for-money as it costs almost as much as the low-end 15" inch model but comes with a way worse graphics card.
What else?
The high-end rMBP would be an investment with a time horizon of about 4-5 years. I think until then it should do more or less fine for my usecases. The 13" inch model though, as it costs less than half, could be replaced in as little as one year or maybe two, should I note that it is not good/fast enough for my needs. The absolute "depreciation" would not be so high and it would not hurt as much.
Another thought is that the 15" MPB with retina now weighs exactly as much as my current non retina 13" MB.
What other options do I have?
- Get a 27" inch iMac and for the sake of mobility keep my current MacBook.
Any suggestions appreciated.
I need your help. I know there are hundreds, if not thousands of similar threads out there. I read many of these, I read buyers' guides, I talked to friends. Still I couldn't figure out which rMBP to buy.
So my ideal MBP, which of course doesn't exist, would be a 13" model with quad core i7, 16GB, 512GB and dedicated graphics.
So basically it'sa trade-off between power and mobility.
What do I do?
I'm a student. In the past I used to take my MacBook to university almost every day. Now that I do my Master's degree I almost never take it to university. In case I need a "computer" there I take my 10" inch tablet with me. Also: I'll finish university next year. So at the latest by the end of next year I will hopefully have a full-time job and I do not need to take a computer with me at all. Or at least not my own. So, mobility is not as important to me as it used to be. On the other hand, the latest 13" rMBP being so thin and light and having a reasonable battery life - maybe I'd take it with me more often again. (My current battery drains within 1-2 hours so I always need to take the cahrger with me, which is annoying as *****)
What do I do with the laptop?
Mainly getting office work done or surfing the Internet. Probably 80% of the time I do things that would not call for a Mac anyway. But the rest of the time I'm into all kinds of media-stuff. Especially music production. I love Logic Pro and my home studio has been growing the last months. This is the main reason why I wanna get a new computer anyway. My good ol' Late 2008 aluminum MacBook just isn't the right machine for producing.
In addition I also use Photoshop from time to time and I do ScreenCasts with ScreenFlow (Tutorials etc.). What else? I'm also a little bit into coding and day-trading and therefore I love to run several VMs at one time. Right now, the computer can handle OSX and a Parallels VM running Windows 8 quite good although CPU usage goes up and the fan is more or less constantly running high rpm in that time. Last but not least from time to time I'd like to run Boot Camp and do little gaming sessions.
At home screen size is not so important. I use a 24" inch IPS display with it.
What exact models do I have in mind?
- The high-end 15" inch with dedicated graphics.
- The mid 13" inch with 8GB RAM and 256GB.
The high-end 13" inch is out of the question because I think it's too little value-for-money as it costs almost as much as the low-end 15" inch model but comes with a way worse graphics card.
What else?
The high-end rMBP would be an investment with a time horizon of about 4-5 years. I think until then it should do more or less fine for my usecases. The 13" inch model though, as it costs less than half, could be replaced in as little as one year or maybe two, should I note that it is not good/fast enough for my needs. The absolute "depreciation" would not be so high and it would not hurt as much.
Another thought is that the 15" MPB with retina now weighs exactly as much as my current non retina 13" MB.
What other options do I have?
- Get a 27" inch iMac and for the sake of mobility keep my current MacBook.
Any suggestions appreciated.
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