MacBook pro 13" advice

[DocFuentes]

Hi,
I am about to buy my first MacBook to use for the daily emailing and web browsing plus some photo and video editing.

I am looking at the MacBook Pro 13" - with either 256 or 512 GB SSD - and I would like to upgrade to 16GB Ram, as I want it to work really smoothly with large video/photo files simultaneously - and also when I have many applications open at the same time.

However, I really cannot decide between the 256 and the 512 SSD. Currently I only need 256, but I hope to keep the MacBook for 4 years at least - and the 512 SSD seems to be a good investment for future-proofing the system.

Also, if I go for the 256 version, would it then still make sense to upgrade the CPU from 2.7 to 2.9 Ghz ?

Hope some of you experienced Mac users can give me a piece of advice here? Thanks...

 

[Ulenspiegel]

Hello Doc,

a). As you are into photography and video I think your anticipation is absolutely correct, the 512 SSD would be a better choise.
b). I don't think that the 2.9 GHz will make a noticable difference.

 

[DocFuentes]

Hello Doc,

a). As you are into photography and video I think your anticipation is absolutely correct, the 512 SSD would be a better choise.
b). I don't think that the 2.9 GHz will make a noticable difference.

Thanks for the reply. One additional question - what is your opinion on the upgrade to 16 GB Ram.... Will the extra ram be needed for the photo/video editing, or is it a waste of money?

 

[Ulenspiegel]

Well, the size of RAM always generates heated disputes here, in MR.
To be very honest with you I don't have a fetish for bigger RAM as OS X handles random access memory extremely effectively. My problem is, in your case, that you would like to use it for video editing paralelly with some applications. In this case more RAM can be useful.

Here are 2 threads dealing with this question, first was started by (RAM) Meister who is one of our most knowledgable members in this field:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-much-ram-do-i-need-in-my-macbook.1756865/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-much-does-ram-matter-with-video-editing.1562388/

 

[mediamentor]

Hi DocFuentes,

I am also a Photographer and Videographer but specialize more in 3D and VFX. I would say, if budget isn't a concern then get the faster processor 2.9ghz, larger 512 SSD, and 16gigs of RAM. You won't noticed much difference between 2.7 and 2.9ghz except only when rendering videos or applying filters, however we are talking about 1 to 2 seconds difference and at times, none at all, I personally think the 512SSD and 16gigs or RAM is more important because the video footages and RAW Photographs will fill up the drive space quickly and the RAM (assuming that you use Lightroom, Photoshop, and Capture One) will make your editing and filters faster plus, you will be able to multitask and have multiple Applications open without stuttering. In Photoshop, having enough RAM is essential whether you're editing .JPGS or RAW Images, the amount of filters and layers will use up most of it and once it runs out, the computer will began to use the Hard drive as temporary write disk, if there isn't have enough Drive Space, it can result in you not being able to save your work, give you a Scratch Disk Error, or bring the computer to a crawl and even crash it. I have a Mid 2014 15inch Macbook Pro, 2.8ghz 16gigs of RAM and 1TB SSD and one of my friends has the same model except his has a 2.5ghz with a 512SSD and the only thing I noticed that was considerately faster was the 1TB SSD.... Hope this helps... good luck

 

[DocFuentes]

Thanks for the feedback mediamentor.

It sounds like I should go for the 2.9, 16GB, 512 GB version.

The only thing that holds me back right now is the integrated graphics on the 13". I wonder if this will be fast enough for video editing/rendering ? Do you have any experiences with this?

 

[mediamentor]

DocFuentes, when rendering videos, the computer will mostly depend on its CPU vs GPU however a more powerful GPU can make HD video footage more fluid when it comes to editing, applying effects, accelerating playback (this also depends on the speed of your hard drive) and Compressing or Decompressing videos... i.e., CUDA vs OpenCL (Premiere Pro vs Final Cut Pro), although most of the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite is OPTIMIZED (Keyword) for CUDA it will also support OpenCL. You are looking at the battle between AMD and nVidia. nVidia cards will support both CUDA and OpenCL whereas AMD cards will only support OpenCL. Apple's proprietary software such as Final Cut Pro and Motion does not require CUDA enabled video cards so that is why Apple is able to switch to AMD from nVidia or vice versa depending on price points and contracts, ... I personally will pick CUDA over OpenCL any day because I use software that needs it in order to function optimally such as the Autodesk and Adobe Products, plus I have the best of both worlds (CUDA and OpenCL) ... it's also one of the reasons why I prefer the 2014 15inch Macbook Pros over the current, here's a link to further explain CUDA vs. OpenCL.

http://www.researchgate.net/post/Which_one_do_you_prefer_CUDA_or_OpenCL

The 13inch Macbook Pro is fine for what you want to do but if the video card is important... keep in mind that all 13 Macbook Pros do not have the Iris Pro (Crystalwell) GPUs which is the higher end of the Iris Video Cards. They only come with Iris HDGraphics not Pro; both do not support CUDA only OpenCL


Hope this clarify things...

 

[Meister]

Get the 15" if you think you need upgrades. Never upgrade the 13". It's a rip off.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Thanks for the feedback mediamentor.

It sounds like I should go for the 2.9, 16GB, 512 GB version.

The only thing that holds me back right now is the integrated graphics on the 13". I wonder if this will be fast enough for video editing/rendering ? Do you have any experiences with this?

To be honest unless you need the portability the 15 inch will be a better option for your use case if you can stretch your budget to it. Even the IRIS pro graphics are much better than the IRIS for video editing and the quad core will make a difference with all your editing apps.

 

[mediamentor]

Good point Samuelsan2001,

DocFuentes, the 13inch Macbook Pros are only dual cores... don't let the Core i5 and i7 spec fool you, it doesn't automatically mean quad cores... I think if portability or budget isn't of a concern then all signs point to the 15inch...

 

[tjleonard]

I personally have a 13" retina, 16gb ram, 512gb hd, and i7 (Late 2013). I have seen reports of 13" retina's lagging doing some things, although mine has always ran buttery smooth. Since you can't upgrade it after the fact, I would personally go ahead and deck it out, especially if you want to hold on to it that long...

As for the 13 vs the 15...I travel off and on and carry mine to and from work. If I never moved it, I would opt for a 15 but since I do move it, I love the size of the 13.

Either way, I think both the 13 and 15 will be fantastic with those specs. Worst case, it's not - and you can send it back in the return period.