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Which Macbook Pro Should I Get

T

Tebowing

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 31, 2013
8
0
Hey Guys, I am currently a 2nd year in college and I just changed my major to Computer Science. I want to get a macbook pro so i can program for iphone and android, complie and edit code and surf the web, email, listen to music and movies as well as gaming on the side.

I am not sure if I should get the classic 13 inch, 15 inch classic or retina pros.

I like the classics because its a solid device and I can upgrade parts.

I like the retina because it seems like it is "future" proof and retina displays are the way Apple is going. However, i dont know if its worth the price.

I want this laptop to last a good 4+ years.
 
I'm a Developer myself, and also a Computer Science student, and let me tell you, there is no use of getting a Retina Display MBP. If you want future proof, then spend the money on the hardware upgrades and you should be good. I'm still running on a 2007-2008 model MBP and it is great for Developing. I would get the 15" flavor, base model. Then spend the extra money on upgrading to 16GB of Ram and a SSD. Third party parts, not Apple's, you will waste your money if you upgrade your hardware with Apple's hardware.
 
guruJust1n said:
I'm a Developer myself, and also a Computer Science student, and let me tell you, there is no use of getting a Retina Display MBP. If you want future proof, then spend the money on the hardware upgrades and you should be good. I'm still running on a 2007-2008 model MBP and it is great for Developing. I would get the 15" flavor, base model. Then spend the extra money on upgrading to 16GB of Ram and a SSD. Third party parts, not Apple's, you will waste your money if you upgrade your hardware with Apple's hardware.
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Yeah I was gonna upgrade if I got the classic MacBook Pro, with third party. I looked at the tutorials and it doesn't seem that hard. I just don't want to regret my decision
 
Tebowing said:
Yeah I was gonna upgrade if I got the classic MacBook Pro, with third party. I looked at the tutorials and it doesn't seem that hard. I just don't want to regret my decision
Click to expand...

I don't think you will. If you don't feel confident, then don't do it. Don't worry, the Macbook will run just fine stock. I just feel that since you are already paying a lot on Apple's hardware already to get it, don't spend anymore to upgrade it.
 
guruJust1n said:
I don't think you will. If you don't feel confident, then don't do it. Don't worry, the Macbook will run just fine stock. I just feel that since you are already paying a lot on Apple's hardware already to get it, don't spend anymore to upgrade it.
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Oh i meant just getting the classic macbook pro. The self upgrades I am not worried about. More worried about what laptop i should get. Haha
 
Tebowing said:
Oh i meant just getting the classic macbook pro. The self upgrades I am not worried about. More worried about what laptop i should get. Haha
Click to expand...

I understand. In my opinion, why spend the extra money on Retina, when it could be used for hardware. And the only thing you are really going to be looking at 95% of the time is code.
 
true true, either that or word docs or watching movies or causally gaming
 
guruJust1n said:
Sounds like your are really wanting the Retina. Get it so you won't feel bad.
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well i mean it be nice for sure to have but idk if i can spend an extra 400 for just a screen essential. Thats why i wish there was other users to put there input in.
 
My take on Retina Display machines...

It seems to me that there are two things that matter from what you are describing: the keyboard and the screen. As a student, you are going to spend a lot of time with both. I think you will find pretty much unanimous agreement that the Retina displays are as good as it gets on a laptop for the moment. Given that, I would go with a 15" rMBP.

One man's .02

Adam
 
I'm sort of in the same boat, I'm debating between retina and non-retina. I'm not even considering the Air...my logic is if you want the 13" footprint may as well get a Pro. What's a few extra pounds to carry around?!

Anyway, I'm not a pro user. I just looked at the 13" retina and non retina side-by-side yesterday and I personally don't think I'd take advantage of the retina screen.

There's also some major cons (for me) with the Retina:
No optical drive (which I'd replace with a 2.5" SSD)
No normal platter drive (which I'd replace with a 1TB platter drive)
Not enough storage (768GB would suffice, but way too expensive)
Ram is not user upgradable

I personally don't care about built in HDMI, as I'd just get a thunderbolt to HDMI converter. And I'd never take advance of having 2 thunderbolt ports vs 1 thunderbolt port.

Just my thoughts.
 
Save yourself a ton of wasted money, get the 13" Base MBP upgrade to 16GB ram, and go with a SSD 128-512 depending on your space needs, it will be a solid machine. Later if you decide your not using the Superdrive, macsales.com sells a carrier that allows you to put a hdd where you superdrive is giving you more space, and then they have a carrier to hold your Superdrive if you decide you need it.

I just bought this setup for my son, he loves it, I have the same and so does my wife. The 15" are a pain to carry around, and I find that the slightest moves makes the screen fold back, plus there is a good power to video setup with the 2.5 i5 with the Intel 4000, and I game a little also.

Check local Best Buys, I got mine for $825 and it had only one charge cycle, but was missing the power adapter and I had an extra laying around, so it was a perfect deal. I also checked the warranty with Apple and I am good.
 
Right Now at this point its between the classic macbook pro 13 and 15 and the retina 15 but at this time i dont think i can fit it in the budget. I was at the apple store the other day and i do admit the 15 is a little big for my taste but i do like how the 15 CMBP has a nvdia video card and quad core processing. Does the quad core vs dual core on the macbook pro 13 make a big difference
 
If you can live without great gaming performance than any of the Macbook line would do, even the Air.

If you want to be able to play 3D games well, you should really get a 15" model since it comes with the NVidia graphics.

I have a 2008 13" (upgraded with SSD) and it handles all of the schoolwork / programming stuff I throw at it.
 
so most of you guys believe that the 13inch is a big enough screen to look at code and etc?
 
Tebowing said:
so most of you guys believe that the 13inch is a big enough screen to look at code and etc?
Click to expand...

I do ok with mine, sometimes I wish I had a bit more real estate.

Be sure to look at the 13" Air also. It has a 1440x900 display giving it as much real estate as the non-retina 15" MBP.

Also you should probably check out the refurbished section of Apple's online store, there are some pretty good deals there which could help with your budget:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
 
not looking at the airs because i want to self upgrade my parts such as the HDD and the ram. I think its up to which one would be a good weight to carry. Cause right now i carried a 14 inch lenevo laptop so is the 15 inch gonna be significantly heavier than that one?
 
I have an upgraded 2012 13" cMBP. The one thing I wish it had was a 1440x900 display other than the 1200x800 display it comes with.

Sometimes I feel that the real estate just isn't there, but then I plug it into my external monitor and it's fine.
 
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