Macbook Pro 2010 or 2011?

[chomxxo]

Hi there, I've got two choices. Based on our budget and best performance, which do you think is better for a photographer and web designer's laptop?

Macbook Pro 2010 (refurb)
13" screen
2.66ghz Core 2 Duo
8GM RAM
240GB OWC Extreme Pro SSD

Macbook Pro 2011
13" screen
2.3ghz Core i5
8GB RAM
320GB 5400RPM Hard drive


Both will be plugged into an external HD monitor also when it's used as a workstation. We may be able to afford a bump to Core i7 or a faster/larger HD on the new model. It looks like last year's model still has faster graphics. With an SSD, the refurb should have much faster disk I/O also.

So is the difference in processor performance worth it? Thanks in advance for your feedback

 

[robduckyworth]

either will do nicely.

the refurb will feel alot faster than the 2011, but will do CPU intensive tasks alot slower (video encoding, rendering, and so on).

 

[Dutchlimits]

I would choose the 2011 model with the better CPU. You'll be able to upgrade to SSD whenever you want, you can't change the CPU.

 

[Roelio]

If it doesn't cost a lot more, or same. I would go for the 2011...

 

[Mini_mi]

I just got refurb 2011 i5 for a $1018! So would say watch for a refurb 2011. You will appreciate the faster processor and you can upgrade to he'd to a flash drive later when the prices come down.

 

[ishtech]

Either machine will work nicely. If you spend more time on the web design side, the 2010 with the SSD will be noticeably faster. It doesn't take an i5 to run CODA or Dreamweaver.

I have friend who is a professional photographer who lives in Lightroom and Photoshop. When we were informally comparing performance, my i5 was faster, but the difference, except when running some of the filters wasn't all that noticeable. I suspect that with a SSD, the 2010 would be as fast, if not faster, most of the time.

The only area that we found that the i5 really pulled away was doing encoding, DVD rips, and rendering. If that is in your future, I'd go with the 2011 and save up to get a SSD. Bottom line, you'll be happy with either machine.