2014 15.4" i7 Quad Core Refurb (A) vs New 13" i5 MacbookPro (B)

I am looking for a recomendation on which way t go for my daughter's machine in med school.

A
Mid 2014 15.4" Refurb i7 quad unibody 525MB SSD 3 USB Ports, 2.55GHz clock spd, 16GB working memory 2yr warranty

VS

B
New 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
8GB 1866MHz memory
128GB PCIe-based SSD
Intel Iris Graphics 6100
Two Thunderbolt 2 ports
I would have to add AppleCare, upgrade the drive and memory to get it to the above specs

The school supports MACs. I have had very good luck with my 2010 Pro Unibody.

Can someone comment on what to look for or which way to go?

Ideas on which way to go

There are some major differences here (and a bunch of them). Such as:

- 15" display vs. 13" display
- dual-core vs. quad-core CPU
- 16gig of RAM vs. 8gig of RAM
- 512gig of storage vs. 128gig of storage
- 15" is larger & heavier than the 13"

These are REALLY some major differences...and I would think it would be best to clarify what you daughters needs are (with your duaghter).

- Nick

p.s. My initial thought is she does not need a 15" MacBook Pro. But...the 13" MacBook Pro described could potentailly need more storage space (depends on her needs) & more RAM (depends on how long she expects to keep it)...since RAM cannot be upgraded later.

More on this Machine

School min reqts are:

OSX Yosemite or higher

1024 x 768 minim resolution

LAN dongle or ENET port

Ability to use USB 3 Flash Drive

250GB SSD

Thanks Bob

BWET said:

250GB SSD

Click to expand...

Hello Bob. The 13" i5 MacBook Pro mentioned above does not meet this minimum requirement. The 13" MBP only has 128gig of storage.

Since this would be a brand new computer...and if the 13" MBP was preferred by your daughter...the storage can be upgraded at the time of purchase. Or you could simply choose to go with a higher model 13" MacBook Pro.

You could also consider going wth the $1499 model. Since the +$200 it would cost to upgrade the storage on the lower end model (bringing the total for that computer upgraded to $1499)...with the $1499 model you also get a faster computer & better graphics hardware than the $1299 13" MBP.

Of course if your daughter prefers the 15" MBP...that would work as well.

- Nick

p.s. FYI. The $1299 13" MBP is actually an older 2015 model. The $1499 model is a newer 2016 model.