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Which Macbook Pro Retina 15" to buy?

D

dima-sam

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 25, 2013
1
0
Hi guys!
I am planning on buying the new 15" macbook pro. I really just don't know which one to buy!

I do want the larger screen. I will use FCPX a lot and sometimes Adobe After effects.
So do i need the videocard of the 2600$ macbook and do I need 16GB of RAM?

Thanks!
 
I'd go for the discrete GPU, and you could probably live within the 8GB memory for the next few years but personally, I'd not take a chance. Since the memory is soldered onto the logic board its better to be safe then sorry.
 
I would say that unless you are handling significant volumes of production video, stick with the 2.0 i7. Whether you want to upgrade the memory to 16GB is personal preference. Your work will run fine without it, but the extra may be handy. It all depends on how much you want to multi-task, and how smooth you want this process to be.

With Mavericks and memory compresison, 8GB should be plenty for the majority of users.
 
Can I just butt in here and ask about the dGPU. What does it help with other than gaming. If I plan to do photo editing, some video work in FCP etc, will it help in that regard, or is it mainly for gaming? I have the early 2013 rMBP which i'm about to open up and have a play with which has it built in.
 
Thalin said:
Can I just butt in here and ask about the dGPU. What does it help with other than gaming. If I plan to do photo editing, some video work in FCP etc, will it help in that regard, or is it mainly for gaming? I have the early 2013 rMBP which i'm about to open up and have a play with which has it built in.
Click to expand...

IMO, and from what I've read, it will mainly improve performance in 3D work or gaming.
 
aixki said:
So, for his needs (photo editing and FCP), he doesn't need dGPU ? He should probably go for iris pro only and save power consumption, heat and fan noise ! :D
Click to expand...

Yes. Iris Pro is more than capable of meeting his needs, and anyone else with the same use. The dGPU would be overkill.
 
davidjearly said:
Yes. Iris Pro is more than capable of meeting his needs, and anyone else with the same use. The dGPU would be overkill.
Click to expand...

furthermore, it will also be an unneeded source of heat, power consumption and noise. That's why I'll go for the base model + 512 GB + 16 GB for almost the same price as the high-end model BUT without the dGPU to keep me from these counterparts.
 
aixki said:
furthermore, it will also be an unneeded source of heat, power consumption and noise. That's why I'll go for the base model + 512 GB + 16 GB for almost the same price as the high-end model BUT without the dGPU to keep me from these counterparts.
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely sure whether you're being sarcastic or not, to be honest!

In any case, my opinion is that Iris Pro is more than enough for the tasks mentioned.
 
davidjearly said:
I'm not entirely sure whether you're being sarcastic or not, to be honest!

In any case, my opinion is that Iris Pro is more than enough for the tasks mentioned.
Click to expand...

Sorry, english is not my native language and I might sound like sarcastic but I'm not. I'm just giving my opinion, and why I would rather go for an upgraded base model rather than an high-end model. ;)
 
aixki said:
furthermore, it will also be an unneeded source of heat, power consumption and noise. That's why I'll go for the base model + 512 GB + 16 GB for almost the same price as the high-end model BUT without the dGPU to keep me from these counterparts.
Click to expand...

Remember that it's possible to control the dGPU using a 3rd party utility (gfxCardStatus), which means you have the option of getting the dGPU without it being a battery drain or heat source until you actually need it.

There are a couple cases where gfxCardStatus can't override the OS's decision to enable the dGPU:
-External displays (you should probably be plugging in if you're driving an external display anyway)
-A few games refuse to run in iGPU-only mode (CS:GO is the only one I can think off of the top of my head.
-In non-VM Windows (Boot Camp) the dGPU will be the only option if it's on the machine (hey, can we get that fixed in 2014 please?).

It's worth assessing the option since the price is identical. If you don't use Boot Camp (or only use it when plugged in) then gfxCardStatus basically eliminates the negative points about the dGPU.
 
Atomic Walrus said:
Remember that it's possible to control the dGPU using a 3rd party utility (gfxCardStatus), which means you have the option of getting the dGPU without it being a battery drain or heat source until you actually need it.

There are a couple cases where gfxCardStatus can't override the OS's decision to enable the dGPU:
-External displays (you should probably be plugging in if you're driving an external display anyway)
-A few games refuse to run in iGPU-only mode (CS:GO is the only one I can think off of the top of my head.
-In non-VM Windows (Boot Camp) the dGPU will be the only option if it's on the machine (hey, can we get that fixed in 2014 please?).

It's worth assessing the option since the price is identical. If you don't use Boot Camp (or only use it when plugged in) then gfxCardStatus basically eliminates the negative points about the dGPU.
Click to expand...

All good points, Walrus. Worth taking into consideration for anyone considering maxing out the base.
 
Atomic Walrus said:
Remember that it's possible to control the dGPU using a 3rd party utility (gfxCardStatus), which means you have the option of getting the dGPU without it being a battery drain or heat source until you actually need it.

There are a couple cases where gfxCardStatus can't override the OS's decision to enable the dGPU:
-External displays (you should probably be plugging in if you're driving an external display anyway)
-A few games refuse to run in iGPU-only mode (CS:GO is the only one I can think off of the top of my head.
-In non-VM Windows (Boot Camp) the dGPU will be the only option if it's on the machine (hey, can we get that fixed in 2014 please?).

It's worth assessing the option since the price is identical. If you don't use Boot Camp (or only use it when plugged in) then gfxCardStatus basically eliminates the negative points about the dGPU.
Click to expand...

That's exactly the kind of message I don't like to read : it makes me think again about my choice lol :D

You're right, gfxCardStatus can control which gpu is actually used, but I heard there is a dependencies list that prevent gfxCardStatus to run in discrete mode : http://gfx.io/switching.html#integrated-only-mode-limitations

Furthermore, gfxCardStatus can't force discrete mode when an external monitor is used. Thus, much noise will be created when I'll connect my rMBP to my monitor.

So, unfortunately, we can't really have both of good sides when using gfxCardStatus.

It's a question of choice. All I need is photo editing with lightroom / photoshop, connecting my 27" external monitor, and doing web development. As far as I know, iris pro only is for me. Correct me if I'm wrong :)
 
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