Help choosing my first Macbook (Canada, 1500$, software development)

[Demers94]

Hello everyone,

this is my first post here, so please excuse me if this topic is not in the right section. I looked around and this seemed to be the best place to ask this.

I'm a software developer currently developing on Windows, at home. At work, I use an iMac and I fell in love with the OSX ecosystem, especially for web development. It's beautiful, simple and the Unix-based OS is a blessing when dealing with the Terminal, SSH and that sort of things. There are also a few Mac-specific apps that I use at work that I can't use at home, since I'm using Windows.

I'd like to purchase a Macbook. I looked at Apple's website and found three versions : the "Macbook", the "Macbook Air" and the "Macbook Pro".

Here are my requirements :

- 13" screen, with Retina Display
- HDMI port
- Around 1500$ (CAD, since I live in Canada)

The only one that fit all three criterias is the Macbook Pro, with the specs shown here :



There's also the "Macbook", non-pro, but it doesn't have an HDMI port. I presume that there's some sort of adapter to get one, but I don't know why I should pay more if the Macbook Pro has one by default.

Is this a good option, the best option considering my above criterias? It would be really awesome to get some feedback from developers or artist who use their Macbook in a similar way, and who own the model above or a slight variation of it.

Is there anything I'm overlooking, does the Macbook (non-pro) have more advantages than the Pro, and should I get that one instead? From what I see the main different is that it's slimmer and has a weaker CPU, but the size is really not a concern for me since I'll be using it at home most of the time, and it will be plugged in almost always.

Any feedback or advice for a new buyer would be extremely appreciated.

Thank you all for your help.

 

[Rod]

The one you have picked is an excellent choice. Personally I would have preferred a faster processor say 2.9 or 3.2 GHz and more storage (128Gb will fill up pretty fast) but they will add dollars.
Your other option is a refurbished model from Apple http://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac or a Mac Mini but perhaps you want portability, if not it is a good option and you can add a monitor/keyboard of your choice.
If you really want HDMI port (better than an adapter) the 2015 MBP is the earliest model with that.
The Mac mini has one too.

 

[Demers94]

Hi Rod Sprague,

thank you for your answer.

More storage would be nice, yes, but it's 250$ more to get only an extra 128GB. I already have an external hard drive for mass storage, 128GB should be more than enough for what I plan to do with it.

Thank you for the link to the refurbished models, I could save 240$ by getting the same one but refurbished. That's about how much Apple Care costs (250$), would you recommend getting that if I go for the refurbished model? As far as I can tell the brand new ones come with a one-year warranty, same as the refurbished one, but for the same price as the new one I could get the refurbished + Apple Care - is that a good idea?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Slydude]

Many of the current Macs are difficult for the average user to open up and work on themselves. Personally I think AppleCare is a good idea. You don't have to purchase the extended AppleCare at the same time that you purchase the machine. You simply must purchase it before the first year is up. Theoretically, if your budget permits you could go for more storage now and purchase AppleCare later.

Here's a consideration that may help you decide how much storage you need. On your iMac select the hard drive and choose Get Info. That should give you an idea how much space is used by the applications that you are already using plus any data you have on there. Second ask whether there is any software you want/need on the laptop but don't currently have on the laptop. Finally, you need an additional amount of free space for the swap files OS X creates. If that space gets too low things really slow down. Most of our members recommend 15-20% of free space for best performance.

 

[Demers94]

Hi Slydude,

thank you for the information on Apple Care, I didn't know that you could get it later (well, until the end of the 1-year period). I think I'll pass on it for now, and will see in the upcoming months how it's doing. 250$ is a lot of money, but for 2 more years of protection on a 1500$+ laptop, it might be worth it.

I just checked the current storage space on the work iMac using Disk Utility, I'm only using around 50GB. This includes all my code, images, programs that I need and default apps. It looks like 128GB will be just fine.

Thank you all for your help, I will go to the Apple store sometime this week to try the different laptops and see how they feel. I'm pretty sure I will go for a refurbished 2015 Macbook Pro, with the same specs as listed above.

 

[Slydude]

.

I just checked the current storage space on the work iMac using Disk Utility, I'm only using around 50GB. This includes all my code, images, programs that I need and default apps. It looks like 128GB will be just fine.

Thank you all for your help, I will go to the Apple store sometime this week to try the different laptops and see how they feel. I'm pretty sure I will go for a refurbished 2015 Macbook Pro, with the same specs as listed above.

You're welcome. Hope that information proves useful. Only 50 GB used on the iMac. Wow! You obviously are not the digital pack rat that I am. You may have to show me how that's done.

BTW I neglected to mention that if you intend to have a windows partition on your Mac that will eat into the available space as well.

 

[Demers94]

You're welcome. Hope that information proves useful. Only 50 GB used on the iMac. Wow! You obviously are not the digital pack rat that I am. You may have to show me how that's done.

BTW I neglected to mention that if you intend to have a windows partition on your Mac that will eat into the available space as well.

I use the iMac strictly for work (like I intend to use my Macbook), so all my games and songs are stored on my PC. I'm using about 250GB on it (which is still a lot less than some people), but it's a good thing that I have this PC, otherwise 128GB (even 256GB) wouldn't have been enough!

I won't need a Windows partition, I'll keep using this PC with Windows 10 to pay my games and do all my testing.