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Ndewacht

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 1, 2014
1
0
Hey everyone,

I am brand new to the forum! I currently use a 13" MBP (2011) with 2.4ghz i5, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD and running Yosemite. I am worried this will not be enough for both iOS and Android development as well as the business needs I have. The laptop needs to perform consistently without quitting, I will be using it as my business lifeline. I am looking to possibly upgrade if need-be, I prefer 13" to 15" and am looking at the 13" MBP Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD. I am wondering if the upgrade is advisable or necessary from anyones experience. I use external displays so do not need the increased screen space on my laptop.

Any help is great!
 
I think the machine should be plenty reliable, especially with a good backup and archive plan in place. I was going to add the need for screen real estate is (IMHO) a necessity for development, but it sounds like you have that covered. Upgrading to a new machine [with more RAM, Haswell] will give you a performance boost, and with the Retina Display, you also have the option to run it at a higher, scaled, resolution when you're mobile. Still, you probably can get by for some time with just a RAM upgrade to the 2011.

Edit: If you go with the 2014, I would plan on getting it full up with 16 GB RAM. It's not something that can be changed later.
 
Another consideration to make is that Retina MBP's late 2013 and newer still don't have third-party SSD's available to upgrade, so you may or may not be stuck with the storage size you choose.
 
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