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Web design student looking to replace Oct 2012 rMBP

pixelzombie

pixelzombie

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 31, 2013
46
0
Hey guys, I'm looking for advice on buying a new computer for school. I'm looking to replace my retina macbook pro 13 in. It's i5/8gb/128. I'm a web design student and do some graphic design projects on the side. Logos, web banners, etc so far. Nothing too big. For my own hobby, I sometimes draw with illustrator. I don't really photo edit too often and never do video editing. I don't game really either or do anything beyond the above mentioned and web browsing.

Originally I looked into a rMBP 15 maxed out. I've seen some threads where retina displays aren't so good for web design so I'm debating if another retina computer is a good idea. Also I'm wondering if it's overkill in specs.

My other route to go in possibly is the imac with macbook air combo. Big screen for the workload and MBA for on the go. Not sure on specs and wondering whether 8gb isn't a question or if I can get by with 4gb.

Any advice is much appreciated!
 
Thank you for your response :)

I saw that thread and it seems for the first section, the only thing on the 8gb list is Photoshop. Sometimes I use that and Illustrator at the same time. With the other section in that thread, I scored a 9 so it's in middle---can be done but 8gb isn't a bad idea. I might lean toward the imac/macbook air combo and do 8gb for imac and 4gb for macbook air.
 
I would go with Atleast 8GB since I had 4 in my MacBook Pro and even for basic things it was not really cutting it, especially for something like Photoshop. Just go the safe route with 8
 
pixelzombie said:
Hey guys, I'm looking for advice on buying a new computer for school. I'm looking to replace my retina macbook pro 13 in. It's i5/8gb/128. I'm a web design student and do some graphic design projects on the side. Logos, web banners, etc so far. Nothing too big. For my own hobby, I sometimes draw with illustrator. I don't really photo edit too often and never do video editing. I don't game really either or do anything beyond the above mentioned and web browsing.

Originally I looked into a rMBP 15 maxed out. I've seen some threads where retina displays aren't so good for web design so I'm debating if another retina computer is a good idea. Also I'm wondering if it's overkill in specs.

My other route to go in possibly is the imac with macbook air combo. Big screen for the workload and MBA for on the go. Not sure on specs and wondering whether 8gb isn't a question or if I can get by with 4gb.

Any advice is much appreciated!
Click to expand...


May I ask what is wrong with your current system? Unless you need more storage or ram, I do not see how a brand new rMBP is going to be that much better than your current system?
 
I'm a freelance web designer. I use a 2008 2.4 core duo, 250hdd which I upgraded to 8gb ram from its original 2gb as my main machine, which I use everyday to earn a living. So I am also intrigued by your reasons for wanting to upgrade your current very decent rMBP?

I would get more ram and hard drive space over maxing out the CPU. Save some money there and buy an external 24" display for the extra productivity.
 
My laptop has been running slow and sometimes freezing up to a point I have to restart the computer. I figured maybe the computer is already out of date and needed an I7. It didn't dawn on me until a guy at the apple store today said to me that my computer should be running fast still and that maybe it should be brought in to check out. And now you've guys have echoed the same thing and I feel kinda stupid for not thinking of this sooner. Also I ended up ordering last night a nice 24in screen from Amazon.

Edit: Also forgot to mention I considered getting something lighter than a MBP retina. But the Apple Store worker told me the processor isn't as good, even if I do I7/8gb/128 (or higher) Macbook Air.
 
Last edited:
sarah3585 said:
I'm a freelance web designer. I use a 2008 2.4 core duo, 250hdd which I upgraded to 8gb ram from its original 2gb as my main machine, which I use everyday to earn a living. So I am also intrigued by your reasons for wanting to upgrade your current very decent rMBP?

I would get more ram and hard drive space over maxing out the CPU. Save some money there and buy an external 24" display for the extra productivity.
Click to expand...

Another concern I had(although sometimes I overthink these things) that the retina isn't as good for web design since I've seen other threads where people preferred the Air for web design.
 
pixelzombie said:
My laptop has been running slow and sometimes freezing up to a point I have to restart the computer. I figured maybe the computer is already out of date and needed an I7. It didn't dawn on me until a guy at the apple store today said to me that my computer should be running fast still and that maybe it should be brought in to check out. And now you've guys have echoed the same thing and I feel kinda stupid for not thinking of this sooner. Also I ended up ordering last night a nice 24in screen from Amazon.

Edit: Also forgot to mention I considered getting something lighter than a MBP retina. But the Apple Store worker told me the processor isn't as good, even if I do I7/8gb/128 (or higher) Macbook Air.
Click to expand...

If you feel like the system is slow, I would backup everything and wipe the system out completely. Before you restore anything, just install few applications and see if the system is any more responsive. If it is, that could meant that your OS is the culprit
 
mlody said:
If you feel like the system is slow, I would backup everything and wipe the system out completely. Before you restore anything, just install few applications and see if the system is any more responsive. If it is, that could meant that your OS is the culprit
Click to expand...

I just did about a week ago. It took forever to install my programs from Adobe but when I tried on a computer with i7/16gbram/750gb drive and it sped right through. That's why I was concerned something was up with the specs on mine and wondered if it was out of date.
 
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