Please help me choose a MBP

[Char24]

Hi guys,
I'm in desperate need of a new computer & I'm struggling to understand what I really need! This seems like a good place to try. (It turns out yahoo answers isn't.. I received the stellar reply, "Macs suck #$%@". Wow, what can't they do? If anything that makes me want one more..)

So I'm leaning toward a MacBook Pro. I'm going to be running some websites, e-commerce sites, and then doing graphic design in Photoshop and Illustrator, maybe other similar programs. I tend to make and save a lot of big files, as well as storing thousands of photos. I want something that can handle even more design than I currently do so I have the option of expanding my business.

I'm leaning towards 16GB of memory and a 512 SSD.. which may be overkill. I'm open to 8GB if that seems like enough, I'm hesitating to downgrade the 512 because of comments I've read online. That's the reason I'm going retina, but if it seems I'm overestimating my needs I'm happy to consider non-retina.

I think a 13" would be nice for portability, but if a 15" is significantly better, I would do that. I'm used to using small screens, so it doesn't bother me a huge deal. Price is a concern, but I'm willing to spend more if it gets me exactly what I need (especially since I can't do any work on my current dinosaur MacBook).

Here's the four retina options I'm looking at:

13" 2.9 dual core i5, 16GB, 512 SSD, $2000

13" 3.1 dual core i7, 16GB, 512 SSD, $2200

15" 2.2 quad core i7, 16GB, 512 SSD, $2300

15" 2.5 quad core i7, 16GB, 512 SSD, $2400

Thank you!! Also- completely tech illiterate here, so don't feel the need to get too detailed... I'm an 80-year-old trapped in the body of a 20-something.

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Oh PS. If 8GB seems like enough then I could go MBP non-retina:

13" 2.9 dual core i7, 8GB, 512 SSD, $2000

 

[Samuelsan2001]

The non-retina MBP is very expensive for 4 year old tech now it hasn't been updated since 2012, it is almost never a good buy anymore without a specific need for an optical drive or some weird thing people have about being able to change your own RAM.

I think that for your use case and for future use in graphic design I would say go with the 15 inch the 13 inch are all dual core processors and I think you'll benefit from the quad core in the 15 inch not to mention the increased screen size thats important in design work.

You want the 512GB (good choice) so the one with the dGPU is a no brainer so go for that the 2.2GHz it's easily fast enough and 300MHz difference in clock speed really isn't worth the cost IMHO. I would say any spare money is well spent on a NAS (Network attached storage) device for archiving and storing old projects files and photos.

 

[Char24]

The non-retina MBP is very expensive for 4 year old tech now it hasn't been updated since 2012, it is almost never a good buy anymore without a specific need for an optical drive or some weird thing people have about being able to change your own RAM.

I think that for your use case and for future use in graphic design I would say go with the 15 inch the 13 inch are all dual core processors and I think you'll benefit from the quad core in the 15 inch not to mention the increased screen size thats important in design work.

You want the 512GB (good choice) so the one with the dGPU is a no brainer so go for that the 2.2GHz it's easily fast enough and 300MHz difference in clock speed really isn't worth the cost IMHO. I would say any spare money is well spent on a NAS (Network attached storage) device for archiving and storing old projects files and photos.

Thank you! That's a very helpful explanation.. I appreciate you taking the time! I'll scratch the non-retina MBP off the list and stick with the retinas.. Newer has got to be better. The upside of getting a really good and expensive mac is that I'll feel obligated to improve my design skills..
Glad the 2.2GHz 15" should suffice as that is pretty much maxing out my bank account and I would probably need to sell a kidney to upgrade from there.

 

[jermy4]

Thank you! That's a very helpful explanation.. I appreciate you taking the time! I'll scratch the non-retina MBP off the list and stick with the retinas.. Newer has got to be better. The upside of getting a really good and expensive mac is that I'll feel obligated to improve my design skills..
Glad the 2.2GHz 15" should suffice as that is pretty much maxing out my bank account and I would probably need to sell a kidney to upgrade from there.

Check out the refurb section of apple's site because they have some 15" rMBPs on there now that can save you some money and they still have the same 1 year warranty as new. As I understand it they are basically new but with a plain white box because apple does a really good job with their refurbs.
http://www.apple.com/us_epp_125879/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/15

 

[Char24]

Check out the refurb section of apple's site because they have some 15" rMBPs on there now that can save you some money and they still have the same 1 year warranty as new. As I understand it they are basically new but with a plain white box because apple does a really good job with their refurbs.
http://www.apple.com/us_epp_125879/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/15

Oh thank you! That is helpful. I hadn't realized they had a refurbished section.. I had been hesitating to buy refurbished from elsewhere, but since this is Apple itself and the model was introduced in May it's probably as good as new.. That's awesome. I've been dithering whether to get the applecare as well, and since refurb would shave off $350, it looks like I could do that or put the extra towards software.. Sweet!

 

[jermy4]

Oh thank you! That is helpful. I hadn't realized they had a refurbished section.. I had been hesitating to buy refurbished from elsewhere, but since this is Apple itself and the model was introduced in May it's probably as good as new.. That's awesome. I've been dithering whether to get the applecare as well, and since refurb would shave off $350, it looks like I could do that or put the extra towards software.. Sweet!

If you want to add applecare you can do so anytime during the original 1 year warranty period and you can usually find it cheaper from other websites, I've purchased it from bhphotovideo in the past and had no problems activating/using it since they are apple certified retailers.

 

[Char24]

If you want to add applecare you can do so anytime during the original 1 year warranty period and you can usually find it cheaper from other websites, I've purchased it from bhphotovideo in the past and had no problems activating/using it since they are apple certified retailers.

Ok, awesome! I think I'll do that.. it looks like they are offering a good deal. I also noticed they are selling refurbished MBP at a good price. Should I just go with Apple for the laptop, or is there really no difference between refurbished from Apple and refurbished from a certified retailer like BHPhoto? Thanks!

 

[jermy4]

Ok, awesome! I think I'll do that.. it looks like they are offering a good deal. I also noticed they are selling refurbished MBP at a good price. Should I just go with Apple for the laptop, or is there really no difference between refurbished from Apple and refurbished from a certified retailer like BHPhoto? Thanks!

I didn't know B&H sold refurb MacBooks, are you sure you're not looking at a leftover 2014 model? If they do have refurbs I'm not sure if they are refurbishing them or if apple is.

 

[Char24]

I didn't know B&H sold refurb MacBooks, are you sure you're not looking at a leftover 2014 model? If they do have refurbs I'm not sure if they are refurbishing them or if apple is.

Ah, the one I was looking at on there is actually a 2014.. Lol I couldn't work out why it was cheap! I'm suffering from brain melt right now. It looks like they have 2015 models as well, but not the specific one I was looking for.. not sure who's fixing them up.. Also, the prices are not significantly better than the refurb from Apple. I'll just get it directly from Apple and use B&H for the Apple Care and any other add-ons.
Can't wait to get my new laptop. If you hadn't mentioned the refurbs from Apple I would've probably ended up delaying getting it or downgraded to save some money. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[jermy4]

Glad I could help, I actually never bought a refurb mac but I have bought refurb apple tvs and airport extremes and other than the plain white boxes they were indistinguishable from new ones. I've been lucky with sales at best buy and movers coupons for my macs but I generally go for the standard models too instead of built to order which you can't get at stores like best buy.