Upgrading MBP

Sorry, same old, same old question. I currently have a basic mid 2012 refurbished MBP that you guys advised me on back same time of year 2012. I have had no problems whatsoever with it, love it. But I am now just getting into hobby photography. And photo editing with Affinity Photo. With thay said, please keep in mind I am a 69 yo retiree that did not grow up with technology but I have done well as a user and learned to use an ipad first and then Mac OS pretty well. Wouldnt be good on the technical end of fixing Mac problems but as said, havnt had any (last sentence just FWIW, in case any relevence to recommendation)

Anyway, I want to upgrade to a newer and more powerful Macbook Pro with more storage. I did upgrade recently to a 64gb iPad Air to hold my photos and now want to upgrade the MBP. I dont have any other needs for better processing and storage other than photography. I am really not interested in external storage either. Also, I would love to get an iMac this time but hubby has built me a niche in my Master walk in closet for using my MBP and an iMac wont fit.

Budget is not an issue, I am not wealthy but I have saved and can afford top of the line 13" rmbp. And I see no reason not to go again with a refurb. So I have spotted one in the Apple Sore with 16gb ram, i7 processor and 1 tb storage. But for the photo editing/processing/photo storage is this overkill. I mean I dont want to look like the little old lady that has a fancy cadillac but only uses it to go to the grocery store once a week. So can I get some advice once again.

Actually, photo processing gives the entire machine a pretty good workout, so the refurb you describe sounds like a good option that is reasonably "future-proofed" so you can hang onto it for a while.

For myself, I chose to spend a little money (really, not very much) and upgrade my non-Retina mid-2012 with 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD storage (say, this sounds familiar) and don't feel like I'm missing out on much compared to the current lineup. Sure, I lose out on that gorgeous Retina screen and on some slightly better processor and graphics, but I don't find myself waiting around much for my current machine with the upgrades so I decided to "stay put" for a while, probably another year or so unless a great opportunity knocks.

There is some rumour talk that the MBA and MBP lines are going to get updated again around the time of the Worldwide Developer's Conference in June. This is just an "educated guess" type rumour at the moment, but it makes sense for the MBPs to get a little boost around then, so figure that possibility into your plans. Of course, one of the other rumours about this is that Apple will drop the 13-inch rMBP and just make a 13-inch Retina MacBook Air instead, leaving the "serious pro" machine to be 15-inch only. I don't put a lot of stock in that one, but who knows?

Thanks for the thumbs up! Yeah, if I was as technical as some of you guys are, I would be upgrading this good ol' mid 2012 mbp of mine, but I'm just not good at it. So rather than paying someone to do it, I'm upgrading and then gifting this current one to my grandaughter.

And yeah, retina itself doesnt impress me either but the processing power does. And I have heard the rumors but it seems to me that will probably always be the case with Apple, there will always be changes and better 'things'. So I usually research for the best for me at the moment.

Good thinking! Be sure to tell your granddaughter that upgrading the existing hard drive and RAM in the mid-2012 is very easy to do, and that there are step-by-step instructions on iFixit.com if she's interested in doing that. It certainly breathed new life into my machine.