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If it was your money.. [return early-2013 and get late-2013 rMBP?]

D

Dovahkiing

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 1, 2013
483
473
Alright, so I picked up my refurb 15" rMBP early 2013 base model last week. Everything about it is perfectly fine for now. However, I've been thinking a lot about the inability to upgrade this thing going forward and I'm considering returning it and swapping it out for the top-end current "late-2013" rMBP.

With the education pricing I'll get on the new one, it would be an additional $780 out-of-pocket. When I bought it, I considered this an unnecessary expense.

Now I'm thinking it isn't so bad since I'd be looking at $500+ just to upgrade the hard drive in a year or two. Also, as I'm sure I don't have to point out, I'd be getting a lot more for that additional $780 than just extra SSD space.

Double the SSD space, double the RAM, double the video RAM on a better dGPU, better integrated graphics, a newer CPU with +2MB on the L3 cache, and PCIe based memory...

I don't know. Any opinions? The other way to go would be to just hold off, sell this machine in 2-3 years and buy whatever awesome new computer Apple is selling by then.
 
Dovahkiing said:
I don't know. Any opinions? The other way to go would be to just hold off, sell this machine in 2-3 years and buy whatever awesome new computer Apple is selling by then.
Click to expand...
In terms of bang for your buck, this is absolutely the better approach. This was a pretty ho-hum upgrade in terms of raw performance. That $780 really isn't getting you a whole heck of a lot over the previous generation; in fact, most of that gap is explained by the refurbished part of the equation.

The 750M is almost identical to the 650M, the CPUs are within spitting distance of each other, etc. Plus, if you factor in depreciation, the refurb wins there too.

I'd pocket the money, personally, unless you're loaded...and if you're loaded, well, then there's no reason to ask the question, is there? :)
 
I was fortunate in that I was able to get my 2.6/16/512 Haswell for only ~$200 more than the refurb would have cost.

For a $700 difference though, I would definitely stick with the refurb. Way better deal, and really no appreciable difference in resale value if you're looking to hang onto it for 3+ years.
 
If this was me......

If I had money to blow that I didn't care about, I would get the new model.

If I didn't have money to blow, I would be happy with the refurb.

For me personally, I love new. I don't like remanufactured stuff. I just have OCD like that. However, my money always outweighs what I want.

As for the specs...

The video card is pretty much the same card. Depending on what you are doing, you probably wont notice much difference. Like for gaming you might notice a somewhere between 5 and 10 fps.

For the onboard vid, yeah the new one I believe is better but for tougher tasks you would use the dGPU I would guess... so that wont make much difference there either.

For the RAM... yes 16 is double 8, but what do you use it for? If you are just a standard user then the 8gigs is probably still good for another 4 years. Same with gaming. If you do heavy graphics work or use VMs or stuff like that then 16 would definitely be better long term.

Storage space is always nice. How much do you need to store on your portable. You can get an external relatively cheap and transfer stuff back and forth relatively quickly. I have mine hooked to my router and can get my stuff anywhere I have wifi.

All that matters is if you feel the extra ram and extra onboard storage is worth an extra $780 TO YOU.
 
My money. I'd keep what you have and get the latest greatest in a couple years. That is without knowing what you do with your machine.

I have 8gb of ram in my 2010 macbook pro. I need more but I am maxed out at 8gb. I will sill wait at least 2 more years before I replace this system because of the cost associated with it. Even then I will get a refurbished one through apple.

If money is not the issue and your studies require a top notch system go for it.
 
u will not notice a difference between the 2. they look the same and for 90% of people on here, spending an extra 700 dollars for a even more powerful facebook machine isnt gonna make the experience better :D:D:D:D
 
Dovahkiing said:
Double the SSD space, double the RAM, double the video RAM on a better dGPU, better integrated graphics, a newer CPU with +2MB on the L3 cache, and PCIe based memory...
Click to expand...

Sorry to go against the current here, but for that improvement in specs I would no doubt return your refurb and get the new model.
 
I would beg to differ the ssd is faster in the new one that actually might be worth the cost of that upgrade. Although the gpu's speed is nearly the same the extra video memory means the macbook pro won't lag when connected to big external screens that you might use in the future. Haswell is also more energy efficient that the ivy bridge so you have greater battery life. And don't forget thunderbolt2 and 4k video. 4k will likely be cheaper about 2 years down the road. There's a lot of under the hood changes as well like ac wireless. So there is a lot of differences that might make it more valuable.

If you are however just focused on playing games there's no need to change.
 
You won't notice the extra 1GB VRam. The dGPUs are almost the same....
For 780$ i could buy a nice gaming pc or a PS4...
 
For $780 extra, I wouldn't bother.

Worse case in a few months you find you still want to the newer one, they'll probably be available in the refurbished store, and you can sell you old one.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

Most of these upgrades are wants and not needs for my usage, so I appreciate the feedback.

That being said, the whole reason I started thinking about this is hard drive space. I feel like I kind of cheaped out getting only 256GB. I thought this would be fine, but it's only been a week and I'm having major regrets. I have about 105GB of photo/iTunes media, so I've off-loaded that all onto an external HD. Again, I didn't think this would bother me in theory; but in practice I find it quite annoying. Then there's the windows games. Win7 itself is a bit of a space hog, so on its 100GB partition there's only about ~70 left after installation. At ~15-20 GB / game, thats not enough room to install everything I own. Again, not a huge problem; just a little frustrating.

So I definitely want to upgrade the hard drive within my ownership of the machine. I'm looking at $500+ to do that anyway; so should I spend the extra $250-300 on all this other stuff?

The refurb early 2013 with only the hard drive upgrade would be the cheapest option, but buying that would require me to be without a computer for a few days (return this one within the 14 day period and wait 1-5 business days + shipping). This isn't an option because I need to be able to access my works intranet at all times. I already sold my old laptop: stupid me for cheaping out in the first place!
 
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So I definitely want to upgrade the hard drive within my ownership of the machine. I'm looking at $500+ to do that anyway; so should I spend the extra $250-300 on all this other stuff?
Click to expand...

Right now for those price points you could stay with your machine and get a +900GB ssd. If having everything on one system and room to grow over the next 2 to 3 years is important.

Will you be doing the upgrade yourself? If not does that price include Labor?

I ask because I would not let anyone but apple open up my rMBP or new iMac. You want the pros to glue that stuff back together (or at least guarantee their work)

If you are sure that 512 is large enough for the next few years I'd get the new computer.
 
Dovahkiing said:
So I definitely want to upgrade the hard drive within my ownership of the machine. I'm looking at $500+ to do that anyway; so should I spend the extra $250-300 on all this other stuff?

The refurb early 2013 with only the hard drive upgrade would be the cheapest option, but buying that would require me to be without a computer for a few days (return this one within the 14 day period and wait 1-5 business days + shipping). This isn't an option
Click to expand...

Honestly, this part tells me you've already made up your mind. You need more space and you can't go with a refurb. I guess option C would be to order the refurb, return yours, buy a new one, and then return the new one once your refurb arrives. It's slightly shady, although not unethical or immoral IMO, but it's an option.
 
push/pull said:
Right now for those price points you could stay with your machine and get a +900GB ssd. If having everything on one system and room to grow over the next 2 to 3 years is important.

Will you be doing the upgrade yourself? If not does that price include Labor?

I ask because I would not let anyone but apple open up my rMBP or new iMac. You want the pros to glue that stuff back together (or at least guarantee their work)

If you are sure that 512 is large enough for the next few years I'd get the new computer.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm not aware of all the hard drive upgrade options. I was under the impression the only two places to get SSDs for the rMBP were either from Apple or OWC. OWC charges $530 for the 480GB ssd.

What's this 900GB ssd you're talking about?
 
john123 said:
Honestly, this part tells me you've already made up your mind. You need more space and you can't go with a refurb. I guess option C would be to order the refurb, return yours, buy a new one, and then return the new one once your refurb arrives. It's slightly shady, although not unethical or immoral IMO, but it's an option.
Click to expand...

heh, yeah that does seem kind of shady.

----------
jondunford said:
probably the 1tb one after it been formatted and os x installed
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what I was thinking too, but that only comes from Apple. Going on eBay for $1000+
 
Dovahkiing said:
Alright, so I picked up my refurb 15" rMBP early 2013 base model last week. Everything about it is perfectly fine for now. However, I've been thinking a lot about the inability to upgrade this thing going forward and I'm considering returning it and swapping it out for the top-end current "late-2013" rMBP.

With the education pricing I'll get on the new one, it would be an additional $780 out-of-pocket. When I bought it, I considered this an unnecessary expense.

Now I'm thinking it isn't so bad since I'd be looking at $500+ just to upgrade the hard drive in a year or two. Also, as I'm sure I don't have to point out, I'd be getting a lot more for that additional $780 than just extra SSD space.

Double the SSD space, double the RAM, double the video RAM on a better dGPU, better integrated graphics, a newer CPU with +2MB on the L3 cache, and PCIe based memory...

I don't know. Any opinions? The other way to go would be to just hold off, sell this machine in 2-3 years and buy whatever awesome new computer Apple is selling by then.
Click to expand...

If it was my money, I'd save the $780 and either wait for Broadwell in early 2015, or Skylake in 2016.

Use your current system as you should easily be able to eke out 2 - 3 years.
 
john123 said:
Broadwell will be out in the second half of next year.
Click to expand...

But no guarantee that Macs will have them immediately. I'm playing it safe.

From what I've read, there will be a Haswell "refresh" first, which I believe we will see in October 2014 for the Macbook Pros.
 
rMBP2013 said:
But no guarantee that Macs will have them immediately. I'm playing it safe.

From what I've read, there will be a Haswell "refresh" first, which I believe we will see in October 2014 for the Macbook Pros.
Click to expand...

I don't know what it is that you've read, but I find that highly unlikely. First, going a year without any sort of release is atypical. There's almost always some sort of speed bump, even if it's a lame one (the lamest perhaps ever was the one this past February). Second, the "2nd half 2014" number already reflects the slip on Intel's side; Broadwell was original supposed to come earlier in 2014 but was pushed back. Third, the commonly accepted reason that we had to wait this long for these Haswell rMBPs was to get sufficient supply of the Crystalwell chips, as they came out later and were in shorter supply.

I'd bet a whole lot of money we won't be waiting a year to see a refresh on existing architecture. That's insane. It isn't like Apple just sits on new stuff for kicks.
 
john123 said:
I don't know what it is that you've read, but I find that highly unlikely. First, going a year without any sort of release is atypical. There's almost always some sort of speed bump, even if it's a lame one (the lamest perhaps ever was the one this past February). Second, the "2nd half 2014" number already reflects the slip on Intel's side; Broadwell was original supposed to come earlier in 2014 but was pushed back. Third, the commonly accepted reason that we had to wait this long for these Haswell rMBPs was to get sufficient supply of the Crystalwell chips, as they came out later and were in shorter supply.

I'd bet a whole lot of money we won't be waiting a year to see a refresh on existing architecture. That's insane. It isn't like Apple just sits on new stuff for kicks.
Click to expand...

Fair points. Now let's wait and see what happens.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. After some deliberation, I've decided to just be happy with the great deal I got on this refurbished model. Most of you are right and I'm just getting caught up in the spec sheet.

As far as gaming goes, this machine is running Skyrim, my most graphically intensive game, on high settings at 60FPS with vsync on -- and that's good enough for me :).

As far as storage goes, I think I'll settle for the nifty/mini drive.

Many thanks!
 
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