Please HELP! MacBook Pro with 15-inch Retina Display: which

[Viccc]

As an aspiring music producer, I decided to buy a MacBook Pro with 15-inch Retina Display (since it’s the only MacBook with 16GB RAM), but I see there are two models. The differences between them are:

1) The processor (but I don’t think the user would be able to perceive any difference in speed because of this, do you agree??

2) Storage: 256GB versus 512GB (!!)

I think storage is the only significant difference. But the option with more capacity is way more expensive.

Since I don’t think 256GB is enough to manage my music, should I buy the 256GB option and also buy an external drive, or do you think the 512GB option is worth the price?

Will I have any potential risks with an external drive? (I never used MacBook before).

 

Thank you so much!

[Eriksimon]

As an aspiring music producer, I decided to buy a MacBook Pro with 15-inch Retina Display (since it’s the only MacBook with 16GB RAM), but I see there are two models. The differences between them are:

1) The processor (but I don’t think the user would be able to perceive any difference in speed because of this, do you agree??

 

Not really. It depends on the user. Simply said: in Logic, I would notice this. If a processor is 10 % faster, then you can suddenly play 110 voices on a synth or sampler that could "only" do 100 on the slower machine. Having said that, all three models have enough processor oomph for Logic Pro X.

 

 

2) Storage: 256GB versus 512GB (!!)

I think storage is the only significant difference. But the option with more capacity is way more expensive.

Since I don’t think 256GB is enough to manage my music, should I buy the 256GB option and also buy an external drive, or do you think the 512GB option is worth the price?

 

Don't think so. Go for 256GB and an external with USB3 or Thunderbolt. Save any content (music, projects, movies, photos, documents etc) on the external, keep at least 60 GB or more free on the SSD.

O, and buy a second external purely for backups.

 

Will I have any potential risks with an external drive? (I never used MacBook before).

 

Make sure the external drive is 7200 RPM, make sure it has no "autonomous" energy-saving settings. Often drives labeled "Green" have this. Avoid those.