Which 2014 MacBook Pro should I get

ndwgolf

ndwgolf

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Neil Williams
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I have just sold my 11 inch MacBook Air and want to buy a 15" MBP to use while I am on an Oil Rig to process RAW photos using Photoshop.
I was able to do this using my 2012 MBA but it was painfully slow so I am hoping that a 2014 MBP will be faster.
In Malaysia where I live they have 3 options for processor 2.2, 2.5 and 2.8 so I am guessing that the 2.8 will be the best way to go but means a special order. To upgrade to a 1TB over a 512GB Hard Drive is bloody expensive +/- $600 bucks so I am thinking 500 GB will be enough to be able to play with the computer on the rig and then transfer my pictures to my Mac Pro at home.
Any comments advice would be much appreciated
 
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daugirdas said:
Photo editing doesn't need uber fast CPU. Video editing does. 2.8 vs 2.7 is small difference. Just to be clear MBA is a ridiculously under-specced laptop.
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Sorry my bad on the original post .............they have 3 options, 2.2, 2.5 and 2.8 the 2.8 needing to be a special order. I would love to be able to just walk into the store and pick up a 2.5 but worry that I will regret it after......its like a 150 quid upgrade but is it going to be a in your face noticeable upgrade............that's the question
 
Are you sure you need an apple device?

Edit: sorry if I seem facetious - I just don't think they are brilliant value myself.
 
Jonathan Shl said:
Are you sure you need an apple device?

Edit: sorry if I seem facetious - I just don't think they are brilliant value myself.
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Hell yea...................I have all kinds of Apple gear and love the stuff. Yes its a tiny wee bitty more expensive but for me you pay for what you get. Just would be nice if they would give me a wee discount on the iPhone 6 plus when I buy them both together.
Seriously Jonathan I have tried Sony, IBM, HP and none of them compare to Apple IMOHO
 
I think there is marginal difference between the 2.5 and 2.8 for the money.

I would go 2.5, 500GB and maximum RAM (you don't mention this but this is just as important if not more than the HDDAs you can always plug in an external drive if you really need to!)
 
:agree:
 
I have a 2.3GHz rMBP, and it handles FCPX fine. OK I suspect the SSD has a lot going for it. It wasn't purchased for video, but there are occassions when a quick field edit is needed.. FCPX works fine except for rendering which is the slowest part of any operation, and I wouldn't criticise the MBP for that.

I'd opt for the fastest machine you can afford.. I wouldn't get too hung up over the HD. This device has both Thunderbolt and USB3 sockets so you could offload non current material onto an external device. My original MBP is now getting for 7 years old, and the only reason I opted for the newer rMBP was battery life and speed. And that's only because it's a dual core not quad core. If it had a quad core I'm not sure I would have changed when I did. Simply get an additional battery pack.

The point to remember is Mac's tend to have a long life , so I would tend to get the best spec you can get ( and afford) . It may be a bit pricey now, but it could save you money in the long run as you wont need to upgrade as often. My iMac is now 5 years old. It's a 2.6GHz quad core. OK I've increased the memory to 12GB . I've looked at the New rImac. Lovely machine , fast yes, but I am really struggling to justify the purchase ( and it's not the money.). My existing machine works fine. Some things would be quicker ( FCPX rendering for example) but it handle 5Dmk3 and similar files more than fast enough. OK it was expensive 5 years ago, but it works out at about £360/year. And it still has a good trade in value
 
Both the 15 MBP's are quad core i7 processors

The difference ( Stock models ) is that the 2.3GHzmodel has 256Gb flash memory and on board graphics chip.The 2.5GHz machine has 500GB flash memory and NVIDEA graphics. The reason the 1TB upgrade is expensive , is because it's SSD not a spinning drive. The upgrade to 2.8GHz is £150 ( maybe a bit cheaper in Malasia ) It's up to you to decide if the 12% speed improvement is worth it. You might find the extra GPU memory an advantage with video work, as many NLE 's such as FCPX now leverage GPU processors to speed processing
 
I will just be using it for processing raw picture files 18 and 36 megapixel files while on the rig or traveling. No video and once I am home will transfer all these files to my Mac pro. So I am thinking 2.5 GHz and 512 SSD will be fine
 
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looks like a plan
 
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