Opinion about new macbook

[Liulai]

Hello,

Time is arrived to change my current laptop, a white mid-2007 Macbook (that I love) . I have the impression that Apple is changed a lot since 2007 but I hope to find the same quality than before.

My idea is to buy a 13" Macbook-pro, 2.6GHz i5, 256GB
But to extend its life I was thinking about adding 16GB RAM.

What is your opinion? Is it better to change the processor to i7 or increasing the ram to extend the life of the macbook?

I would like to use the macbook with photoshop and illustrator, and some 3D rendering of microscopy images (with specific softwares). But most of the time I will be probably just using Office or a web browser.

I also have another question...Since I will order my macbook online...are there any frequent factory defects that I should check at the arrival?

I remember that with my previous macbook it was frequent to receive new laptops with dead pixels.

Many thanks!

 

[crawler1975]

Hello,

Time is arrived to change my current laptop, a white mid-2007 Macbook (that I love) . I have the impression that Apple is changed a lot since 2007 but I hope to find the same quality than before.

My idea is to buy a 13" Macbook-pro, 2.6GHz i5, 256GB
But to extend its life I was thinking about adding 16GB RAM.

What is your opinion? Is it better to change to processor to i7 or increasing the ram to extend the life of the macbook?

I would like to use the macbook with photoshop and illustrator, and some 3D rendering of microscopy images (with specific softwares). But most of the time I will be probably just using Office or a web browser.

I also have another question...Since I will order my macbook online...are there any frequent factory defects that I should check at the arrival?

I remember that with my previous macbook it was frequent to receive new laptops with dead pixels.

Many thanks!

I would definitely choose to upgrade my RAM than the processor if I were you. I have ordered myself a 13" rMBP with upgraded RAM and I have not seen any "factory defects" out of the box. Go ahead and click "buy now" you'll enjoy your new macbook

 

[icsd08063]

Hello,

Time is arrived to change my current laptop, a white mid-2007 Macbook (that I love) . I have the impression that Apple is changed a lot since 2007 but I hope to find the same quality than before.

My idea is to buy a 13" Macbook-pro, 2.6GHz i5, 256GB
But to extend its life I was thinking about adding 16GB RAM.

What is your opinion? Is it better to change the processor to i7 or increasing the ram to extend the life of the macbook?

I would like to use the macbook with photoshop and illustrator, and some 3D rendering of microscopy images (with specific softwares). But most of the time I will be probably just using Office or a web browser.

I also have another question...Since I will order my macbook online...are there any frequent factory defects that I should check at the arrival?

I remember that with my previous macbook it was frequent to receive new laptops with dead pixels.

Many thanks!

Definitely max out the ram (16GB) and leave the CPU as it is (i5). There is no point at all to select an i7 CPU as both i5 and i7 CPU's in 13" Pro's are dual core CPU's. So, from my perspective, max out the ram, leave the base model i5 CPU. Applications mentioned love ram so you will notice a difference in that exact point you will need the extra ram.

256 gb's ssd looks fine to me, as long as you can afford it.

My configuration in my mid2014 MacBook pro 13" is with 16gb's of ram and a 128 ssd since I do not use many programs and all my files live at an external hdd. Of course, CPU is the base i5 model.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

8gb would be enough I would think

To be honest there are a lot of people who think RAM is the be all and end all of computing on this forum, but if you don't use that RAM it is just a waste of money.

They are right that the i7 is not worth the effort there are few apps that leverage your CPU to the extent it will make much difference.

Take a look at meisters superb RAM usage questionaire here and judge if you need any upgrades at all.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1756865/

 

[Liulai]

Thank you for your suggestions.

125gb looks a bit too short to me, I would love 512, but it is too expensive...so 256gb is a good compromise.

Samuelsan, you are probably right, I don't need 16gb of Ram in the immediate future. But what about in 3/4 year time?

I have used my current macbook for 7 year now. I don't know if I can expect the same from the new macbook, but since now there is no more the possibility to change hard disk and ram, I have to think in advance at what I could need in the future.

 

[maflynn]

Because of the ram is soldered onto the logic board and your expectation is to keep it a lot longer then most other people, I do recommend 16GB of ram. Its not like you can change it, and we don't know what will happen 5 years down the road.

I think its a smart move to position the configuration for your best chances of keeping it long term.

 

[icsd08063]

Thank you for your suggestions.

125gb looks a bit too short to me, I would love 512, but it is too expensive...so 256gb is a good compromise.

Samuelsan, you are probably right, I don't need 16gb of Ram in the immediate future. But what about in 3/4 year time?

I have used my current macbook for 7 year now. I don't know if I can expect the same from the new macbook, but since now there is no more the possibility to change hard disk and ram, I have to think in advance at what I could need in the future.

Well, here is the problem as already mentioned: ram is soldered to the logic board so if you want to future proof your new machine, do it now. On the other hand, ssd is not soldered to the board so any future upgrades would be possible.

I think you got my point. If money is an issue for selecting what to do now, here is what i recommend:

16GB's ram / 128GB ssd / i5 CPU​

In that way, you do future proof your machine, without loosing the ability to upgrade your ssd in the future. I also think that buying a larger ssd after purchasing your machine is more cheaper than configuring your laptop with a larger one from the very beginning.

If you can go a little bit further as i realize that you do need that 256GB ssd, go ahead and configure it that way.

Either way, i do not think that you should change the i5 CPU at all. 13" MacBooks are all equiped with dual core CPU's. And after all, the amount of money for changing from 2.6GHz to 3GHz with an i7 is 300$. And you are left with dual core CPU.
Do you really think it's worth it?

 

[luvmymbpr]

When you say 2.6, I'm assuming it's the retina model? You have to go retina. It is a MUST

 

[Liulai]

Thank you guys for your suggestions.

Just to let you know that I have ordered the 13-inch MacBook Pro (Retina of course retina!) 2.6GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, 16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
and 256GB Flash Storage

I can't wait!

 

[crawler1975]

Thank you guys for your suggestions.

Just to let you know that I have ordered the 13-inch MacBook Pro (Retina of course retina!) 2.6GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, 16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
and 256GB Flash Storage

I can't wait!

Awesome... enjoy your rMBP when it arrives... I have been enjoying mine since then

 

[bgd]

Thank you guys for your suggestions.

Just to let you know that I have ordered the 13-inch MacBook Pro (Retina of course retina!) 2.6GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, 16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
and 256GB Flash Storage

I can't wait!

Good choice, I have the same spec and it arrived yesterday. I run multiple VMs and they barely register. More than enough headroom for years to come.