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Macbook Pro 13 vs Macbook

O

OldSocls

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 27, 2010
14
0
After the hardware refresh in April, is the Macbook pro 13 really worth getting? Assuming you just stick with the base model.

The only advantage the pro has is the extra ram and a few more card slots.

I'm going to buy one of these next week and not sure which one to get.
 
OldSocls said:
After the hardware refresh in April, is the Macbook pro 13 really worth getting? Assuming you just stick with the base model.

The only advantage the pro has is the extra ram and a few more card slots.

I'm going to buy one of these next week and not sure which one to get.
Click to expand...

Dont forget about Firewire 800 , Much stronger aluminum construction , Backlit keyboard.
 
MacModMachine said:
Dont forget about Firewire 800 , Much stronger aluminum construction , Backlit keyboard.
Click to expand...

It depends on the individual user, but I've had my 15" MacBook Pro (non-Unibody) for 3 years and I've never used the FW port. I rarely use the backlighting on the keyboard. And I've always felt that the 13" plastic MacBook I had before this felt more solid. But like I said, this isn't the Unibody MBP.
 
dopey220 said:
It depends on the individual user, but I've had my 15" MacBook Pro (non-Unibody) for 3 years and I've never used the FW port. I rarely use the backlighting on the keyboard. And I've always felt that the 13" plastic MacBook I had before this felt more solid. But like I said, this isn't the Unibody MBP.
Click to expand...

well the unibody pro is much stronger,

i have repaired countless macbook's (new unibody ones alot too) with several cracks in the hinges , by nic ports , arm rests , lcd housing plastics, thats the difference.....aluminum is stronger and does not crack, the downside is it dents, but still holds is construction strength with the dents where as plastic once cracked just falls apart and gets weaker.
 
MacModMachine said:
Dont forget about Firewire 800 , Much stronger aluminum construction , Backlit keyboard.
Click to expand...

And the capacity for the pro model to have more ram, up to 8GB, the whitebook can only do 4GB and the Pro's screen is better. The screen alone is usually enough for me since that's what I'll be staring at all day.
 
difference between the macbook and macbook pro include the SD card reader, Firewire 800 port, better screen, backlit keyboard, aluminum body, 4GB ram vs 2GB, and the macbook is slightly heavier
 
OldSocls said:
After the hardware refresh in April, is the Macbook pro 13 really worth getting? Assuming you just stick with the base model.

The only advantage the pro has is the extra ram and a few more card slots.

I'm going to buy one of these next week and not sure which one to get.
Click to expand...

You and I are in the same boat because i will be getting one in a couple months. Just like you i was debating on the Macbook Pro vs the Macbook. The Macbook Pro is well worth it. The extra Ram alone is the price difference between the two. Plus you can upgrade to 8 later you get a backlit keyboard, and Firewire 800 with a Sd card reader. Best bang for you buck.

-Van2010rulz
 
I was in the same boat. But the extra 2GB of ram, and the SD card slot were what pushed me over to the MBP.

Plus put side-by-side, the MBP is better looking and more durable. My friends Macbook, has already got scratch marks on the plastic just from everyday use.

One more thing, the MBP will have better resale value over the Macbook in the future.

If you want to know anything about the MBP just give me a holla.
 
I don't think the screen is the pro is necessarily 'better.'
I think that's a preference.
I actually like the screen on the macbook more i think.

I was in this boat like two weeks ago,
and I went with the pro just because I could get a blue case for it.

I personally really like the Macbook, I like the white plastic, I like everything about it.

Backlit keyboard, not that important.
Firewire, might be important to you, but I've never once used it.
(and I've owned a Macbook Pro for 15 months, this 13" is a downgrade from a 17")
and uh, what was the other plus.
the aluminum?
I don't know too much about that, I've never had a plastic one.
But either way, I'm sure Apple would cover anything if it happens with the plastic. I realize it's more prone to cracking, but I doubt it just cracks on itself. Just be careful with it.

Oh yeah, and the ram. 8gb or 4gb. do you plan to upgrade it?
I like knowing I have the room to advance with my Pro, I guess. But I doubt I will, or at least any time soon. All I use my Pro to do is record music. Which is more than most people do anyway, usually they just browse the web and la la la la.

This could come down to a cosmetic thing to tell you the truth.
Do you like the color of the White Macbook?
Or do you like the look of the Pro more?
 
p.s: if you do decide to to for the macbook, and would be willing to flex down to the 2.26 model (which would probably be just as good)
you should really consider looking at craigslist.

I've gotten people down to 600 for a brand new one on Craigslist for one of those, and that's not much different than the 2.4, aside the .16 extra MHz. (so what?)
and that would be more than half the price of a macbook pro with sales tax.

just bring up the whole 800 dollar microcenter deal and stuff.
 
SPNarwhal said:
I don't think the screen is the pro is necessarily 'better.'
I think that's a preference.
I actually like the screen on the macbook more i think.

I was in this boat like two weeks ago,
and I went with the pro just because I could get a blue case for it.

I personally really like the Macbook, I like the white plastic, I like everything about it.

Backlit keyboard, not that important.
Firewire, might be important to you, but I've never once used it.
(and I've owned a Macbook Pro for 15 months, this 13" is a downgrade from a 17")
and uh, what was the other plus.
the aluminum?
I don't know too much about that, I've never had a plastic one.
But either way, I'm sure Apple would cover anything if it happens with the plastic. I realize it's more prone to cracking, but I doubt it just cracks on itself. Just be careful with it.

Oh yeah, and the ram. 8gb or 4gb. do you plan to upgrade it?
I like knowing I have the room to advance with my Pro, I guess. But I doubt I will, or at least any time soon. All I use my Pro to do is record music. Which is more than most people do anyway, usually they just browse the web and la la la la.

This could come down to a cosmetic thing to tell you the truth.
Do you like the color of the White Macbook?
Or do you like the look of the Pro more?
Click to expand...

Sorry to sound a bit mean, but this post sounds nothing more than a "feel better" post to make one feel better for what they bought by downplaying useful features on the better model. :p
 
HLdan said:
And the capacity for the pro model to have more ram, up to 8GB, the whitebook can only do 4GB and the Pro's screen is better. The screen alone is usually enough for me since that's what I'll be staring at all day.
Click to expand...

the ram is upgradable in the macbook white unibodys to 8gb....i have confirmed this myself.
 
SPNarwhal said:
I don't think the screen is the pro is necessarily 'better.'
I think that's a preference.
I actually like the screen on the macbook more i think.

I was in this boat like two weeks ago,
and I went with the pro just because I could get a blue case for it.

I personally really like the Macbook, I like the white plastic, I like everything about it.

Backlit keyboard, not that important.
Firewire, might be important to you, but I've never once used it.
(and I've owned a Macbook Pro for 15 months, this 13" is a downgrade from a 17")
and uh, what was the other plus.
the aluminum?
I don't know too much about that, I've never had a plastic one.
But either way, I'm sure Apple would cover anything if it happens with the plastic. I realize it's more prone to cracking, but I doubt it just cracks on itself. Just be careful with it.

Oh yeah, and the ram. 8gb or 4gb. do you plan to upgrade it?
I like knowing I have the room to advance with my Pro, I guess. But I doubt I will, or at least any time soon. All I use my Pro to do is record music. Which is more than most people do anyway, usually they just browse the web and la la la la.

This could come down to a cosmetic thing to tell you the truth.
Do you like the color of the White Macbook?
Or do you like the look of the Pro more?
Click to expand...

it does crack by itself....its called stress cracks, they happen from everyday use of the laptop....so unless you plan on leaving it in the box...its going to eventually crack, whether apple replaces it is up the the provider or apple store your dealing with.
 
I was in your shoes, and ended up going with the 13" MBP. The aluminum case, SD card slot, and more upgradeablility was what won me over. I'm very satisfied with my choice.

Good luck!
 
skiltrip said:
I also think the list of improvement/extras you get with the MacBook Pro are well worth the extra change.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I went with the 13" MBP mainly for FW and the SD slot and with Microcenter dropping the price to $999 I couldn't pass it up. Too bad they won't ship (in-store pickup only) or they'd be sold out by now.

Cheers,
 
HLdan said:
It's unsupported though. Some things are unsupported for a reason even though it's possible to overcome the restriction.
Click to expand...

I'm not real tech savy, but what does 'unsupported' mean? At the least, what are the practical ramifications of 'unsupported'?
 
Stokes said:
I'm not real tech savy, but what does 'unsupported' mean? At the least, what are the practical ramifications of 'unsupported'?
Click to expand...

unsupported means that apple doesnt support it - apple will only upgrade the RAM to 4GB because thats what they tested the device with, where as technically the chipset itself will support 8GB of RAM.

there are no real side effects from what i can see - apart from costs haha.
 
Stokes said:
I'm not real tech savy, but what does 'unsupported' mean? At the least, what are the practical ramifications of 'unsupported'?
Click to expand...

unsupported means they dont want to advertise it so they can sell more macbook pro's.

the ram works 100% fine , i have done 4 upgrades without any issues.
 
Assuming you upgrade to 4GB on the MacBook, you pay an extra $100 for some nice luxury features. I thought these features were worth it, especially since the Pro is only 50 more if you include education discounts.
 
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