MBP or rMBP??

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Level 1

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MBP or rMBP??

I am finally making the jump to the Apple notebook world. I am looking at either the Macbook Pro Standard 13" and the Macbook Pro with Retina display 13". I am currently in grad school and will be using it mainly for working in Office and internet research. However, I have been known to run multiple programs at once (iTunes, Word, Excel, Safari).

My main questions are;

Will the standard MBP suffice with only 4 GB RAM and a slightly slower processor just to have extra Hard Drive?

Will the retina display be worht the extra $$ just to have a faster processor ( I don't game, or do any photo of video editing)

Will the retina display future proof me more?

I have a TB external hard drive, will the 128 of PCIe storage be enough? I have a fairly large iTunes music library, but not many movies I would need to save.

My wife and I both have iPhones, iPads and an Apple TV.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Posted on Feb 2, 2015 12:11 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 2, 2015 2:12 AM in response to mossdac

In my opinion, you should go for the retina model.

The non retina model is an older model and is likely that it will not supported in the future for as long as the retina model. Also, the latest operating system, Yosemite, is specifically optimised for the retina displays, and this will only happen more in the future.

Of course it comes down to budget, but I would strongly suggest that you use a minimum 8GB RAM, reports are that Yosemite is struggling with only 4GB RAM.

You also definitely want to use SSD storage, this adds a massive performance boost over spinning HDD storage.

Storage is based on your needs, expect to use cloud services or external drives to store large amounts of data, if you opt for SSD storage.

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Answer 2

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,339 points

Feb 2, 2015 2:41 AM in response to mossdac

The non retina MBP will certainly fulfil your requirements.

The primary differences that you have to take into consideration are as follows:

The retina display, is that much superior to the traditional?

The retina MBP, once ordered cannot be changed (RAM or storage). The non retina can have up to 16 GB RAM installed and a 2 TB HDD or a 1TB SSD, which from a performance perspective makes it very competitive with a retina.

If cost is a major factor, the non retina wins hands down.

The practical choice is the non retina MBP. If you are enamored with the retina, well that is the way to go understanding no future hardware alterations will be possible after delivery.

Ciao.

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Answer 3

dwb

Level 7

33,326 points

Feb 2, 2015 4:22 AM in response to mossdac

The MBP (non retina) model was a good computer when it was first released - that was quite a long time ago and it hasn't gotten anything but small updates since then. It is very old tech compared to all the other notebooks Apple sells. If you need a computer with an internal optical drive, this is the obvious choice - and I think it is the only reason Apple continues to sell it. If the optical drive isn't important look at both the MBPr and MBA models.

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Answer 4

mossdac Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 2, 2015 9:49 PM in response to mossdac

Thank you to all. We made the decision to go with the MBPr to have the larger RAM and faster processor. Upgrading hardware doesn't seem likely for us to do as we are both novices with such technology endeavors. I am loving it though! Already blasting through my schoolwork! Thanks again.

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