Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Macbook Pro

L

Legacy40k

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 7, 2011
18
1
I'm planning on getting a Macbook pro on Wed (Back to school special hopefully)

I'm in graphic design,

I'm going to go with the 2.2 Ghz with a 500GB 7200 RPG hard drive, because I'd rather speed then size since I backup my files on a larger external anyhow.

The things I'm debating are, which screen to get, and how much ram. Should I spend the money for 8 gigs of ram, or should I wait and do it in a year or 2? It's not user upgradable right?

As for the screen, I'm thinking of the glossy screen because it's a higher resolution then the default one.

thoughts?
 
Well actually you have some things mixed up.
RAM is user upgradable, and def the way to go. Apple charges a ton, and you can pick up 8 GB RAM for less than $100.
As for the screen, there are 3 versions.
1. Glossy
2. Hi Def Glossy
3. Hi Def Antiglare
For graphic design, I would go with option 2.

Otherwise the 15" machine is a solid machine.
 
kjmff5 said:
Apple charges a ton, and you can pick up 8 GB RAM for less than $100.
Click to expand...
I agree. Upgrade the RAM yourself after the purchase. You also might consider buying the MBP from Amazon, free shipping and no state sales tax (for most states).
 
RAM is user upgradeable, so you'll be saving a few hundred by not buying it custom made from Apple with 8GB and instead just buying the 8GB later yourself, at a higher MHz frequency as well (1666MHz proving to work on 2011 MBPs). Glossy? depends if you are used to it, I would personally get it matte as seeing myself and everyone else around me on the screen while trying to correct a few pixels in PhotoShop can be really frustrating. Screen size is up to you, but remember 15" and 17" models have different hardware specs.
 
That's great news! I thought part of the reason for going with the unibody cases was to help stop people from upgrading things themselves and making them take it to an apple store.

I'll save the money on ram then and just upgrade it myself.
 
if i were you i would definitely go to an apple store and check out the screens for yourself when they say glossy its REALLY GLOSSY the damn thing is a mirror thats why i go antiglare.
 
ratzzo said:
RAM is user upgradeable, so you'll be saving a few hundred by not buying it custom made from Apple with 8GB and instead just buying the 8GB later yourself, at a higher MHz frequency as well (1666MHz proving to work on 2011 MBPs). Glossy? depends if you are used to it, I would personally get it matte as seeing myself and everyone else around me on the screen while trying to correct a few pixels in PhotoShop can be really frustrating. Screen size is up to you, but remember 15" and 17" models have different hardware specs.
Click to expand...

1. Ram is user replaceable, just like the SSD/HDD, BUT you'll have to remove the back of your laptop. No big deal but it requires a very specific screwdriver. I'm not trying to scare you, but just letting you know. Using any other screwdriver might result in "breaking" them.

2. What Ratzo says ... ^o) There's no such thing like 1666 MHz DDR3 ram ... Nor is there a reason to use 1600 MHz ram, since only 1333 MHz RAM is officially supported and there'll never be a benefit in using 1600 MHz ram, even if it works, in these machines (which is even more expensive). Unless you intend to recuperate the sticks at a later time to use it in a future machine.
There are 2 sodimm slots in the machine and it supports up to 16 GiB total (2x8 GiB)

3. I repeat, the screens used in the Apple laptops aren't really pro screens. The display panel is a 6-bit TN+ panel. The plus is a marketing term used by Apple. I'm having serious color shifting while being 2-3 feet away from my screen. If you're really intending to go pro, I suggest you buy yourself a nice IPS screen.
 
An IPS display would be good to go with, love my iMacs IPS
signature_SmileSPB.jpg
as for ram, as said above, just install it yourself, few screws then it's plug and play, pick up 2x4gb 1333mhz for under £70. If you buy a nice IPS external, you won't need to worry about the macbook pros screen so go cheap
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back