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ron4735

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 7, 2012
15
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My 13" MacBook Air (Oct 2010) has 500gb Flash/8 gb ram and has run well since purchase. I want to upgrade to a MacBook Pro with minimum 1GB Flash drive/16 gb ram. Would moving to a 15" model be advisable. Trying to "future proof" my system and not buy again for 5+ years. Any advice appreciated. Thanks in advance to all who respond!
 
I moved from a 2011 Macbook Air to a second hand 2013 Retina Macbook Pro 15" early this year. I have no complaints about the 15" size, the retina screen is amazing! I was always trying to convince myself the Air's screen was "fine" and that Retina was nice to have but not really necessary... Yeah use the Retina a few days, you can't go back.

I would recommend the 15" all the way if you can afford it. Only reason to consider the 13" is portability, not that the 15" retina is a beast, but its no Air. Plus the 15" is Quad Core vs 13" Dual core.

You can save $100 and get free shipping and no tax (except NY/NJ) on B&H. No they don't pay me, I've ordered there many times and its nice to save the tax on a $3000 item.
 
My 13" MacBook Air (Oct 2010) has 500gb Flash/8 gb ram and has run well since purchase.

Are you sure about that? AFAIK, 4gb was the maximum available RAM on the 2010 MacBook Air and it was not user-upgradeable. I also think 256gb was the largest SSD in 2010. I used to have a 13" 2011 MacBook Air with 4gb RAM and 256gb SSD which were both the largest available sizes at that time.

Regardless, you might have better luck with this question in the MacBook Pro forum. But any of the current Apple laptops will be a big upgrade in performance for your Core 2 Duo based system. BTW, I have also bought lots of stuff at B&H, they are terrific. Unfortunately they became a lot less attractive last year when they opened a warehouse in NJ since that's where I live. :(
 
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My 13" MacBook Air (Oct 2010) has 500gb Flash/8 gb ram and has run well since purchase. I want to upgrade to a MacBook Pro with minimum 1GB Flash drive/16 gb ram. Would moving to a 15" model be advisable. Trying to "future proof" my system and not buy again for 5+ years. Any advice appreciated. Thanks in advance to all who respond!
You mean 1TB Flash drive, I don't think 1GBs exist any more lol

Many are complaining about keyboard issues with the newly designed MBPs. Not sure if this issue has been resolved with the latest upgrade earlier this year. You may want to look into this before plunking down 3-4K on a new MBP.
 
How do you use the computer?
How much space are you currently using?
How important is portability?
Do you like the new keyboard and touchbar?

If 512 GB is a size you can work with, that opens up the prospect of the retina MacBook. If 8GB/512 is acceptable, that opens up the prospect of the rMB and MBA at reasonably affordable prices.

A 15-inch with a 1TB SSD will cost about twice that of a retina MacBook or MacBook Air with 8GB RAM and a 512 SSD. With the lower cost, you could potentially upgrade sooner when something better comes out. Further, you could purchase AppleCare+ and sell the system at the 2.5 year mark to recover a huge portion of the initial investment. With the retina MacBook and MacBook Pro, I would go as far to say that AppleCare+ is pretty much a necessity these days - and with this method, you would never find yourself in a situation where you were not covered.
 
I just ordered a Space Grey MBP base model. Last MB I had was a MBA some time back, like 2012 or so. My main machine is a iMac that is from 2012 also. I’m excited to use this MBP as my main machine (I’m a web developer and internet marketer). I know even though it’s only 2.3GHz and 8GB of ram but the SSD is going to be like night and day for me.

I think the Space Grey looks amazing also.
 
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