Questions on rMBP 15inch and educational discount

[PeteyV]

I have had a 2010 MBP since March 2010 and it has since then become comprised by anyone and everyone that lives in my household. The files are all over the place and there are things I did not download on there and its quite irritating.

I now am wanting to buy a 15 inch rMBP for the extra screen size and speed. I won't be running many CPU intensive tasks. Mostly going to be used for schooling and typing papers. Alongside that maybe some browsing and powerpoint presentations for work. I am leaning towards 16gb of vram since it is not user upgradeable. Now I'm just not sure about the processor. Should I upgrade it or not?

Also what kind of discount is offered with the educational discount through apple? And I will also probably be financing it. Does anyone have any input on financing through apple and how it works?

 

[talmy]

The best solution to the "compromised" computer is to set up separate logins for everyone and only have yours with admin privileges.

For the usage you describe, there is no reason to upgrade beyond the base system. Not only is the standard processor more than sufficient, but so is the 8GB of RAM -- 4GB, if they offered it, would still be more than enough!

The educational discount generally isn't as much as you can get off buy buying a refurbished unit (which I recommend) except for Applecare, which is best bought from the the education store. You need to log in to see the discounts, because it depends on the model and any options you go for.

 

[PeteyV]

The best solution to the "compromised" computer is to set up separate logins for everyone and only have yours with admin privileges.

That is so much easier said than done for my family. I guess I should also include that I just want to have a legitimate reason to buy a rMBP

How much of a difference does the dedicated graphic card in the higher option rMBP 15 make? What tasks would be most affected by using an integrated graphic chip?

 

[BigHam]

The best solution to the "compromised" computer is to set up separate logins for everyone and only have yours with admin privileges.

For the usage you describe, there is no reason to upgrade beyond the base system. Not only is the standard processor more than sufficient, but so is the 8GB of RAM -- 4GB, if they offered it, would still be more than enough!

Its taken me three years to go from 4GB to 8GB of ram. I too am leaning towards a 16Gb machine. Should I just not bother and upgrade the SSD instead?

 

[The Mercurian]

The educational discount varies wildly between countries. Hell it even varies within countries depending on whether you are in store or online. For instance in the Uk its better than most places - and if you buy online you benefit from the "National HE Apple Agreement" - 15% off and 3 yrs FREE warranty (explained in detail here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1103022/ )

 

[PeteyV]

The educational discount varies wildly between countries. Hell it even varies within countries depending on whether you are in store or online. For instance in the Uk its better than most places - and if you buy online you benefit from the "National HE Apple Agreement" - 15% off and 3 yrs FREE warranty (explained in detail here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1103022/ )

Thanks. I now see the difference in price when I logged into the educational store on apple.com

What does everyone think about upgrading the SSD to the 1TB? It would be an additional $450. Or should I hold off hoping to be able to upgrade it at a later time?

 

[Jack Sun]

Thanks. I now see the difference in price when I logged into the educational store on apple.com

What does everyone think about upgrading the SSD to the 1TB? It would be an additional $450. Or should I hold off hoping to be able to upgrade it at a later time?

You said you type papers and make powerpoints. You don't need more CPU or more RAM or more graphics card or more hard drive for that. Not at all. The base 15" is already VERY VERY overpowered for your needs.

Besides, the base 15" was on sale at Best Buy for $1699 on Black Friday (with edu discount). Try to find some post-holiday sales like that. Whatever you do don't spend almost $1000 more for a made-to-order model with a bunch of options you don't need. At all.

 

[talmy]

That is so much easier said than done for my family. I guess I should also include that I just want to have a legitimate reason to buy a rMBP

Figured as much. But don't get your new system messed up. It's easy to create the logins. Just remember to log out when you are finished (or set the computer up to log out automatically). If it is your machine you have every right to create separate logins!

How much of a difference does the dedicated graphic card in the higher option rMBP 15 make? What tasks would be most affected by using an integrated graphic chip?

Games, 3D graphics, and some applications that make use of the graphics processor (Aperture, Final Cut Pro) will see the most difference. The "Office" apps you mentioned -- you would never see the difference.

Regarding the drive size -- you need to guess how much you need and do you need everything available at all times. From your mentioned uses, you are unlikely to fill the base drive.

 

[PeteyV]

You said you type papers and make powerpoints. You don't need more CPU or more RAM or more graphics card or more hard drive for that. Not at all. The base 15" is already VERY VERY overpowered for your needs.

Besides, the base 15" was on sale at Best Buy for $1699 on Black Friday (with edu discount). Try to find some post-holiday sales like that. Whatever you do don't spend almost $1000 more for a made-to-order model with a bunch of options you don't need. At all.

I sometimes think for the longevity of the laptop a larger SSD along with more ram is better especially when they are not user upgradeable like in this instance. Plus it helps resale value if need be. (Trying to convince myself that I need it)

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Figured as much. But don't get your new system messed up. It's easy to create the logins. Just remember to log out when you are finished (or set the computer up to log out automatically). If it is your machine you have every right to create separate logins!




Games, 3D graphics, and some applications that make use of the graphics processor (Aperture, Final Cut Pro) will see the most difference. The "Office" apps you mentioned -- you would never see the difference.

Regarding the drive size -- you need to guess how much you need and do you need everything available at all times. From your mentioned uses, you are unlikely to fill the base drive.

I like to think that I would be able to get by with the smaller drive but I feel like almost all photos, applications, programs, etc these days use up a lot more storage. For example I got by with a 8GB iPhone for 2 1/2 years. Now I'm up to a 64GB with only 25GB remaining. And the only reason I upgraded from a 16 to 32 to 64 was because it seems like most apps were getting larger along with the mp3 files getting larger.

 

[amoda]

It seems like you have your mind set on upgrading the rMBP significantly. Normally I would say "fair enough, it's your money", but really it's the banker's money since you plan on financing the purchase.

I don't mean to be rude, and ultimately it's your decision, but like others on this thread I'd recommend you think again about spending all that extra cash on unnecessary upgrades. You will see no benefit to upgrading the processor, or the ram or to the dGPU model. You may find your self using more of the SSD if you purchase a larger one, but there are cheaper alternatives (DropBox, other Cloud services, or external storage).

It's like "upgrading" from a Porsche to a Lamborghini in order to drive at 20KM/H.

Anyways, I apologise if I come off as preachy. I don't know your financial situation and you might only be financing it for points or something, I don't know. But no, upgrading to the dGPU model, or the CPU or ram will not benefit you if you're only typing essays and creating PPTs.

 

[talmy]

I sometimes think for the longevity of the laptop a larger SSD along with more ram is better especially when they are not user upgradeable like in this instance. Plus it helps resale value if need be. (Trying to convince myself that I need it)

Actually, the high end models depreciate more, so the models that are relatively inexpensive to buy will also cost less to own over their life.

I like to think that I would be able to get by with the smaller drive but I feel like almost all photos, applications, programs, etc these days use up a lot more storage. For example I got by with a 8GB iPhone for 2 1/2 years. Now I'm up to a 64GB with only 25GB remaining. And the only reason I upgraded from a 16 to 32 to 64 was because it seems like most apps were getting larger along with the mp3 files getting larger.

Photos got bigger as the number of pixels increased, but the pixel race is over. The move to Retina meant that graphic images in applications grew 400%, but that's now done. Likewise the move to 64 bit processors and OS made the code size larger, but that's been done as well. We would be unlikely to see a doubling of any of these for many years.

How much disk space is being consumed by your current Mac? And don't forget that you can archive old files to an external drive for *far* less money than the SSD upgrade.

I will add -- my wife has a 11" MBA with 2GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD, and a processor far less powerful than the current MBPs. It runs Mavericks and handles the iLife and iWorks apps just fine. It's 3 years old and far from being obsolete. Even the base model rMBP is "overkill" for this sort of use.

Of course the only way you can get a 15" screen now is the rMBP. But the real budget approach (which hopefully would prevent the need to finance) is to take your current MBP, wipe the drive and install a fresh copy of Mavericks, set up separate logins for everyone, and attach a big monitor and external keyboard and display, using it as a desktop computer when you want screen space. Figure about $300 for that route.