Macbook Pro 2011 to 2012 Retina Worth the Upgrade?

[shash1977]

Hello everyone,

I have a 2011 15'' Macbook Pro, 2.2GHz QuadCore i7 CPU, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. I bought this last July and it cost me about $2500 then.

I am a heavy user of Safari, iTunes, Photoshop, Lightroom and some other photo processing software.

Is it worth an upgrade to the new 2012 Pro with Retina? I want to understand the benefits from both the processing power as well as how the display is going to help me with photo editing.

Also, if you do recommend the 2012 model, is it worth spending the additional $250 to go from 2.6 to 2.7GHz?

Your feedback is really appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[leenak]

are you happy with your current performance? Why do you want to switch?

 

[shash1977]

Yeah. I am happy with the performance. I think I am considering the switch because of the following reasons -

1. Being a full time consultant, I carry around my Macbook a lot and travel often. I feel the reduced thickness and weight will significantly help my shoulders and back

2. I spend about 60% of my time on the Mac editing photographs. I think I may benefit a great deal with the higher resolution on the Retina display

3. In addition, I do think the extra horsepower and the ability to go upto 16GB RAM will boost overall performance

The upgrade is going to cost me about $1200 assuming I can sell my current model on eBay for abt $1500.

 

[biscuitsxluv]

What do you want to do? Since you listed all the reasons why you want it then get it. Not like you can't sell your current one.

 

[InuNacho]

All 2011s can take 16GB of ram contrary to what Apple says.

 

[Jeff3f]

if you're serious about being willing/able to get a decent resale value from selling your older hardware, then perhaps you should do it. If it makes sense from other angles (which are hard to judge from a macrumors.com forum post.

I think performance-wise it's probably not a huge leap...the display is sweet though, and if you spend a large amount of work time staring at it then that's maybe useful. I spend most of my PC staring time with work-provided PCs that are not the rMBP...so for me, I couldn't use work to justify my (upcoming) rMBP upgrade. Because I mostly wouldn't use it for work even if it sat there (under-used and not kensington-locked) on my desk all day long...

 

[Collin789]

I think the only noticeable upgrade you're going to see is the Retina display and weight of the computer. Personally, the Retina was WAY worth it to me.

 

[wundram]

I upgraded from a 2011 with a SSD to the retina model, and besides he obvious benefit of the screen, it is a lot faster. The CPU and memory make it a bit faster, but these new SSDs are much faster than the ones sold with the 2011.

I had several experiences where I was waiting for an install to start before realizing that it finished so fast I never saw the status bar.

So if you can get a good price for your 2011, it is a good upgrade.

 

[mykelala01]

If you care about Retina, USB 3 with built in HDMI port. I don't see why not to upgrade. But if you are looking for performance I don't think there are much of a improvement between, 1 year apart Macbook pro.