Buying Macbook Pro 13

[Rob_F]

Hi,

Never had a mac before, but my current laptop has always been a bit of a dog since i got it around 2 years ago and recently thinking about buying a new one. Windows 10 has done nothing for me since i installed it earlier so i went to the apple store and liked the Macbook Pro.

So, here are two questions I'd be greatfull for thoughts on:

1) Is the bog standard, MD101 13 inch macbook pro (non-retina) with Intel 4000 graphics good enough to edit 1080p video in iMovie / is it worth the money to upgrade?

2) Are there any downsides in buying a US model from ebay at a greatly reduced price - e.g: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Macbook-Pro-MD101-...

Thanks,
Rob

[Murph7355]

1) It'll do it but a punchier machine will be faster and the retina nicer to use.

If money's an issue I'd be inclined to get the non-retina but with more memory.

2) Keyboard would be the main irritant of a US spec model.

[Du1point8]

If brand new, get the largest RAM and HD you can afford, since Q2 2013 Apple have soldered in the Memory and HDs into the laptops making the after market upgrades impossible.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/04/surprise-ifix...

[Bikerjon]

Don't get the non-retina MB pro 13 - it's virtually an obsolete machine now and I'm surprised it's still being sold. Spend the extra £100 and get the better screen, SSD and 8GB RAM.

[Rob_F]

Du1point8 said:

If brand new, get the largest RAM and HD you can afford, since Q2 2013 Apple have soldered in the Memory and HDs into the laptops making the after market upgrades impossible.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/04/surprise-ifix...

The advantage i suppose of buying the obsolete machine is that I believe from what I've read it is the last of the macbooks to be upgradable so it's possible to swap out ram/hdd etc.

Overall I'm torn. If buying at the store prices it seems well worth going for the newer model - although i'd want the 256gb version so that makes the price difference £300 rather than £100. 128gb of storage seems rather restrictive and not that future-proof. I already use more storage than that now so it also mandates the use of a external drive as storage rather than just backup.

Argh! Thanks for the comments

[GoodDoc]

Rob_F said:

Hi,

Never had a mac before, but my current laptop has always been a bit of a dog since i got it around 2 years ago and recently thinking about buying a new one. Windows 10 has done nothing for me since i installed it earlier so i went to the apple store and liked the Macbook Pro.

So, here are two questions I'd be greatfull for thoughts on:

1) Is the bog standard, MD101 13 inch macbook pro (non-retina) with Intel 4000 graphics good enough to edit 1080p video in iMovie / is it worth the money to upgrade?

2) Are there any downsides in buying a US model from ebay at a greatly reduced price - e.g: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Macbook-Pro-MD101-...

Thanks,
Rob

First and most important thing to note is that "Order number MD101" (or "MacBook Pro 13-inch, Mid 2012" as they are usually referred to) was introduced in June 2012. It may well be new but in terms of specification this is a three year laptop. I'm a big Mac user and I didn't realise they still sell this model. I suspect they've used the "order number" reference to hide just old this laptop really is.

The biggest problem with using a US model will be the keyboard (different layout, but that's not a huge problem, I used a US purchased PowerBook G4 for a couple of years and learnt to live with backwards keys). It does come with a US adapter but you can discard the US power cord and use a standard "figure of 8" power cord.

My strong advice would be don't buy it, This model is still in the line-up so Apple can hit a sub £900 price point, and the extra £100 for the "MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch, Mid 2015" gets you a vastly more capable machine for you money.

Have a look in the Apple refurb store, that have some refurbished "MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch, Early 2015" for £849, It's a slightly older model but it's cheaper than that 2012 non-retina MacBook Pro at Apple prices, and a much better spec than that 3 year old laptop on eBay;

http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/browse/home/specialde...

Edited by GoodDoc on Saturday 1st August 21:03

[GoodDoc]

GoodDoc said:

Have a look in the Apple refurb store, that have some refurbished MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch, Early 2015 for £849, that's cheaper than non-retina version at Apple prices, and a much better spec than the 3 year old laptop on eBay;

http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/browse/home/specialde...

I've just looked at the Apple's US refurb store and they are selling that Mid 2012 non-retina 13" MacBook Pro for $829, which is approximately £530 (plus what ever US taxes were paid), so there's a reasonable chance that eBay seller is purchasing new refurb stock in the US and selling it in UK (when new models are released Apple use the refurb store to sell discontinued but still "new" stock, there can be some real bargains when new model are introduced).

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/FD101LL/A/refurb...

Again, don't buy, it's not good value for money.

[audi321]

I'd buy 2nd hand with an Applecare warranty - More bang for your buck. Speaking of which, the US won't be any problem at all once you get used to the keyboard (which isn't all that different anyway)

[GCH]

Rob_F said:

2) Are there any downsides in buying a US model from ebay at a greatly reduced price

No downsides- only upsides.
Cheaper, and imho the @ key is in a better place than the UK keyboard. £ is option + 3 so not exactly hard.
US power supply isn't an issue - if you want a uk plug you can buy one that slots onto the magsafe for a couple of quid or just plug a standard figure of 8 into it. - US one folds up smaller than the uk one for travelling if you do a lot of that, so that may be useful.

Do check the US refurb store for the best deals - you can pay using a UK card. You just need a US address to have it delivered to.

Also if you cant stretch to the bigger SDD, consider getting a transcend jetdrive lite for the SD slot. Instant storage upgrade.

[T5SOR]

I'm looking at a Windows laptop alternative to the Mac. Anyone recommend one? The Dell XPS 13 looks comparable, but £800+

[Rob_F]

T5SOR said:

I'm looking at a Windows laptop alternative to the Mac. Anyone recommend one? The Dell XPS 13 looks comparable, but £800+

This Asus Zenbook got a reasonable review in a magazine this month and I must say it looks nice - bit of a rip off really of the macs! http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/lap...

Thanks for the advice on the macbooks, like any classic thread on a forum I may ignore it all and buy the older model anyway. I just can't face paying £1200 for a laptop, and the 128gb one feels like it would be irritatingly short of storage, so if I can get the old model for £650 I think that will fit the bill for a few years.

Thank you for taking the time though - appreciate it,
Rob

[PHlL]

I have a Intel HD Graphics 4000 768 MB graphics in my 2013 13" Reitna Mac and does some home video editing as and when on the rare occasion.

Mine is basically just for web browsing and Minecraft so hardly gets worked hard.

[NorthDave]

Rob_F said:

This Asus Zenbook got a reasonable review in a magazine this month and I must say it looks nice - bit of a rip off really of the macs! http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/lap...

Thanks for the advice on the macbooks, like any classic thread on a forum I may ignore it all and buy the older model anyway. I just can't face paying £1200 for a laptop, and the 128gb one feels like it would be irritatingly short of storage, so if I can get the old model for £650 I think that will fit the bill for a few years.

Thank you for taking the time though - appreciate it,
Rob

Mine only has 128Gb which is irritating but I use a 128Gb Jet Drive as a file store to double my storage. Might open up your options?

[Motorrad]

Du1point8 said:

If brand new, get the largest RAM and HD you can afford, since Q2 2013 Apple have soldered in the Memory and HDs into the laptops making the after market upgrades impossible.

I had no idea, yet another reason why I won't be buying any Apple products, can't believe I was actually toying with the idea of buying one now.

That zenbook looks interesting but again st integrated graphics.

[Du1point8]

Motorrad said:

Du1point8 said:

If brand new, get the largest RAM and HD you can afford, since Q2 2013 Apple have soldered in the Memory and HDs into the laptops making the after market upgrades impossible.

I had no idea, yet another reason why I won't be buying any Apple products, can't believe I was actually toying with the idea of buying one now.

That zenbook looks interesting but again st integrated graphics.

Cant blame them completely, they are just pandering to the market of:

Make it smaller
Make it lighter
Make it faster
Make it amazing

Soldering in the components does all of that but obviously the losers are the people that like to upgrade their MacBooks.

[T5SOR]

C

Rob_F said:

T5SOR said:

I'm looking at a Windows laptop alternative to the Mac. Anyone recommend one? The Dell XPS 13 looks comparable, but £800+

This Asus Zenbook got a reasonable review in a magazine this month and I must say it looks nice - bit of a rip off really of the macs! http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/lap...

Thanks for the advice on the macbooks, like any classic thread on a forum I may ignore it all and buy the older model anyway. I just can't face paying £1200 for a laptop, and the 128gb one feels like it would be irritatingly short of storage, so if I can get the old model for £650 I think that will fit the bill for a few years.

Thank you for taking the time though - appreciate it,
Rob

The Zenbook looks great, but the processor looks too weedy for me. I might want to play the off game on it as well.

[Motorrad]

Du1point8 said:

Cant blame them completely, they are just pandering to the market of:

Make it smaller
Make it lighter
Make it faster
Make it amazing

Soldering in the components does all of that but obviously the losers are the people that like to upgrade their MacBooks.

lol@make it amazing. I bet there are suckers out there who'd buy that bullst.

I can see how losing a DIMM slot might shave off a few mm but there's no reason at all to solder in a m2 ssd other than force the end user to pay 'apple tax' on the hardware. Bunch of shysters I'm almost ashamed I thought of buying one.

Right up till the point I look at the quality of their displays and slick packaging that is.

[GoodDoc]

Motorrad said:

Bunch of shysters I'm almost ashamed I thought of buying one.

Right up till the point I look at the quality of their displays and slick packaging that is.

The entire Apple experience summed up in one excellent post!

I started using Apple kit and OS X back when Intel Macs were a pipe dream, and I still use my 2009 17" MacBook Pro with it's upgradable RAM and disks on a daily basis thanks to that upgradability, but I hate that Apple's drive to thinness and lightness resulted in them dumping any upgradability, (and even the freaking Ethernet port on their largest laptop. Seriously! I understand that on an 11" MacBook Air but on a full size laptop?), but I still have one of their un-upgradable 15" Retina MacBook Pros as my work machine today.

I still hope for that ThinkPad running a great version of Linux. One day you will be mine.

[MethylatedSpirit]

Make sure it's got an ssd

The latest os seems to be optimised for an ssd. Nothing wrong with it, but it pre loads all the apps before logging in. Result being that putting in your password in certain situations can be laggy.

[GoodDoc]

MethylatedSpirit said:

Make sure it's got an ssd .

The Mid 2012 non-retina 13" MacBook Pro is the only MacBook still on sale with a spinning disk. It really is hanging around just to hit a price point.