Macbook Pro Processor Advice

[lindziloo101]

I am in the market for a new laptop. I am a graphic designer, mostly print-based and the bulk of what I work on is in InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. I own an iMac but need a notebook as a secondary computer so I can work away from the office. It will also double as my home computer for editing and storing family photos.

I think I've settled on the 13" Macbook Pro with Retina Display but am not sure about technical specs.

I think it is worth upgrading to 16gb of RAM as I often have multiple programs open, and much of what I do is image-heavy. I'm not sure what processor to go with though (will I notice a difference between 2.7, 2.9, 3.1GHz??) any advice would be much appreciated! And storage… $600 to upgrade to 1TB. Not sure if it is worth the cost.

Any opinion on buying refurbished?

Thanks in advance.

 

[fisherking]

refurbished from the apple store is always a good deal, lots of my friends buy there (i point them to it). for what you're doing, any processor should hold it's own. the 16GB ram is a good idea. personally, i went with 512GB ssd; am happy to store additional files (ie old projects, etc) on an external drive (which is much cheaper). i'd bump up the processor before i'd spend $600 to bump up storage (but that's just me). it's a great mac (i got mine last week).

 

[T5BRICK]

I think it is worth upgrading to 16gb of RAM as I often have multiple programs open, and much of what I do is image-heavy.

Most people will be fine with 8GB, but if you want to upgrade to 16GB it isn't a bad idea.

I'm not sure what processor to go with though (will I notice a difference between 2.7, 2.9, 3.1GHz??) any advice would be much appreciated!

Go with the 2.7 or 2.9GHz, the 3.1GHz option isn't worth the $200 upgrade fee.

And storage… $600 to upgrade to 1TB. Not sure if it is worth the cost.

Only if you need it. I went with the 512GB drive, have a 100GB BootCamp partition and the rest is for OSX.

Any opinion on buying refurbished?

Given the option, I will always buy refurbished. I use refurb.me to check stock.

https://www.refurb.me/us/