[unstoppablekem]

Not sure if you know me, but I'm mainly on WPCentral. I own a NL920 and a Surface Pro 2, and have been an Apple user before. Since I need Mac OS for many programs, like XCode, I'm switching back to Mac. I still have my old Mac, the 2010 MBP, and still runs great, but I need to upgrade. I was thinking of getting the 13" Retina now, because it was just refreshed, but I'm not sure if I should wait for Broadwell. I want to get it with 3.0GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, 8GB 1600MHz memory, 512GB PCIe-based flash storage. My question is, is the i7 worth the $200 upgrade, or is the i5 good enough? And what about the RAM? Should I upgrade to 16GB? Or should I just get the 15 inch?

I might also want to run Windows on my Mac, but to you guys who have it on your Mac, how does Windows 8.1 run on your Mac? Does it work well with the trackpad and multitouch gestures? Does it have any issues on Windows 8.1?

Thanks.

[UJ95x]

Broadwell is probably going to be out until Q1 2015. But unless you're getting one with a dGPU, it's not really worth waiting. Battery life will get a little better, but everything else will be incremental.

I'd get the i5, 8GB RAM, and 512GB of storage. An i7 isn't worth an extra $200, and if you're not sure if you need 16GB of RAM, then you probably don't.

Were you planning on using Windows in Boot Camp or a VM like Parallels?

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SOKP 4.4.2

[unstoppablekem]

Broadwell is probably going to be out until Q1 2015. But unless you're getting one with a dGPU, it's not really worth waiting. Battery life will get a little better, but everything else will be incremental.

I'd get the i5, 8GB RAM, and 512GB of storage. An i7 isn't worth an extra $200, and if you're not sure if you need 16GB of RAM, then you probably don't.

Were you planning on using Windows in Boot Camp or a VM like Parallels?

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SOKP 4.4.2

Thanks! I'm thinking of getting what you said. And even better with student discount.

I'm planning on using Windows in boot camp, because of better performance.

[UJ95x]

Thanks! I'm thinking of getting what you said. And even better with student discount.

I'm planning on using Windows in boot camp, because of better performance.

Well yeah, it'll probably give better performance as far as running programs and stuff go, but you lose battery life, trackpad gesture support, and scaling. You're stuck with whatever Intel/Windows provide. Running in a VM you get OS X's driver support.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SOKP 4.4.2

[unstoppablekem]

Well yeah, it'll probably give better performance as far as running programs and stuff go, but you lose battery life, trackpad gesture support, and scaling. You're stuck with whatever Intel/Windows provide. Running in a VM you get OS X's driver support.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SOKP 4.4.2

I thought Apple has support for their hardware in Windows? And how does VMWare get trackpad support, like scrolling, and better scaling, and Boot Camp does not?

[Trees]

I'd go for the 16GB RAM. The Windows VM and your Mac may be sluggish with 8GB. In a configuration with 4GB for Windows and 4GB for the Mac, this could cause some noticeably slow behavior and responsiveness. This assumes you'd be running the VM in Parallels or Fusion. If you go with Bootcamp, the 8GB would probably be sufficient. My rule of thumb is to always max out RAM over a smaller CPU frequency bump, say an i7 2.0GhZ to an i7 2.4GHz (just picked some random frequencies for this example). What I wouldn't do though, is loose CPU cores. If the i5 has less cores that the i7; and you want to use the Mac for development, I'd opt for a solid mid-range maximum core CPU, and max RAM.

But, the above choices come at a cost, so appreciate that may not be an option in some cases.

[unstoppablekem]

I'd go for the 16GB RAM. The Windows VM and your Mac may be sluggish with 8GB. In a configuration with 4GB for Windows and 4GB for the Mac, this could cause some noticeably slow behavior and responsiveness. This assumes you'd be running the VM in Parallels or Fusion. If you go with Bootcamp, the 8GB would probably be sufficient. My rule of thumb is to always max out RAM over a smaller CPU frequency bump, say an i7 2.0GhZ to an i7 2.4GHz (just picked some random frequencies for this example). What I wouldn't do though, is loose CPU cores. If the i5 has less cores that the i7; and you want to use the Mac for development, I'd opt for a solid mid-range maximum core CPU, and max RAM.

But, the above choices come at a cost, so appreciate that may not be an option in some cases.

The 13" has no quad core model, so I can't do that. The best I can do is upgrade from a dual core i5 to a dual core i7. I need 512GB some how, as I need to use boot camp, and need around 300GB for Mac OS. So are you suggesting 13 inch maxed out, but i5 instead of i7?

[Trees]

Good point on no quad core. I think the i7 has larger L3 cache than i5, and slightly higher clock speeds. That's important, but comes at a cost - $300 for the i7 vs. i5 in this configuration Configure - Apple Store (U.S.).

Taking the default i5, 512GB SSD, and 16GB would be a good combination, but my needs may not be the same as I'm not at the time doing development. If I were, it would be web focused (HTML, CSS, MAMP...). I don't think compiles would be too CPU intensive, but would benefit from having more stuff in RAM, thus fewer accesses to storage. I'm sure I'd be fine with the combo suggested in the previous sentence.

Here's an article you may have seen. Might have some good comparative data for consideration. Apple Mac i5 vs i7 processor buying advice - Features - Macworld UK

[warcraftWidow]

The 13" has no quad core model, so I can't do that. The best I can do is upgrade from a dual core i5 to a dual core i7. I need 512GB some how, as I need to use boot camp, and need around 300GB for Mac OS. So are you suggesting 13 inch maxed out, but i5 instead of i7?

You definitely don't need 300GB for OS X. The amount of space you need is much more about music and videos and photos you plan on having. Plan on around 30-40 GB for Bootcamp partition, and OS X itself is probably around 15GB with xcode around 5-6GB. Obviously other apps will take up space as well.

[unstoppablekem]

You definitely don't need 300GB for OS X. The amount of space you need is much more about music and videos and photos you plan on having. Plan on around 30-40 GB for Bootcamp partition, and OS X itself is probably around 15GB with xcode around 5-6GB. Obviously other apps will take up space as well.

I currently use 200GB on my 2010 MBP, so I think I might use more.

I'm now thinking of getting the base 15" model, just upgrading to 512GB.

[UJ95x]

I thought Apple has support for their hardware in Windows? And how does VMWare get trackpad support, like scrolling, and better scaling, and Boot Camp does not?

Because the VM runs inside OS X, you get all of their drivers. Boot Camp is basically like running Windows natively, which has poor scaling, track pad support and battery life.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

[UJ95x]

I currently use 200GB on my 2010 MBP, so I think I might use more.

I'm now thinking of getting the base 15" model, just upgrading to 512GB.

A quad-core i7 is probably overkill for XCode. Unless you're planning on configuring your 13" to be close to $1999, I wouldn't get the 15".

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

[unstoppablekem]

A quad-core i7 is probably overkill for XCode. Unless you're planning on configuring your 13" to be close to $1999, I wouldn't get the 15".

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

If I do get 16GB of RAM and the i7 on the 13", it comes close to 2k.

[unstoppablekem]

Because the VM runs inside OS X, you get all of their drivers. Boot Camp is basically like running Windows natively, which has poor scaling, track pad support and battery life.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

Even windows 8?

[UJ95x]

Even windows 8?

Well I haven't personally used BootCamp with Windows 8, but I did own two Windows 8 laptops previously (They were only 1080p) and even then, the scaling was pretty bad. It would be worse on a Retina-display.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

[UJ95x]

If I do get 16GB of RAM and the i7 on the 13", it comes close to 2k.

Then the 15 is probably a better choice. The base model has far more powerful CPU and also comes with 16GB of RAM. Storage is only 256GB, but I believe it's only $100 to bump it to 512. The Iris Pro is significantly more powerful than the Iris in the 13".

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

[unstoppablekem]

Then the 15 is probably a better choice. The base model has far more powerful CPU and also comes with 16GB of RAM. Storage is only 256GB, but I believe it's only $100 to bump it to 512. The Iris Pro is significantly more powerful than the Iris in the 13".

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

Really? Didn't know there was a huge difference between the Iris and Iris Pro.

[unstoppablekem]

Well I haven't personally used BootCamp with Windows 8, but I did own two Windows 8 laptops previously (They were only 1080p) and even then, the scaling was pretty bad. It would be worse on a Retina-display.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

Thanks for the feedback, but I'm doing boot camp probably. I want superior performance running one OS at a time.

[UJ95x]

Really? Didn't know there was a huge difference between the Iris and Iris Pro.

Yeah, the Iris Pro is about on par with the GT650M for a lot of things. The Iris isn't even close.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

[UJ95x]

Thanks for the feedback, but I'm doing boot camp probably. I want superior performance running one OS at a time.

No problem. If you have 16GB of RAM, the VM should still perform pretty solid. If you're okay with losing the battery life, then BootCamp should be good. The trackpads and scaling aren't THAT big of a deal.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

[unstoppablekem]

No problem. If you have 16GB of RAM, the VM should still perform pretty solid. If you're okay with losing the battery life, then BootCamp should be good. The trackpads and scaling aren't THAT big of a deal.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

The trackpad isn't that bad though in windows 8, right?

[unstoppablekem]

Yeah, the Iris Pro is about on par with the GT650M for a lot of things. The Iris isn't even close.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

Wow, didn't know!

[UJ95x]

The trackpad isn't that bad though in windows 8, right?

Eh, it's decent. Gestures are a bit wonky sometimes (Like the charms bar gesture) and there's isn't as many gestures like on OS X (Even simple stuff like going back and forward in the browser), but I wouldn't say it's vital. Just things that make getting around a bit easier

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4

[unstoppablekem]

Another question, one guy has kind've answered it already, should I upgrade to the i7 on the 13" MBP retina? And is it possible to upgrade the RAM later, or I have to when I order it?

[UJ95x]

Another question, one guy has kind've answered it already, should I upgrade to the i7 on the 13" MBP retina? And is it possible to upgrade the RAM later, or I have to when I order it?

Nothing is upgradeable after you buy it. I believe it is possible to buy another SSD, but the cheapest I have found was over $500. You could upgrade to 512GB or 1TB for less.
The i7 isn't much of an upgrade over the i5, but if you are going to be using CPU intensive software, it might be worth the ($100?) upgrade for you.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4