MBP 15" buying advice?

[Swidy19]

Hi All,

My current macbook is a 2007 white 13"; way outdated. At the beginning of the year I picked up an 27" iMac 3.4Ghz i7 and I love it. I use my iMac as my main workstation and old MacBook as something for portability. Just last week my MacBook battery exploded and I really don't want to invest in another battery for such an outdated model, also I have to take an application to siggraph 2012 that is built on UDK (therefore development takes places on a windows partition) and I don't want to lug my iMac to the conference and my old macbook cannot handle it anyways. So now I'm looking into getting a new MBP.

I'm a CS student and use my computers for basically everything I can: programming, photo editing, music mixing/editing, gaming, etc. So I am looking for a macbook that will hold up to all my needs but at the same time, I have my iMac as my main workstation, so the amount of HD storage is not a big concern. As I mentioned, I am a student, so money is somewhat of a concern, however, my purchase is a tool for my work so I'm not too, too concerned. rMBP lower end model is a stretch but I'm still considering it, but I can't/(don't really want) to splurge for the higher end rMBP.

My concern is if the rMBP is worth that extra dough. I know that I want a 15", and I want something that I will still be happy with in a couple years. At the moment, I'm considering the following:

- lower end rMBP
- lower end MBP 15" and upgrade to the hi-res matte screen (and I would upgrade the RAM myself)
- higher end MBP

The res of the rMBP is reeaaaally tempting, but as I understand they still don't have bootcamp drivers for windows 7 yet, and I need to be able to dual boot for my UDK project by the beginning of August.
I'm not too keen about the higher end MBP because the price is the same as the lower end rMBP and I figure if I'm spending that much I may as well just throw some extra money in to get the retina model (even though there are some performance decreases in this switch).

I'm going in tomorrow to an Apple store and I will most likely pick up my new laptop because I need it for coop work and such. I am almost kind of expecting them to be sold out of rMBPs.

So I guess I'm just wondering your opinion on the lower end MBP 15" with the hi-res matte screen (and I'll upgrade RAM myself). Would this fit my needs, or should I really be looking at the higher end 15" MBP? Also, do you think the rMBP will be able to run Win7 by early August?

Thanks for your help!!

 

[cgk.emu]

Hi All,

My current macbook is a 2007 white 13"; way outdated. At the beginning of the year I picked up an 27" iMac 3.4Ghz i7 and I love it. I use my iMac as my main workstation and old MacBook as something for portability. Just last week my MacBook battery exploded and I really don't want to invest in another battery for such an outdated model, also I have to take an application to siggraph 2012 that is built on UDK (therefore development takes places on a windows partition) and I don't want to lug my iMac to the conference and my old macbook cannot handle it anyways. So now I'm looking into getting a new MBP.

I'm a CS student and use my computers for basically everything I can: programming, photo editing, music mixing/editing, gaming, etc. So I am looking for a macbook that will hold up to all my needs but at the same time, I have my iMac as my main workstation, so the amount of HD storage is not a big concern. As I mentioned, I am a student, so money is somewhat of a concern, however, my purchase is a tool for my work so I'm not too, too concerned. rMBP lower end model is a stretch but I'm still considering it, but I can't/(don't really want) to splurge for the higher end rMBP.

My concern is if the rMBP is worth that extra dough. I know that I want a 15", and I want something that I will still be happy with in a couple years. At the moment, I'm considering the following:

- lower end rMBP
- lower end MBP 15" and upgrade to the hi-res matte screen (and I would upgrade the RAM myself)
- higher end MBP

The res of the rMBP is reeaaaally tempting, but as I understand they still don't have bootcamp drivers for windows 7 yet, and I need to be able to dual boot for my UDK project by the beginning of August.
I'm not too keen about the higher end MBP because the price is the same as the lower end rMBP and I figure if I'm spending that much I may as well just throw some extra money in to get the retina model (even though there are some performance decreases in this switch).

I'm going in tomorrow to an Apple store and I will most likely pick up my new laptop because I need it for coop work and such. I am almost kind of expecting them to be sold out of rMBPs.

So I guess I'm just wondering your opinion on the lower end MBP 15" with the hi-res matte screen (and I'll upgrade RAM myself). Would this fit my needs, or should I really be looking at the higher end 15" MBP? Also, do you think the rMBP will be able to run Win7 by early August?

Thanks for your help!!

Outdated according to the industry or YOU? If you don't personally have issues with a 2007 machine, then just use it. If it doesn't work for what you do, then it is time to upgrade. I'm typing this on a 2008 MBP.

 

[Epic Xbox Revie]

For a CS student, that laptop you have will work perfectly well. If you want to buy a new laptop that's your prerogative. I do get the latest laptops from Apple, because I have the luxury too from reselling the previous generation for a small loss. I don't need to do that though. Also, the rMBP isn't actually that expensive if you look at the parts it has. It has a 256 SSD, a high res display, thinner design, and same processor as the high end 15". It's very fairly priced. Again, you don't NEED it, but then again that doesn't mean you shouldn't get it. If you want it, I'd go try it at an Apple Store first, just to make sure.

tl;dr your current laptop will work just fine for CS, a 11" base Air also will, as will a rMBP. It's your call, go try them out first though.

 

[Man9z0r]

I am in the same boat as you and I am leaning more towards the normal MBP 15 with the upgraded matte screen.

Reasons for my thoughts so far:

With the normal MBP I don't have to spend all my money right away because I have the ability to upgrade over time. So memory, hard drive can all come down then line and with the prices of SSD's dropping so much you could easily get a very good one any size you want for a lot cheaper then the Apple premium. Also out of the bench marks I have read the normal 15 pro gets better speeds then the rMBP.

Basically with the rMBP you need to make sure you invest in all the upgrades you would want at the start or you are screwed. Also you would prob want to get Apple Care because you can't do any repairs on your own.

I mean I have messed with the rMBP and it is a sweet machine don't get me wrong but I am sure that they will come out with more computers with that screen later and by that time more websites and apps with use it. While right now it is making a lot of the internet pixelated.

These are just my thoughts so take them as a grain of salt but it seems to make sense to me. I am in almost your exact same position.

 

[Swidy19]

Thanks for the comments. This wasn't a question of whether I should upgrade or not. I do in fact NEED to upgrade. My 2007 Mac CANNOT handle the 3D graphics processing that I need it to nor could it handle some of the projects I was working on last semester in school (which is why I bought my iMac). I guess I was just hoping to hear from someone who uses their MB for 3D processing (auto desk, 3ds max, UDK, etc), and how the higher end MBPs stand against each other in this respect.

----------

I am in the same boat as you and I am leaning more towards the normal MBP 15 with the upgraded matte screen.

Reasons for my thoughts so far:

With the normal MBP I don't have to spend all my money right away because I have the ability to upgrade over time. So memory, hard drive can all come down then line and with the prices of SSD's dropping so much you could easily get a very good one any size you want for a lot cheaper then the Apple premium. Also out of the bench marks I have read the normal 15 pro gets better speeds then the rMBP.

Basically with the rMBP you need to make sure you invest in all the upgrades you would want at the start or you are screwed. Also you would prob want to get Apple Care because you can't do any repairs on your own.

I mean I have messed with the rMBP and it is a sweet machine don't get me wrong but I am sure that they will come out with more computers with that screen later and by that time more websites and apps with use it. While right now it is making a lot of the internet pixelated.

These are just my thoughts so take them as a grain of salt but it seems to make sense to me. I am in almost your exact same position.

Thanks for this comment Man9z0r . These were some of my concerns. I think I will most definitely go with the regular MBP model, you make a very good point about the upgradability, and later down the road when the higher res is more widely used I'll have some extra cash to work with. Thanks!