Most likely going to buy my first Mac, ever.

Hello guys,

Okay, so, I think I want to try out a Mac for first time (own one). The question is which to go for.. I either want the 13" or 15". I'm not going to game anything, as I have 3 other laptops which I can game on. BUT, I do watch a lot of 1080p movies, aka. bluray. On my old Thinkpad with integrated Intel grapich this type of movies lag. Horribly. But now that is a old system. (T4200, 2GB RAM, Some kind of Intel integrated Grapichs).

The two I have to descide between is:

15"
2,5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM – 2 x 4 GB
128 GB SSD (solid-state drive)
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
15-Inch MacBook Pro med non-reflect widescreen with high res.

13"
2,8 GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM – 2 x 4 GB
128 GB SSD (solid-state drive)
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

The rest on 13" is basically stock, I can't modify anyhing. I'm planning to get it thorugh apple.com/no.

The 15" is obviously more powerfull, but can't you get it with Integrated grapichs? I really don't know how it will be in terms of performance and heat.

 

It comes with hybrid graphics i.e. it switches between integrated and dedicated graphics depending upon usage. There is a program gfx (if i remember correctly) where you can force your computer to be on integrated graphics all the time, so don't worry about that. Though, the Ghz are lower in the 15incher, the quad core processors have the ability to run "dual-core" per se, so your actual clock speed might be higher than 2.5 ghz.

in all, I would say that aside from upgrading problems that you know better about, it seems it is a give and take between the display resolution and type (glare and anti-glare): display type matters to me since the macs have a glassy display which is as big as the lid, so there is a lot of reflection.

You mentioned movies, so this is why i thought about it as I had problems watching darker movies. It was so bad sometimes that I was watching my reflection instead of the movie itself. The second point is that though you can't watch blu ray on macs, unless you buy a blu ray drive or encode the movies, the anti-glare display has a higher resolution as well.

 

Thank you for the reply. REP added. I pretty much want to run everything stock and just want to use this to watch movies, surf on facebook send mails etc. So my Acer and Asus will still do the other work as playing games, run the diffrent type of software I use. I just want the Mac to work, not that my other laptops don't do, but for me to follow this Windows vs. Mac thing I've have to use both, I feel.

The GFX tool you wrote about, that is also all build in right? I've have that on my Envy, and can easly swich to the ATI GPU when needed. Althrough, I wonder if it is a really waste as I never going to use this laptop for gaming.. Just wish I could get the 13" with anti-glare screen and somewhat better resloution. It will be a downgrade from my current laptops, really. I've also wish I could have the ability to choose the HZ for the screens as I really miss the 120HZ.. I don't even think about a userreplacement after all the things I've heard about getting the lid apart.

What about the i7 dual core vs i7 quad core? I've not really got into the i-generation as I have been busy with so much else as school and work.

 

GFX tool can be easily gotten from the app store. You can search for it on google and then install it. It really comes handy, as you can also force your mac to run on integrated only when running on the battery.

If this system will just be for a spin, then you can get the cheaper 13 incher. I think it really boils down to what I said about resolution. Your choice would have been a little easier if apple offered anti-glare on the 13incher, but they sadly don't which did matter to me.

 

It also does for me my friend, I love watching movies and don't want that to be ruind by my own reflection. For now, I just hook my laptop up to my TV and I'm good to go, but from now on I'm going to travle alot, and I can't bring my TV with me.

Apple, charge alot for the SSD drive, is it hard for me to replace it with a SSD drive? What about the warranty?

By the way, by Appstore do you mean as it is on the iPhone? I have never used mac, just 'tried' it, and I have no idea about the software etc.

 

You can replace the SSD yourself, that is most likely not a problem for you, the memory is also easily changed if you wish to upgrade that later down the road too.

Changing the hard drive and ram is OK, it's meant to be easily changed by the user for feature upgrade capability, without any harm to the warranty.

The downside if you upgrade the SSD, TRIM will not be enabled, apple has chosen to keep it on only on their "own" SSD's and not any other brand, though, it's really easy to turn it on manually via terminal.
If you want more details on how to enable it then shoot me a PM and i'll help you out (or anyone else looking for enabling this).

The appstore is pretty much equal to the one on the iPhone but for OSX instead Though most software can be had for free, as there is many open sources. VLC for example!


Good luck neighbor countryman!

 

I see. Upgrading parts have never been a issue for me really. I'm quite familiar with what's what and upgrade. But, that all is for Windows based computers, I'm quite sure I have to just forget everything and start from scrach.

I'm assuming "terminal" is Windows's CMD?

How good are the SSD drives Apple use? It is a expensive upgrade from stock HDD on apple.com. What brand RAM they use?

 

Then you will have no problems what so ever to upgrade
Mac isn't different i must say, i have also recently went over to mac, otherwise been running windows since windows 3.1.. And i must say it's easy to use and everything just works when you hook it up, so it's not that much to learn as i see it atm, but definitely a fun experience! Much more comfortable using OSX than windows, but i guess it's all about personal preferences, and most important, software wise, everything corresponding to those in windows seems to be there or can be found to have.


Yes, terminal is like windows CMD, if i may draw a parallel to what it's exactly like it's like the terminal in linux (as OSX is unix based).

The SSD's IIRC are intel, and they charge a lot for the "upgrade" if you add it new, it's cheaper to buy it afterwards and install it yourself, same goes for the ram.
RAM modules may vary as i've seen, most MacBooks I've looked up the RAM in has had hynix or samsung chips, which is very common in pretty much all RAM modules from different brands. Also there it's usually cheaper to buy it afterwards and upgrade yourself, so check out what the extra cost is for the amount of RAM given vs what you can buy it off the net.

 

Yeah, that seems cheaper. Do they have to be MAC "branded"? Such as CMSA8GX3M2A1333C9?

In Norway, Apple charge 1.640 NOK for 8GB DDR 1333 Mhz modules, while I can buy Corsair DDR3 SO-DIMM 1333MHz 8GB KIT MAC (CMSA8GX3M2A1333C9) 389 NOK.
1 Norwegian krone = 0.17686

Huge.

 

No, you have more options.

I bought 8GB from Crucial last week for less than 50€. They guarantee it's compatible with your computer. Just select your system and the amount of memory you want. Crucial Memory EU France for Macs - Apple Memory

 

Yeah, but 389 NOK is very very cheap for 8GB KIT. That's like 3 Big Mac meals on Mc Donald's.

But, I don't know if I want to mess with it myself. And about that TRIM thing, if it is going to work more effordless with Apple SSD, I'm going to orderd it from apple as the diffrence between price isin't that big. But for the RAM modules it is really huge..

But, when ayou are placing an orderd for about 4500 USD, I'm really unsure if I want to mess with the RAM sticks for just another 158 USD..

 

It's your money.

What you gonna do apart from watching movies and basic stuff?

 

Adobe Photoshop and Sony Vegas I think.. Nothing special. But I'll get the best if I get it, maybe some gaming later on. And, as CPU isin't upgradeable, I won't lock my self down.

 

I would definitely recommend you to upgrade the RAM yourself (and hard drive) because apple has made it easy for the user to upgrade just that, if you wanna change something else though, then that's gonna be hard. But just those two things are super easy to do.

Apple's warranty should cover it with no problems, if not you can install the old RAM and hard drive while you send it in for warranty (if that would ever be needed), it's that easy. Check up the warranty yourself and see if it covers user replacement of ram for that specific macbook though, just to be sure, it should be fine though, as it is a Macbook pro and not an air.


389NOK should be cheaper than 50 euros, yes? So that's really cheap!


Apples own SSD's are not anything "special"(i think they are intel ssd's? If i recall correctly) it's just that apple have chosen to implement the TRIM feature to begin with, oh, if you buy your macbook with an SSD and replace it with another SSD, i came to think of that you should not need to do anything in the terminal or anything else to have TRIM working as it's already enabled with the SSD it came with. However not a problem to do yourself, it's just a matter of copy pasting 4 lines into the terminal and reboot and you're done, it's nothing more to it than that!


Good luck with whatever way you choose to go! I'm sure you'll be fine!

 

I see. Does this new generation Mac support SATA 3? Then it would maybe be the same price for the SSD drive.

I check with Apple before I buy.

50 Euro is 388 NOK It is really really cheap, but I have no idea why. And Corsair is the best brand I've used so far

If you ever for some reason want reinstall the whole thing, do you have to do it over again? What if you orderd it with SSD to start with, then reinstall everything, still have to enable TRIM manually?

 

Yes, SATA 3 is standard on all intel i3/5/7 processors AFAIK.

Here's a link i thought you'd like, so you know how to upgrade the ram, directly from apples site:
MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory

 

A good place to get DIY parts, upgrades, and storage options is OWC: Performance Upgrades; FireWire USB SATA Storage; Memory, more at OWC

They ship worldwide. Just figured I'd give you a heads up as to what's possible out there.

 

If you have absolutely no intentions of gaming, get the 13", but if you have the slightest thought of gaming, get the 15". Trust me, you are limited to very few titles, and the 15" can be a desktop replacement for the most part.

 

Then it is same cost if I buy it with SSD or upgrade my self later on. That upgrade seems too easy to be a Mac

Thanks for the site, just awesome

The reason why I don't go for the 13" is beacuse of the awefull 1280x800 display. I can get 15" with non reflect high res. screen which I can't with 13".

UPDATE:

I've seen a bit around, and somesay that new model is out on it's way? Is this true? I've saw a review that was posted a few months ago, and he "just wanted to try out the old model before the new one came out."

I don't want to buy a Macbook for little more then $4300 to be outdated few months later..

I've wanted the 13" for mobility, but it seems like I'll get the 15" and a iPad 2 or something to take with me..

I've also going to buy it with 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD, as I've saw how easy it was. That's because I can turn the 750GB HDD into external and have 2x2GB modules for spare.