My decision over which MacBook Pro to invest my hard-earned cash into took a bit of careful thought. I had to weigh out features versus cost versus being as future proof as possible since I want my investment to go as far as possible and give me the best bang for buck from Apple’s current offerings. In the end, portability made the choice of 13″ a given, but then the question remained, ‘retina or non-retina?’
Comparison
In this brief comparison, please note that there are other differences I’ve deemed less noteworthy such as port configuration, battery life estimation, etc as they were not key to my decision when considering which model to purchase.
MacBook Pro:
- 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display
- Up to 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor
- 2.41cm thin; 2.06kg3
- 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 or 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor
- 4GB or 8GB memory (supports up to 16GB)
- Up to 1TB 5400-rpm hard drive or up to 512GB solid-state drive
- Intel HD Graphics 4000
- Display of up to 1280×800 pixels
- SuperDrive
MacBook Pro with Retina:
- 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Retina display
- Up to 2.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor
- 1.8cm thin; 1.57kg3
- 2.4GHz or 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 or 2.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor
- Up to 16GB memory
- Up to 1TB flash storage
- Intel Iris Graphics
- Display of up to 2560×1600 pixels
The standard MacBook Pro is the last of it’s kind to offer user upgrade-ability, something which became a huge selling point for me after checking out Apple’s offerings for the Retina models. The line of Retina MacBook Pros come with preset flash storage and RAM configurations and are soldered to the logic board meaning for all intents and purposes, no end user upgrading. (You can attempt removing soldered flash storage and RAM to then replace it by re-soldering upgraded parts back on if you like, it’s not for me and I don’t rate your chances of success!)
Apple’s pricing is also far from appealing where upgrading the baseline 13″ Retina MacBook Pro from the stock 4GB to 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM costs £80 and 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM costs £160. This base model comes with 128GB flash storage and has no further option to configure. If you want more storage, you’ll have to select the next model up which will give you 256GB flash storage and 8GB RAM for £150 more.
My Requirements and Thoughts
My current MacBook is a white, late 2007 Core 2 Duo model running at 2.0GHz. When I bought it stock, it came with an 80GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM. On day one, I upgraded to a 320GB hard drive (the largest 2.5″ available at the time) and maxed it out to 4GB RAM. It has served me very well over the last 7 years and has gone MUCH further than it would have with its stock configuration. This is why I intend for my new MacBook to go as far as possible and it can be done!
When it comes to Apple’s upgrade offerings, I don’t like being limited to their choice of configurations and their price points are in no way appealing. Much as I missed the option of being portable with my old 2008 iMac, I will still be using this new MacBook in desktop mode connected to external monitors, speakers, keyboard and mouse. As beautiful as the Retina display is, my laptop will be closed for much of it’s immediate life and I won’t get to enjoy the benefit of it in all its glory on a regular enough basis to warrant the extra cost. The critical difference for me is the option to upgrade myself whenever I choose to. I’ll go into my plan a little here to demonstrate:
- Memory/RAM: The standard MBP supports up to 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM and the baseline 4GB supplied is NOT soldered to the logic board. The cost of this (at time of writing) is a whopping £160 from Apple compared to £100-130 if buying yourself. Upgrading this yourself lets you shop around for a good price and get the brand you want.
- Hard Drive: The baseline model ships with a 500GB hard drive which can be removed and upgraded with a hard drive or SSD of your choice in capacity. Buy as big as you can afford and choose the brand you trust rather than being limited to Apple’s choice of drive size and supplier.
- Superdrive: Sure, not having one has made the MBPr that little bit thinner and like many these days, I can’t remember the last time I used optical media of any kind, but with the addition of a 2.5″ drive bracket, this optical drive can be removed and another HDD or SSD installed in its place, giving you the option to increase storage.
With these options weighing against the retina model for me personally, I’ve decided to go with the standard MacBook Pro where I can perform upgrades myself. I plan to max out the RAM at 16GB, upgrade the existing 500GB hard drive to an SSD and then use said 500GB hard drive to replace the optical drive for storage. Budget allowing, I could install a 480GB SSD and, with no need for further storage, use the option of a 2nd storage drive to create a bootable backup in case of primary disk failure. Probably very unlikely, but having the option is really the point here.
Enough rambling!
In the end, the non-retina MacBook Pro may be the last of its kind if recent reports are to be believed. If the currently MacBook Pro is discontinued, it’ll mean that everything in Apple’s laptop range is no longer user upgradeable. The only option to boost storage or memory will be to go through Apple’s arguably overpriced configurations when buying directly. For me, I’ve realised this is quite a deal-breaker in that I’m a user who wants the option to upgrade when I want to, and with what I want to component-wise. It’ll cost me a fraction of what Apple’s charging to max out my new MacBook Pro’s memory, as well as leaving me the option to swap out the hard drive for a solid state drive and swap the optical drive for a hard drive/solid state drive caddy for added storage. It’s all about options and freedom for me, which is why I settled on the non-retina MacBook Pro.
What about you? Are you due a new upgrade and debating your options? Have you recently bought a new MBP or rMBP and what were the reasons for the choice you made? I’d love to hear them. 🙂
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