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Would it be silly to purchase 13" MBP now?

M

mnsportsgeek

macrumors 601
Original poster
Feb 24, 2009
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6,997
With the 15" Retina MBP making it's appearance today, do you guys think it would be foolish to purchase the 13" now? I believe it's only a matter of time before the retina makes an appearance on the 13". Probably in the next refresh.

I am in need of a computer for school this fall, and can not justify a $2000 computer for email, writing papers, iPhoto, and iTunes.

Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
I would tend to agree. I need a portable laptop, and have been thinking maybe go with the Air? However, the small amount of Ram and the slow processors have me second guessing.
 
I'm feeling the exact same way.
I wan't the newest of the newest, but I'm just not sure if I can justify spending $2k on a laptop.....
 
The base model 13" MBP will serve your needs and then some...

I have the early 2011 13" MBP 2.3GHz i5 and it is plenty fast running pro apps such as Aperture.

I put the money I saved into a quality 24" NEC display. Cost?

$909 for the MBP. (New via an Amazon sale...)

$550 for the now discontinued NEC 2490WUXi2 ($899 MSRP).

Total: $1459 for a very nice desktop/portable combo.

The only thing I upgraded was the RAM to 8GB via third-party supplier.

If money is tight you should consider getting a previous-generation MBP or a refurb. If your college has a bookstore that sells Macs you can save a LOT of money if it snags previous-generation Macs from Apple. I have saved up to 50% on new Macs buying previous-generation at university bookstores. (I'm typing this on a 24" iMac that cost me $950 vs. $1999. Sweet!)
 
For school I think the 13" Macbook Air that's now $100 cheaper than it used to be is a good buy. It has a 1440x900 display and will be faster in day to day tasks because of the SSD. You can also upgrade it to 8GB of RAM for a total of $1299.

If you need gigabit ethernet (commonly needed for dorm rooms) you can get a thunderbolt adapter now for $30.
 
I would never buy the 13".

The screen resolution is so outdated. Even before retina came.
 
I'm going with the 13" Pro. I need at the very least 256GB of storage, and the Air just doesn't provide that. As a 21 year old I have no business spending $2000 on a computer, let alone even $1500. I'd prefer to go with the 13" Pro and get Apple Care. Then in 4 years when I have a real job I can splurge on the luxuries in life :p

The 13" will run pretty much any app you throw at it. In 2 years, I can always upgrade the ram to 16gb and throw in an SSD and that will give me the kickstart I need to go another 2 years with the thing.
 
I'd wait until August, 2 months isn't too long.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article..._new_macbook_series_at_wwdc_insiders_say.html

"Kuo said he doesn't expect the new 13-inch $1,199 MacBook to be available until August, as the smaller MacBook has "limited space for thermal dissipation," and will also use a "lower-yield" Retina display than the 15-inch model."

Also, you'll still be able to use the Back to School offer as it runs ends September 21st.
 
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The last time I spent over $2000 for a computer I think was 1993. I think it had 33mhz. Never again.lol. It was outdated in like a month.
 
And do you think that will happen now?

The 13" is already outdated. And the resale value on the 13" is going to much lower in some few years.

Just saying, i cant understand why you would want the 13" mbp, its the worst of all the laptops apple offer.
 
Rumor has it that the 13" is getting redesigned with retina in August.

EDIT - already mentioned a few posts above.
 
The 13" Macbook pro is probably the worst value right now when compared to the other base models.
 
mikeo007 said:
The 13" Macbook pro is probably the worst value right now when compared to the other base models.
Click to expand...

I agree. The MBP 13" has been left seriously behind compared to the other Apple laptops. It's hardly received any love in this upgrade :(
 
KohPhiPhi said:
I agree. The MBP 13" has been left seriously behind compared to the other Apple laptops. It's hardly received any love in this upgrade :(
Click to expand...

Agreed! See my reply to another thread below:

Wow, I really have to thank Apple. I felt kind of bad when I bought my Mid-2010 13" 2.4GHz MB Pro and the upgraded 2011 model was released shortly thereafter... Until I had the opportunity to use my coworker's i5-powered 2011 13" 2.4GHz MB Pro on an extended basis and found it no faster nor powerful than my trusty old machine. (I do, of course, understand that various benchmarking programs will likely reveal an uptick in the numbers, however, real world experience with similar tasks revealed no humanly perceptible difference to this user.)

Now, after checking the exorbitant price for the new 2.5GHz 13" MB Pro and, particularly, the cost of additional RAM &/or an SSD, my little baby (& my wife's white Mid-2010 MB) feels like more of a bargain than when I first bought it. I received a gov't employee discount to begin with, then waited for a sale-priced SSD and installed it myself, and finished up with an 8GB RAM DIY upgrade. The result is a well running machine that I'd put up against the newer 2.5GHz offering in a heartbeat.

I also concede that these are not our gaming/power machines. They are our traveling notebooks as well as my wife's business laptop. My power laptop? It's presently a Lenovo... However, with the introduction of the chicklet-style six row keyboard, that may change.
 
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Well, I am typing this message to you on my dated and slowly dying 2.2ghz Core2Duo MacBook, I just wanted a decent laptop to surf the web with and do some minor movie and music editing, so...I just popped on a new high-end 2012 MacBook Pro 13" 2.9ghz i7 with the BTO 1TB hard drive. It already comes with 8GB of RAM, so for my uses, it'll be great. I really don't need Retina to be happy...

Oh yeah...what did I spend? With Applecare and the BTO 1TB hard drive added on and the education discount taken off, I ended up spending just over $1700 after tax.

I'd say that's a good deal. :)
 
Guys please. Just take a look at a 13" macbook pro's display and tell me it's bad. No! It's just more than fine. Stop foolin yourself to spend more money on something that doesn't even make that big of a difference when you're writin papers or school or preparin a presentation. Come on please!
 
Zwikker said:
Guys please. Just take a look at a 13" macbook pro's display and tell me it's bad. No! It's just more than fine. Stop foolin yourself to spend more money on something that doesn't even make that big of a difference when you're writin papers or school or preparin a presentation. Come on please!
Click to expand...

I think a resounding "Amen!" is in order here...
 
henrikrox said:
And do you think that will happen now?

The 13" is already outdated. And the resale value on the 13" is going to much lower in some few years.

Just saying, i cant understand why you would want the 13" mbp, its the worst of all the laptops apple offer.
Click to expand...

I can't understand why you can't understand people buying a 13''mbp.

I sold my 2007 mb and bought a refurb 2011 13'' mbp. It does everything I need. I was considering a mba but it was more expensive with less 'things'. If i needed a DVD drive then i would need to pay extra for a USB DVD drive and a ethernet adaptor.

13'' mbp is still the best selling mbp for a reason.
 
I don't buy for one second that after today, Apple is going to turn around and bring out a retina 13" MBP in August. Sorry, but that rumor is ************.
 
I'm sure by the end of the year, apple will have a Retina 13 inch as well. There is no way they will keep it exclusively for the 15 inch. Soon the regular MBP will be phased out, and the Retina MBP will be here to stay. I'm guessing before 2013
 
With all respect if thats all you are going to be using your macbook pro for you don't need the newest one.



The new ipad is more than capable for all of those things and has a retina display.


If you must have a laptop, go with a Macbook Air.
 
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