iMac 21" vs MBP 15"

[Vicen]

Hi.

I'm am going to buy my first Mac and I`m considering these options:
1.- 21" iMac upgraded with 8 Gb RAM, and 2.8GHz i7
2.- High end MBP 15"

I'm very interested in your suggestions. Which one would be a better option in terms of graphic performance?

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[iMarvin]

Hi.

I'm am going to buy my first Mac and I`m considering these options:
1.- 21" iMac upgraded with 8 Gb RAM, and 2.8GHz i7
2.- High end MBP 15"

I'm very interested in your suggestions. Which one would be a better option in terms of graphic performance?

Any comments would be appreciated.

I think the MBP would be faster than the iMac because of Turbo-boost. And you get 1gb of graphic memory instead of the 512mb on the iMac, plus you can carry it around. But the iMac has the bigger and better screen plus better speakers. I don't know man, it's a hard one!

 

[Swift Sketcher]

I just have a curiosity, is the top end MBP faster than the top and imac?

 

[thekev]

I just have a curiosity, is the top end MBP faster than the top and imac?

The top imac is faster overall. How much faster varies depending on what you are doing.


To the OP, you haven't mentioned what you need to do on this computer, or how you intend to use it. With a laptop, you're paying for the fact that you can set it down anywhere, anytime you like. It's just a matter of priorities and how you use it.

 

[iSayuSay]

What are you planning to do with this Mac?
If you want a bit mobile computer, what do you plan to do with it on the go?

Doing some project/works while traveling? Or just want a simple email checking, browsing, twitter/facebook?
If the latter, well .. just go with iMac, for mobility you can stick with iPad or even iPhone.

Like others said, if you buying a Macbook family, it means you pay for portability too. It's not all about performance, but also compactness. This is most noticeable on Macbook Air. For $999 you only get that far in term of performance, but then again it's lighter than most of laptop out there.

While on the other fence, iMac give you raw performance, bang for your buck. Heck even iMac have the same value with some PCs out there.
Low end 21.5" iMac is almost on par with highest end Macbook Pro (at least the early 2011, since recently hi-end MBP have small GPU upgrade). And you get that for "only" $1200 .. same as low end 13" MBP.

So, because I don't do mobile job so often, I picked iMac and iPhone on the go (yes, a 3.5" display iPhone for my mobile computing). I had Macbook Air once, but decide I don't need it, the display, color, contrast is not as vibrant as the iMac has, so I sold it.

 

[Icaras]

I think the MBP would be faster than the iMac because of Turbo-boost. And you get 1gb of graphic memory instead of the 512mb on the iMac, plus you can carry it around. But the iMac has the bigger and better screen plus better speakers. I don't know man, it's a hard one!

The iMac has Turboboost too, as well as a faster processor to boot.

Graphics on the MBP should be slightly superior out of the box but then the iMac wins out with faster processing.

 

[Kendo]

Hi.

I'm am going to buy my first Mac and I`m considering these options:
1.- 21" iMac upgraded with 8 Gb RAM, and 2.8GHz i7
2.- High end MBP 15"

I'm very interested in your suggestions. Which one would be a better option in terms of graphic performance?

Any comments would be appreciated.

I'd recommend the base 15" MacBook Pro since the new models just came out and the iMac is heading towards the end of it's cycle.

If it were the February 2011 MacBook Pro models, I would have definitely recommended the high-end because of the anemic 256MB Radeon 6490M. But the new base 15" model has an excellent GPU so it really isn't worth spending $400 for a slight boost in CPU, GPU, and HDD space.

Graphic performance should be about the same for both models. MacBook Pro might even run a tad better the iMac has to push a higher resolution.

 

[alust2013]

I'd recommend the base 15" MacBook Pro since the new models just came out and the iMac is heading towards the end of it's cycle.

If it were the February 2011 MacBook Pro models, I would have definitely recommended the high-end because of the anemic 256MB Radeon 6490M. But the new base 15" model has an excellent GPU so it really isn't worth spending $400 for a slight boost in CPU, GPU, and HDD space.

Graphic performance should be about the same for both models. MacBook Pro might even run a tad better the iMac has to push a higher resolution.

I don't think we will see an iMac release for a while though, because there's not really anything for them to upgrade it to. There's no Ivy Bridge yet or amazing new graphics cards.

 

[Kendo]

I don't think we will see an iMac release for a while though, because there's not really anything for them to upgrade it to. There's no Ivy Bridge yet or amazing new graphics cards.

True. But I was simply going by the MacRumors Buyer's Guide. Also, the MacBook Pros just had a spec bump with no Ivy Bridge or amazing new graphics either.

 

[Vicen]

Thanks

Thank you for you comments. To give you more information IsayuSay the portability for me is not a great issue. I just want to save space in my little apartment, so having a laptop that I can close and put on a shelve instead of a 21" screen on my desk is something to consider.

The use that I want to give the computer is internet browsing, word processing, numbers, photo (iPhoto), watch movies, listen to music and some gaming (nothing serious, but I would like to play Diablo III, for instance).

Also, I thought that and iMac with 8Gb ram, and a slightly better processor (i7 2.8Ghz instead 2.4Ghz) would outperform the high end 15" MBP with 4Gb Ram. Am I wrong??

 

[Trouble1]

Mbp mbp mbp

We love our MBP, take it everywhere with us, use in the living room, bedroom, on vacation and we have a 24" screen in the office.
A lot more versatility IMO.

 

[trip1ex]

iMacs are faster per dollar.