Which Mac system to choose?

[putrasocool]

Hi.

Recently, had an issue with my Macbook Pro with the display and maybe motherboard. Sent it to A.Lab and yet to get quotation for repair. Currently I am thinking to just change to a new one as display repair alone cost SGD1400++

What I need is:
1. iMac
2. MacBook

The thing is, I am an amateur video editor(edit wedding vids) using FCPX. For my school use later on in NAFA(pray for me pls), I will need to use After Effects as well as Premiere Pro.
My MacBook is going to be my main system as I need to bring it to school.
iMac wise is just a backup system.

The previous Macbook(that is being repaired) was bought 1.5 years ago at SGD3500++ at Apple Online Store.

So, my question now is, which specs should I choose? Dont talk about budget, I will find a way to find it.

Thanks

 

[PetPet]

Get a Macbook Pro.
Get an external monitor and you're set.
You don't really need an iMac.

The Macbook Pro has everything you require.
When you're home, simply 'dock' the Macbook Pro and hook it up to the monitor.

Spec it up to at least 16 gig of ram and 512gig of storage.
Get a external drive as your scratch, or if your budget allows. A DAS instead.

If you can wait, wait till June where a Macbook Pro refresh is highly likely.

 

[putrasocool]

Get a Macbook Pro.
Get an external monitor and you're set.
You don't really need an iMac.

The Macbook Pro has everything you require.
When you're home, simply 'dock' the Macbook Pro and hook it up to the monitor.

Spec it up to at least 16 gig of ram and 512gig of storage.
Get a external drive as your scratch, or if your budget allows. A DAS instead.

If you can wait, wait till June where a Macbook Pro refresh is highly likely.

I see. Thanks so much.

What is DAS btw?

Processor wise? And graphics card is a need or not?

And 13inch would also be enough right? What do you think of the Non-retina 13inch?

 

[Magickiller9]

I see. Thanks so much.

What is DAS btw?

Processor wise? And graphics card is a need or not?

And 13inch would also be enough right? What do you think of the Non-retina 13inch?

No point not getting the retina. The non retina is too old.

 

[faithsilence]

and get Applecare please. I assume you didn't get Apple Care your macbook pro which is not working.

 

[melvinchen]

and get Applecare please. I assume you didn't get Apple Care your macbook pro which is not working.

Yup running a Mac without Apple Care is a huge risk.

 

[simonsez]

Macbook Pros with dedicated GPUs are always a bad bet. I have lost 3 MBPs to GPU defects....3!!! I am convinced that Apple, in their effort to make MBPs thin, compromise on the thermal dynamics of the MBP. This leads to early failure of the DGPU in the MBP. Case in point, I am on my fourth MBP but I have finally wised up (if you can call it that...putting money in Apple after so many failures); I have bought the 15" without the dGPU and I have never ever seen temperatures on my MBP hit triple digits or even 85C which was pretty common on all my previous MBPs.

If you can swing it, I would say buy a MBP 13 for portable use and invest in a Windows workstation for all the heavy lifting. the workstation will be a sound investment; you can upgrade RAM to 64GB and put in the latest Nvidia cards in there to give you all the speed bumps you need when video processing. Also, because you choose Nvidia, all the CUDA goodness in Adobe software shines through.

The current top end MBP with the AMD graphics card is just bad value for money. The AMD is not as efficient as the Nvidia for video processing in Adobe cause it is not CUDA + the AMD card is just a rehash of a very old card. The processor is also a couple of generations old. Hopefully, they update it this June at WWDC.

In case you do not like the idea of having a separate workstation and insist on having a single laptop, Razer is a good bet. It is sleek and comes with top of the line Nvidia.

 

[derrickgoh]

As my 2013 iMac gets older by the day I too am wondering if I should remain on iMac or get a MBP.

Price wise obviously for the same price you get better specs for iMac than MBP. Faster processor, larger HDD, better graphics, only the base amount of RAM is less than MBP.

But MBP is portable. Even if you don't need to bring it with you to work, it might still be useful going about your home. Have lost track of the number of times when I'm watching TV in living room or bedroom and needed access to a com and I have to go to my study just to turn on the iMac. Plus when I'm on my iMac, I miss the TV show. Wouldn't it be nice if I had a MBP which could be on my lap while I watch TV.

So yeah all things considered I probably will get a MBP to replace my iMac. Only troublesome thing is the new MBPs have so few ports compared to the first gen MBP. Plus you need to waste one thunderbolt port to plug in the ethernet adaptor. And unless you don't mind a 15" screen if not you'll have to waste money on a separate monitor too.

Say, on another note, am I able to plug my MBP into my iMac and use the iMac as an external monitor? That might help save some money. I'm guessing a decent quality non Apple 27" screen would cost at least $400. Now assuming I am able to sell my iMac for more than that then it makes sense but if I can only get around the same price then why would I sell my iMac for $400 and then buy a new monitor for $400?

Might as well just keep my iMac since it still works and use it as a monitor. Good too in case my MBP conks at least I still have a spare com at home.

 

[3hubb3r]

Anything portable get AppleCare would be good

 

[Calvin83]

As my 2013 iMac gets older by the day I too am wondering if I should remain on iMac or get a MBP.

Price wise obviously for the same price you get better specs for iMac than MBP. Faster processor, larger HDD, better graphics, only the base amount of RAM is less than MBP.

But MBP is portable. Even if you don't need to bring it with you to work, it might still be useful going about your home. Have lost track of the number of times when I'm watching TV in living room or bedroom and needed access to a com and I have to go to my study just to turn on the iMac. Plus when I'm on my iMac, I miss the TV show. Wouldn't it be nice if I had a MBP which could be on my lap while I watch TV.

So yeah all things considered I probably will get a MBP to replace my iMac. Only troublesome thing is the new MBPs have so few ports compared to the first gen MBP. Plus you need to waste one thunderbolt port to plug in the ethernet adaptor. And unless you don't mind a 15" screen if not you'll have to waste money on a separate monitor too.

Say, on another note, am I able to plug my MBP into my iMac and use the iMac as an external monitor? That might help save some money. I'm guessing a decent quality non Apple 27" screen would cost at least $400. Now assuming I am able to sell my iMac for more than that then it makes sense but if I can only get around the same price then why would I sell my iMac for $400 and then buy a new monitor for $400?

Might as well just keep my iMac since it still works and use it as a monitor. Good too in case my MBP conks at least I still have a spare com at home.

Just use your iMac as external monitor, you just need a thunderbolt cable.

If you do not want to sacrifice your thunderbolt port for ethernet, you can always usb 3.0 ethernet adapter.

The best is to have both. I am doing that, and you don't have to consider them as replacement. With dropbox, iCloud etc, both are able to store the essential working files. If you are a casual user, the 2013 iMac should still be a very capable machine.

 

[Magickiller9]

As my 2013 iMac gets older by the day I too am wondering if I should remain on iMac or get a MBP.

Price wise obviously for the same price you get better specs for iMac than MBP. Faster processor, larger HDD, better graphics, only the base amount of RAM is less than MBP.

But MBP is portable. Even if you don't need to bring it with you to work, it might still be useful going about your home. Have lost track of the number of times when I'm watching TV in living room or bedroom and needed access to a com and I have to go to my study just to turn on the iMac. Plus when I'm on my iMac, I miss the TV show. Wouldn't it be nice if I had a MBP which could be on my lap while I watch TV.

So yeah all things considered I probably will get a MBP to replace my iMac. Only troublesome thing is the new MBPs have so few ports compared to the first gen MBP. Plus you need to waste one thunderbolt port to plug in the ethernet adaptor. And unless you don't mind a 15" screen if not you'll have to waste money on a separate monitor too.

Say, on another note, am I able to plug my MBP into my iMac and use the iMac as an external monitor? That might help save some money. I'm guessing a decent quality non Apple 27" screen would cost at least $400. Now assuming I am able to sell my iMac for more than that then it makes sense but if I can only get around the same price then why would I sell my iMac for $400 and then buy a new monitor for $400?

Might as well just keep my iMac since it still works and use it as a monitor. Good too in case my MBP conks at least I still have a spare com at home.

Only 27 inch display Mac can be used as external display for MacBook.

 

[jermx9]

I got my MBP 15 non retina with dual gpu from the apple online store bout 4-5 years back. Didn't get applecare and kind of regretted it. 2.5 years in, gpu died, apple quoted $1k++.

In the end googled, and found a shop at SLS that helped replaced only the gpu. $200+ repair cost, still going strong since then.

 

[punggolkid]

Just use your iMac as external monitor, you just need a thunderbolt cable.

If you do not want to sacrifice your thunderbolt port for ethernet, you can always usb 3.0 ethernet adapter.

The best is to have both. I am doing that, and you don't have to consider them as replacement. With dropbox, iCloud etc, both are able to store the essential working files. If you are a casual user, the 2013 iMac should still be a very capable machine.

Not just the iMac, my MBP 13 (Early 2011) is still doing pretty fine web surfing, document processing, even editing 1080p on iMovie is not A huge pain. What's more I'm connecting it via DisplayPort to my Dell U2713HM monitor and doing most things are still smooth enough.

Really happy with my purchase back then. Bought AppleCare and had the battery serviced once 2.5yrs into its life.

Definitely recommend the MBP 15. Gorgeous screen and definitely s workhorse. i5 should be sufficient but if you intend to use it for as long as I have (almost 5 years) get the i7 config and as much ram as you may need (do some research online to see how much is optimal cost-to-performance wise). Please get AppleCare this time, your battery will thank you.

 

[Donutzzz]

hello guys hello

 

[icyfirey]

My personal recommendation, which is also the most cost effective, is to purchase a display off ifixit or a third party and fix it yourself since your MacBook is only a year and a half old. The price they quoted you is way too expensive.

 

[xiao_pang]

i just bought my macbpro on 31st theen i bought a apple care 150 in carousell

 

[erwinrommel]

Macbook Pros with dedicated GPUs are always a bad bet. I have lost 3 MBPs to GPU defects....3!!! I am convinced that Apple, in their effort to make MBPs thin, compromise on the thermal dynamics of the MBP. This leads to early failure of the DGPU in the MBP. Case in point, I am on my fourth MBP but I have finally wised up (if you can call it that...putting money in Apple after so many failures); I have bought the 15" without the dGPU and I have never ever seen temperatures on my MBP hit triple digits or even 85C which was pretty common on all my previous MBPs.

If you can swing it, I would say buy a MBP 13 for portable use and invest in a Windows workstation for all the heavy lifting. the workstation will be a sound investment; you can upgrade RAM to 64GB and put in the latest Nvidia cards in there to give you all the speed bumps you need when video processing. Also, because you choose Nvidia, all the CUDA goodness in Adobe software shines through.

The current top end MBP with the AMD graphics card is just bad value for money. The AMD is not as efficient as the Nvidia for video processing in Adobe cause it is not CUDA + the AMD card is just a rehash of a very old card. The processor is also a couple of generations old. Hopefully, they update it this June at WWDC.

In case you do not like the idea of having a separate workstation and insist on having a single laptop, Razer is a good bet. It is sleek and comes with top of the line Nvidia.

I have seen many ultrabooks and MBA dead very easily compared to thicker laptops. So i do somewhat agree with you.

 

[jeffrey745]

Cld actually get the non retina MBP that's cheaper and do DIY upgrade on RAM and SSD, cheaper overall?

Also as non retina mbp thicker ,so will have better cooling system? Recently funan challenger had clearance sale, the non retina mbp going for 988, cheapest I've ever seen.

If you dun need the non retina screen, the non retina mbp will suffice.

 

[BraveCloudy]

rather u get the retina MacBook.
its lighter and thinner as compared to the non-retina

 

[weathersohot]

You mean refurbished set? Ya that way is actually cheaper.

But I suggest you to wait after wwdc, see if Apple introduces new MacBook Pro; if yes, the new one seems to have major changes

Cld actually get the non retina MBP that's cheaper and do DIY upgrade on RAM and SSD, cheaper overall?

Also as non retina mbp thicker ,so will have better cooling system? Recently funan challenger had clearance sale, the non retina mbp going for 988, cheapest I've ever seen.

If you dun need the non retina screen, the non retina mbp will suffice.