Which macbook should I buy?

Premium1

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Sorry if this was already posted( looked and didnt see any for my case) and was wondering which macbook pro you recommned. I do not really need the retina and would like to if need be, be able to increase the ram/storage on my own and was wondering if this one is a good deal or if I should look for something else https://forums.imore.com/e?link=htt...pple%2526...%26skuId%3D5430505&token=kIapVREI
I had a regular macbook a few years back and am looking to get back to mac from Windows so any help would be greatly appreciated. I will mainly be using it for word/powerpoint etc and use in my classroom for teaching. Thanks
 

natasftw

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You didn't get the link copied completely. But, the macbook prices are pretty standard. Best Buy will have sales from time to time. There's academic pricing available.

If you're wanting to update ram/hd at any point, avoid the retina. Honestly, if you're not into graphical editing, I'd avoid the retina.

I believe this: Apple, Inc MD101LLA - Best Buy was the link you intended to include.

Something to consider is just how sure you are you'll upgrade ram/hd. If you're sure you will, how soon are you thinking? There's only space for the single internal HD and the two RAM chips. You'll be replacing the components more so than upgrading. For the hard drive, you can easily pick up an external case and turn your old HD into a portable external storage device. Using this technique will also let you migrate your settings and files directly to the new HD.

A while back, I upgraded my mid-2010 MBP to 8GB of RAM with the 1TB hd. I typically run parallels to have both windows and macos at the same time so the extra ram and larger partitions was pretty glorious.

It's hard to say just how well it'll meet your needs with the little bit you shared. It's more than capable of the tasks you listed, but any machine these days is. I'm not sure what setup you have in your classroom. If you have HDMI, you can mirror your screen directly to the screen with the AppleTV. There are also a good deal of adapters to let you connect your screen to projectors of various types. Best Buy generally has a good selection of the adapters.
 

Fausty82

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I can’t add to much to anything Karen said. But I want to restate the obvious. The retina MBP is NOT user upgradable. In fact, it’s not upgradable at all beyond custom configurations at the time you order/purchase it. The SSD is proprietary and the RAM is soldered into the sockets.
 

Premium1

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I can’t add to much to anything Karen said. But I want to restate the obvious. The retina MBP is NOT user upgradable. In fact, it’s not upgradable at all beyond custom configurations at the time you order/purchase it. The SSD is proprietary and the RAM is soldered into the sockets.

I saw that the retina was not user upgradable so was planning on staying away from that( also to save a little money as well) But I wouldn't really need to upgrade anything right away unless it started slowing down. On my current laptop I have only used about 40gbs of the harddrive so I don't have a ton of things on my computer that take up huge amounts of space.
 

anon(4698833)

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Buy the most recent non-retina display Macbook Pro and be done with it...it fits exactly what you want for current system requirements and open ended upgradability vs. the retina models for any future plans. It's a pretty clear choice here.
 

Premium1

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Buy the most recent non-retina display Macbook Pro and be done with it...it fits exactly what you want for current system requirements and open ended upgradability vs. the retina models for any future plans. It's a pretty clear choice here.

How can I make sure i get the latest non-retina model? If i went into say bestbuy for example would that be the latest non retina model?
 

Optid

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Sorry if this was already posted( looked and didnt see any for my case) and was wondering which macbook pro you recommned. I do not really need the retina and would like to if need be, be able to increase the ram/storage on my own and was wondering if this one is a good deal or if I should look for something else https://forums.imore.com/e?link=htt...pple%2526...%26skuId%3D5430505&token=MCX4fa1F
I had a regular macbook a few years back and am looking to get back to mac from Windows so any help would be greatly appreciated. I will mainly be using it for word/powerpoint etc and use in my classroom for teaching. Thanks

The 13" or 15" pro would be good for you. I would lean more to the 15" if I were you.
 

dieselboy28

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I don't think we're going to get much in the way of new hardware when it comes to the macbook's at WWDC, i think we'll get a hint at the new OSX though.

Well it's pretty much a given that haswell chips will make it into new MacBooks.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2
 

Fausty82

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Chip upgrades tend to make us forum users excited, but in the scheme of things, that's nothing new...

I dunno... the rumored 50% increase in battery life would be pretty freaking awesome, at least to me... But then again, I can buy a lot of batteries for the cost of a new retina MBP... :)
 

anon(4698833)

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I dunno... the rumored 50% increase in battery life would be pretty freaking awesome, at least to me... But then again, I can buy a lot of batteries for the cost of a new retina MBP... :)

Do you really think they'd slap a 50% increased battery into a Macbook Pro when they could divide that power over a couple of years and given consumers (which is still a pretty substantial increase), a 25% bump on the mid 2013 model and then another 25% bump over that on the 2014 model (or whatever they end up being). We have to remember that Apple is still a business, and because of that, strategic feature releases should be expected.
 

Fausty82

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Do you really think they'd slap a 50% increased battery into a Macbook Pro when they could divide that power over a couple of years and given consumers (which is still a pretty substantial increase), a 25% bump on the mid 2013 model and then another 25% bump over that on the 2014 model (or whatever they end up being). We have to remember that Apple is still a business, and because of that, strategic feature releases should be expected.

I see and understand your point, but the "talking heads" are way out in front on this one... intel says it can increase battery life by 50%... and now Apple is going to say that they can’t? That won’t fly with many consumers... so Apple may take a huge hit here on new MBP (and other Mac lines) sales over this... of course, it’s way too early to tell what’s really going to happen... but Apple will definitely get a black eye over this IF the consumers even THINK they’re pulling something like that...
 

anon(4698833)

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I wasn't aware that Intel put that out there officially...if that is the case then yes, it would be business suicide for Apple to release anything less than what Intel says is possible (or at least as close as possible).
 

Fausty82

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I wasn't aware that Intel put that out there officially...if that is the case then yes, it would be business suicide for Apple to release anything less than what Intel says is possible (or at least as close as possible).

O'Grady's PowerPage ? Intel cites possible 50% battery life improvement in upcoming MacBooks under Haswell architecture

Intel says Haswell will improve battery life by 50 percent - TechSpot

Intel claims Haswell will offer 50 percent more battery life in laptops | PCWorld

... and plenty more ...
 

Premium1

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Well you know apple could always be like well we optimized it as much as possible but could only get 30% better battery life or something like that if they really wanted to. Or claim they added so much that is why it is not getting the 50% more battery life.
 

Fausty82

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Well you know apple could always be like well we optimized it as much as possible but could only get 30% better battery life or something like that if they really wanted to. Or claim they added so much that is why it is not getting the 50% more battery life.

They could... but IMHO, it would ring hollow with the public... and I don’t think they could get away with it... hopefully they won’t even try.
 

Premium1

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If I buy a cMBP any ideas on how long they will continue supporting it? It would be the 2012 model. I didn't know if they would stop supporting it soon to get people to buy retina.
 

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