Which macbook pro?

laura1990

Hello all,
To make a long story short my trusty macbook which ive had for 4 years is on its last legs, time to upgrade. Im a graphic designer, but im also studying for my masters in motion graphics, therefore my new mackbook will need be able to run the usual creative suite along with fcp, after effects and cinema 4D.
A pc is out of the question, as is an iMac as I move around a lot.

Im caught between the 13" retina display, Dual core i5 2.4ghz with the 8gb of memory and 256gb hd and the 15" version with the i7 Quad core 2ghz.

Theres €400 in the difference, but im already stretching the budget at the 13". I know an iMac is the ideal solution but as I already said its not practical for me at the moment. The render times on the iMacs in college are cruel and there Quad core, but with less memory.

Advice is welcome, ideally from those who are using one of the above for graphics and motion work.

Cheers,
Laura

miralize

That is a tough choice I think. One thing I will say that the last time I used c4d, it didn't have an updated interface with support for the retina display. For Adobe CS6 & + its perfect but I don't think Maxon have done much for it yet.

For rendering, its less about the RAM these days & more about how fast your CPU is. I'd recommend getting the 15". It'll have more screen space (depending on the resolution) and there will be less resources driving the display.

Passenger

If you're a professional designer then the 15" would be my recommendation. The larger screen and the i7 Quad Core should be sufficient for motion graphics and if you require a RAM upgrade in the future you can do that too.

DubDJ

Passenger wrote: »

If you're a professional designer then the 15" would be my recommendation. The larger screen and the i7 Quad Core should be sufficient for motion graphics and if you require a RAM upgrade in the future you can do that too.

Not on the Retina MBP, RAM is soldered on so can't be upgraded. The only thing that can be upgraded easily enough is the SSD, but at the moment there isn't anything on the market for it. But there probably will be in the future.

I'd recommend the 15" too, or the highest specs you can afford. Might as well future proof your purchase a little.

laura1990

Thanks guys, Ive been advised to go for the 13" i5 with 8gb ram but with an ssd upgrade, I though the new mbp's came with the ssd as standard but they don't seem too. If this pushes the price up to the level if the i7, i may just get that.
All of this is going way over budget though! And yes the retina display models don't allow a change of ram, which is silly really. I am a graphic designer and I know the i5 will do everything I need graphics wise, its a bit of oomp which im editing in after effects that's worrying me.

DubDJ

laura1990 wrote: »

Thanks guys, Ive been advised to go for the 13" i5 with 8gb ram but with an ssd upgrade, I though the new mbp's came with the ssd as standard but they don't seem too. If this pushes the price up to the level if the i7, i may just get that.
All of this is going way over budget though! And yes the retina display models don't allow a change of ram, which is silly really. I am a graphic designer and I know the i5 will do everything I need graphics wise, its a bit of oomp which im editing in after effects that's worrying me.

You know that the lowest price (13" model) MacBook Pro on the store is actually a non-Retina model? All the new MBP's have SSD's and nothing can be upgraded by yourself at the moment. But they still sell one old MacBook Pro's, which is the thicker model which includes the cd drive. It also wasn't updated with the latest Haswell Processor. Make sure you don't order thinking it's one of the Retina MacBooks.

If I was you I'd go for the Retina one over the standard 13" they have on the store now. It's much better in every way.

laura1990

Ive ruled out that one, much the same as my own so I know it won't cut it!
I though it was an upgrade ( the ssd) , I also had no idea there was no cd slot on the new ones ( thought the air was the only one like that).

It'll be a retina model for sure

DubDJ

laura1990 wrote: »

Ive ruled out that one, much the same as my own so I know it won't cut it!
I though it was an upgrade ( the ssd) , I also had no idea there was no cd slot on the new ones ( thought the air was the only one like that).

It'll be a retina model for sure

Nope, the iMac, MacMini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Retina have all dropped the CD Drive now. The only one that still has one is that particular MBP as far as I can see.

Just go for the entry level 13" Retina MacBook Pro. Also if your still a student don't forget to take advantage of the 10% discount. Buying something as pricey as this will definitely give you a big discount with that 10%.

miralize

If your college has a online campus apple store, you can possibly get more. I think I got around 16% off mine last time I purchased my MBP.

laura1990

Cheers guys, I think im just going to go for the middle of the road i5 the one with the 8gb of ram.
Ive been told a different model by every person I've asked, tbh honest the one above is the best I can afford.
Don't think we have an online campus apple store, but I'll look into the 10% thing, thinking of getting it off Galmac in Galway.

miralize

Here I think http://campus.ie/discount/apple-discount-for-students/

laura1990

miralize wrote: »

Here I think http://campus.ie/discount/apple-discount-for-students/

Thank you! delighted with that discount

DubDJ

It's a 12% discount from Campus. I used it when I was in college and saved a big chunk. Only thing is you need to login through your college portal to verify your in college.

Laura, just go for whatever you can afford. Macs usually last atleast 4 years so the better you get the longer it will last and the more software updates you'll be able to get too.

laura1990

DubDJ wrote: »

It's a 12% discount from Campus. I used it when I was in college and saved a big chunk. Only thing is you need to login through your college portal to verify your in college.

Laura, just go for whatever you can afford. Macs usually last atleast 4 years so the better you get the longer it will last and the more software updates you'll be able to get too.

Yeah I just logged in their so I'll buy it tomorrow through that, delighted now, just talked to the technicians in college and they figure 8gb should do me grand, so that's what I'm going for.

One more question, probably a stupid one but ive never bought a mac new. If I have problems with it while its under its one year warrenty and I buy it online where do I bring it to to get fixed ( for free under warrenty )

miralize

laura1990 wrote: »

Yeah I just logged in their so I'll buy it tomorrow through that, delighted now, just talked to the technicians in college and they figure 8gb should do me grand, so that's what I'm going for.

One more question, probably a stupid one but ive never bought a mac new. If I have problems with it while its under its one year warrenty and I buy it online where do I bring it to to get fixed ( for free under warrenty )

Either send it back to Apple or go to any Apple certified support professional such as Compub.

I'd recommend within the next year to get the extended Applecare. It might cost a lot initially, but huge savings if your machines becomes unusable in year 2.

DubDJ

miralize wrote: »

Either send it back to Apple or go to any Apple certified support professional such as Compub.

I'd recommend within the next year to get the extended Applecare. It might cost a lot initially, but huge savings if your machines becomes unusable in year 2.

You can also save a fair bit by purchasing the AppleCare with the student discount too. It works for certain things on the store other than the main stuff Apple sell.

cnocbui

miralize wrote: »

Either send it back to Apple or go to any Apple certified support professional such as Compub.

I'd recommend within the next year to get the extended Applecare. It might cost a lot initially, but huge savings if your machines becomes unusable in year 2.

I have a Macbook Pro Retina and my opinion is that Applecare is not worth it.

Under EU law, you have a 2 year warranty - not 1 year as some people still seem to think, so Applecare is only really in effect for the third year and is very expensive for just one more years worth of warranty.

http://www.apple.com/ie/legal/statutory-warranty/

The second year of the warranty has to be honoured by the seller, not Apple. So basically you have the first years warranty via Apple directly and the second by the seller - though I would imagine that effectively the seller will involve Apple.

Apple's warranty service is excellent so you should have no worries there.

miralize

cnocbui wrote: »

I have a Macbook Pro Retina and my opinion is that Applecare is not worth it.

Under EU law, you have a 2 year warranty - not 1 year as some people still seem to think, so Applecare is only really in effect for the third year and is very expensive for just one more years worth of warranty.

http://www.apple.com/ie/legal/statutory-warranty/

The second year of the warranty has to be honoured by the seller, not Apple. So basically you have the first years warranty via Apple directly and the second by the seller - though I would imagine that effectively the seller will involve Apple.

Apple's warranty service is excellent so you should have no worries there.

I understand that, but for me 2 years isn't enough warranty on a machine that cost me almost 3 thousand & last me 4-5 years. Better to get as much cover as you possibly can, especially considering what it cost in the first place

laura1990

I had always intended on buying the care plan down the line, like when my years warranty is almost up.
Don't know if you can do that or does it have to be bought on day of purchase or something

DubDJ

laura1990 wrote: »

I had always intended on buying the care plan down the line, like when my years warranty is almost up.
Don't know if you can do that or does it have to be bought on day of purchase or something

The new AppleCare+ plan has to be activated within 30 days. But the old standard AppleCare plan can be activated up to 1 year after purchase.

miralize

DubDJ wrote: »

The new AppleCare+ plan has to be activated within 30 days. But the old standard AppleCare plan can be activated up to 1 year after purchase.

Isnt that just for iOS devices?

DubDJ

miralize wrote: »

Isnt that just for iOS devices?

Not sure to be honest it's only been added a few weeks ago and haven't really looked into it. But yeah it makes sense that it's for iDevices only.

mdebets

miralize wrote: »

I understand that, but for me 2 years isn't enough warranty on a machine that cost me almost 3 thousand & last me 4-5 years. Better to get as much cover as you possibly can, especially considering what it cost in the first place

In Ireland, the consumer rights give you protection for up to 6 years, not 2 years (dependent more or less on the price). The only problem with Macs in this regard is that you might be over the limit for the small claims court (I think it's 2,500€), so you might need to go to District Court instead if you have to sue the company to get your rights, which makes it more complicated and expensive.

miralize

mdebets wrote: »

In Ireland, the consumer rights give you protection for up to 6 years, not 2 years (dependent more or less on the price). The only problem with Macs in this regard is that you might be over the limit for the small claims court (I think it's 2,500€), so you might need to go to District Court instead if you have to sue the company to get your rights, which makes it more complicated and expensive.

Got a link with some information on that? All I knew about was the European directive of 2 years.

mdebets

miralize wrote: »

Got a link with some information on that? All I knew about was the European directive of 2 years.

Here's a link with your consumer rights in Ireland.
Unless the EU directive, which specifies 2 years, Ireland has no set time limits for your consumer rights, but only 'merchantable quality .... their durability and their price '. In addition to this, there is the standard 6 years of the statue of limitations.
The correct length will ultimately be defined by the judge in court, if you have to sue the supplier, but the cost of a Mac would most likely result in length of 6 years (based on other case, posted in the Consumer forum).

Peteer

Might be too late, don't forget about the "Junk Store" as my boss likes to call it. I have bought many a Mac here and never had an issue. It's usually last seasons model with a good discount.
http://store.apple.com/ie/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

Cheers,
Peter

laura1990

Thanks for that Peteer, I order a new one last weekend though
Should be arriving at the end of next week.
Middle of the road retina model with 8gb of ram, with a tidy discount from campus.ie.