How does MacBook Pro compare to iMac?

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How does MacBook Pro compare to iMac?

First off, obviously a mbp is portable while an iMac is not.

Main Question: I just want to know how an 2.7ghz i5 iMac with 16gb ram, 1tb fusion drive compares to a 15" MBP with 2.6hz i7, 8gb ram, and 500gb hdd + 128gb 840 pro ssd.

For discussion: im getting a new computer for programming/school. I priced out the iMac I described above (2.7 i5, 16gb ram, 1tb fusion drive) and it'd be $1654 pre tax. If I were to get this i would also buy a mid 2012 MacBook Air refurb base model, when it shows up again (i5, 64gb,4gb ram) for $680 pretax I believe. My total would be approx $2650 after tax for both. The alternative to this is to get 15" MBP with 2.6ghz i7 processor, high res screen, 4gb ram, 500gb hdd and then upgrade it myself to 8gb ram, 500gb hdd + 128gb ssd. The price for this would be approx $2300 for this. What would you guys do? If the iMac I described performs just as well as the MBP I desrcibed, I don't see a reason not go the iMac+ Base model air route.

Posted on Aug 11, 2013 1:11 AM

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Answer 1

R C-R

Level 6

17,782 points

Aug 11, 2013 4:06 AM in response to cjhockey35

Personally, I would go with the iMac plus MacBook Air refurb, not for performance reasons but because of the redundancy you get from having two Macs -- if one of them has a problem you have the other to use while you deal with the problem.

Regarding performance, both the iMac & MBP will be quite fast. In practical, "get it done" terms the iMac will probably have the edge because its much larger screen allows you to see more without having to waste time managing windows or doing excessive scrolling. Also note that the new 27" iMacs have four user-accessible RAM slots, so you can save a little by ordering it with 8 GB & buying two more 4 GB modules from another vendor like OWC.

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