MacBook Pro Purchase Decisions

[CitizenMac]

My first post here and really appreciate any input before buying this $2500ish machine.

My new mbp will be used for large photoshop files and require running PS, Illustrator, InDesign, (AdobeCC) Word, and Excel simultaneously. I may venture into shorter length videos and some 3D design and rendering at some point too. No AfterEffects type work or gaming though.

My question is regarding the processor and hard drive.

I'm considering this setup:
2.6GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB PCIe-based Flash Storage

To save cash but still have enough computer for my work, would I be better off moving down to the
2.3GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
and up to the
512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage?
while keeping the 16GB SDRAM

Do I really care about having 512 GB HD vs the 256? A few pay checks later I can buy an external SSD and keep my internal 256GB as clear as possible. Are there other benefits to having the 512GB that I'm not consider?

Also, Is the extra .3GHz in the upgraded processor really worth the money for my needs mentioned above?


Thanks in advance for any help, CM

 

[accountforit]

Personally, I enjoy having everything with me on the internal drive. Only having an external as a backup. It's the most convenient.

 

[leman]

Generally, CPU upgrades are very minor - you will only benefit from them if you are relying on CPU times to ear you money (e.g. certain jobs in photo and video editing). As to whether you need a larger SSD - that's up to you. If you are the person that wants to keep their entire family photo album + a huge audio library on their laptop, then 512GB is a good idea. I have quite a bit of projects on my laptop + a big Windows partition with a few games, and 256GB has been plenty of storage for me so far. I don't have any photos or videos though.

 

[yjchua95]

My first post here and really appreciate any input before buying this $2500ish machine.

My new mbp will be used for large photoshop files and require running PS, Illustrator, InDesign, (AdobeCC) Word, and Excel simultaneously. I may venture into shorter length videos and some 3D design and rendering at some point too. No AfterEffects type work or gaming though.

My question is regarding the processor and hard drive.

I'm considering this setup:
2.6GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB PCIe-based Flash Storage

To save cash but still have enough computer for my work, would I be better off moving down to the
2.3GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
and up to the
512GB PCIe-based Flash Storage?
while keeping the 16GB SDRAM

Do I really care about having 512 GB HD vs the 256? A few pay checks later I can buy an external SSD and keep my internal 256GB as clear as possible. Are there other benefits to having the 512GB that I'm not consider?

Also, Is the extra .3GHz in the upgraded processor really worth the money for my needs mentioned above?


Thanks in advance for any help, CM

You'll be better off with the 2.3GHz i7, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. The extra 0.3GHz isn't going to bring much difference.

If you configured with the 256GB option, you'll be playing the Samsung vs SanDisk SSD lottery. The SanDisk one is 150MB/s slower in writes than the Samsung one.

Samsung is the sole supplier for 512GB and 1TB ones.

By the way, if you configure the 15" rMBP to a minimum of 2.3GHz, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD, you'll find that both Iris-only and Iris+750M models with these specs are priced identically, so the GT750M is a freebie.

 

[alphaod]

The one thing you haven't considered is the point of buying a laptop computer.

I can tell you it's not so you can carry about a bunch of external drives to make up for lack of internal space.

Leave the external at home.

 

[kathyricks]

The cheapest way to get a high end 15" (2.3/16/512) is to shop for one via searching for a part number ME294LL/A. They run about $2250 new in sealed box and delivered on ebay and $2199 at the Apple refurbished store http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...-23ghz-quad-core-intel-i7-with-retina-display