What to buy?

[josephmccutchen]

First off, I'm really thankful for everyone who participates in this forum. Various people here helped me out a few years back in choosing a MBP.

I'm in that position again, and here's what I'm facing:

1. Buy a rMBP with 16GB RAM. I would do that because the RAM is nonupgradeable; just max it out.

For me, the cons with the rMBP are that the only thing that can be upgraded is the SSD, and those are expensive; especially for me, because I crave space, having around 500GB of data that I like to keep on the internal drive, and also on a Time Machine Backup. Not interested in continually transferring data back and forth because of a lack of space.

Also, not really interested in spending approximately $3000 if I don't have to; I travel abroad a lot, and money is tight.

2. Buy a non-retina MBP, and upgrade the RAM/HDD/SSD as I did before with my 2010 model. Cheaper, too.

The problem with this could be the screen resolution; for me, that might not be such a big deal, but I hear that it looks nice. But looks alone won't convince me. It has to perform well. How is the performance of the rMPB vs. a 2012 non-rmbp?

I do a lot of photography (little editing, not using Photoshop), but I do a lot of video editing (iMovie, Premiere). Not much else that would be CPU/GPU intensive.

The clincher for me would be buyers' remorse: will I regret not buying a rmbp if I choose not to?

Sorry this is a bit long; just searching for answers. Thanks for your help, and keep up the good work!

 

[Macman45]

I'm kind of in the same boat after selling my cMBP 17" a faithful work servant indeed, but just too heavy. I will be taking delivery of a maxed out 13" rMBP this week after lengthy dissuasions about the real-estate V retina display. Having talked it over with my Apple representative, I decided to give the 13" a go for two reasons.

1) I could afford to max out the SSD and Ram on the 13"

2) I need ultra portability, and I'm used to a non-retina display on my MBA.

Plan is to use the new one exclusively for a week, doing all my photo and video work on it the way I used to on the cMBP.

As far as storage goes, a lot of people, myself included now have large USB or Thunderbolt storage devices meaning that an SSD of 512MB is actually fine.

If it turns out that I really can't hack that 13" screen ( my Apple Guru has bet me I will) then I can always return the 13" and splash out for the larger 15" if I have too...You have the 14 day window of return.

 

[Sean76]

First off, I'm really thankful for everyone who participates in this forum. Various people here helped me out a few years back in choosing a MBP.

I'm in that position again, and here's what I'm facing:

1. Buy a rMBP with 16GB RAM. I would do that because the RAM is nonupgradeable; just max it out.

For me, the cons with the rMBP are that the only thing that can be upgraded is the SSD, and those are expensive; especially for me, because I crave space, having around 500GB of data that I like to keep on the internal drive, and also on a Time Machine Backup. Not interested in continually transferring data back and forth because of a lack of space.

Also, not really interested in spending approximately $3000 if I don't have to; I travel abroad a lot, and money is tight.

2. Buy a non-retina MBP, and upgrade the RAM/HDD/SSD as I did before with my 2010 model. Cheaper, too.

The problem with this could be the screen resolution; for me, that might not be such a big deal, but I hear that it looks nice. But looks alone won't convince me. It has to perform well. How is the performance of the rMPB vs. a 2012 non-rmbp?

I do a lot of photography (little editing, not using Photoshop), but I do a lot of video editing (iMovie, Premiere). Not much else that would be CPU/GPU intensive.

The clincher for me would be buyers' remorse: will I regret not buying a rmbp if I choose not to?

Sorry this is a bit long; just searching for answers. Thanks for your help, and keep up the good work!

I don't know if this warrants a new thread, because there are at least a half a dozen threads like this right now with people asking what to do....As in=

Moneys tight what do I do- Only you can answer that man, no matter what anyone says!

I need lots of space, ram, etc- Well then a retina might not be where you should be looking because your going to be reaching up into the high numbers money wise to max out a retina machine, so you kind of answered your own question on what to by right there IMO.

Will I regret not getting a retina machine- IMO, most likely YES!

At least you didn't say... Should I wait for Haswell to buy a new lap top?...lol

Good luck

 

[josephmccutchen]

I don't know if this warrants a new thread, because there are at least a half a dozen threads like this right now with people asking what to do....As in=

Moneys tight what do I do- Only you can answer that man, no matter what anyone says!

I need lots of space, ram, etc- Well then a retina might not be where you should be looking because your going to be reaching up into the high numbers money wise to max out a retina machine, so you kind of answered your own question on what to by right there IMO.

Will I regret not getting a retina machine- IMO, most likely YES!

At least you didn't say... Should I wait for Haswell to buy a new lap top?...lol

Good luck

I said money is tight, yes, but if it's worth it to fork out that much for the rmbp, then so be it; slight chance that I would do it.

It comes back to buyer's remorse: if I buy a non-retina, and max it out, will I be satisfied, or will I be wishing I'd bought a retina?

 

[Sean76]

I said money is tight, yes, but if it's worth it to fork out that much for the rmbp, then so be it; slight chance that I would do it.

It comes back to buyer's remorse: if I buy a non-retina, and max it out, will I be satisfied, or will I be wishing I'd bought a retina?

Heres where this is all becomes tricky...very easy fix through

IF you have access to an Apple store, take a stroll down there and really get a good hands on for yourself and don't take our word for it.

Because honestly your going to get roped in over here from a few crowds. Those without retinas are going to say skip the retina it's not worth it, and those with the retina like myself are going to say get the retina because honestly it's beautiful, and then you'll get the peanut gallery saying wait for Haswell...lol

Only you can really make this decision man, I know what your saying when you say will I be satisfied, but honestly thats really up to you to answer!

My advice...Get a Retina to your liking that won't put you in the poor house, and if space is something you really need jump on Amazon and grab a WD 4TB external for about $275...But that's just my 2 cents

 

[josephmccutchen]

Heres where this is all becomes tricky...very easy fix through

IF you have access to an Apple store, take a stroll down there and really get a good hands on for yourself and don't take our word for it.

Because honestly your going to get roped in over here from a few crowds. Those without retinas are going to say skip the retina it's not worth it, and those with the retina like myself are going to say get the retina because honestly it's beautiful, and then you'll get the peanut gallery saying wait for Haswell...lol

Only you can really make this decision man, I know what your saying when you say will I be satisfied, but honestly thats really up to you to answer!

My advice...Get a Retina to your liking that won't put you in the poor house, and if space is something you really need jump on Amazon and grab a WD 4TB external for about $275...But that's just my 2 cents

Thanks for your advice; I will definitely use the Retina at the Apple Store, and see how it is. I have a Seagate 3TB external, which for me is PLENTY right now.

 

[maflynn]

1. Buy a rMBP with 16GB RAM. I would do that because the RAM is nonupgradeable; just max it out.

I have this model and I love it. The one thing you mentioned in your post is storage. The achilles heel of the rMBP is storage. The proprietary SSD limits you on size and price. You can purchase a rMBP with a larger SSD but its incredibly expensive, regardless if you buy from apple or OWC

2. Buy a non-retina MBP, and upgrade the RAM/HDD/SSD as I did before with my 2010 model. Cheaper, too.

Most of us have this, I now have a rMBP but before purchasing the rMBP I had a regular old boring 13" MBP. I think the biggest advantages to the classic MBP is expandability. You can upgrade the ram, and storage, heck you can even pull the optical drive and replace it with hard drive if you wish (needing a cage to put the drive in however).

If resolution is an issue, you can always select the Hi-Res model from the online store to give you a higher resolution screen. If I didn't get the rMBP last year, I definitely would have gotten the hi res model.

Bottom line - it seems that storage is a major factor for you and with that in mind I'd say give serious consideration to the classic MBP instead of the rMBP

 

[kensic]

"I do a lot of photography (little editing, not using Photoshop), but I do a lot of video editing (iMovie, Premiere)"


if you're doing all this, then you must already have a badass external monitor. Than no need for the retina....plus why would u wanna edit stuff on a small screen

 

[josephmccutchen]

"I do a lot of photography (little editing, not using Photoshop), but I do a lot of video editing (iMovie, Premiere)"


if you're doing all this, then you must already have a badass external monitor. Than no need for the retina....plus why would u wanna edit stuff on a small screen

I actually don't have an external monitor (that would be nice, but not necessary.) I don't want to fork out the cash for that yet.

 

[josephmccutchen]

I have this model and I love it. The one thing you mentioned in your post is storage. The achilles heel of the rMBP is storage. The proprietary SSD limits you on size and price. You can purchase a rMBP with a larger SSD but its incredibly expensive, regardless if you buy from apple or OWC


Most of us have this, I now have a rMBP but before purchasing the rMBP I had a regular old boring 13" MBP. I think the biggest advantages to the classic MBP is expandability. You can upgrade the ram, and storage, heck you can even pull the optical drive and replace it with hard drive if you wish (needing a cage to put the drive in however).


If resolution is an issue, you can always select the Hi-Res model from the online store to give you a higher resolution screen. If I didn't get the rMBP last year, I definitely would have gotten the hi res model.

Bottom line - it seems that storage is a major factor for you and with that in mind I'd say give serious consideration to the classic MBP instead of the rMBP

I did that on my 2010 MBP; bought a Data Doubler and an SSD from OWC; used the SSD in the main bay, and an HDD in the opti-bay; that was good for me!

I'd like to do that again, but I do have a 3TB external HDD; I'm not hurting for space on that one.

My question is now is this: aside from the space issue, does the Retina MBP perform well enough to justify buying it? I've seen the benchmarks, but having actual user input is good for me also.

 

[maflynn]

My question is now is this: aside from the space issue, does the Retina MBP perform well enough to justify buying it? I've seen the benchmarks, but having actual user input is good for me also.

Benchmarks aside, I've been incredibly pleased with the rMBP's performance. I'll qualify that statement and say I came from a 2010 13" MBP and the jump in the performance was very noticeable. YMMV however depending on what you use and what you're upgrading from.

 

[Liquinn]

Benchmarks aside, I've been incredibly pleased with the rMBP's performance. I'll qualify that statement and say I came from a 2010 13" MBP and the jump in the performance was very noticeable. YMMV however depending on what you use and what you're upgrading from.

Should I wait for Haswell/Broadwell to buy the 15" rMBP?

 

[maflynn]

Should I wait for Haswell/Broadwell to buy the 15" rMBP?

I personally waited from December until June last year for Ivy Bridge as I planned on upgrading my 2010 MBP.

With that said, Haswell isn't being released until the beginning of June, so in all likelihood Haswell based macs probably won't be hitting the streets until August if not later. Is waiting 5+ months something that you can do?

 

[Liquinn]

I personally waited from December until June last year for Ivy Bridge as I planned on upgrading my 2010 MBP.

With that said, Haswell isn't being released until the beginning of June, so in all likelihood Haswell based macs probably won't be hitting the streets until August if not later. Is waiting 5+ months something that you can do?

I can wait until then that's for sure. I'm hoping the 15" rMBP drops in price. I guess we'll see.

 

[B...]

I personally waited from December until June last year for Ivy Bridge as I planned on upgrading my 2010 MBP.

With that said, Haswell isn't being released until the beginning of June, so in all likelihood Haswell based macs probably won't be hitting the streets until August if not later. Is waiting 5+ months something that you can do?

I am in the same position. I can wait until August-no longer, but I want the 13" now. The only thing I care about with Haswell is battery. I do not want to buy a 7 hr computer only for there to be a 10+ one in 5 months.

Thoughts?