Hi all. Currently im using Macbook Pro Late 2011 2.2ghz i7. Maxed out RAM to 16gb and Raid0 480GB Dual SSD.

do u guys think this machine still powerful compared to latest retina 13" ?

was thinking of upgrading to retina its either 13" or 15" but since 15" is too expensive im eyeing on 13".

any comments or suggestions are welcome.


if either i sell my old 2011 mbp and get new retina 15"
or
keep my old mbp 2011 and get the retina 13"

thanks guys.

What do you use your MacBook Pro for?

Graphic Design? Video Editing?

mainly video editing.

If your current machine is slowing down your work, it may be time to upgrade.
Sell your current machine to fund your new MacBook Pro.

I have a MacBook Pro 17" Late 2011 for Graphic Design and some video editing works and after 4 years of use, upgraded the 750GB HDD to 1TB SSD and RAM from 4GB to 16GB. The machine now is a beast and I'm extremely happy with it.

well to be honest, after i installed dual ssd and make it RAID 0, maxed out my RAM to 16gb, i never encounter any problems.

its a whole new machine. its just that, i want retina display and usb3 port. haha. maybe i should keep this 15" for main work and get the 13" retina for other stuff like web browsing, movies etc?

im guessing my 15" 2011 slightly powerful than the new 13" retina. dont u think?

I think your 15" 2011 MacBook Pro is powerful for all purposes and you don't need the new 13" just for the Retina Display and USB3 Ports.
Save your money and utilize your current machine to the fullest.
After all, it's all about the work, right?

true that. my machine still powerful. eventho not as fast as the latest 15" but its much faster than latest retina 13". if i wanna upgrade, i might as well upgrade straight to retina 15" right.


This post has been edited by firdausbhari: Jun 7 2016, 03:35 PM

It's a never ending story if you seek for latest and greatest (there's always a newer & better Mac coming), ask yourself, what you really need. If your work required better processing and graphics and your current setup is showing the age maybe by then, it's time to move on. Mind you 13" consider a downgrade considering your current 15" has Radeon 6XXX series in it.

So the crucial questions is, what kinda task you do on the Mac?

By all means sure it's powerful, just as powerful... I'm not too sure. But RAID0 with the right drives sure is hella powerful.

But still one fatal flaw, no retina screen but if you can leave with it then okay lah. But I recommend the 13" for basic tasks, and 15" if you want a powerhaus.

What im lacking now is just the Retina Display and USB3 ports. other than that its all good.

Yep. 13" considered downgrade. mainly for video editing. this baby (mbp15") are still powerful to get full hd videos done.

with RAID0 my read/write speed is about 1GB/s its powerful enough for most video editing. full hd to 4k.

yeah the only thing missing is the retina screen. and USB3 ports. it takes lot of time transfering >5GB files using USB2 ports........

was thinking of getting the 13" for basic tasks as well.

For the money of getting a new Mac, I would get a kick-ass thunderbolt storage and a decent external screen to work with.
Rumours says there will be a retina Cinema Display coming. Or you can settle with some Dell UHD one. They are all good. You will cry to work on a 13" (even it's retina) workspace, when all your palettes and menu already filled up 50-70% on the screen.

thunderbolt storage cost lots of money haha. yeah DELL UHD quite tempting. hahaha true bro 13" is very small to do work but for normal browsing or watching videos i think its good enough.

thanks for your thoughts

This post has been edited by firdausbhari: Jun 8 2016, 02:51 PM

Well i sold my late 2011 15" and got myself mid 2014 15"