Urgent help needed just blindly bought a MacBook Pro

[MartinAppleGuy]

Sick mate, all I want to know is that will I be able to run counter strike 1.6 smoothly/runescape 07? These are the only 2 games I will play in the lifetime of this laptop, they are both reasonably old aswell. What will the dual core 8GB ram 2.4ghz 13" model struggle to do, like is there a list of things it just simply won't do?

Also is the 13"/15" just a matter of increase in size or does it affect colours/power/speed etc (dumb question)

The 15" offers almost twice the CPU performance of the 13" models. I think you should be looking at the 13" options though as you only plan on moving it a few years. For your needs the 2.4Ghz 256Gb SSD is best. I only brought up the 15" idea if you wanted to do more advanced things with it as well as keep it longer.

So go for the 13" 2.4Ghz 256Gb SSD option; as long as your needs don't change; it is good enough.

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15" has the Core i7 processor, whereas the 13" has the Core i5 processor.

That isn't really the main point; it is that the 15" is 4 cores hyper threading to 8 virtual; and the 13" is only 2cores hyper threading to 4 virtual cores. Benchmarks show around 2x CPU performance with the 15" vs the 13".

 

[Kevclark1985]

15" has the Core i7 processor, whereas the 13" has the Core i5 processor.

Erm nope, this is wrong.

13" you can get dual core i5 or i7
15" you can get quad core i5 or i7

 

[raptor402]

Erm nope, this is wrong.

13" you can get dual core i5 or i7
15" you can get quad core i5 or i7

Well, in the mobile processors, the series is little more than branding. The real thing is what's inside the chip. Let's not confuse the OP more.

Martin is right, the 13" middle model should be perfect of the OP. The OP's use is hardly CPU dependant.

Raptor

 

[Cherrysftw]

Well, in the mobile processors, the series is little more than branding. The real thing is what's inside the chip. Let's not confuse the OP more.

Martin is right, the 13" middle model should be perfect of the OP. The OP's use is hardly CPU dependant.

Raptor

I'm holding back for a few days and trying to find best one for my needs. My needs are simply:

Watchin maths videos on YouTube
Read thesun/dailymail
Emails
Play Cs 1.6/runescape 07 (these 2 very rarely)
Listen to music/watch occasional documentary
Normal word processing (making revision timetable/making a list etc)
Browsing bb.com

This is pretty much what my uses are. I don't see myself making movies or editing pictures etc in the next decade, or whenever for that matter. I want to be able to run those 2 games occasionally, with no lag (felt like crying when I was 12-14 and tried playing these games on my top range dell xps m1530 and they used to run 10 fps or something).
Since I'm doing mathematics at uni, the computer is essentially useless for my needs there. One May question my desire to buy a Retina MacBook, I'm really impressed by the aesthetics of the system. Maybe not a good reason to warrant a purchase.

For my needs this system will never be slow or freeze right?

 

[PDFierro]

I'm holding back for a few days and trying to find best one for my needs. My needs are simply:

Watchin maths videos on YouTube
Read thesun/dailymail
Emails
Play Cs 1.6/runescape 07 (these 2 very rarely)
Listen to music/watch occasional documentary
Normal word processing (making revision timetable/making a list etc)
Browsing bb.com

This is pretty much what my uses are. I don't see myself making movies or editing pictures etc in the next decade, or whenever for that matter. I want to be able to run those 2 games occasionally, with no lag (felt like crying when I was 12-14 and tried playing these games on my top range dell xps m1530 and they used to run 10 fps or something).
Since I'm doing mathematics at uni, the computer is essentially useless for my needs there. One May question my desire to buy a Retina MacBook, I'm really impressed by the aesthetics of the system. Maybe not a good reason to warrant a purchase.

For my needs this system will never be slow or freeze right?

The 13" mid-range model is going to be perfect for that. I wouldn't worry about it as much as you are, honestly.

 

[Cherrysftw]

The 13" mid-range model is going to be perfect for that. I wouldn't worry about it as much as you are, honestly.

I am worrying too much hahaha. Don't want to regret my purchase. I guess it's all set then.

Do any uk brahs know if I will get the free 3 year HE warranty if I go in store or would I have to do it online? I'd like my laptop faster as I have nothing currently and also I could get my iPhone 5 replaced then and there as the store is pretty far away.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

I am worrying too much hahaha. Don't want to regret my purchase. I guess it's all set then.

Do any uk brahs know if I will get the free 3 year HE warranty if I go in store or would I have to do it online? I'd like my laptop faster as I have nothing currently and also I could get my iPhone 5 replaced then and there as the store is pretty far away.

John Lewis give a 3 year warranty online.

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I'm holding back for a few days and trying to find best one for my needs. My needs are simply:

Watchin maths videos on YouTube
Read thesun/dailymail
Emails
Play Cs 1.6/runescape 07 (these 2 very rarely)
Listen to music/watch occasional documentary
Normal word processing (making revision timetable/making a list etc)
Browsing bb.com

This is pretty much what my uses are. I don't see myself making movies or editing pictures etc in the next decade, or whenever for that matter. I want to be able to run those 2 games occasionally, with no lag (felt like crying when I was 12-14 and tried playing these games on my top range dell xps m1530 and they used to run 10 fps or something).
Since I'm doing mathematics at uni, the computer is essentially useless for my needs there. One May question my desire to buy a Retina MacBook, I'm really impressed by the aesthetics of the system. Maybe not a good reason to warrant a purchase.

For my needs this system will never be slow or freeze right?

For those needs; the 8Gb of RAM & 256Gb SSD will never slow down for at least a good few years. If you only plan on having it for 5 years or less; it will be perfect.

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I am worrying too much hahaha. Don't want to regret my purchase. I guess it's all set then.

Do any uk brahs know if I will get the free 3 year HE warranty if I go in store or would I have to do it online? I'd like my laptop faster as I have nothing currently and also I could get my iPhone 5 replaced then and there as the store is pretty far away.

Sorry; John Lewis now only offer a 2 year warranty. Watch it for a few days as a few days before I bought my iMac, the removed the warranty; that put it back, so I got a 3 year warranty. 2 years is still good for free over 1; just remember though that the first year is apple, then the following is John Lewis; but if they can't fix it they replace with a new model.

 

[Cherrysftw]

John Lewis give a 3 year warranty online.

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For those needs; the 8Gb of RAM & 256Gb SSD will never slow down for at least a good few years. If you only plan on having it for 5 years or less; it will be perfect.

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Sorry; John Lewis now only offer a 2 year warranty. Watch it for a few days as a few days before I bought my iMac, the removed the warranty; that put it back, so I got a 3 year warranty. 2 years is still good for free over 1; just remember though that the first year is apple, then the following is John Lewis; but if they can't fix it they replace with a new model.

Why does length of ownership mean different hardware? Is it designed to wear down with time?

Also I was getting this MBP for £1074 from the apple education store.

 

[PDFierro]

Why does length of ownership mean different hardware? Is it designed to wear down with time?

Also I was getting this MBP for £1074 from the apple education store.

More to do with the technological changes. It's about future-proofing. Hence why pretty much everyone advised you to go with 8GB of RAM.

 

[raptor402]

Why does length of ownership mean different hardware? Is it designed to wear down with time?

Also I was getting this MBP for £1074 from the apple education store.

As said above, with age, software and hardware keep evolving. A 5 year old low budget laptop won't function well with today's software. Similarly, a low spec'd laptop bought today won't be able to hold its own 5 years from now.

1074GBP is a pretty wonderful price. I would advise you to go ahead with the purchase. You won't regret it. You can easily keep that laptop for another 5 years or so. If you decide to upgrade earlier than that, it still retains value, in sale or in backup.

Raptor

 

[Kevclark1985]

I am worrying too much hahaha. Don't want to regret my purchase. I guess it's all set then.

Do any uk brahs know if I will get the free 3 year HE warranty if I go in store or would I have to do it online? I'd like my laptop faster as I have nothing currently and also I could get my iPhone 5 replaced then and there as the store is pretty far away.

You need to buy online for 3 year applecare. John Lewis is more expensive and warranty not as good as applecare. Buying from education store online from apple is the cheapest and best way to buy one.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

Why does length of ownership mean different hardware? Is it designed to wear down with time?

Also I was getting this MBP for £1074 from the apple education store.

The extra power in the 15" will last longer compared to the 13" in terms of how long it will last before it is too slow with the updated software every year. If you kept Macericks on it, this would stop that, but you would run into a lot of software that no longer is compatible. The 13" should be powerful enough for 5 years anyway.

 

[LaravelNick]

The extra power in the 15" will last longer compared to the 13" in terms of how long it will last before it is too slow with the updated software every year.

As someone else pointed out, you can specify the Core i7 on the 13".

John Lewis are offering a free 3 year warranty on some Macbooks, but they are out of stock on some of them.

I'm waiting for them to get new stock.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

As someone else pointed out, you can specify the Core i7 on the 13".

John Lewis are offering a free 3 year warranty on some Macbooks, but they are out of stock on some of them.

I'm waiting for them to get new stock.

The i7 on 13" is still dual core(at least I believe so); not a massive jump; that is why I mentioned the 15" with the i7 Quad Core.