My new i5 MacBook Pro.

[Christopher]

Yeah, cache is the main difference in the notebooks, the i5 and i7 are much closer in 'real world' performance than the i7 in my iMac.

 

[blambert]

I got one of these at work last week, pretty sweet.....but...the DEL key??? no f**king DEL key!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :dapprove:

Fn + Backspace = Delete

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Don't forget the i7s have an extra 256MB graphics, useful for certain things!

 

[Mwindow]

So far, I'm loving it. It's 80% as good as the i7 in my iMac for nearly everything, which kind of makes me wonder if I ever needed to go i7 in the iMac. Meh.

So anyone considering either the i5 iMac, or i5 MacBook Pro, it's 80% as good as the full fat i7. So really not worth the extra cash, to put it simply. I just thought people might like to know that, considering there's a few on here looking at Macs at present. Hope it helps.

Secondly, i5 is the thinking mans choice.

Finally confirmation that the 'CS bragging spec' isn't essential! Next thing you know you'll be using the i3...

How easy is it to upgrade the RAM yourself on Macs? Are they not a sealed unit?

 

[Adam.]

Finally confirmation that the 'CS bragging spec' isn't essential! Next thing you know you'll be using the i3...

How easy is it to upgrade the RAM yourself on Macs? Are they not a sealed unit?

Macbooks - pop the cover off.

iMacs - little cover under the apple logo that you take off.

 

[Danny133]

I'm happy with my i3 lol

 

[Christopher]

...just not your screen size?

Don't get me wrong, i7>All. But the margins are narrower than I thought.

 

[MaLicE]

rubs i7

 

[Christopher]

+1

 

[Revels]

Rubs extra money.

 

[Christopher]

What was the difference between i5 and i7 27's? I'm guessing a fair chunk.

 

[jenic]

What was the difference between i5 and i7 27's? I'm guessing a fair chunk.

You mean in money? Only about £150 so not too bad tbh

 

[Christopher]

I thought it was more than that. Weird.

My RAM upgrade was more than that. lol

 

[wozzaa]

Apple charge extortionate amounts for RAM upgrades though. Really does piss me off how much they charge, as you literally can buy the exact same modules direct from the company that supply Apple. For less than half what Apple charge. Anyone who spec's up memory on a new build with them has more money than sense. I mean £327 on top of what the original 4GB kit costs for 8GB of ram in a 2 x 4GB configuration, is taking the piss!

I could get 16GB of the exact same stuff for £160. If you got that direct from apple it would come in at £818!

I honestly don't understand their price point with memory, everyone knows it is a cheap item. So why they charge so much is beyond me. They must surely get very few people who spec it up properly with that kind of memory. As anyone who would need 16GB of ram is a power user and probably spent a fair bit on putting together machines etc in the past. So would know how much it should cost.

Still quite happy I bought mine with the standard amount of memory and then spend a little upgrading it myself.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, I upgraded my iMac myself. Sod paying nearly £400 for the 8GB upgrade!

 

[Revels]

It's probably the 'hassle' fee. Someone has to make one specially if you add bits. Otherwise they can just ship it out. You're paying for a pro to fit it. Some people (me ) don't want to take a new and expensive machine apart.

Chris, i7 is £164 more atm. But it was over £200 when I bought mine I think.

 

[jenic]

I thought it was more than that. Weird.

My RAM upgrade was more than that. lol

Thats what i thought, considering how much they usually charge for upgrades.

As soon as lion comes out i'll invest in an imac i think, while i can still get the student discount

 

[Christopher]

It's probably the 'hassle' fee. Someone has to make one specially if you add bits. Otherwise they can just ship it out. You're paying for a pro to fit it. Some people (me ) don't want to take a new and expensive machine apart.

Chris, i7 is £164 more atm. But it was over £200 when I bought mine I think.

See, I think for £164 it's worth the extra? I know it was more when you ordered, mind.

 

[Revels]

It's an extra 10%. Depends if you deem it worth it. Under advice I went i5. £164 doesn't sound much. But add it and it makes the 27" nearly £1850!! LOL

This thing is lightning fast and I don't do anything near max it out.

Did have to chuckle watching some guy on YT doing a tutorial. He clicked to load something and it took aaaaaaaaaages! Speed ftw.

 

[Christopher]

LOL. Yeah, I used a Powerbook G4 the other week. Bless it.

 

[Danny133]

cost me £50 to upgrade my imac to 8GB ram from crucial

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

That's why I went i7, not much more for an upgrade, and future proofs it a tad more

 

[Mwindow]

I'm happy with my i3 lol

How do you find the i3? Is it sufficient for your basic browsing, email, working with photos, etc?

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

^ I've never used one, but I could confidently say it will do all those piss easy, even at the same time!

 

[jenic]

Can you build to order in store? Or is it just online?

How do you find the i3? Is it sufficient for your basic browsing, email, working with photos, etc?

You might find this useful
http://www.intel.com/consumer/products/processors/comparison.htm

 

[lasbazrre]

It's an extra 10%. Depends if you deem it worth it. Under advice I went i5. £164 doesn't sound much. But add it and it makes the 27" nearly £1850!! LOLQUOTE]

+1

£164 isn't a lot if you need it for your work , ect , but if you're just a home user who needs a a bit of creative oomph the price starts mounting up + the same again for the RAM upgrade takes it to 2k!!!!!

Can you ( either yourself or a pro ) upgrade the i5 to a i7 at a later date?

 

[jenic]

+1

£164 isn't a lot if you need it for your work , ect , but if you're just a home user who needs a a bit of creative oomph the price starts mounting up + the same again for the RAM upgrade takes it to 2k!!!!!

Can you ( either yourself or a pro ) upgrade the i5 to a i7 at a later date?

Nope, infact i think the chips itself is physically bigger but i could be wrong.

i7 is the one thing worth speccing, ram can be done later at home.

 

[MikeyK18]

That looks good

Need to get myself an iMac or MacBook this year!

Likewise! I need one in my life!!

 

[Christopher]

Nope, infact i think the chips itself is physically bigger but i could be wrong.

i7 is the one thing worth speccing, ram can be done later at home.

That was my thinking behind going i7 in the 27. RAM can be upgraded later, the processor can't.

 

[Mwindow]

^ I've never used one, but I could confidently say it will do all those piss easy, even at the same time!

How about editing with iMovie? Is that a processor heavy app? (if it isn't obvious, I've never owned a Mac, but am getting ready to make the switch)

You might find this useful
http://www.intel.com/consumer/products/processors/comparison.htm

Thanks, I did find that useful. i3 suggested, i5 better!

 

[Revels]

That's why I went i7, not much more for an upgrade, and future proofs it a tad more

I'll want something new long before it's out of date

 

[Gally]

I'm jealous!

 

[Mot!]

Was Chris the OP, I forget?

Anyhoo, get an optibay - I doubt you'll use the DVDR/W for amnything - it's probably a cack matsh*ta that can't produce anything other than coasters and for loading stuff you can share your iMac's drive.

128gb SSD for app's and OS, 500gb mechanical drive for storage. Winner!

The Momentus XT is ok but a hella slow compared to a decent sandforce powered SSD.

 

[Danny133]

How do you find the i3? Is it sufficient for your basic browsing, email, working with photos, etc?

very much .. i can PS and aperture and itunes and surf all at once with 50mb+ photos easily!

 

[lasbazrre]

18 with a BULLET.................. i7 ordered!

When i found out the i5 couldn't be upgraded to i7 at a later date , i thought £164?????......in like Flynn.

 

[Christopher]

Good man!

iMac or MBP?

 

[lasbazrre]

27" - iMac

Is there any good forums ( apart from this ) for Mac users?

 

[Revels]

http://forums.macrumors.com/index.php

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

LOL. Hobbit has two 'b's', Mr Full Size.

Yeah, well impressed with the i5!

Does anyone have any issues with playing Windows games under Parallels? I know Bootcamp's going to be smoother, but it pecks having to reboot. I have a copy of Parallels so I'll try that if it's not too buggy.

Nice one mate! Although I swear when I was buying mine you were wanting to sell yours and that was like 6 months ago!! New i5 isn't bad though!

Regarding games, I installed Parallels recently to play a couple of Windows only games on, and it's impressive how well they run, but I still don't like seeing Windows on my pretty dock so I just don't play them lol.