2013 Haswell Retina MacBook Pro...

Thank you Chives, I use to chase fast women, but since I can't catch them up any more. I've slowed down to a more constructive hobby, photography :)

The desk is untidy for me, normally its clutter free.


I haven't been on here for a while, I've been going on the photography forums, I was searching for a question on the net, which bought me to this thread today

No problem. Haha :D
It really is an awesome setup that you have there, looks even better in the second photograph! If I have a setup like that one day I'll be one very happy man. Oh and nice photos!
 
here is my case. All 2012 models came with a nvidia 650m GPU that is still a lot better then todays intel iris iGPU and if you dont go for the top end model for the 15inch, you actually get a 15inch mac that doesnt match the old one for video and gaming

Unless you're using programs that use OpenCL acceleration, which the Iris Pro is very good at compared to Nvidia's current offerings (which were never very good compute chips). It even benches higher than a desktop GTX680 in LuxMark. CUDA and gaming is a different story though, so if you like to game or your workflow relies on CUDA, spring for the top end.
 
Is it me or once you go retina, every other monitor looks absolute utter....rubbish.. my eyes are finding it most frustrating and snobby as I feel I always want to go on my machine.
 
Having read through the thread I'm still unsure as to wether I go for the top end 13" or low end 15". The annoying thing is I would like (after reading in here) to go for some more RAM to make it 'future proof'. Annoyingly I don't need the extra storage in the top end 13" and I'm unsure if I need the extra screen space of the 15" as I'm rocking a 13" screen now... I've always thought it would be nice to have more real-estate but is it worth the cost...

Noob question - How much better/worse is the 2.0 GHz i7 over the 2.6 GHz i5 ? I grew up in the day of more MHz the better (but obviously with these multi-core systems its all changed!)

Also having had a look at comparisons with last years model, the battery life is much better it seems on this years models so that is good enough for me (how much of that is due to Mavs I don't know though).
 
I think I've made a big mistake

after everything I said, and after spending hours researching various bits and bobs...I finally decided on the base 15" with the 16gb upgrade

so what did I go and do....ordered the top spec (15", 2.3ghz, 16gb, 512gb ssd, 2gb 750m)

can't really afford it, and the mrs will hit the roof

oh well

To those that ordered through quidco and got EDU discount. How long did it take to track?
 
To those that ordered through quidco and got EDU discount. How long did it take to track?

Tracked for me within 24 hours.

How much is the base spec 13" with the education discount?

http://store.apple.com/uk-edu/buy-mac/macbook-pro

£1033.20. Don't forget Quidco.

If you're on a Uni network etc, it's cheaper.

Also having had a look at comparisons with last years model, the battery life is much better it seems on this years models so that is good enough for me (how much of that is due to Mavs I don't know though).

Haswell is a massive reason for the improved battery life!
 
Last edited:
My justification for going for the top spec was that extra £300 got me

CPU Upgrade
512GB SSD
2GB Nvidia 750m

since if I'd have bought the base model I would have spent at least £50 on an external HDD that took the difference down to £250. I didn't think that was bad for the extra stuff. That's me trying to justify it to myself.

This will be my first mac (tried on 10 years ago). Borrowed an old one from work yesterday and installed mavericks on it. Took me all but 30mins to get the hang of it. Quite like it. What did it for me in the end though was Windows 8.

Really don't like the two part operating system (desktop / metro), and I've found little things seem to be getting more and more long winded these days.
 
How does the Edu discount work? what proof u need for purchasing? Is there any discount for contract/freelancers?

If you do it online you need to be connected to your uni network. I used the code from the HE thread to access my uni's HE store and ordered it through that. I don't know if my uni certified it or not but I wasn't asked for any ID or proof. No idea about freelance discounts.
 
I work at the local college, but we have a uni just down the road.

My friend who works there sent me the URL they get whilst on their campus network. I've ordered on the off chance they won't check that I actually work there.

If they do, I'll simply say I work at the college which is part of the same network. In the unlikely event they charge me full price, I'll cancel the order. I'm over my limit anyway, so adding on the full RRP will cripple me.

at the end of the day, it's still an £1,850 sale for them
 
xmFQrw7l.jpg


4kmV0Hrl.jpg.png


China -> Seoul -> Kazahkstan -> Warsaw -> Cologne -> London. :D

Time to restore from my Time Capsule!
 
I got my EDU discount by simply going in store and showing them my student ID, I graduated 2 years ago, so I guess it depends on who you get in store and if they give a **** or not.
 
I work at the local college, but we have a uni just down the road.

My friend who works there sent me the URL they get whilst on their campus network. I've ordered on the off chance they won't check that I actually work there.

If they do, I'll simply say I work at the college which is part of the same network. In the unlikely event they charge me full price, I'll cancel the order. I'm over my limit anyway, so adding on the full RRP will cripple me.

at the end of the day, it's still an £1,850 sale for them

When I bought my MBP I did it over the phone and they asked me to send in my uni photoID (which I did have). One thing lead to another and I completely forgot about it! They never bothered me about it so you should be okay.
 
Back
Top Bottom