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MacBook Pro 13 Buying Advice

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PaulMac89

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 1, 2020
11
3
Brampton, Ontario
Trying to decide between a new 2020 MacBook Pro 13 8 GB RAM / 512 GB , at $2100 Canadian, and an Apple Refurb 2020 MacBook Pro 13 16 GB RAM / 256 GB, at $2145.00 Cdn.

I'll use it mainly for word processing, web surfing, giving presentations to classes, online teaching using Zoom, and some limited iMovie and Photo video editing.

I'm leaning towards the refurb, as I think 16 GB RAM is more useful than the 512 GB SSD. What would others on the forum advise? Thanks!
 
PaulMac89 said:
I'll use it mainly for word processing, web surfing, giving presentations to classes, online teaching using Zoom, and some limited iMovie and Photo video editing.
Click to expand...
I would say that with this pattern of activities, you will be safe with 8gb of RAM for following years.
My professor gets by old Air with 4Gb of RAM for the same activities with no hiccups.
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I think 512GB of storage is preferable. Why? Because on SSD drives you want to keep at least 30% empty for following reasons:
1) SSD will write many temp files and swap RAM, so if you leave it with free 10GB of storage, it will burn down a hole by writing/rewriting into that small space, which will cause eventually fail of the drive.
2) SSD speeds suffer a lot when full. So for max speed of the drive you need to keep 30% free.
30% of 512 = 358GB free for use to you.
30% of 256 = 179GB free for use only.
======================
You can watch a lot of videos on YT. You will realize that bigger storage is a feasible feature and you will enjoy it directly: for example by importing photos from your 128/256 GB iphone storage.
While 16GB of RAM is not easily feasible. Sometimes it will help you, sometimes you won't notice the difference between 8 and 16.
======================
On my current MBP 13, i feel cramped because of the space, rather than RAM. I am above average user.
I feel that 5% of the time, 8GB of RAM is limiting for me. 11-12GB would be good for my maximum load tasks.
While 100% of the time i feel my 128 GB storage limits me.
All in all, i am not ready to pay $200 for 16GB of RAM, which will help me only in 5% of the cases.
 
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If I was deciding between those two configs, I'd agree with you about going for the refurb 16/256. You can always use an external drive to store your iMovie files and even your Photos library if either expands in size to warrant it. You can do this on the same external drive you use for Time Machine too.
 
Either will work for you, in cases like this I go for the extra ram, storage is easier to handle later
 
With a smaller storage capacity at least you would always have the ability to attach an external drive and use it to store data and move things around as needed if space becomes an issue on the MacBook. You can’t do that with RAM, what you buy is what you get.
 
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PaulMac89 said:
Trying to decide between a new 2020 MacBook Pro 13 8 GB RAM / 512 GB , at $2100 Canadian, and an Apple Refurb 2020 MacBook Pro 13 16 GB RAM / 256 GB, at $2145.00 Cdn.

I'll use it mainly for word processing, web surfing, giving presentations to classes, online teaching using Zoom, and some limited iMovie and Photo video editing.

I'm leaning towards the refurb, as I think 16 GB RAM is more useful than the 512 GB SSD. What would others on the forum advise? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Are you sure about those prices though? I see the refurb 8/256 2020 MBP 13" for $1439 Cdn, not $2145, in the Canada refurb store. The new 8/512 shows as $1949 Cdn., not $2100. That makes a much bigger price difference, and another reason to go for the refurb.

Refurbished 13.3 inch MacBook Pro 1.4GHz quad core Intel Core i5 with Retina display Space Grey - Apple (CA)

Apple Store Search Results
www.apple.com

Edited: sorry, the 16/256 is $1659. I had quoted the 8/256 refurb price.
 
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Namara said:
Are you sure about those prices though? I see the refurb 8/256 2020 MBP 13" for $1439 Cdn, not $2145, in the Canada refurb store. The new 8/512 shows as $1949 Cdn., not $2100. That makes a much bigger price difference, and another reason to go for the refurb.

Refurbished 13.3 inch MacBook Pro 1.4GHz quad core Intel Core i5 with Retina display Space Grey - Apple (CA)

Apple Store Search Results
www.apple.com
Click to expand...
Sorry, I should have said that I included the price of AppleCare+, which is $239, in both prices I quoted. The refurb 16/256 is available for $1659 + 239 for a total of $1898. The tax takes the total cost to $2144. The new 8/512 is $1819 with the educational discount (I'm a teacher). Adding AppleCare and the tax brings the total cost up to $2100.
 
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PaulMac89 said:
Sorry, I should have said that I included the price of AppleCare+, which is $239, in both prices I quoted. The refurb 16/256 is available for $1659 + 239 for a total of $1898. The tax takes the total cost to $2144. The new 8/512 is $1819 with the educational discount (I'm a teacher). Adding AppleCare and the tax brings the total cost up to $2100.
Click to expand...
Oops, my apologies. I see my error now too about the refurb 8/256 versus the 16/256, which was the model you were going for. That's what happens when you get a phone call in the middle of doing a comparison. Hope you enjoy your new MBP!
 
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