15' Macbook Pro

If you have the money go for it! The 13-inch is not for everyone, understandable. If you do heavy gaming and editing I recommend a 15 or 17 incher due to the discrete graphics processor. The 15 and 17 inchers also sport a quad core processor, doubling the processing power of a 13 incher. For your sake I would say jump on the 15 incher because of the discrete GPU.

I cannot stress enough the need of a discreet GPU, especially for someone like you who does a lot of editing and gaming. There is no GPU upgrade option for the 13-incher model, so if you wish to stay with the 13-inch model your stuck with the integrated GPU. Which is for some people, but not everyone. I opted for the higher clock speed, which led me to the high-end 13-inch model. You are looking for two major things in a computer: discreet graphics card, and a quad core processor. Which makes the 15-inch model a perfect fit for you.

You can always upgrade to an SSD hard drive, and add more RAM to your current machine. However it still will not be able to live up to a 15, or 17-inch MacBook Pro. Just keep that in mind, if you would like more information on upgrading RAM, and HDDs let me know, I'd be happy to help you out!

The 13" is not really a "Pro" machine as it lacks a dedicated video card for high performance graphics.

It uses the same cheap Intel integrated graphics like a $400 Walmart PC does. 😁

You want a cool fast Mac laptop, a 15" or better, anti-glare screen preferred.

Heck I can 3D game in a virtual machine OS even

Mac video card performance

ds store wrote:

The 13" is not really a "Pro" machine as it lacks a dedicated video card for high performance graphics.

It uses the same cheap Intel integrated graphics like a $400 Walmart PC does. 😁

You want a cool fast Mac laptop, a 15" or better, anti-glare screen preferred.

Heck I can 3D game in a virtual machine OS even

Mac video card performance

It's up to Apple, to name their machines, not you. And it's your opinion that 15-inchers are cool. For some they are not. Integrated GPUs suit some very well. Everything in this post is a opinion. Nothing included in a Mac is cheap...according to Apple.

And I can game perfectly fine in a VM on a 13-inch.

Yes an SSD will decrease your boot time and application launch time greatly. I also agree with you on the heavy factor. Try OCZ and OWC both highly recommended by "yours truly" 8GB of RAM is a cheap upgrade $50 or less dependant upon the manufacturer. Add no more than 8GB, 16GB is a waste of money!

Virtual Machine, like Windows running in VMWare or Parallels emulation.

skywalkerkenobi wrote:

What is a VM????????

VM: Virtual Machine

In theory yes. But in reality no. Ha that doesn't make sense! It will increase your loading times within the game, menus will load faster ect. However if we are talking FPS (frames per second) most likely it will not be a huge difference. You may see a few more fps. Speaking in theory an SSD will allow things like textures, themes, and add-ons to load much quicker than a rotating drive, so in theory yes. Reality... well take a look here: http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/11/21/hard-stuff-qa-are-ssds-worth-it/

So are you thinking upgrade whole machine, or current Mac?