MacBook Pro spec

[DJ bradderz]

Hi,

 

Im going to get a macbook pro in the next few weeks, but im trying to decide which spec to go for. Ive decided to get the non-retina screen one as I would like CD drive, ethernet etc... I will mainly be doing music production on it, however in the future, I may start doing more lighting on it, such as WYSIWYG.

 

I was thinking of this spec:

 

13-inch: 2.9GHz

• 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
• Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
• 8GB 1600MHz memory
• 750GB 5400-rpm hard drive¹
• Intel HD Graphics 4000

or should I go for this for about £300 more:

 

15-inch: 2.3GHz

• 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
• Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz
• 8GB 1600MHz memory
• 500GB 5400-rpm hard drive¹
• Intel HD Graphics 4000
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

or spend even more and get better graphics or more storage/SSD? Im interested in hearing your thoughts

 

Thanks,

Brad

[paulears]

biggest and fastest internal drive you get get - mine is quite sluggish with big video files, and running parallels can be quite tiresome as windows eats up memory. Startup time isn't too bad but the sad would make terrific sense if you can affords a big enough one. My 750Gb drive is woefully short of space with so many audio and video files. Multitrack audio and video are very unfriendly, disc space wise.

[JCC1996]

I have the 13 inch one you mention (although with standard 2.9GHz and 4gb RAM) and although it deals well with most things, it does struggle with Capture Polar and can lag badly with longer video clips while editing. I wish when I got mine that I had upgraded to ssd, but the Apple Genius claimed the difference wasn't noticeable, however, after speaking to people who did upgrade I regret not doing it now. Hope that helps a little!

[timd]

If you don't use the optical drive, you can replace it with a second hard drive or SSD. The part you need is called an optibay. It's a fiddly operation, but very doable if you follow a guide. I'm certainly very glad I did it (although the SSD I installed is purely for Ubuntu, but that's another story...). It should be possible to simply migrate the existing filesystem onto an SSD with Ghost or Partimage and use the existing magnetic drive for general storage with the OS and programs running off the SSD.

[DJ bradderz]

Im tempted to get a smaller SSD to work from and then a large portable HDD to store all my files on. JCC1996, how well does the graphics card on the 13inch cope? That is my main concern on the 13inch...

[JCC1996]

I do quite a bit of HD video editing and other than the lagging when dealing with long clips its never faltered, and thats only ever during editing- playback is flawless. I've also run graphics and video from QLab with absolutely no problems.

 

Joe

 

I should say that mine is also the Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB graphics.

[paulears]

The graphics card on mine (Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB graphics) has no problems with adobe premier/after effects or cubase.

[DJ bradderz]

ah cool, im definitely getting tempted towards the 13inch, with the extra money spent on a SSD

[david.elsbury]

Battery life on both units is similar?

[timd]

If you want to save a packet, don't pay apple for the SSD upgrade, do it yourself. Get the SSD from ebuyer along with an external caddy, clone the existing drive image onto the SSD or reinstall from media and then swap the SSD into the machine. Use the old HDD as an external in the caddy. For £135, you get yourself a 250GB SSD and a 500GB external hard drive. If you got the SSD fitted, you'd be paying £350 to end up in the same position.

 

I'm amazed by the mark-up Apple and other hardware vendors put on upgrades like that.

[JCC1996]

Battery life on my 18 month old machine is still around 6hrs surfing the web, and I'd say around 3hrs DJing. Never done any editing without being connected to AC power so can't comment on that.

[Joe Bleasdale]

I have a 15" Macbook pro 2012. Mine is a little above the spec the OP posted for the 15", if you plan on doing any kind of 3D rendering, (WYG), then a beefy Graphics card is what you need. The HD3000 graphics chips are really only designed to run basic stuff, you should probably go for the 512MB or better yet, the 1GB graphics card model - with that model the Mac will switch between the HD3000 and the 512/1GB card as it needs to. The only thing I found is that with the 2012 MBPs and earlier, when that big graphics card does kick in, the case gets quite hot. Mainly due to the fact that the CPU and GPU share the same heatsink inside an aluminium case (very smart of Apple...). So, really, if I had the choice I'd have the 15" retina, as the heat issues have gone, there are better graphics card options and despite it doesn't have a disk drive, you can get one of those externally. The only other big thing that's nice to have is an SSD or Fusion Drive. If your sticking with the normal HDD, upgrade it to 7200rpm as that makes a small difference and its only a few quid! I am about to purchase a second mac, a 27" iMac, with the fusion drive, big graphics card etc so my MBP can start its retirement!

 

BTW... the Apple "Geniuses" don't always know what they are talking about either!

 

Thanks.

[DJ bradderz]

Thanks for all the input guys. Also, do you think its worth getting the AppleCare Protection Plan? It seems worth it, but then it is £140 odd...

[overhyped]

This is the 2.6GHz i7, non retina 15" anti-glare, 8GB RAM, GT650M graphics, and 256GB SSD.Battery life is huge: you're not spinning a heavy chunk of material anymore! I usually use mine at around 50% brightness, and as I type the thing is predicting around 9 hours, 57 mins to go. And I believe that - it has done well over 9 hours before.

I can safely go a day of constant use forgetting to charge it, and then in the evening, its just "Oh, never mind" - after all, it only takes around two and a half hours to charge fully.

Speed wise, it boots to desktop in around 9 seconds. Why send it to sleep when it takes that short to start?

Performance: as rolls royce might say: "sufficient" power. - I don't have problems running anything Adobe...

 

Comments: Yes, it is shiny. Yes, it survives knocks rather well. The charger has still got the classic design flaw. No, I cannot hear it at all. No, it does not come in black (anymore. Boo!). No, it does not work with the blackmagic design pocket ultrascope (and neither does ANY currently sold laptop!). The trackpad is really loud to click. Stability is good - It has not crashed yet in these past 6 months.

 

Personally, had I have known what I'd end up using it for most of the time (video, audio production), rather than what it was bought for (replacement laptop for occasional video duties)... I'd have gone for a 128GB SSD, 2.3Ghz, 15", 8GB machine with the antiglare (it makes my day so much nicer, well worth the extra cash). I'd've also gotten an external USB3 / thunderbolt caddy with a 1TB drive.

[callumb]

Don't buy any ram upgrades for them. stick with the 4gb they give then get 16GB from ebuyer or that for ~£50. Stick it in and you have saved a packet! I have a 2012 mac mini (£500 one) and it has 16GB in it! Cost me £40 from ebay. Despite it being a i5 and built in graphics only is really shifts! I can run Windoz 7 in Virtual Box while doing some things in After Effects with 7 Google Chrome tabs open and a few other programs. Just sits there happy as can be. So: Go for stock ram and upgrade. 3 second job!