2012 MBP 15 vs 2015 MBP 13 Retina

Good evening, folks.

I'm looking for some advice.

I had been running a 2012 MacBook pro 15" (non-Retina) with a 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM, since new, and recently she... took a tumble. I'm looking to replace the system and my options are to spend $1,300 out the door (after tax, etc) on a 2015 MBP 13" Retina (128GB SSD, 8GB RAM) or ~$1,180 on a Refurbished 2012 MBP 15" non-Retina (stock specs) through Apple. Obviously, for $50-60 I can up the RAM to 8GB and I can pop in a 256 or 512GB SSD for $100-200.

I'm keen on the idea of self-upgradability, and my understanding is that the old Ivy Bridge Core i7 still holds up pretty well (especially on Mac OS). I'm not at all a fan of buying used/refurbished, however.

For light to medium use, and as a second computer (my main PC is a higher-end gaming desktop) would the 2015 MBP 13" work well? I assume three revisions (two "versions" of Haswell and now Broadwell) and a higher base clock (2.7 vs 2.3) would make the 2015 13" Core i5 decently fast. Storage is somewhat of a concern, but I planned to buy one of these which should work out just fine, and I hold out hope that someday there will be a replacement PCI-E SSD.

Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated.

 

Sorry about your loss.

I have a 2008 MBP and could still use that for my daily work if I had to. It's my backup MBP.

You're basically getting better performance with the new stuff but the old and really old stuff can still do quite a bit of work. The main things are being able to live with the resolution - if the rest (RAM, storage) aren't an issue. I would frankly save up for the later models if I couldn't afford them as I tend to keep my systems for a very long time. If you need a laptop now, though, then I'd go for the 2015 rMBP.

I'm not keen on the camera-type memory expansion cards as their performance is nowhere near that of an SSD. I have been looking at external USB 3.0 drives for expansion myself. I should have gotten the 1 TB SSD option.

Your newer system will have USB 3.0 (amazing how you get used to the speed so that USB 2.0 feels slow) and AC WiFi - if you have the proper router. Those might be considerations as well.

 

Thanks for the response.

I love using Mac OS, so I'm pretty excited to replace my deceased MBP and equally excited at the longevity of these machines and this OS!

Apple's refurb site is up and down - the 2012 model I was contemplating has been removed - so that likely makes my decision for me. The fact the base clock on even the entry level 13" rMBP is 2.7Ghz is crazy to me, as that's nearing a desktop level Core i3. I'm pretty confident that since I won't install Boot Camp on this new laptop (128GB SSD size, and all) that a 2.7Ghz dual core Core i5 will be plenty fast.

The drive I linked is a 128GB drive and in benchmarks tests at 85-95 Mbps, so while it's nowhere near these new PCI-E SSDs Apple is using, I figure it's plenty fast for storing my backed-up-elsewhere iTunes library and some every day files so that I can save the 128GB SSD for programs and the occasional game. I had looked into Thunderbolt but aside from a few pre-configured setups, it looks like you can't really buy like a 256GB SSD in Thunderbolt, which was my other option should I find myself longing for most storage down the line.

I feel like at some point this new form factor of PCI-E SSD will be "hacked" or OWC or some other company will offer a replacement drive (I could definitely see upping storage to 512GB down the line).

Now, my only complaint is that my corporate discount is so insubstantial that my options are to save $20 and order from Apple, or pop in to any Best Buy, any time, and go buy the thing in person for nearly the same price. $1,299 ($1,224 is I believe what Best Buy has these at right now) for that processor speed, 8GB of RAM, a stupidly fast SSD and the best non-dedicated mobile graphics this side of a 15" rMBP, is a pretty killer deal IMO.

 

Thunderbolt is a dead-end as Apple and the world will be going to USB-C. It's nice as a technology but there aren't many devices that support it and the adapters are typically very expensive. USB 3.0 speeds are fine until Apple goes completely USB-C though.

The PCIe SSDs can be replaced. I had a MB replacement and the GB said that they just take the old SSD chips out of the old motherboard and put them in the new one so that you don't have to restore from Time Machine. I've heard that OWC carries the replacements but they aren't cheap. This is the generation previous to the new Samsung SSD chips.

You get the Force Touch trackpad as well.

I wonder if we'll someday get a Force Touch keyboard.

 

The only thing I could find on OWC - since their MBP offerings end at early 2013 (SATA M2) - is this thing:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Aura-for-Mac-Pro/

I've read that the Mac Pro also uses a PCI-E SSD, so this should work, but I'm not paying $900 to find out. I've also heard the Samsung XP941 should work, and I might pull the trigger some day, with Amazon's generous return policy in mind:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-XP941...ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1430943124&sr=1-1

I've actually come to terms with the price, and am going to say to heck with it and pick up a 256GB rMBP 13 and call it a day, unless vigorous Googling finds me an alternate option in the next day or two. It comes out to $1,496 after tax, and that's not the worst, I suppose.

 

I figured I'd give an update.

I went in to my local Best Buy the other night, ready to buy one of these new 2015 rMBP 13s, but after playing with the system some more, I couldn't get over that new magnet-based "force touch" track pad. Even after disabling the extended touch feature - which was causing basically a "double click" feel every time I pressed on the track pad - I just couldn't get past how odd and unnatural it felt. Playing with a 2014 rMBP 15 right next to it confirmed that I simply hate this new track pad.

My 2012 regular MBP 15" 2.6Ghz is in the mail and should be here in a few hours, courtesy of OWC.

For $1,100 on the system, $60 for 8GB RAM and maybe $200-ish for two 256GB SSD's for RAID 0, assuming no horrible issues with the refurbed system (which OWC advertises in "very good" condition), we're good to go. If for some reason it doesn't work, I can return the system and wait for Apple to list one: this is a task which seems very difficult as their selection changes literally all the time.

 

I haven't tried the Force Tough trackpad myself but a coworker bought a new MacBook and is happy with it. I'd guess it's either something that you like or you don't like. Hope you're happy with your new system when it arrives though.