Which new 2015 13" rMBP is right for me?

[GreatOldOne]

All,

I'm looking to purchase a new MacBook pro, and I'm yoyoing between specs.

I tend to keep my laptops for a long time - I've just got rid of my old mid 2009 MBP... So I'd like to get as much bang for by buck (or £ in my case)

I was planning on maxing the memory, as it seems to be a no brainer - I can't upgrade if required later on down the road, so I'll have to do it up front. What I can't decide on is processor spec and SSD Size.

I use my laptop as my main machine. So web browsing, doc editing and creation email and all that low powered stuff - but I also edit my dive photos and videos on it. It's not Attenborough level stuff, but I am moving from 720p to 1080p video, and my images are now all 20mpix. Raw files which really made my old machine chug on 8gb and an 3rd party SSD I'd installed myself.

I'm leaning toward a 2.7ghz 16gb machine with 256gb SSD, as the best balance of performance vs cost - does this sound reasonable? And if needs be, would I be able to upgrade the SSD at a later date

Thanks,

Jason

 

[yjchua95]

All,

I'm looking to purchase a new MacBook pro, and I'm yoyoing between specs.

I tend to keep my laptops for a long time - I've just got rid of my old mid 2009 MBP... So I'd like to get as much bang for by buck (or £ in my case)

I was planning on maxing the memory, as it seems to be a no brainer - I can't upgrade if required later on down the road, so I'll have to do it up front. What I can't decide on is processor spec and SSD Size.

I use my laptop as my main machine. So web browsing, doc editing and creation email and all that low powered stuff - but I also edit my dive photos and videos on it. It's not Attenborough level stuff, but I am moving from 720p to 1080p video, and my images are now all 20mpix. Raw files which really made my old machine chug on 8gb and an 3rd party SSD I'd installed myself.

I'm leaning toward a 2.7ghz 16gb machine with 256gb SSD, as the best balance of performance vs cost - does this sound reasonable? And if needs be, would I be able to upgrade the SSD at a later date

Thanks,

Jason

You can't upgrade the SSD at a later date.

In your case, even 2.7/8/256 would do you fine already. Yosemite handles RAM really well.

 

[0983275]

You can't upgrade the SSD at a later date.

In your case, even 2.7/8/256 would do you fine already. Yosemite handles RAM really well.

Actually, SSD is the only thing that's upgradable in MBAs and rMBPs.

 

[happle]

Actually, SSD is the only thing that's upgradable in MBAs and rMBPs.

Not yet with the 2015 models but iit should be coming from owc but not guaranteed, your best bet is to get what you need now just incase and if owc makes them later you'll have a spare drive

 

[tivoboy]

maybe

Not yet with the 2015 models but iit should be coming from owc but not guaranteed, your best bet is to get what you need now just incase and if owc makes them later you'll have a spare drive

yeah, even some of the more recent 2014 mba models are still not upgradeable yet, and might never be. Add to that the apple is no longer signing more third party I/O devices for Yosemite (so one has to make sure TRIM is turned off properly) and it makes future third party upgradeability more than likely to continue to be hit and miss

 

[GreatOldOne]

Ok - so what I'm hearing is to be on the safe side, a bigger SSD may be in order at purchase time to ensure I've got room to grow over the projected 6-7 years I'll keep the laptop...

Looking at the UK store, that means a bump up to the 2.9ghz i5 to get the 512gb drive, as thee does not appear to be a build option for increasing storage space on the 2.7ghz i5 - just memory.

It's that or an external drive. Oooh - thunderbolt... Never had that option before.

 

[nikusak]

In the case of 13" rMBP I wouldn't pay any extra for CPU upgrades. They are all just dual core anyway, so the small performance gain you get is probably not worth the money.

But as you say, if you want the 512GB SSD, you'll get the faster CPU too. It's not an option in the cheaper base configurations for some reason.

Maxing the RAM is probably the best way to future proof your purchase. External storage can always be added later on.

 

[lavrishevo]

The top of the line 13" is just a lot slower then the base 15". Hard to justify it imo. Especially when the base 15" less expensive.

 

[ZBoater]

The top of the line 13" is just a lot slower then the base 15". Hard to justify it imo. Especially when the base 15" less expensive.

In tasks that can use four cores, yes. Everywhere else, not so much.

 

[greg99]

The top of the line 13" is just a lot slower then the base 15". Hard to justify it imo. Especially when the base 15" less expensive.

Agreed, if you were looking solely at performance, but the extra weight and physical dimensions can be a negative if you travel 100K miles a year and spend a bunch of time out of the office. That's why I wouldn't consider a 15".

Greg