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I'm going to have enough savings in the next few months to finally get my first Mac laptop and could do with some advice on the best option for me. I can't decide whether to go for the non-upgradeable 8GB RAM / 256GB HDD MBPr or to go for a MBP non-retina with 4GB RAM and 500GB spinning disk and then upgrade the RAM to 8GB and the HDD to a SSD myself. Could even retain the spinning disk and install an opti-bay. At least with the non-retina choice I have the upgrade to 16GB RAM in a few years time if I wanted, but obviously the screen is a thought in the back of my head. I guess the final option is to buy the upgraded MBP from Apple directly, but their RAM and SSD prices are seriously high. Is it worth it to have it all covered by Apple? In case it helps, I am planning on running Photoshop, Lightroom, some HD video editing and the usual web browsing stuff.
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Jul 9, 2012 21:15
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I would go with 16GB if its not too much for the work you'll be doing. Not sure what you plan on doing video with but some apps will eat up memory pretty quick when you're working in HD. You won't need that much for PS or LR but its good to have since its so cheap.
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Jul 9, 2012 21:45
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If you're using the notebook for a business, you'd probably want to look at some sort of external display, at least temporarily. Both Photoshop and Lightroom are not retina ready, so images do look pretty horrendous on it at the moment. Just a heads up.
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Jul 9, 2012 21:47
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I have a 22" Dell monitor that I will be using when I am doing any serious work, so that's covered. Another thought is to go for the 13" MBP and then use the 22" screen for when I need the screen space. Obviously the MBPr doesn't have a 13" model yet, though part of me thinks it may be worth waiting for this. Too many options with no perfect choice.
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Jul 9, 2012 21:51
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iDust posted:I have a 22" Dell monitor that I will be using when I am doing any serious work, so that's covered. Another thought is to go for the 13" MBP and then use the 22" screen for when I need the screen space. Obviously the MBPr doesn't have a 13" model yet, though part of me thinks it may be worth waiting for this. If you have enough to buy a maxed out MBPr you could buy a 13" MBP and a 27" iMac.
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Jul 9, 2012 21:56
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Bob Morales posted:If you have enough to buy a maxed out MBPr you could buy a 13" MBP and a 27" iMac.
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Jul 9, 2012 21:58
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This is obviously the correct solution.
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Jul 9, 2012 22:50
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Question regarding Thunderbolt: There's been talk in the past about how in the future it will allow people to use externally enclosed graphics cards to boost video performance. Looking at it from the rMBP's perspective, does this technology only allow for a boost in video performance in a one way direction? Like when driving an external monitor? Or can it be used to boost video performance on the retina display as well? --- Mu Zeta posted:Regarding the laggy UI of the Retina MBP: Could this be happening when it switches to the integrated Intel graphics? Maybe someone can try that gfxcardstatus app and force it to always use the discrete card. I haven't run any super scientific tests but I do notice that animations are slightly less smooth running on the integrated graphics. Depending on the amount of images loaded up in a Safari tab, scrolling can sometimes be slightly less smooth on the integrated graphics too. I'd say that it's very minor though. It doesn't really bother me, I have to look for it to see it. --- http://www.belkin.com/thunderbolt/ This thing seems like it could be so dope. Why is it so drat expensive, though? $400?! Gat drat, Thunderbolt technology is expensive as hell. Ugh. DISCUSS
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Jul 9, 2012 23:02
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damaca posted:Just came back from the AASP. Predictably, they had no idea what the VST was, even after showing them this thread and various google searches referencing it. Is there proper documentation I can refer to for this process? I can find people referencing the test, but not from Apple. damaca posted:They wanted $99 just to test the machine using ASD and 'have a look around inside' damaca posted:Is VST available somewhere so I can download and run it myelf? EDIT: I can find the ASD easily enough. Perhaps I will give that a go as well.
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Jul 9, 2012 23:28
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Maybe they're not a really well-equipped AASP because VST is a submodule of AST, and AST needs to be installed on a machine running Lion Server. Not every AASP can afford to set aside a dedicated, working, modern Mac just for the purposes of testing, let alone one that can run Lion Server. They'd find it inside of a second if they typed "VST" into their GSX homepage. Binary Badger fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Jul 10, 2012 |
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Jul 10, 2012 00:02
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Pardon my ignorance of acronyms but is AST the new ASD? The one that runs over the network instead of from a disc? Does it support older Macs?
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Jul 10, 2012 00:04
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AST ain't ASD because AST is meant as a first-line triage utility that determines whether or not it's a quick fix or something that requires deeper investigation. ASD is what you run for a few days in a loop to see if something fails. AST usually runs inside a few minutes or so. Both look at distinct components such as the hard drive, Bluetooth, RAM, logic board, I/O ports, but if there's something glaringly wrong AST will let you know immediately. If it's something like RAM that only fails after a certain amount of time or a bad sensor/fan, that would more likely be found by ASD. AST = Apple Service Toolkit - runs as a NetBootable utility on a Lion Server Mac and checks your poo poo out, works / netboots on Intel Macs only. You also need to set up your local network especially for it and you need to do a lot of official paperwork and other admin setup poo poo to make it work properly. VST = Visual System Test - a module inside an updated version of AST meant only for 15-inch 2010 MacBook Pros which may have a certain defect ASD = Apple Service Diagnostics - needs you to take an old hard disk or larger USB flash drive and image it with an install program. Checks your Mac's hardware right down to individual sensors / fans / modules. Used to exist as individual CDs for PowerPCs and early Intels. Current ASDs require you to partition any decent size hard drive over 20-30 GB or so and won't fit even on a dual layer DVD. Binary Badger fucked around with this message at 00:25 on Jul 10, 2012 |
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Jul 10, 2012 00:14
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Binary Badger posted:ASD = Apple Service Diagnostics - needs you to take an old hard disk or larger USB flash drive and image it with an install program. Checks your Mac's hardware right down to individual sensors / fans / modules. Used to exist as individual CDs for PowerPCs and early Intels. Current ASDs require you to partition any decent size hard drive over 20-30 GB or so and won't fit even on a dual layer DVD. Thanks! WTH is all that data used for? Especially for a diagnostic util.
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Jul 10, 2012 00:28
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I haven't noticed any choppiness on my Retina MBP and I usually run it at 1650x1080 (the next to highest option). I am getting the weird graphic glitches though as detailed in this thread. Changing the resolution or switching the graphics card back and forth fixes it, and it seems to happen after waking up from sleep.
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Jul 10, 2012 00:35
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Sonic Dude posted:People would come in, have me tell them what's wrong, then decline the repair and buy the part on iFixit or whatever. What's even douchier is when they buy a part from iFixit / PowerBook Medic / Craigslist, dump it and their machine on your counter and say "just put that part in there" It makes me want to disappear for a second and then come back out with a backwards torn up baseball cap, greasy overalls, and wipe my brow with a dirty rag while cracking some gum and say in my best retardo Brooklyn accent 'ARRE YUH SHUUURE DOOOOD?!' Edit: Of course if the machine were still in warranty I would just laugh at them Binary Badger fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Jul 10, 2012 |
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Jul 10, 2012 00:36
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AST also runs on a Snow leopard server, as our store has only recently migrated to Lion for the techs machines, and we've left the server alone. (because through some sheer miracle, it's working at the moment, and God help the person who touches it).
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Jul 10, 2012 00:55
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hannibal posted:I haven't noticed any choppiness on my Retina MBP and I usually run it at 1650x1080 (the next to highest option). As far as asking if the choppiness is more noticeable when on integrated rather than discrete, I was at a conference last week and used it for 8 hours straight running on battery/integrated (at the native retina resolution) the whole time and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Given the GM seed of ML is now out, I'll throw that on and see if there's any difference in performance.
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Jul 10, 2012 01:38
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So there should be new iMacs and Minis in a couple weeks when ML is released on the App store? No?
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Jul 10, 2012 01:56
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Bob Morales posted:So there should be new iMacs and Minis in a couple weeks when ML is released on the App store? No? edited out a mistake: I forgot the Air got its Ivy Bridge refresh already.
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Jul 10, 2012 01:57
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The mini has always used mobile cpu and gpu right?
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Jul 10, 2012 02:03
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Bob Morales posted:So there should be new iMacs and Minis in a couple weeks when ML is released on the App store? No? I was holding off buying a 27" iMac for this possibility, but then I got a refurbished 2011 model from a sponsor so I'm not gonna complain about that by any means.
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Jul 10, 2012 02:06
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Yeast posted:(because through some sheer miracle, it's working at the moment, and God help the person who touches it). 
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Jul 10, 2012 02:33
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Mercurius posted:I haven't noticed anything like that running the latest ML Dev Preview, so when ML comes out you should be alright. Yeah, I'm basically waiting on ML to see if it gets fixed before heading to the fruit stand. Since it's easily fixed temporarily, it hasn't been that annoying to me.
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Jul 10, 2012 03:17
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Mug posted:I was holding off buying a 27" iMac for this possibility, but then I got a refurbished 2011 model from a sponsor so I'm not gonna complain about that by any means. My new plan is either buy 13" Pro for an extra computer at home if I can get one dirt cheap, or get a dirt cheap 15" hi-res or 17" quad-core (instead of an iMac) and then trade my 13" Air for an 11" Air. Or sell it and buy a 2011 Refurb.
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Jul 10, 2012 03:29
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Shaocaholica posted:The mini has always used mobile cpu and gpu right? Yes although the PPC minis had a discrete GPU and the line between mobile and desktop is quite blurred these days anyway.
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Jul 10, 2012 04:21
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The current shipping 2.5 GHz Mini ships with an AMD Radeon 6630M with 256 MB of dedicated VRAM; the 2.3 GHz Mini only gets you the Intel HD 3000 that Minis spent three long years using the shitastic Intel GMA 950 and its 80 MB shared RAM. There's not really much to improve on the current Mini other than maybe a bump to the Intel HD 4000 chip; IMHO Apple's done improving on the Mini for a while, I just hope we don't have to wait three years for better (not speed bump) components to show up.
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Jul 10, 2012 05:17
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Binary Badger posted:The current shipping 2.5 GHz Mini ships with an AMD Radeon 6630M with 256 MB of dedicated VRAM; the 2.3 GHz Mini only gets you the Intel HD 3000 that Ivy bridge would be a really good upgrade for the mini.
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Jul 10, 2012 06:17
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Ivy Bridge and make it easier to replace the hard drive. The 5400rpm thing in there is shameful.
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Jul 10, 2012 08:53
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The standard drive isn't that hard to replace, kind of tight/annoying but not too hard.Bob Morales posted:If you have enough to buy a maxed out MBPr you could buy a 13" MBP and a 27" iMac. terriyaki posted:Question regarding Thunderbolt: There's been talk in the past about how in the future it will allow people to use externally enclosed graphics cards to boost video performance. Looking at it from the rMBP's perspective, does this technology only allow for a boost in video performance in a one way direction? Like when driving an external monitor? Or can it be used to boost video performance on the retina display as well? quote:http://www.belkin.com/thunderbolt/ hobbesmaster posted:Ivy bridge would be a really good upgrade for the mini.
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Jul 10, 2012 08:54
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Binary Badger posted:The current shipping 2.5 GHz Mini ships with an AMD Radeon 6630M with 256 MB of dedicated VRAM; the 2.3 GHz Mini only gets you the Intel HD 3000 that Doesn't it bump up to 384MB if you upgrade to 4GB RAM?
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Jul 10, 2012 13:13
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Trip Report since I said I'd come back and drop an update. Using a USB3 enclosure and an SSD to run my VMs off VMware Fusion. 15" Retina w/ 16GB of RAM. So far I'm running 3 Instances of Server 2k8 R2, one with SQL Server, a copy of Windows 7 x64, and Win XP Pro SP3 simultaneously and the machine suffers 0% slowdown. Definitely can't complain about performance on this laptop. VMs boot in under 10 seconds and I have no graphical lag switching between VMs or the base OSX install.
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Jul 10, 2012 14:06
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Bob Morales posted:Doesn't it bump up to 384MB if you upgrade to 4GB RAM? Yeah, at a minimum the Intel HD 3000 steals 288 MB RAM. No system RAM gets used up if you get the model with the Radeon 6630M though.
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Jul 10, 2012 15:49
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japtor posted:I assumed that's what he meant with HD4000 since there's no other way (afaik) to get that. Yes. I still think Apple's not going to try very hard to update the Mini, they still only consider it a 'gateway' machine for switchers and they still want to keep its price at a minimum. Ultimately it depends on whether or not Intel cuts them a good deal or not. If they come out with a late 2012 Mac Mini with Ivy Bridge, color me surprised. Also, all you need to change the RAM in a Mini nowadays is a strong wrist, which is pretty requisite in general geekdom.
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Jul 10, 2012 15:55
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So my girlfriend's 15" MBP from 2009 took a 2 foot tumble off the bed when a cat decided to headbutt it. It was on and shut at the time. The only immediate issue so far is that the screen occasionally flashes yellow and the colors/transparencies are incredibly hosed up (although its still usable). Any estimates on what exactly might be broken and what it'd cost to fix it? Or if I could just pop it open myself and tighten something that might have gotten knocked loose?
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Jul 10, 2012 15:55
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Fuzzy Pipe Wrench posted:So my girlfriend's 15" MBP from 2009 took a 2 foot tumble off the bed when a cat decided to headbutt it. It was on and shut at the time. The only immediate issue so far is that the screen occasionally flashes yellow and the colors/transparencies are incredibly hosed up (although its still usable). Any estimates on what exactly might be broken and what it'd cost to fix it? Or if I could just pop it open myself and tighten something that might have gotten knocked loose? It's possible you knocked the display connector loose. I'd also be sure to back up anything on that hard drive.
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Jul 10, 2012 16:11
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Fuzzy Pipe Wrench posted:So my girlfriend's 15" MBP from 2009 took a 2 foot tumble off the bed when a cat decided to headbutt it. It was on and shut at the time. The only immediate issue so far is that the screen occasionally flashes yellow and the colors/transparencies are incredibly hosed up (although its still usable). Any estimates on what exactly might be broken and what it'd cost to fix it? Or if I could just pop it open myself and tighten something that might have gotten knocked loose? Probably the display connector like above poster said, I don't think there's any actual damage to the screen itself (I would hope not, it's a loving aluminium notebook). But, you could use it as an excuse to get your GF a SSD, because the (assumed) stock HDD could have been damaged. It would be a nice speed boost for a 2009, which is still a Core 2 Duo, isn't it?
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Jul 10, 2012 16:31
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Digital_Jesus posted:Trip Report since I said I'd come back and drop an update. What is your ram usage for such a setup? I intend to do something similar, and debating between 8gb and 16gb, and if you can handle all the able on 8gb I am not going to spring for the extra ram to just sit there and do nothing.
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Jul 10, 2012 16:56
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Bonobos posted:What is your ram usage for such a setup? I intend to do something similar, and debating between 8gb and 16gb, and if you can handle all the able on 8gb I am not going to spring for the extra ram to just sit there and do nothing. It really depends on what you're going to be running. I'm using mine for testing central deployment services for updates and antivirus and a few other things, so right now the breakdown is 2GB for DC1 (Primary DC/DHCP Server), 2GB for DC2 (Which acts as a file server / print server), 8GB for the third server running SQL, and I only gave 1GB to each of the workstation instances. Really I couldn't do what I'm doing on 8GB of ram and have leftover for OSX to operate functionally.
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Jul 10, 2012 17:00
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Digital_Jesus posted:It really depends on what you're going to be running. I'm using mine for testing central deployment services for updates and antivirus and a few other things, so right now the breakdown is 2GB for DC1 (Primary DC/DHCP Server), 2GB for DC2 (Which acts as a file server / print server), 8GB for the third server running SQL, and I only gave 1GB to each of the workstation instances. Arg now I am second guessing how much I will need. Any one know if I can return the machine if I don't like it if I upgrade the ram? I know you used to be not able to return CTO for any reason but I do not know if that has changed...
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Jul 10, 2012 17:18
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Bonobos posted:Arg now I am second guessing how much I will need. just get the 16GB option. It's $200.
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Jul 10, 2012 17:19
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