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Sold 2011 MBP Top Spec - what to buy now?

S

SimeoneSergio

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 27, 2012
132
26
London UK
Greetings Mac users,

i have a question...

Got quite a good offer (roughly 1,300 euros) for my MBP (Late 2011 I7 2,4Ghz, 8Gb Ram, 256 Gb SSD, VideoCard is a HD6770M, 15" Hi-res & Antiglare monitor, only 170 recharge cycles with 11 months of Apple Care left) and decided to sell it.

I was going straight for the latest (and most powerful) rMBP on market but i've seen quite a good offer (i think) on a refurbished one. Now i'm terribly undecided.

Use: almost all CC suite, especially Ps, Ai, Ae, Id.

Refurbished specs (comes from Apple store - February 2013 purchased):
I7 2,8 Ghz (i7-3840QM i presume), 16Gb Ram, 768 Gb Flash Unit, Retina 15" 2880 x 1800, GT650M 1Gb - Price 2,4k euros. Possible to attach a 3 yrs Apple Care
Final Price: 2,7k (with Apple care)

Latest rMBP i'd buy specs:
I7 2,6 Ghz, 16Gb Ram, 512 Gb Flash Unit, Retina 15" 2880 x 1800, GT750 2Gb;
Final Price: 3,2k euros with 3yrs Apple care.

What would you guys do ?
 
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Why did you sell your current Macbook in the first place? Given the specs it had you won't get much more performance from a newer one. So the only 'upgrade' in a sense would be

- size, both the retina or an Air would be smaller and lighter
- Retina display

potentially a bigger SSD (could have put that in your old one as well).

For me this would not be worth the extra cash out of 1k+ on a new one...
 
I would get the refurbished one. It's much cheaper and it's about the same speed, and it has more capacity.

That said I was recently upgraded to the 2013 one (warranty replacement), and it still faster, but not really by much (frankly can't tell the difference).
 
alphaod said:
I would get the refurbished one. It's much cheaper and it's about the same speed, and it has more capacity.

That said I was recently upgraded to the 2013 one (warranty replacement), and it still faster, but not really by much (frankly can't tell the difference).
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it's about the same speed. The PCIe SSD in the retina MBP is way faster (write: 650MB/s, read: 750MB/s).

The 2012 rMBP tops out at around 500MB/s for both read/writes because it uses the old SATA3 interface.

The 2012 rMBPs are also more prone to having image retention displays.
 
I can't see selling a 2011 model and then buying a 2012 model (even if its in refurb). You'll not really see too much in terms of performance increase. I'd go with the 2013 - but that's just me
 
Just as a clarification:

The refurbished is a February 2013 one, not a 2012.
As you all know in September we had a refresh on the CPUs, this is why i was asking.

Thanks all for the insightful replies though!

P.S. I edited the opening post, should be clearer now :)
 
The main difference between the two machines will be the screen, the GPU is not that much faster and it's the same story with the SSD as the early 2013 uses a proprietary interface the same speed as the SATA 3 interface in the late 2011 machines.

I personally don't see much of a point between going from a high end late 2011 to an early 2013 machine. Sure, you get the screen and slightly faster internals, but that's it really.

I've myself been considering replacing my low-end early 2011 machine (the one with the Radeon 6490M) with a second hand early 2013 machine mainly due to the pretty lousy GPU, which I thought I'd be able to supplement with a desktop card in a Thunderbolt enclosure by now (but we all know how that went). However thinking about it a bit closer, the CUDA stuff I'd like to do is something I can do just as well on one of the university's cluster machines and the bump in CPU and disc drive speed will be pretty minimal as I dropped in an SSD last fall.

In short: You're going to end up paying a lot for a machine you don't get that big of a performance boost from and the only real difference will be the screen. With the early 2013 machine you're also stuck with an exotic type SSD the same speed as a SATA3 SSD, you don't have the choice between an optical disc drive or a second HDD/SSD and the RAM is soldered stuck and can't be replaced.

With refurb machines you should always remember that they're mostly built out of parts from faulty machines and thus carry a much higher chance of breaking down...
 
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maflynn said:
I can't see selling a 2011 model and then buying a 2012 model (even if its in refurb). You'll not really see too much in terms of performance increase. I'd go with the 2013 - but that's just me
Click to expand...

There;s about at 25% improvement in geekbench CPU scores between the two machines. Twice the RAM, PCIe SSD - he will see ALOT of improvement if he does anything preformance intensive. Why do people assume all everyone does here is surf the net and write the odd letter ?

Edit: No brainer here - I'd get the refurb - its better specced - so long as you don't critically need the 2Gb video RAM
Hmmm made a mistake here - I though Feb 2013 model was the new one. Actualyl I would probably go for the new machine instead.
 
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The Mercurian said:
I'd get the refurb - its better specced - so long as you don't critically need the 2Gb video RAM
Click to expand...
Hello Mercurian and thanks for your insightful reply.
Indeed i don't need 2gb of ram (or at least i hope so, as i said in the Adobe suite i use mostly Ps Ai Ae Id.)

@SarcasticJoe I know they are assembled in that way, that's the reason i'm buying Apple care :)
 
SimeoneSergio said:
Hello Mercurian and thanks for your insightful reply.
Indeed i don't need 2gb of ram (or at least i hope so, as i said in the Adobe suite i use mostly Ps Ai Ae Id.)
Click to expand...

No problem :)
I have thoughts about a similar move myself so had thought alot baout the numbers for a while.
 
SarcasticJoe said:
With refurb machines you should always remember that they're mostly built out of parts from faulty machines and thus carry a much higher chance of breaking down...
Click to expand...

That's not actually true at all. Refurbs, at least Apple's anyway, are no more or less prone to breaking down than new machines. This is true of all their products. My refurbished replacement iPhone 4S has actually lasted longer than the brand new one, which had a faulty power button.
 
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yjchua95 said:
I wouldn't say it's about the same speed. The PCIe SSD in the retina MBP is way faster (write: 650MB/s, read: 750MB/s).

The 2012 rMBP tops out at around 500MB/s for both read/writes because it uses the old SATA3 interface.

The 2012 rMBPs are also more prone to having image retention displays.
Click to expand...

Those are just benchmarks, and sequential at that—which is not something most users do. The real-world difference is actually not that big at all.

----------
SarcasticJoe said:
I personally don't see much of a point between going from a high end late 2011 to an early 2013 machine. Sure, you get the screen and slightly faster internals, but that's it really.
Click to expand...
Well, if you'd read his post, you'd also have noticed that his two contenders have double the RAM and double (or more) the disk space.

SarcasticJoe said:
With refurb machines you should always remember that they're mostly built out of parts from faulty machines and thus carry a much higher chance of breaking down...
Click to expand...
This is false. They're returns, which happen for a variety of reasons. There's zero evidence to suggest that the long-term failure rates for refurbs is any worse than it is for "new" machines. In fact, because all problematic parts are replaced and the machines go through extensive testing, it's just as plausible that a buyer's odds are better with a refurb.

----------
SimeoneSergio said:
What would you guys do ?
Click to expand...

Of the two options you posted, the refurb wins hands-down.
 
yjchua95 said:
I wouldn't say it's about the same speed. The PCIe SSD in the retina MBP is way faster (write: 650MB/s, read: 750MB/s).

The 2012 rMBP tops out at around 500MB/s for both read/writes because it uses the old SATA3 interface.

The 2012 rMBPs are also more prone to having image retention displays.
Click to expand...

Having used and own both, yes they bench differently, but I can't tell the difference in day-to-day use. Both boot up in an instant, I've never had problems as scratch space, and performance is overall astounding. I even use FileVault without no noticeable performance penalties on their computer.

I've never experienced image retention on my rMBP despite the many reports of people with the issue. I'm not of course saying the issue does not exist, just I have not seen it in the many rMBP computers I've used.
 
Maybe one thing that people have missed (and now i've put it on bold) is that i mostly use PS, AI, ID AND AE.

Now now...

I'd greatly benefit from the higher HD read/write speed, but what i'm really after is the CPU AND the GPU. this is why i was asking if there was a great difference between the refurbished and the current rMBP with top specs (CPU and GPU-wise).

Just to make it clear: i compose stuff in PS mostly but recently my work required also AE compositing AT CLIENT SITE, and not at my studio where i work on my MP.

I'm not wording/exceling/powerpointing :D
 
There is a big difference in I/O between the 2012 and 2013 models, but I think reviews of both models have covered that.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I don't think you can go wrong with a new machine then a prior version
 
Maflynn the refurbished ACTUALLY IS a EARLY 2013 one... Immediately bought after the hw upgrade (February 2013) happened at start of 2013, as reported in the anandtech link i posted.

I'm concerned about a huge or not huge difference of the CPU + GPU processing power between the 2 models.
 
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simonsi said:
Frankly? Buy your old one back :)
Click to expand...

Having owned a comparable 2011 MacBook Pro, I think you made the right move here. The newer MacBooks Pros with Retina display are an improvement on so many levels. They are a pound lighter, much slimmer, faster, and the displays are just gorgeous. The newer rMBPs are nearly portable. I carry mine to and from work, court, and class for lectures. There really is no comparison here. Buying an early 2013 or late 2013 (if there are any refurbished available) maxed out in specs is the way to go. Here in the US, there is an early 2013 with 512 GB SSD, 2.7 QC i7, 16 GB ram, with Retina display available for a 22% discount. It comes with the standard one year warranty and is eligible for AppleCare. Even with spending money on the AppleCare, you are still paying less than full price and the machine is light years ahead of your older 2011 MacBook Pro.

The only way I'd consider going with the current generation is if they were offered refurbished or money weren't an issue. Either way, you're more than half way there already due to your sale.

Buy as much as you can reasonably afford and enjoy it!
 
The retina display is worth the update.

I upgraded from a 2009 MBP 17". The maxed out late 2013 15" is much faster, but it makes no big difference in my daily work. I like the new machine especially for it's phantastic display. This thing is worth every penny.
 
The only thing i wouldn't appreciate for sure about the display is the lack of Anti-Glare feature.

Man, that was awesome! My eyes still say "MANY THANKS" for it :) I hope it won't hurt too much, i really work a lot on it.
 
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