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MBP 13" Base Advice

2

2ndname

macrumors member
Original poster
Hello all,

I'm needing a bit of advice in regards to the options that I am presented with. I am in the process of setting up my fiance with her computer gear. As of right now she has a 3 year old Windows PC that I built for her. It's showing it's age especially now that she's trying to get into photography. I can go the easy route and just build her an updated Windows PC for around $500 easily but I am thinking of setting her up with an Apple setup and here's where my trouble begins.

The MBP 13" base is front line contender. The only thing that I am worried about is the weak GPU that everyone keeps mentioning. We are planning on using Adobe Photoshop and Nik Software HDR Efex Pro. Her current PC stutters when changing filters in HDR Efex Pro and it is pretty unbearable to watch her attempt to edit anything. If anyone has a MBP 13" and can download the 15 day trial version to see how the base model performs when shifting filter I would eternally be thankful. I do not think the Apple store will have open user rights for programs to be installed would they?

The second option is to wait it out for the new iMac that will hopefully come this year. It will most likely be the smallest/base model.

The third option is to wait even longer for a refresh on the MBP 13". That's probably not happening until mid next year. While she waits I can craft her a decent updated Windows 7 machine of course.

Any advice/tips/suggestions? Thank you in advance.
 
Wouldn't a 13" screen be really small for doing editing anyway? I would think the iMac would be a better option. Do you need the portability?
 
She mentioned that if she was to get a laptop it will hopefully be portable enough. Also, she won't be doing any high end editing or anything like that.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Could go the external monitor route if she wanted the portability of a MBP.
 
kobyh15 said:
wirelessly posted (mozilla/5.0 (iphone; u; cpu iphone os 4_3 like mac os x; en-us) applewebkit/533.17.9 (khtml, like gecko) version/5.0.2 mobile/8f190 safari/6533.18.5)

could go the external monitor route if she wanted the portability of a mbp.
Click to expand...

+1
 
I've seen benchmarks and etc. for the MBP 13" base and going the external video route for docking is also an option. What about real world application with photo editing on the MBP 13"? Is it pretty smooth or pretty irritating?

Thank you everyone =)
 
real world - my base 13" is amazing, literally does everything I've thrown at it. Though nothing hugely intensive. i think at most i've used 40-50% of my cpu. It's really good. Also, the 5-8 hour battery life (depending what you're doing) is amazing.
I've done some basic video editing and a bit extra space was needed, so I bought a mini display to hdmi cable and use a monitor.
It's a great machine, seriously.
 
I'm a (very) amateur photographer, and have -no- problem running Photoshop and Pixelmator on my base 2011 13" It's a VERY solid machine -- the best laptop I've owned.
 
The 13" MBP will be fine for general use, Photoshop etc.

Discrete graphics are mainly appreciated for complicated 3D graphics, mainly the latest games.
 
I should also mention I play lots of Left 4 Dead 2 and Team Fortress 2. I know these games don't push the envelope, but they're FAST on the MBP 13". I've read on these forums that many users report that Starcraft II also runs nicely.
 
Thank you everyone. I should be able to pick one of these up this weekend. Appreciate all of the feedback!
 
I am planning on buying the i5 base model also.. the guy at bestbuy told me to consider the i7 $1499 instead.. but he said it was a quad core.. when both duo.. meaning that he has no clue and wanted me to jump straight to the more expensive model.. made me want the i5 even more..
 
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