Need help choosing a Macbook Pro

I do not know a whole lot about macs but my younger brother needs one for school next year and I was hoping to get some input on which one would be best for him. He is going to be a freshman graphic design major and right now he is looking at a 15" macbook pro. The software he will be running according to the school's website is adobe creative suite 5 design premium and adobe creative suite 5 web production & master collection. The big question is which processor will fit his needs best for the best price. The original thought was the i7 but I figured an i5 would do just as well for his needs but I do not know a whole lot on that subject or should he get something else. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Yeah the i5 will just be just as good.

What I tell anyone who deals with graphic design is the more power the better. Not only is the i7 faster, but it also comes with the better graphic card.

Remember he most likely wants to use this MBP for a while, and in the long run as programs get more demanding it is better to have more power under the hood.

I think this link, which I have posted many times, is a very useful bit of info to help with the decision making process.
YouTube - 2.4 GHz Core i5 or Core i7 2.66 GHz MacBook Pro? i5 vs i7 Benchmarks & Which one you should get!

6string said:

I think this link, which I have posted many times, is a very useful bit of info to help with the decision making process.
YouTube - 2.4 GHz Core i5 or Core i7 2.66 GHz MacBook Pro? i5 vs i7 Benchmarks & Which one you should get!

Click to expand...

Nice video...but the reviewer should have used a core 2 duo laptop as a baseline benchmark to compare against the i5 & i7.

- Nick

Agreed Pigoo... I'd have liked to have seen the previous MBP in that lineup.
It was the closest I could find for those considering the extra finances for the i7 over the base model 15"
I really think forking out that kind of dosh you'd really want to be taking video editing super seriously

6string said:

Agreed Pigoo... I'd have liked to have seen the previous MBP in that lineup.
It was the closest I could find for those considering the extra finances for the i7 over the base model 15"
I really think forking out that kind of dosh you'd really want to be taking video editing super seriously

Click to expand...

To me...the performance differences between the i5 & i7 in the video were not that dramatic...but comparing both against a core 2 duo might have been more impressive.

I also didn't like the way the reviewer said that the i7 had "double" the graphics power because it had 512meg of video memory vs. 256 for the i5.

Video memory is certainly not the best way to measure graphics processing power...since (in theory) you could have a newer & faster 256meg GPU that blows the doors off an older & slower 512meg GPU.

At this point in time the 15" i5 & i7 MacBook Pros both come with the same 330m GPU...so then the only GPU difference is the 512meg vs. 256meg. But the i7 comes with a faster CPU (2.66ghz vs. 2.53ghz)...so that will have a small effect on the GPU scores as well.

Here's a link & graphic that I posted in another thread to help with the differences (i5 vs. i7)...with some core 2 duo laptops for comparison:

New vs Old: MacBook Pro Benchmarks compare the Core 2 Duo 13″, Core i5/i7 15″ and 17″ models - OS X Daily



- Nick

For me it was the final benchmarks between the i5 and the i7 that swayed me to the one I got. I don't do video editing, or at least not professionally, but I really couldn't see the sense in the upgrade financially unless it was to the i7 for the bigger display, if a laptop was essential.
This machine is super fast, with amazing quality graphics/display, and in AU$ the price difference is out there.
IMHO, if I were serious about video editing, I really wouldn't be looking past one of the 27" iMacs, especially as far as bang for bucks goes.

6string said:

For me it was the final benchmarks between the i5 and the i7 that swayed me to the one I got. I don't do video editing, or at least not professionally, but I really couldn't see the sense in the upgrade financially unless it was to the i7 for the bigger display, if a laptop was essential.
This machine is super fast, with amazing quality graphics/display, and in AU$ the price difference is out there.
IMHO, if I were serious about video editing, I really wouldn't be looking past one of the 27" iMacs, especially as far as bang for bucks goes.

Click to expand...

Yes...some of the video editing numbers (time saved)...could add up to quite a bit if someone was into video work...and had deadlines to meet.

Heck...the i5 & i7 laptops are the way to go if money isn't a problem (but then how often does that happen)!!!

For folks that primarily do e-mail & internet surfing...the core 2 duo laptops are just fine. In about 2-3 years when the cost of a used i5 or i7 laptop is around $750 bucks...that's when I'll get one!

- Nick

Alright thanks everyone for your help, I ended up getting the i5 and so far it has been great. I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the the apple car protection plan. I didn't know if it was worth the money or not and wanted to see what everyone's thoughts were.