rmbp non upgradable

[theromz]

I really want a rmbp but the fact that I can't upgrade anything at all is really off putting.

2 years ago I brought a machine, I wanted a MBP but the screens sucked at the time and the price was too high once you included a 1650 screen. I got a windows machine with a 1080p display. Since then I have upgraded the Ram and popped in an SSD and tbh its running perfectly.

However I have started to do a lot web development work which means I heavily use Ubuntu, and this is buggy at times, my WiFi drivers are not supported very well and battery life is pants and so on. So a MBP would be great for that being a Unix base.

Also me and my GF have both taken up photography as a hobo and I find my self spending a lot more time in Photoshop and would like to do more work with that. Finally I have just started to develop iOS apps.

So for these reasons I'm once again looking at getting a MBP, I want something powerful, and with an amazing screen so the rMBP 15" is the best fit, I am ofc waiting for the Haswell models to drop. However not being able to upgrade my machine is giving me a headache. I don't want to pony up the money for 16GB ram and 512GB SSD now as I won't need it and when I do (2years time or so) it will be much cheaper. So I just wanted to ask how do you guys feel about this and what would you recommend me doing.

 

[GSPice]

Honestly, I've never needed or wanted to upgrade. If you bite the bullet now, you'll thank yourself later, with not necessarily feeling the need to upgrade, and the resale value will help if/when you sell the mbp in a few years.

And by buying "more" computer than you feel you need now, who knows - if you amortize the cost of the device over the length of ownership, you may own it longer than if you upgraded memory, etc. along the way - and that could quickly pay for itself.

 

[theromz]

Honestly, I've never needed or wanted to upgrade. If you bite the bullet now, you'll thank yourself later, with not necessarily feeling the need to upgrade, and the resale value will help if/when you sell the mbp in a few years.

And by buying "more" computer than you feel you need now, who knows - if you amortize the cost of the device over the length of ownership, you may own it longer than if you upgraded memory, etc. along the way - and that could quickly pay for itself.

Yeah I have considered the re-sale value, its a big selling point. I think I will settle on getting a base model with 16GB ram once we have Haswell machines. It means I won't be limited when I want to use VMwares and I will have a HDD for all my media so 256gb should be enough.

I just wish it was a little more flexible, but its a comprise for such a small body.

 

[GSPice]

Yeah I have considered the re-sale value, its a big selling point. I think I will settle on getting a base model with 16GB ram once we have Haswell machines. It means I won't be limited when I want to use VMwares and I will have a HDD for all my media so 256gb should be enough.

I just wish it was a little more flexible, but its a comprise for such a small body.

True - and yes, if I had to choose which parts not to max out now, it'd be the CPU, and then the SSD drive.

 

[sofianito]

I really want a rmbp but the fact that I can't upgrade anything at all is really off putting.

2 years ago I brought a machine, I wanted a MBP but the screens sucked at the time and the price was too high once you included a 1650 screen. I got a windows machine with a 1080p display. Since then I have upgraded the Ram and popped in an SSD and tbh its running perfectly.

However I have started to do a lot web development work which means I heavily use Ubuntu, and this is buggy at times, my WiFi drivers are not supported very well and battery life is pants and so on. So a MBP would be great for that being a Unix base.

Also me and my GF have both taken up photography as a hobo and I find my self spending a lot more time in Photoshop and would like to do more work with that. Finally I have just started to develop iOS apps.

So for these reasons I'm once again looking at getting a MBP, I want something powerful, and with an amazing screen so the rMBP 15" is the best fit, I am ofc waiting for the Haswell models to drop. However not being able to upgrade my machine is giving me a headache. I don't want to pony up the money for 16GB ram and 512GB SSD now as I won't need it and when I do (2years time or so) it will be much cheaper. So I just wanted to ask how do you guys feel about this and what would you recommend me doing.

Get the MacPro or build a powerful hackintosh for less than the 15" rMBP base model...

 

[GSPice]

Get the MacPro or build a powerful hackintosh for less than the 15" rMBP base model...

Um, yeah, there's a reason they call it hackintosh.

 

[sofianito]

Um, yeah, there's a reason they call it hackintosh.

Hack prefix was meant to bypass controls set by Apple when installing Mac OS X. Really it is not that hard and you should not be afraid. If you buy components listed in HCL, you'll be safe and have 0 issues...

 

[GSPice]

Hack prefix was meant to bypass controls set by Apple when installing Mac OS X. Really it is not that hard and you should not be afraid. If you buy components listed in HCL, you'll be safe and have 0 issues...

Oh I definitely knew that.. I just haven't seen a hackintosh that looks as good as a MBP.

 

[theromz]

Get the MacPro or build a powerful hackintosh for less than the 15" rMBP base model...

But I need a laptop as I tend to travel a lot and work in random places, like parks and different builds and so on. I have though of having a Hackintosh before.

 

[thekev]

Honestly, I've never needed or wanted to upgrade. If you bite the bullet now, you'll thank yourself later, with not necessarily feeling the need to upgrade, and the resale value will help if/when you sell the mbp in a few years.

And by buying "more" computer than you feel you need now, who knows - if you amortize the cost of the device over the length of ownership, you may own it longer than if you upgraded memory, etc. along the way - and that could quickly pay for itself.

Some things amortize better than others. .1 or .2 ghz is rarely if ever worth it. Ram is a different story. 16GB is double 8, and in a lot of things, it still offers performance beyond the minimum amount that is truly needed.

Get the MacPro or build a powerful hackintosh for less than the 15" rMBP base model...

I think if the mac pro is a real option, why use a notebook? It didn't seem to be one for the OP.

 

[adjeff8]

Yeah I have considered the re-sale value, its a big selling point. I think I will settle on getting a base model with 16GB ram once we have Haswell machines. It means I won't be limited when I want to use VMwares and I will have a HDD for all my media so 256gb should be enough.

I just wish it was a little more flexible, but its a comprise for such a small body.

Get the 15" base, you won't know the diff from the maxed out models and your machine will stay cooler. Max out the Ram because its a no brainer,That will solve your not being able to upgrade problem. And stick with the 256 gig because you CAN upgrade that when you need too and the price will go down by then

 

[GSPice]

Some things amortize better than others. .1 or .2 ghz is rarely if ever worth it.

Yup! That's why I said this:

True - and yes, if I had to choose which parts not to max out now, it'd be the CPU, and then the SSD drive.

Get the 15" base, you won't know the diff from the maxed out models and your machine will stay cooler. Max out the Ram because its a no brainer,That will solve your not being able to upgrade problem. And stick with the 256 gig because you CAN upgrade that when you need too and the price will go down by then

Not sure if that's all that great a reason to get a base CPU...

 

[dylin]

If you dont see the need for it, then just go play with one. The only way to justify your purchase would be to actually try it out. If you dont like it you could always return it.

As far as the components go, go for the base model and up the RAM to 16.

Now unless you dont have the money then thats a totally different story.

 

[vpro]

It is all to simple people, why do you want to upgrade a r-MB for? Have you actually done any of your own research, obviously you have because you know it is not user upgradeable, why would you then consider such an over priced, premium piece of junk? Why not go right to hackintosh or the current line of MacBook Pros? Especially, especially the late 2011 17" MBP refurbs on their store site? Why settle for less? If you like to upgrade, you can't upgrade anything on the r-MB, especially not the video cards, because they really suck in the r-MB's. The 'red crispy fruity' company doesn't let you custom pick your own graphics cards, they just slap on one they think everyone should be happy with, end of story. So just upgrading ram and rom is so child's play, just do that with any current MBP as mentioned then.

Good luck.

Don't get suckered in to sacrificing everything just to own the so called "latest and greatest" because it really is NOT the 15" rMB.

 

[theromz]

It is all to simple people, why do you want to upgrade a r-MB for? Have you actually done any of your own research, obviously you have because you know it is not user upgradeable, why would you then consider such an over priced, premium piece of junk? Why not go right to hackintosh or the current line of MacBook Pros? Especially, especially the late 2011 17" MBP refurbs on their store site? Why settle for less? If you like to upgrade, you can't upgrade anything on the r-MB, especially not the video cards, because they really suck in the r-MB's. The 'red crispy fruity' company doesn't let you custom pick your own graphics cards, they just slap on one they think everyone should be happy with, end of story. So just upgrading ram and rom is so child's play, just do that with any current MBP as mentioned then.

Good luck.

Don't get suckered in to sacrificing everything just to own the so called "latest and greatest" because it really is NOT the 15" rMB.

Its mostly for the screen, I don't to go back a set since I currently have a 1080p screen. I don't really want a 17" screen either. If I could get a 1080p screen on the cMBP 15" that would be ideal.

I think I will wait for the next rmbp update and get it through the student store, either that or a refurb.

 

[GSPice]

It is all to simple people

You do realize that you have zero credibility - when all you can do on Macrumors is flame the rMBP - wait no, just the 15" rMBP?

It's getting really old, and useless.

 

[vpro]

You do realize that you have zero credibility - when all you can do on Macrumors is flame the rMBP - wait no, just the 15" rMBP?

It's getting really old, and useless.

well you see it that way. fine. you don't have to read my posts, there is a convenient ignore feature if you haven't already learned how to use the forum properly?

 

[mcarling]

I really want a Honda Civic, but I just found out that I can't upgrade it myself later to a Honda Accord by swapping out a few parts with a screwdriver. That's so unfair of Honda to build their cars that way.

 

[GSPice]

well you see it that way. fine. you don't have to read my posts, there is a convenient ignore feature if you haven't already learned how to use the forum properly?

lol, speaking of using the forum properly..

 

[sofianito]

You do realize that you have zero credibility - when all you can do on Macrumors is flame the rMBP - wait no, just the 15" rMBP?

It's getting really old, and useless.

This is called "freedom of expression"... Everyone lives her/his own truth...

 

[GSPice]

I really want a Honda Civic, but I just found out that I can't upgrade it myself later to a Honda Accord by swapping out a few parts with a screwdriver. That's so unfair of Honda to build their cars that way.

I think a better example would be Porsche vs. Honda.

----------

This is called "freedom of expression"... Everyone lives her/his own truth...

Oh please, give me a break. It's not "truth" - its a fringe opinion. And it is useless here, because it is so far from any objective thoughts that could help people decide about the rMBP.

Stop placating.

 

[sofianito]

I think a better example would be Porsche vs. Honda.

----------



Oh please, give me a break. It's not "truth" - its a fringe opinion. And it is useless here, because it is so far from any objective thoughts that could help people decide about the rMBP.

Stop placating.

As stated before, everybody has his own truth based on her/his lived experience, beliefs, and culture. You can't force people to agree with your truth...

Last but not least, this is a rumors forum not a product review magazine or website such as Anand or Toms HW,...etc. I wouldn't advise any prospective buyers to base their purchase decisions solely on the opinions of this forum because most of them are biased and not objective. As an example, I read a lot of college folks asking for advices regarding the purchase of a MBA or 13" (r)MBP, but most of the replies they get point to the 15" rMBP...

 

[thekev]

It is all to simple people, why do you want to upgrade a r-MB for? Have you actually done any of your own research, obviously you have because you know it is not user upgradeable, why would you then consider such an over priced, premium piece of junk? Why not go right to hackintosh or the current line of MacBook Pros? Especially, especially the late 2011 17" MBP refurbs on their store site? Why settle for less? If you like to upgrade, you can't upgrade anything on the r-MB, especially not the video cards, because they really suck in the r-MB's. The 'red crispy fruity' company doesn't let you custom pick your own graphics cards, they just slap on one they think everyone should be happy with, end of story. So just upgrading ram and rom is so child's play, just do that with any current MBP as mentioned then.

Good luck.

Don't get suckered in to sacrificing everything just to own the so called "latest and greatest" because it really is NOT the 15" rMB.

The display is nice. Ram is more expensive, but that point isn't as bad as people make it sound. Crucial is a little over $100 for 16GB. It varies month by month. Apple charges $200. It's more expensive, but it's more sensible to look at net difference. I only hold off on upgrading ram if it is truly cost prohibitive at the time. In 2011 you could spend almost $1000 for that amount of ram. 32 GB upgrades will never come to the 2011 or 2012s, as you won't have 16GB ddr3 sodimms. If you want it in a notebook, you need one that supports 4 sodimms. The majority of notebooks don't have that many gpu options. Typically in a 15" it won't go past a 650m or whatever equivalent in the newest ones. You have a couple exceptions. One would be things like Alienware. It's usually cheaper to buy the upgrade rather than upgrade later though. The other would be mobile workstations. They'll typically offer several Quadro m variants.

I really want a Honda Civic, but I just found out that I can't upgrade it myself later to a Honda Accord by swapping out a few parts with a screwdriver. That's so unfair of Honda to build their cars that way.

That is a very poor analogy. If you really had to go for the car analogy, upgrades are more like options than differences between distinct car models. Does the dealer tell you that you can't put on snow tires?

 

[GSPice]

That is a very poor analogy. If you really had to go for the car analogy, upgrades are more like options than differences between distinct car models. Does the dealer tell you that you can't put on snow tires?

Headlamps might be a better example. HIDs are definitely not intended to be replaced like halogens, and they're quite more expensive up front, but I've never needed to replace them.

 

[theromz]

I really want a Honda Civic, but I just found out that I can't upgrade it myself later to a Honda Accord by swapping out a few parts with a screwdriver. That's so unfair of Honda to build their cars that way.

Wow, did you come up with that all on your own, or did your mommy help you .

If you don't have anything to contribute then please gtfo, I asked a real question, I didn't say it sucked or anything now did I. Its a real problem for me at least, its a heavy investment in a machine and I wish I could upgrade a few parts in the future. I dislike how more and more machines are heading down this road.

I understand they did it to get the form factory and all.