Resolved Refurbished rMBP 2013 or Build my own computer

[moomanjohnny]

My main computer right now is a Late 2009 MacBook that is about to die any day now. So should I buy a refurbished Late 2013 Retina MacBook Pro 13 inch, or build my own computer and install Mac OS 10 on it? I really want to get the rMBP because it's portable and I can use it at school (it's one of those iPad schools, but they allow you to use MacBooks too). But I also want to build my own computer because it's cheaper and it's more powerful. Anyways, this is what I would like to do on these computers:

• Make iPhone and iPad apps with Xcode
• Use Unreal Engine 4 to work on my video game
• Do school work with Pages and Keynote
• Light gaming, like Garry's Mod and Minecraft (I don't really care for video games, unless I'm making one)
• Web design with Dreamweaver
• Photoshop
• Some light video editing in Adobe Premiere

So my budget is around $1200, do you think I should get a rMBP or build my own computer? I would have just build my own computer already, but I didn't want to deal with the hackintosh problems and I really want portability so I can use it at school.

But I'm kind of stuck here, what do you guys think I should do?

 

[yjchua95]

My main computer right now is a Late 2009 MacBook that is about to die any day now. So should I buy a refurbished Late 2013 Retina MacBook Pro 13 inch, or build my own computer and install Mac OS 10 on it? I really want to get the rMBP because it's portable and I can use it at school (it's one of those iPad schools, but they allow you to use MacBooks too). But I also want to build my own computer because it's cheaper and it's more powerful. Anyways, this is what I would like to do on these computers:

• Make iPhone and iPad apps with Xcode
• Use Unreal Engine 4 to work on my video game
• Do school work with Pages and Keynote
• Light gaming, like Garry's Mod and Minecraft (I don't really care for video games, unless I'm making one)
• Web design with Dreamweaver
• Photoshop
• Some light video editing in Adobe Premiere

So my budget is around $1200, do you think I should get a rMBP or build my own computer? I would have just build my own computer already, but I didn't want to deal with the hackintosh problems and I really want portability so I can use it at school.

But I'm kind of stuck here, what do you guys think I should do?

For your needs, a refurb late-2013 13" rMBP should do you fine. But if you can find a baseline late-2013 15" refurb, that'd be even better.

Installing OS X in a Hackintosh is more trouble than it's worth, because of unreliable drivers and having something broken in updates.

 

[moomanjohnny]

For your needs, a refurb late-2013 13" rMBP should do you fine. But if you can find a baseline late-2013 15" refurb, that'd be even better.

Installing OS X in a Hackintosh is more trouble than it's worth, because of unreliable drivers and having something broken in updates.

Yeah, I was thinking about how Hackintosh's are a lot of trouble to get working and how they require constant support to keep it running well.

Thank you for helping me decide to get a 13" rMBP, although I would love to get a 15" one, the cheapest baseline one I can find one is for $1500.

 

[Badrottie]

2012 15" rMBP is a good machine cuz it has a better dGPU - 650M you might be a luck finding bargain price off eBay or Craigslist Ad.

 

[moomanjohnny]

2012 15" rMBP is a good machine cuz it has a better dGPU - 650M you might be a luck finding bargain price off eBay or Craigslist Ad.

I probably should've looked at the 2012 rMBP, but I already bought a Late 2013 rMBP, 2.6ghz Intel Core i5, 8gb ram, and 512gb flash storage for $999.

 

[Badrottie]

I probably should've looked at the 2012 rMBP, but I already bought a Late 2013 rMBP, 2.6ghz Intel Core i5, 8gb ram, and 512gb flash storage for $999.

congrats and enjoy your new prized toy.

 

[moomanjohnny]

....and the logic board got fried because of a power surge. I had apple care on the computer, they said apple care doesn't cover that, and they want me to pay for a replacement logic board. Great....

 

[scaredpoet]

....and the logic board got fried because of a power surge. I had apple care on the computer, they said apple care doesn't cover that, and they want me to pay for a replacement logic board. Great....

On the NEW MacBook Pro you just bought? Wow, you have the worst luck.

Welp, check with your credit card company if you bought with a credit card. They may offer purchase protection and might be able to help with paying for the repair. If not, do you have renter's or homeowner's insurance? Often they cover these things as well.

Once you do get it fixed, you might want to spend another $20 on one of these.

 

[moomanjohnny]

On the NEW MacBook Pro you just bought? Wow, you have the worst luck.

Welp, check with your credit card company if you bought with a credit card. They may offer purchase protection and might be able to help with paying for the repair. If not, do you have renter's or homeowner's insurance? Often they cover these things as well.

Once you do get it fixed, you might want to spend another $20 on one of these.

I didn't buy it with a credit card, and I never added the computer to my homeowners insurance's policy because I only had the computer for 2 days. I guess I'll have to pay for the repairs myself.

 

[Fl0r!an]

Wow, that's really bad luck I've heard of a lot of MacBooks surviving lightning strokes while other electrical devices in the same socket died, and yours dies within 2 days
Just curious, what did you tell Apple? Were they able to prove that it was a power surge or did you tell them?

Regarding the hackintosh stuff: If you do your homework properly, it's a one-time job. I've build my desktop machine back in 2010 on 10.6 and did every update upto 10.10 now without any issues. Major updates just involve one extra step to get the installer on a flash drive, minor updates work as on any other Mac. Only proplem in now 5 years of hackintosh was iMessage after Apple had tightened their security, but that's solved now.
Besides that, a desktop hackintosh is obviously no alternative to a MacBook, usually you'd go with both.

 

[scaredpoet]

I didn't buy it with a credit card, and I never added the computer to my homeowners insurance's policy because I only had the computer for 2 days. I guess I'll have to pay for the repairs myself.

Check with the insurance company anyway. My insurance company doesn't ask for itemizations of personal effects but covers them anyway, as long as I can prove that I bought them, and that the loss happened while the policy was in effect. If you have the toasted laptop and the receipt, Or the fixed laptop, the purchase receipt and the receipt for repairs, they could still help.

 

[moomanjohnny]

Sorry for the late reply, I haven't had a working device that connects to the internet because my iPhone 6's screen stopped working all of the sudden, but I got a free replacement from Apple because of Apple Care.

Wow, that's really bad luck I've heard of a lot of MacBooks surviving lightning strokes while other electrical devices in the same socket died, and yours dies within 2 days
Just curious, what did you tell Apple? Were they able to prove that it was a power surge or did you tell them?

Regarding the hackintosh stuff: If you do your homework properly, it's a one-time job. I've build my desktop machine back in 2010 on 10.6 and did every update upto 10.10 now without any issues. Major updates just involve one extra step to get the installer on a flash drive, minor updates work as on any other Mac. Only proplem in now 5 years of hackintosh was iMessage after Apple had tightened their security, but that's solved now.
Besides that, a desktop hackintosh is obviously no alternative to a MacBook, usually you'd go with both.

When I took it in to the Apple Store they asked me what was wrong with it and I said that I was looking at my emails and someone sent me an email that had a Keynote document on it, and that reminded me that I haven't installed iWork yet, so I went into another room to get an external DVD drive so I could install iWork '09 on it, (I hate the new redesigned Pages and Keynote). But when I got back it was off and wouldn't turn back on (I know, it sounds like a fake story but it isn't). So they asked me if I had tried to reset the SMC Controller, and I said yes, I have also tried resetting the PRAM, and booting up into Apple Diagnostics by pressing CMD + D, and I also tried listening for the fans when I press the power button. The person said that I had done more testing than he would have done and he told me it was a fried Logic Board. He said it had been caused by power surge and that it would be $280 to fix, not including tax and labor. So I thanked him and said that I would think about fixing it because I am 13 and I don't have that kind of money (I don't get an allowance, I have to work at my dads Heating and Air Conditioning company for money). So I just ended up returning the computer to Apple and getting my money back.

Check with the insurance company anyway. My insurance company doesn't ask for itemizations of personal effects but covers them anyway, as long as I can prove that I bought them, and that the loss happened while the policy was in effect. If you have the toasted laptop and the receipt, Or the fixed laptop, the purchase receipt and the receipt for repairs, they could still help.

I just returned the laptop because I have had problems with my insurance company in the past and I didn't really want to go through them to get it fixed.

So I decided to build a nice desktop that I can install Mac and Windows on (it's not finished, but you can view the specs here), and I'll just buy a ChromeBook or iPad for my school work. (kinda leaning towards the Chromebook because its cheaper and you can install Android apps and Linux on it)

Anyways, thank you everyone for helping me, you guys have been a great help.

 

[Badrottie]

I probably should've looked at the 2012 rMBP, but I already bought a Late 2013 rMBP, 2.6ghz Intel Core i5, 8gb ram, and 512gb flash storage for $999.

Not a bad machine...enjoy your toy!