hi guys i need an help. i'm planning to buy a nw macbook pro but i'm struggling between an non-retina with 8 gb of ram i7 2.9 ghz and 500 gb hdd or a retina 8 gb of ram i5 2.4 ghz and 256 gb of ssd. i use it for school photo editing music and normal use such as surfing the net. could you help me?
macbook pro or pro retina
- Thread starter fedefax
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- Your Mac's Specs
- 2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Both machines would be good for what you're proposing to use them for. The MacBook Pro non retina machine has the advantage of being fully upgradeable. You can add memory, install a SSD, and it has a DVD drive. However, it was first sold in 2012. So it's really a 2012 model still being sold in 2014. Nothing wrong with that as it's still a good machine.
The retina model MacBook Pro can not be upgraded after purchase. The memory is soldered to the logic board and can not be changed. The hard drive is a flash drive which also can not be upgraded by the user. (Not easily anyway.) It's a faster machine, later model, and has a better display. Also more expensive.
The retina model MacBook Pro can not be upgraded after purchase. The memory is soldered to the logic board and can not be changed. The hard drive is a flash drive which also can not be upgraded by the user. (Not easily anyway.) It's a faster machine, later model, and has a better display. Also more expensive.
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- Your Mac's Specs
- 2012 Mac Mini 2.5 ghz i5, 16 GB RAM, 960 GB SSD + 500 GB HDD (5200 RPM)
If you want to get the non-retina model shop around. It is quite old now and not worth Apple's asking price for a new unit (IMO). You can get a refurb (from Apple) or a deal from a third-party vendor that will be just as good as a new one but will save you a good chunk of change. As chscag mentioned, it's major selling point is that the RAM and hard drive can both be upgraded by you, which is pretty fantastic. It has a very poor 1280x800 screen resolution that even in 2012 was kind of anachronistic though (my laptop in 2008 had higher screen resolution!) which is a big ding against it. I don't think you would like it at all for photo editing. It is easy enough to hook up a monitor though and get around that problem. (I wouldn't want to edit on only a 13'' screen either...even with a retina display but that is just me).
The CPUs on both those computers are very, very close in terms of actual performance so don't be fooled by the MBP's i7 branding. It's only dual-core and a couple years old.
The CPUs on both those computers are very, very close in terms of actual performance so don't be fooled by the MBP's i7 branding. It's only dual-core and a couple years old.
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