I currently have a 2.5ghz Core2Duo Macbook Pro with 6gb of Ram. I doing video and motion graphics, but I do the bulk of my projects on my i7 iMac. I would really like to get a new macbook pro, but I cant decide whether to get one of the new Ivy Bridge MBP or just get a refurbished Sandy Bridge MBP. I don't care about the retina display very much, because it is a little out of my price range. However, I would really like to have an SSD. I would like to stick around the 2k mark, although I can go a little higher. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
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What Macbook Pro should I get?
- Thread starter tgroom89
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There isnt much difference between Ivy and Sandy.
Ivy just has more efficient power and slight CPU increase.
For what you do, refurb should be fine.
Ivy just has more efficient power and slight CPU increase.
For what you do, refurb should be fine.
I don't completely agree with this. Yes the Sandy Bridge would be powerful enough but Ivy Bridge supports USB 3 and if the op plans to get an SSD in his MBP (aftermarket ones are quite cheap these days) then there won't be huge internal storage for video and graphic files therefore an external drive would be needed. TB drives are very expensive, so USB 3 drives are a great compromise and would be worth the few extra $ on new MacBook range as they're so much faster than USB2!
From the sounds of it, the Retina MBP can see screen real-estate of 1920x1200 which might be advantageous.. They're not very upgradable so you have to be sure you're buying for your future needs too.
Or just buy a refurb and get a bigger monitor and get external storage.
Besides, TB storage arent that expensive.
I got a 2TB external drive for 130USD and a internal 1TB for 80USD.
If the OP decides to get a SSD, go optibay.
Having external drive dangling around is pretty irritating when you're moving your Mac around.
Monitors are cheap and can get a 27in for around 150USD.
Having 1 small 15in display (even with 1920x1200, the screen size is still small), having 1 big or 2 extra monitors would be ideal.
You should also mention the fairly big integrated gpu performance bump between the two. Even if you do most editing on your iMac, that could still be important to you.
The USB 3.0 would be nice. I'm not concerned about the real estate gained by the retina displays though. So let's look at the two computers I am debating between. I could get the Ivy Bridge 2.3ghz with 8gb of Ram and a 128gb SSD and a 512mb GPU for $2059 or I could get a refurbished Sandy Bridge with 2.3ghz 4gb of Ram and a 750gb 5400rpm hard drive with a 1gb GPU for $1679. Which one should I do?
I'm in the same ballpark. I have a 2007 Macbook and a 2007 iMac for my video editing. Unfortunately this year I finally made the leap to HD video. My iMac handles it fine, however my Macbook just poops out even trying to play it back.
Therefore I'm stuck between a 15 inch refurb or a 13 inch new. Personally, I like the 13 inch because I also take my laptop everywhere. I treat my laptop like many treat an iPad. I do basic video work on the laptop then finalize it on my desktop (where I also have a premium sound system hooked up so I can get perfect audio.)
I think either will work. Since I bought a 3tb external USB 3.0 drive I am leaning towards the new Ivy Bridge models so I can have support for USB 3.0.
I think when he said TB was expensive he meant Thunderbolt and not Terabyte. Thunderbolt external drives are outrageously priced still. I think mainly because they haven't picked up the PC market yet therefore they are still a premium device.
Therefore I'm stuck between a 15 inch refurb or a 13 inch new. Personally, I like the 13 inch because I also take my laptop everywhere. I treat my laptop like many treat an iPad. I do basic video work on the laptop then finalize it on my desktop (where I also have a premium sound system hooked up so I can get perfect audio.)
I think either will work. Since I bought a 3tb external USB 3.0 drive I am leaning towards the new Ivy Bridge models so I can have support for USB 3.0.
I think when he said TB was expensive he meant Thunderbolt and not Terabyte. Thunderbolt external drives are outrageously priced still. I think mainly because they haven't picked up the PC market yet therefore they are still a premium device.
JediSkipdogg- The only thing I wouldn't like about the 13inch MBP is that it is only a dual-core and for not a whole lot more you could get the 15inch which is a quad core.
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As I look at the specs more. Maybe I should be debating between a 2.3ghz MBP with the Retina display, 16gb of RAM and a 256gb SSD for $2179 or a 2.6ghz MBP without Retina with 8gb of RAM and a 128gb SSD for $2179.....
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As I look at the specs more. Maybe I should be debating between a 2.3ghz MBP with the Retina display, 16gb of RAM and a 256gb SSD for $2179 or a 2.6ghz MBP without Retina with 8gb of RAM and a 128gb SSD for $2179.....
If your buying the retina model, you have to look for a special type of SSD so upgrade would be expensive.
But if you buy the normal 15in or refurb, SSD can be bought a lot cheaper.
But if you buy the normal 15in or refurb, SSD can be bought a lot cheaper.
I have a local authorized Apple reseller who can upgrade the SSD in non-retina macbook pro for a great price. You should see if there is one near you who can sell you a 2011 MBP with the sandy bridge chip in it and do the upgrade to a much larger SSD than Apple provides and max out its RAM.
In my case it would be 2.9 dual (so 5.8 in total in a sense) vs. 2.2 quad (so 8.8 total.) Looking at benchmarks from Geekbench I do see the 15" is pushing around 10500 total vs the 13" is around 8500. So yes it's better, but the fact that I treat it like many treat an iPad (lugging it around everywhere) makes me lean towards the 13" more. If I didn't carry it everywhere I think the 15" would win.
I spend all day long editing video and you can take a look at this thread where I talk a bit about my experience with the 2012 MBP non-retina model.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1386040/
I have already logged easily 25 hours of editing on this machine and I am loving the performance. You will be a little over the 2K mark, but this machine will demonstrate it's value as you pump out project after project with ease.