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March, 2025

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Mac help!

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Spiri7o
Posts: 2163 - Karma: 1,100
I am buying the 15 in mbp w/ the NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M.

I just need help deciding between the two processors and storage options.

Link to options- http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=ME294LL/A&step=config

I will be using the computer for video editing & it will last me through all of college
11 years ago
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BWalmer
Posts: 9141 - Karma: 12,886
Go as big as you can afford. The more you update, the more RAM and Storage you'll need.

Also, out of curiosity, why is the back of my head your icon?
11 years ago
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Spiri7o
Posts: 2163 - Karma: 1,100
BWalmerGo as big as you can afford. The more you update, the more RAM and Storage you'll need.

Also, out of curiosity, why is the back of my head your icon?


thank you! and omg I'm sorry, i'll change it lol... I found this on google
11 years ago
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Spiri7o
Posts: 2163 - Karma: 1,100
BWalmerGo as big as you can afford. The more you update, the more RAM and Storage you'll need.

Also, out of curiosity, why is the back of my head your icon?


but is the slightly faster processor noteable worth $200? Because I could afford it but I don't want to spend 200 if it won't be great.
11 years ago
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BWalmer
Posts: 9141 - Karma: 12,886
Between now and the time you graduate there's probably going to be 4 OS upgrades and 4 hardware upgrades that those OSs are based on. The beefier you build up your computer now, the better it will run over the course of the next 4 years. So in the short run, you probably won't notice a difference, but in the long run you'll be happy you spent the extra cash.
11 years ago
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uyghur
Posts: 993 - Karma: 2,028
oh my lerd this thread is confusing
11 years ago
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123+ski
Posts: 2832 - Karma: 581
Use the education discount. At 10% off, you will pay about $80 less with the upgraded processor than you would paying full price for the base model.
11 years ago
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tnabe
Posts: 280 - Karma: 448
Don't pay Apple for the RAM upgrade. Buy third party, install it yourself and pay half the price. (http://www.macsales.com is a good place to start).
11 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61862 - Karma: 125,750
tnabeDon't pay Apple for the RAM upgrade. Buy third party, install it yourself and pay half the price. (http://www.macsales.com is a good place to start).


This was great advice a year or two ago, now with all MBP retinas and airs, the ram is soldered onto the mother board, so yes upgrade to 16gb of ram.

processor speed is meh, i wouldnt pay $200 for another .3ghz

Do spend money on at least a 256gb drive, 512 would be awesome but very expensive.


Looking at the apple site though, if you're getting the mbpr with a graphics card, you have to get 16gb of ram and have to get the 2.3ghz and you have to get a 512gb ssd* (you might be able to downgrade ssd, but you definitely cant do cpu or ram, its weird).


So get the mbp that is 2599, get student discount and itll be 2399.
11 years ago
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Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,311
tnabeDon't pay Apple for the RAM upgrade. Buy third party, install it yourself and pay half the price. (http://www.macsales.com is a good place to start).


Good luck desoldering and subsequently soldering those RAM chips on the logic board.

11 years ago
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Spiri7o
Posts: 2163 - Karma: 1,100
pussyfooterThis was great advice a year or two ago, now with all MBP retinas and airs, the ram is soldered onto the mother board, so yes upgrade to 16gb of ram.

processor speed is meh, i wouldnt pay $200 for another .3ghz

Do spend money on at least a 256gb drive, 512 would be awesome but very expensive.


Looking at the apple site though, if you're getting the mbpr with a graphics card, you have to get 16gb of ram and have to get the 2.3ghz and you have to get a 512gb ssd* (you might be able to downgrade ssd, but you definitely cant do cpu or ram, its weird).


So get the mbp that is 2599, get student discount and itll be 2399.


Okay so I'm going to go with the 2.3, 16gb of ram. I will also use the education discount. Last thing, should I get the GeForce graphics card model or just go with the intel iris pro?
11 years ago
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123+ski
Posts: 2832 - Karma: 581
Snowflake222Okay so I'm going to go with the 2.3, 16gb of ram. I will also use the education discount. Last thing, should I get the GeForce graphics card model or just go with the intel iris pro?


Get the graphics model, while iris has come a long way, I would consider it fit for playback of HD Video, and light gaming (shreadsauce etc.). The gt750m is a pretty serious mobile card, and it supports CUDA, which is a huge benefit for video editing. It takes a lot of the load off of your processor and can really speed things up. Also, with 4k on the rise, it could easily start becoming mainstream before you graduate (assuming you start college in the coming fall). The gt750m will handle newer hd content much better, and I believe it still has the iris pro graphics in it for when you are only watching youtube etc. (this was how my mbp worked).

Also, matching specs, if you want both with the same specs, so 16gb ram (which I would highly recommend because you can't upgrade it), and a 512gb ssd, and the same processor (either speed), they are the same price. You are essentially getting the graphics card for free with the nicer model.
11 years ago
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Spiri7o
Posts: 2163 - Karma: 1,100
p.hawksGet the graphics model, while iris has come a long way, I would consider it fit for playback of HD Video, and light gaming (shreadsauce etc.). The gt750m is a pretty serious mobile card, and it supports CUDA, which is a huge benefit for video editing. It takes a lot of the load off of your processor and can really speed things up. Also, with 4k on the rise, it could easily start becoming mainstream before you graduate (assuming you start college in the coming fall). The gt750m will handle newer hd content much better, and I believe it still has the iris pro graphics in it for when you are only watching youtube etc. (this was how my mbp worked).

Also, matching specs, if you want both with the same specs, so 16gb ram (which I would highly recommend because you can't upgrade it), and a 512gb ssd, and the same processor (either speed), they are the same price. You are essentially getting the graphics card for free with the nicer model.


okay thanks, do you also agree that it isn't worth it for the .3 upgrade in the processor? and just go with the basic Flash storage and use external hardrives?
11 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61862 - Karma: 125,750
Snowflake222okay thanks, do you also agree that it isn't worth it for the .3 upgrade in the processor? and just go with the basic Flash storage and use external hardrives?


You're missing the point, if you get the version with the gt 650m you have to get 2.3ghz and 16gb of ram and 512gb ssd I don't think you can downgrade
11 years ago
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nutz.
Posts: 3150 - Karma: 6,717
pussyfooterThis was great advice a year or two ago, now with all MBP retinas and airs, the ram is soldered onto the mother board, so yes upgrade to 16gb of ram.

processor speed is meh, i wouldnt pay $200 for another .3ghz

Do spend money on at least a 256gb drive, 512 would be awesome but very expensive.


Looking at the apple site though, if you're getting the mbpr with a graphics card, you have to get 16gb of ram and have to get the 2.3ghz and you have to get a 512gb ssd* (you might be able to downgrade ssd, but you definitely cant do cpu or ram, its weird).


So get the mbp that is 2599, get student discount and itll be 2399.


You could always pick up an older mbp and take out the cd drive and put in an extra hard drive, I've got two SSD hard drives in my 2010 mbp. It's got a 2.8GHz i7 processor, 8gb 1067 MHz DDR3 (I know that isn't much, but it works), but it only has a nvidia gt 330m in it. It works great for me for gaming/playing with premiere and everything else school requires
11 years ago
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Spiri7o
Posts: 2163 - Karma: 1,100
pussyfooterYou're missing the point, if you get the version with the gt 650m you have to get 2.3ghz and 16gb of ram and 512gb ssd I don't think you can downgrade


ohhhh i see now! thank you! I had to build it on the site to understand that its the same price
11 years ago
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123+ski
Posts: 2832 - Karma: 581
Snowflake222ohhhh i see now! thank you! I had to build it on the site to understand that its the same price


ya, you can get the 2.6 with either model, but it is the same price to get the model with graphics as a 2.6. If it is too much, don't worry, but if you can afford it, no reason not to. Either way, get the one with the graphics card and you will have a killer laptop
11 years ago
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Spiri7o
Posts: 2163 - Karma: 1,100
p.hawksya, you can get the 2.6 with either model, but it is the same price to get the model with graphics as a 2.6. If it is too much, don't worry, but if you can afford it, no reason not to. Either way, get the one with the graphics card and you will have a killer laptop


I got the one with the rad graphics card. But kept the 2.3 process
11 years ago
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