Macbook Pro worth it

[ImNoDJ]

As far as I'm aware the non-retina MBP that is still sold will take all of the upgrades, which is good, because like you, I've had nearly a terabyte of all flash storage and 16GB of RAM in my 13" MBP since 2011.

You definitely can get those specs in a 13" rMBP, which is why I'm not complaining that much. It just costs 2 and a half times as much and doesn't come with a meaningfully better processor.

Also, can you turn off the stupid scaling and use the full resolution yet?

You can absolutely put in aftermarket flash/ssd drives in Retina macbooks. But they are a proprietary form factor and possibly a bit fiddly for the average user. Its only 10 screws and a cable.

[mostapha]

Right, and the aftermarket ones can be higher performance than Apple's stock drives, depending on which one you get....if they haven't changed it, Apple uses 2 different SSDs, and there's no way to tell which yours is going to have until you get it and either open it up or run a benchmark.

The RAM upgrade is the annoying one, though not as bad as it could be. It only costs like 70% more than aftermarket RAM.

[ToOntown]

Sorry to threadjack, but I didn't feel like starting a new thread.

Is it true that the latest MBPs don't allow you to swap hardware? That RAM and SSDs are soldered into the logic boards?

I have a mid-2010 13" that runs ok, but I really think it's time to upgrade. I think I want the 15" because of the i7 quad core proc and 16GB RAM. How different are the latest 15" retinas from 2012? I'm half tempted to pick up a 2012 retina and save a couple dollars. Also I think the 2012 is the last model to feature swappable HDDs and RAM.

Does anyone have a thought on this? Is the 2014 model vastly different than the 2012? Is the 2015 model not far off and I should just wait?

Thanks

[mostapha]

AFAIK, all of the retinas have soldered ram. But, it's not particularly feasible to put more than 16GB of ram in a normal laptop. So if it's got it, you' just spent more than you strictly had to and are tied to apple's component choices.

And you can swap the SSD as of the last time I checked. AFAICT, the 2012 and 2013 are the same in that regard. They're just not normal 2.5" laptop drives. You can get replacements from OWC and probably some other places.

At this point, I'd just buy one with what I wanted, 'cuz I still think it's worth using Macs for performance. And they finally let you configure something reasonable instead of needing aftermarket parts....it's just a little more expensive than it was a few years ago when "normal" for me was buying the processor I wanted and replacing the ram and drive before turning it on for the first time.

[ToOntown]

Thanks, man. Good to know. I noticed they let you customize the model you want on their website. I might end up doing that. I just wish they offered the same specs in the 13" that they do in the 15". That would make my decision so much easier.

[mostapha]

Yeah....but it looks like all you lose is the QC i7 vs DC i5.

There is a difference, but it's not life & death. Or at least I tell myself that because I hate 15" laptops. They're too damn big, and I don't think you get much for those extra 2 inches.

That being said, I'm one of the weird ones. I use a 13" MBP for traktor, but genuinely prefer 12" laptops....'cuz that extra inch makes the MBP harder to carry around. At home, I go all the way in the other direction and have a 39" 4K.....which is just fantastic and really immersive when I'm coding or pretending I know how to write songs.

http://i.imgur.com/zxZDQGr.png (not embeding because 4K)

It's hard to tell on a laptop screen, but all of the text is easily readable. And, no, I was't doing anything at the time...I just wanted to see what I could fit on the screen after I finally got the 4K monitor working with my hackintosh (after a year of futzing with it, using it only with linux, and finally breaking down and buying way more video card than I actually need to run it).