I'm considering buying a 2014 Macbook Pro retina 13" but am curious about how much better the performance would be when compared to my current MBP 13" 2011 2.3ghz i5 with 8gb ram.
I am a video editor and any substantial peerformance improvement would be welcome (though I only use my laptop for training myself at home).
Any thoughts would be welcomed...
MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.3)
If you want any meaningful responses you should indicate what specifications you are considering on the retina and if your current MBP has an SSD installed.
Look at theses bench test scores:
http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks
Do not rely on them totally as a reflection of 'real world' conditions. They are at best a rough guide.
Ciao.
I don't have an SSD installed, and I'm looking at this model:
13-inch: 2.4GHz
with Retina display
Specifications
You might even want to consider a refurbished MBP Retina 13" like this one for a savings. Same specs as what you're looking at but at a 15% savings. I purchase a late-2012 MBP Retina 13" in March of this year and have been completely satisified with it. Works great and I got a 47% savings on it.
Because the retina MBP has a slightly faster CPU, higher frequency RAM and SSD storage, it will be faster on all counts than the current 2011 MBP that you have.
During 'casual' or non CPU intensive applications, there will be little discernable difference between the two ie: text edit, e-mail processing, Internet surfing. The differences in performance will become apparent when using CPU intensive applications.
However if you install a SSD in the 2011 MBP, that performance gap would be significantly decreased.
I concurr with keg55 suggestion of a refurbished MBP. I have done that three times and will do it again. You get the same warranty and telephone support as a 'new' one.
Ciao.
Any idea what kind of performance increase I could expect from the retina when doing using programmes such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer? I'm not going to spend that much money on a 5-10% increase, but if its 25% or more then I might take the plunge.
I cannot quantify that for you. My guess would be somewhat speculative and quite possibly misleading, thus very unfair to you. A side by side comparison is the only way of establishing the differences.
My personal rule of thumb is that for vocational situations, the additional cost for performance enhancements is justified over the long run. Not so in avocational situations.
What you might consider is installing an SSD in your current MBP and see if the performance enhancement is acceptable and to your liking. If you find that a performance boost is still warranted, then consider the retina. Note that the SSD installed in the 2011 can be used as an external HDD with the retina and via USB3 or thunderbolt connections which would allow for very fast data transfers.
Ciao.
Thanks for all of the advice, I think I'll probably do what you've said and install an SSD then see how things work out from there.
An SSD is night and day difference in performance in a 2009 MBP. I put one in a friend's 13" 2009 MBP and boy what a difference. He said it was like having a new machine. I also upgraded his RAM from 2GB to 4GB.
Macbook Pro 2011 13" 2.3ghz i5 with 8gb ram vs 2014 13" Retina
