I am a college student and currently doing Graphic Design and Product Design, my work load can get heavy and my macbook pro 13inch 2011 slows down when the going gets tough, I'm looking for a larger display and maybe another machine all together. There are three options really. Firstly the 27inch mac with a 3.1ghz i5 processor, a Mac mini with the i7 dual core and maybe an ssd hooked up to a thunderbolt display (could use it for my macbook pro as an option swell) or the third option is to upgrade my macbook pro to 8gb ram and get a thunderbolt display. I have the apple keyboard and magic mouse already also. What do you guys think would be the best option?
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iMac27inch 3.1 i5 or 2.7 i7 Macmini with Thunderbolt display
- Thread starter bridgesldn
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Maybe youre right about the cpu. But how about gpu? GPU options on Mac mini are suck at best. iGP or Radeon 6470M just wont cut it. Plus iMac have 4 RAM slots compared to 2slots on Mini, means iMac can have more RAM without blowing up your wallet.
So I say sell MBP & its peripherals and get the bloody iMac. Or keep your MBp if you need to get mobile often.
The Mac Mini's i7 processor is a dual-core mobile part, and will not outperform the quad-core desktop i5 that's in the iMac. Take a look at the benchmarks around the web. There is also the AMD 6630m vs 6970m to consider.
That said, upping the RAM on the MBP and attaching it to a larger display is the more cost effective option. However, if you're considering adding an SSD and/or new Apple TB display, then it's not by much. Apple sells the 3.1GHz iMac refurbished for $1659. That's less than what the low-end 27" iMac sells for brand new (fresh out of China), and both come with the same 1-year warranty with optional Applecare.