

Ask HN: Did I make a MacBook Pro buying mistake? - jason_slack

I am doing C++, iOS, Web, OpenGL, etc<p>Currently I have a:<p>- Early 2011 13 inch MacBook Pro
- 2.3ghz Core i5
- 16gb DDR3
- 2 x 750gb striped (removed superdrive)<p>Machine works great. My only real complaint is that when using the iOS Simulator I have to scale to 75% to test at 1024 x 768 and I have to scale further to test retina apps.<p>So I went and bought a new:<p>- 15 inch MacBook Pro
- 2.3gz quad core i7
- Going to put in 16gb (from the 13 MBP)
- Going to remove the superdrive and put in the 2 x 750gb from the 13 MBP.
- I know this model has dedicated video
- better resolution that the 13 MBP<p>So this was about $1850 out the door. I can sell my 13 MBP with 2 x 500 (I have these) and the 4gb from the 15 inch and probably recoupe $850.<p>So out of pocket $1000.<p>Did I make a worthwhile purchase or should I take it back and do something different?
======
to3m
If you are earning money from this line of work, you owe it to yourself to buy
a proper device. In fact, you owe it to yourself anyway - the iOS simulator is
terrible. The performance is hilariously unrepresentative, the touch
simulation woefully limited, and you can't even play any games on it.

So, instead of spending all this money on this fancy new Macbook Pro, why not
just buy an iPad? For the money you've spent, you could have bought an iPad 4
AND an iPod Touch 5G AND an iPod Touch 4G, and you'd still have change for the
bus home. Probably even a taxi back, in fact.

Your new collection would cover every possible aspect ratio and resolution of
the devices that your customers are likely to have, and do a good job of
covering the performance bases as well.

~~~
andymoe
Totally agree with this. My father is a carpenter and he taught me not to
skimp on tools. I paid 3k for one of my MBPs in 2009 and it's still kicking.
That laptop has paid for itself well over 100 times since then.

~~~
jason_slack
so would you keep the MBP 15 from the MBP 13 or return it and buy devices for
teting on real hardware?

~~~
andymoe
Well I'd have gone with a retina version of the MBP at this point but I
understand why you did not given your HD space needs. In your situation if I
was happy with the 13" inch aside from the simulator issue I'd probably make
sure I had a retina ipad to test on first so I'd just return the MBP and go
that way.

Next I'd probably also buy a 27" thunderbolt. I have one at work and don't
have one at home and it's kind of killing me - in a privileged first world
problems kind of way... I like to close my laptop and just use the large
display so I can have both Xcode and any reference material I want on the same
display without needing to move my head to look at the laptop.

------
andymoe
I think you forgot the solid state drive. Honestly I would have just paid up
for a large external monitor and a solid state drive for the 13" MBP. Xcode is
sooo much nicer with a lot of RAM (check) and a solid state drive but maybe
you are getting enough performance boost from the striped drives. I doubt it
though.

EDIT: Also, I hardly ever use the retina simulators since they get in the way
and you really need the device to get a good feel for how an apps feels so I
just test on actual devices so you could spend the $1k on those instead too.
All that said the 15" MBP is a solid machine. I have two.

------
btian
I'd have gotten a SSD if I were you but otherwise it's perfectly sensible.

~~~
autotravis
SSD is mandatory: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5585411>

Mine is very slow with a 5400 RPM drive.

~~~
jason_slack
These 2 x 750 I have are 7200 rpm.

