To upgrade or not to upgrade?

[lumencreative]

Hi all,

I currently work as a full time Web Developer and I am going to study for my masters in computing in September. As I will be eligible for student discount, I am considering making the most of the opportunity and buying a new Mac.

I currently have an early 2011 15" Macbook Pro with the Quad Core i7 2.2GHz Processor, 240GB SSD, 8GB Ram, High Res Matte Display. It's quite battered so I've just bought a replacement palmrest off eBay to improve it but am yet to fit it. I also have a current 2.5GHz Mac Mini with base spec hooked up to a Dell U2312HM screen.

I am trying to decide whether to replace my Macbook Pro, Mac Mini, or neither.

For the Macbook Pro, the model I am considering is the 15" Retina Macbook Pro with Quad Core i7 2.5GHz Processor, 256GB Flash, 16GB Ram. This is priced at £1428 with UK HE Discount.

For the Desktop, the model I am considering is the 27" iMac with a 1TB Fusion Drive (although I would wait til the new model comes). This is currently priced at £1416 with UK HE Discount.

If I were to replace my Macbook Pro and sell my current one, I would hope to get £550 for my current Macbook Pro so the upgrade will cost me approx £878.

If I were to go down the desktop route, I would hope to get £380 for the Mac Mini so the upgrade will cost me approx £1036.

Taking the screen out of the equation, will I see much of a difference performance wise between my current Macbook Pro and the new one?

Which would you do?

 

[maflynn]

You're going to see nice bump in performance between the 2011 model and the new rMBP. Also consider the fact that the 2011 MBPs are suffering from radeongte, the failure of the dGPUs. I'd look to sell the laptop now and replace it.

 

[glenthompson]

I agree with selling the MBP due to the possibility of Radeongate. I'm not too sure about getting 550 out of your old one if it's as beat up as you describe.

 

[lumencreative]

I agree with selling the MBP due to the possibility of Radeongate. I'm not too sure about getting 550 out of your old one if it's as beat up as you describe.

When I've replaced the palmrest it'll only have a dent on the corner of the lid so it won't be too bad. It's also got a 240GB SSD in there so if I don't get £550, I'll just keep it as a spare, or split it into parts