Which MacBook Pro to buy?

[Dom497]

I don't have the money for a 15" so I'm looking at the 13". I'm pretty sure 256GB should be enough for me and the 2.7Ghz processor is fine as is. When it comes to RAM, I don't really know if I should go with 8GB or 16GB.

I'm heading into first year computer science. I'm also considering installing Windows as well. How much RAM will do?

 

[Cuniac]

So 8GB is still pretty good. Especially with the new PCIe SSD drive, "memory" kept in the swap space will move pretty quickly. However, its still not as fast as actually having the ram. If the RAM bump is really going to hurt your bottom line then 8BG will probably be ok. If your thinking of running parallels though 16 will help quite a bit since you can give 8GB to parallels and leave 8GB for your mac. Make sure your using your student discount as it will save you 100 bucks.

 

[yjchua95]

I don't have the money for a 15" so I'm looking at the 13". I'm pretty sure 256GB should be enough for me and the 2.7Ghz processor is fine as is. When it comes to RAM, I don't really know if I should go with 8GB or 16GB.

I'm heading into first year computer science. I'm also considering installing Windows as well. How much RAM will do?

If you're a first year CS student even a MacBook Air would last you until your final year.

8GB of RAM is plenty. Due to compression and caching of RAM in OS X, it'll act more like 12GB.

 

[T5BRICK]

How much RAM will do?

8GB is fine for your needs.