[iMore Question]

I currently own a Late 2010 MBP with the following specs:
-2.66 Ghz i7 (quad core)
-8GB of DDR3 Ram
-750GB of 7200rpm HDD & 120GB SSD
-Intel HD graphics / NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M (512MB VRAM i think...)

What I do with my laptop:
-Big excel spreadsheet with many formulas, vlookups, etc
-web browsing and heavy netflix
-some audio software (protools, logic, etc)
-some gaming (starcraft 2, diablo III, etc)

The reason for looking for a new machine is b/c: it shuts down randomly (freezes) and my SSD just died......
Minimum spec I'm looking for is 512 GB of SSD and 16 GB of Ram.... and I plan to use to 4+ yrs.

I was pretty much set on buying the 13" because of the portability but I'm a bit concerned that I will miss the performance of the 15".
Also, once the 13" is spec'ed to 512 ssd and 16 ram, it's a bit more $$$ for lower 15" and once I spec the lower 15", it's only a bit more $$$ for 15" high end model with dedicated graphics. I'm sure the pricing is this way b/c Apple wanted their targets to be spending more money.

I would not even have this debate if the 13" had a quad core...

Questions:
-What would you suggest? What would you do?
-How would my current machine compare to both the 13" and 15" retina models performance wise?
-Is the 15" that much better than the 13"?

Any help would be much appreciated!

[kch50428]

It all boils down to personal preferences - no one but you can ultimately decide...

[anon(4698833)]

To answer your questions...

- I prefer 13" MacBooks...so if it were me, that is what I would buy.
- Your 2010 model is going to feel like a snail compared to the retina models (or any MBP running the OS from an SSD for that matter)
- Neither of them are really "better", just different.