MacBook Pro purchase decision. Late 2011 vs. Mid 2012.

[florsignol]

Hi. I'm looking to purchase a used MacBook Pro. I have two options:

$1650 Late 2011 MacBook Pro:
Display: 1680 x 1050 Anti-glare display
Processor: 2.4 GHz Quad Core Intel i7
Memory: 8GB RAM 1333 MHz
Storage: 750GB 7200 RPM
Graphics: AMD Radeon 6770M with 1GB of GDDR5 RAM

--OR--

$1650 Mid 2012 MacBook Pro:
Display: 1440 x 900 Glossy display
Processor: 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Memory: 4GB RAM 1600 MHz
Storage: 500GB 5400-rpm
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

Same price, different specs, similar machines. Which one to choose?

What am I going to be using it for? Running Windows, 3D CAD (SolidWorks), industrial design and 3D rendering and graphic design and some video editing.

The sooner you respond, the quicker I can decide. Thanks.

 

[SWAN808]

Late 2011.

Faster processor
Bigger faster drive
Better Video card (I think)
Double RAM

The only thing the other one has advantageous is the faster RAM. Im not sure how much of an impact that makes - maybe someone does...

I personally would choose better specs over a marginal age difference...

I would double check Geekbench results (or any other benchmarks relevant to your usage) for both machines before making the decision...

 

[florsignol]

That has been my train of thought... although, I keep 'doublethinking'.

Geekbench results does show the Late 2011 to have a slight performance advantage.

The new 2012 model does have USB 3.0.

Will go with the Late 2011 for now.

Thanks.

 

[clyde2801]

2011 has the higher def and anti glare display. And should go up to 16 gigs of ram for under a hundred bucks.