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Archive 2016 · Should I upgrade anything in this Macbook pro?

  
 
Dj R
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Should I upgrade anything in this Macbook pro?


I was considering putting $3k into a new iMac 27" 5k i7 32gb 4gb 1tb-flash, but having second thoughts.
I already have a 27" tbd, while it's not 5k, my clients aren't either.

I recently got a macbook air 11", which is why I thought to sell the MBP & 27" display and just get a new iMac. I am not using the MBP as a laptop at all now.

However, the more I thought about it... I am not suffering with my current setup.
But it's been so long! Figure there may be something glaring about my specs, perhaps I could upgrade something and see some improvement.
I don't know computer hardware all too well. So hoping one of the pros here, could advise me a bit.


I exclusively use LR6 for post. NO video. D810 so pretty substantial at 36MP.

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012)

2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz) with 6MB L3 cache

Upgraded it to Crucial 16GB of Ram / 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2x8GB)

1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm - probably the downfall of the machine?

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory and automatic graphics switching - would I benefit from a better card, this was decent in it's day.

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors


Thank you for your time.



Mar 18, 2016 at 07:54 PM
lara_ckl
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Should I upgrade anything in this Macbook pro?


Your only upgrade left for this machine is to upgrade the HDD to a SSD. 16GB memory is the max it can take. Pretty sure you can't upgrade the video card or the VRAM.



Mar 18, 2016 at 08:31 PM
przero
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Should I upgrade anything in this Macbook pro?


The SSD will be a NOTICEABLE improvement for just a few bucks.....


Mar 18, 2016 at 10:42 PM
Keith B.
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Should I upgrade anything in this Macbook pro?


I have the same machine, except Retina display. 16GB ram, i7, SSD. The SSD will greatly speed up boot time, but but be prepared for the SSD to only moderately speed up Lightroom processing of files from the 36MB camera..


Mar 19, 2016 at 03:12 AM
lara_ckl
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Should I upgrade anything in this Macbook pro?


Dj R wrote:
I was considering putting $3k into a new iMac 27" 5k i7 32gb 4gb 1tb-flash, ........


Don't think you are going to get an iMac at those specs for $3K. More like $3800 to $4100 depending on which video card you put in. Assuming you can even get Apple to BTO for you.



Mar 19, 2016 at 06:57 AM
Dj R
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Should I upgrade anything in this Macbook pro?


lara_ckl wrote:
Don't think you are going to get an iMac at those specs for $3K. More like $3800 to $4100 depending on which video card you put in. Assuming you can even get Apple to BTO for you.


I do not purchase directly from apple
I use https://www.powermax.com
apple certified distributor
this way I don't overpay for ram and other upgrades, and it's all installed. and it arrives in only a few days.
no tax on shipments in the usa.

with all of that said, you're right in that it would be a bit more than 3k, probably somewhere in between that and what you're suggesting.

cheers



Mar 19, 2016 at 09:32 AM
Alan321
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Should I upgrade anything in this Macbook pro?


I think the benefits of an SSD over a HDD will depend greatly on how you use Lr and how much your image files are spread all over the place out of sequence. The more spread out they are the more HDD head movements and delays you can save.

The faster you whiz through files in the develop module the more significant will be any time savings and, conversely, the longer you spend on each file the less you will appreciate the faster SSD while in Lr.

The SSD also speeds up making backups / clones with the likes of Carbon Copy Cloner.

Overall I like SSDs but with your MBP you have space for only one and so it will have to be big (and relatively expensive) to make it useful. Then again, they're half the price and four times as big as they were just a few years ago. You would need a SATA III drive but that is limited to SATA III speeds - nowhere near as fast as modern Macs with PCIe SSDs. Nor as expensive. You can now get a Samsung 2TB SSD for under $800.

On the plus side, your MBP has thunderbolt or thunderbolt 2 for very speedy external storage options.

- Alan



Mar 20, 2016 at 08:17 AM
Dustin Gent
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Should I upgrade anything in this Macbook pro?


i would say an SSD will make it much speedier. If you go to OWC (macsales.com) they have a comparison video of boot up times. I have a mid 2011 iMac that i have 16GB RAM in it, and instead of spending money on a new one, I will probably end up getting a pair of SSDs in it when the HDD takes a dive.


Mar 22, 2016 at 08:16 PM





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