Macbook Pro 13" i5 or i7?

[ChevyHD]

Alright here's my predicament. Since no new iMac came out after doing some thinking I came to the conclusion it would be nice to have my first mac be portable so I could go with the MB pro and then get a refurb. thunderbolt 27" display. With the educational discounts and tax it comes out to around $2150. Not too bad. That's for the i5 though. I'm a photographer so i'll be mostly in photoshop and lightroom. Besides that just your regular web browsing and things of that nature.

Now would that i5 serve me well and be nice and fast? Or is the i7 really worth the extra few hundred dollars because it makes such a difference? I'm trying to keep costs as low as possible while still getting a good setup for what I want. Will I notice a difference between the two working in CS5? I'm currently on a year old toshiba laptop with a 2.3ghz i5 and a ****** graphics card. I really like the apple display and the OS better than windows and think it's time for an upgrade. Thank you all for the help.

 

[mohsy90]

Alright here's my predicament. Since no new iMac came out after doing some thinking I came to the conclusion it would be nice to have my first mac be portable so I could go with the MB pro and then get a refurb. thunderbolt 27" display. With the educational discounts and tax it comes out to around $2150. Not too bad. That's for the i5 though. I'm a photographer so i'll be mostly in photoshop and lightroom. Besides that just your regular web browsing and things of that nature.

Now would that i5 serve me well and be nice and fast? Or is the i7 really worth the extra few hundred dollars because it makes such a difference? I'm trying to keep costs as low as possible while still getting a good setup for what I want. Will I notice a difference between the two working in CS5? I'm currently on a year old toshiba laptop with a 2.3ghz i5 and a ****** graphics card. I really like the apple display and the OS better than windows and think it's time for an upgrade. Thank you all for the help.

i7 is not worth it. If your getting the 13" MBP. Just buy the basic model and upgrade the Ram yourself and buy a third party SSD. You'll notice a drastic difference in speed. Update the Ram to 8gb and get a 256 SSD. It should still come out to less than the i7 13" MBP. The processor upgrade is not worth it, trust me.

And if you want, you can save another $100 on the thunderbolt display and even more on the RAM and SSD if you buy it from eBay.

 

[dukebound85]

i7 is not worth it. If your getting the 13" MBP. Just buy the basic model and upgrade the Ram yourself and buy a third party SSD. You'll notice a drastic difference in speed. Update the Ram to 8gb and get a 256 SSD. It should still come out to less than the i7 13" MBP. The process upgrade is not worth it, trust me.

Seconded

You will not see a difference in speed in most usage cases. I just picked up the base 13 as well. In fact, the i5 in this machine outpaces the older i7's that I have for a work machine (2010 15in mbp 2.67 i7)

I would save the 300-400 bucks and upgrade to at least 8 gig of ram and a ssd

ANother way to think about it. 1199 for the i5 and 1499 for the i7. The difference is 300. 300 is 25% of the cost of the base mbp. I would save that money and in a few years time, think of it as already having paid 25% for your next machine!

That 25% saved will give you a much better bang for your buck when it's time to upgrade than it is to get the i7 now

 

[ChevyHD]

Awesome to hear everyone! I definitely plan on upgrading the RAM when I get it. I'm not really finding any thunderbolt displays though for $100 cheaper than the apple store on ebay though. The refurb is $849. If you have any info or links I appreciate it. Thank you for all the help and i'm glad my original choice of saving the money and going i5 is a good one. That 25% towards the next mac is also good I like that!

 

[mohsy90]

Awesome to hear everyone! I definitely plan on upgrading the RAM when I get it. I'm not really finding any thunderbolt displays though for $100 cheaper than the apple store on ebay though. The refurb is $849. If you have any info or links I appreciate it. Thank you for all the help and i'm glad my original choice of saving the money and going i5 is a good one. That 25% towards the next mac is also good I like that!

If you don't mind getting a used one, i saw some selling for like $750 and were in like new condition. I always go to ebay for peripherals and RAM and SSDs. You can find some amazing deals. I would suggest though that if your buying RAM or an SSD, you purchase it new. New crucial SSDs on ebay are going for $199, some even cheaper.

 

[ChevyHD]

If you don't mind getting a used one, i saw some selling for like $750 and were in like new condition. I always go to ebay for peripherals and RAM and SSDs. You can find some amazing deals. I would suggest though that if your buying RAM or an SSD, you purchase it new. New crucial SSDs on ebay are going for $199, some even cheaper.

How about craigslist? I found one in my local area advertised as brand new in the packaging and it's thunderbolt for 800. I'm just wondering if there are some knock offs out there that I need to be careful about and skeptical if I buy that. Or should I be good to go with it?

 

[mohsy90]

How about craigslist? I found one in my local area advertised as brand new in the packaging and it's thunderbolt for 800. I'm just wondering if there are some knock offs out there that I need to be careful about and skeptical if I buy that. Or should I be good to go with it?

Yeah, you can find them on craigslist, especially if you live in a big city like NYC. I got mine for $700. A company in Manhattan made a bulk purchase and had few leftover ones they couldn't return. I actually drove 2 hours down to get it .

I haven't seen any knockoffs, and im sure if there are any, it would be clearly noticeable. Check it out and if your definite on the purchase. Open it up and test it with your MBP/MBA before you pay up.

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How about craigslist? I found one in my local area advertised as brand new in the packaging and it's thunderbolt for 800. I'm just wondering if there are some knock offs out there that I need to be careful about and skeptical if I buy that. Or should I be good to go with it?

Meet at a barnes and nobles. I did that once for my old ACD. Had the guy just bring it in and we sat down at a reading table next to an outlet and tested it out. I'm very cautious about going to people's houses....never know what can happen. So make sure the deal is done in public.

 

[ChevyHD]

Yeah, you can find them on craigslist, especially if you live in a big city like NYC. I got mine for $700. A company in Manhattan made a bulk purchase and had few leftover ones they couldn't return. I actually drove 2 hours down to get it .

I haven't seen any knockoffs, and im sure if there are any, it would be clearly noticeable. Check it out and if your definite on the purchase. Open it up and test it with your MBP/MBA before you pay up.

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Meet at a barnes and nobles. I did that once for my old ACD. Had the guy just bring it in and we sat down at a reading table next to an outlet and tested it out. I'm very cautious about going to people's houses....never know what can happen. So make sure the deal is done in public.

All very good information thank you. I've never made a deal on craigslist and that whole going to someone elses house part was always a big reason. Good idea on going to barnes and nobles. I sure hope it's all a good deal because the person I talked to on the apple website said if I bought the display and macbook on the same ticket they'd both go on the applecare. But I'd much rather save 200 dollars and get it brand new than refurbished.

 

[mohsy90]

All very good information thank you. I've never made a deal on craigslist and that whole going to someone elses house part was always a big reason. Good idea on going to barnes and nobles. I sure hope it's all a good deal because the person I talked to on the apple website said if I bought the display and macbook on the same ticket they'd both go on the applecare. But I'd much rather save 200 dollars and get it brand new than refurbished.

Good luck!

 

[ChevyHD]

Good luck!

Thank you! Very excited for my first mac!