Excellent pricing for this quality laptop. This is the recently outdated model with the 2.4ghz/4gb/128gb combo!
The base model Macbook Pro 15" with the 2ghz/8gb/256gb combo is also available for $1759.12!
This is probably going to be the best price you will see for these highly popular laptops for awhile.
I purchased the 13" model earlier this year and it is a little portable powerhouse!
This years model was a minor spec bump on last years model. Not everyone needs 8gb ram, most people are fine with 4gb. For a $200+ saving, is 4gb of ram and a minor speed boost worth it?
Yes.
4GB RAM is really not enough nowadays, unless people only browse Internet or do MS word processing.
You can batch edit 32gb worth of RAW files on Photoshop CS6 with a i5u and 4gb ram… so no.
OSX consumes 3GB+ of RAM on idle. If you're running anything memory intensive you'll see a significant improvement with 8/16GB of RAM. Even if you're "just browsing the Internet". I've tested it out on a base MBP with 4GB of RAM and the exact same model with 16GB.
If you'd like to run parallels or fusion, then 4GB will be quite a nightmare.
The 128GB space is a little tight…
Yeah not the biggest size but for the money, you could be buying a base model Macbook Air 13". The Pro has a heaps better display, better graphics performance, is relatively compact and has excellent battery life like the Air!
not a little, it's very…
For that price the specs are a joke. If it wasn't called macbook no one would touch it.
You are paying a premium for the Apple ecosystem and warranty support. These computers are built to last and are a sound investment when it comes time to sell in a few years time. They hardly get viruses and are very fast and easy to use. The continued growth in the Apple computer division in contrast to the continued decline of other computer companies is good evidence too.
They don't need viruses. They have got the cloud which is much worse.
Have had Macbook Pros for years along with Windows graphics workstations.
Love them. They absolutely crap on Windows laptops for build quality and user experience. I love my Win workstations for 3D and gaming, but for everyday computing the MBP is a winner by a massive margin.
Completely Agree, can install mac os onto any intel hardware, just getting some shinny computer, great if you needed a mirror, not so good if your purchasing bang for buck PC.
I don't really understand your logic here. Its hard to judge a book by its cover. Its a contrast to the spec heads who need a quad core processor and a 4k display on their mobile phone. These computers are built to last, have excellent colour accuracy and work fluidly with the Mac operating system. This is a good buy for an entry level laptop that will last years.
I don't see the Macbook as overpriced. You can buy cheaper Windows laptops with better internals, but not with better externals. It's OK to say it's not as good at gaming per $ spent, but given most people aren't playing high end games on their laptops, they are probably going to enjoy a high quality screen and keyboard more than an i7 and graphics card anyway.
If you just want a better CPU/graphics card per $ spent, Macbook is not the place to look.
Its been a while since I tried osx86. Has it gotten easier in the last 4 years?
Its different to Windows but once you get used to it, its an excellent operating system. Definitely worth a try as they really have kept enhancing it over time!
I like quality and aesthetics. Most Win laptops are plastic crap. They really are.
Strangely enough, computers aren't different from most other goods I buy where I want them to look good and not break.
Mac hardware is designed from the ground up to work together. Yes, I agreed the price is higher for the specs when compared to a PC equal, but you're paying for certainty.
but you're paying for certainty
The certainty of being charged a massive amount over what the actual hardware is worth all because it has 'Apple' on it?
Honestly, when you consider the build of Macbooks, they're not that overpriced, that said this whole "designed from the ground up to work together" can be applied to most Windows laptops anyway. Nor are Macs any more or less stable than Windows machines these days.
The build quality of a Macbook air is far superior to any Windows ultrabook I have ever used. I have never, ever used a Windows laptop that managed to comfortably give me 10+ hours of work time.
Unless you compare it to something like an Asus Zenbook.. which, is more or less them same price as a Macbook air.
I like macs, they're an exclusive club for the computer illiterate.
128gb kills it.
As does 4GB.
Don't be so picky. It is a great offer at a great price with great value. Once you get you just need to replace the ssd for a bigger one and the RAM to 8GB. And probably a few more little upgrades but besides that it is totally worth the money. And don't forget to sync your photos into the cloud!
with the extra trouble and money + the possibility of voiding your warranty, it is not worth the savings.
You actually can't upgrade the RAM with this model.
Just bought mum a 13" 2.6/8gb/512gb for $1583. $200 cheaper than refurb and $600 cheaper than the new model at only 200mhz slower.
Thanks OP! The last gen discounted never works with a voucher!
Glad I could help! I thought these prices were pretty competitive.
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Does anybody know to apply Dick Smith staff card discount while making an online purchase?
128gig drive is pretty miserable for the price.
Seems pretty standard for a device of this calibre to me.
It's concerning how many people are worried about 128GB storage on a laptop. There is literally no functional use for a laptop hard drive bigger than this. If you need more for work on a day-to-day basis, a laptop is probably not the right device. Or if you insist on collecting 800 hours of already-watched TV episodes then I think an external HDD might do.
Not quite. IMHO, a base OS installation would be 20-30Gig. Add a Windows VM for using MS Office and other killer Windows apps and you're at 60-80gigs (40GB is approx the right size for a Win 7 install).Add in your working documents/files as well as applications on your OSX and you've pretty much saturated the disk.
Legitimate question: why would anyone run a Windows VM just to run MS Office?
Have you ever used excel on Mac?
I have both licenses. It does my head in using Office for Mac. A truly sh1thouse piece of software. Just feels so wrong.
I've got a Parallels VM with Windows 7 which has Office and a couple of Windows only programs that I need for uni and it takes up <25GB.
I'm guessing an absolutely minimalistic Windows 7 32bit? Should be in the order of 10-12gig.
Minimum requirements are:
16GB for 32bit
20GB for 64bit
Partner has a 128GB MBA. It's trimmed down with a Windows 7 VM which uses around 20gig which has 30 gig allocated (I only have licenses for 64bit Windows 7 Pro). However, she does have to rely extensively on her ext HDD most of the time for most of her files.
So it's definitely possible to use 128Gig, but you will have to get an ext HDD.
anglaise88's statement:
There is literally no functional use for a laptop hard drive bigger than this
Should be corrected to:
Based on my usage patterns, I feel that I have no literally no functional use for a laptop hard driver bigger than this
PS: I haven't negged you.
@omgwtfbbq:I'm happy to concede that a 128GB Mac notebook would not be viable in your highlighted situation, however by adjusting your workflow, a 128GB Windows laptop probably could be.
Ultimately I'm not trying to suggest 128GB is the optimal size. I'm suggesting that 128GB is more than enough if you're willing to modify your usage patterns.
@omgwtfbbq: Mine is Win 7 64bit SP1 and fully updated. I try to keep the virtual drive pretty clean and junk free.
not tru at all. My son has a 128gig MacAir and is often moving items on and off the pc.
Not all items are "in the cloud" or want it to be stored away.
and why have an external drive when a decent size internal is more convenient.
+1 Macs are excellent.
high quality operating system build on Bsd/unix, very easy to use.
bought a Macbook Air recently after a couple of decades of Windows Bs and Linux.
128Gb is enough, you get used to it plus have a 128GB SD card always in, bunch of external drives for itunes, time machine etc.
the battery goes on for ever, no problems taking the laptop somewhere out with 30% battery
if u buy this to run Windows in a virtual machine than see your local doctor for a prescription of something, anything!
resale value of apple products is very good later down the line.
it's difficult to explain to someone what real chocolate tastes like with all the apple high school trash talk about from ignorant massess with no clue.
Well said, I don't know how people can draw conclusions without using the product in the first place. Apple does have that stigma attached to them from their iPhones and iPads but their computers are the exception. They are a quality product built to last at a reasonable price.
well said.. I am not too concerned about the 128gb storage but just a little concerned about 4gb RAM.. well I can upgrade that if required without voiding warranty?
if u buy this to run Windows in a virtual machine than see your local doctor for a prescription of something, anything!
There are valid use-cases for having a functional Windows VM. Some of them being:
1. Certain apps are better on Windows than on Mac; e.g. MS Office.
2. There are quite a few apps that need a fair bit of tinkering to get working on OSX; however, there are precompiled binaries for Windows.
3. I like having a scratch VM lying around to install potentially unsafe applications/or browsing using insecure wireless networks. I prefer Linux, but easier to setup a Windows VM with VMware tools.
My comments are based on a 128gig MacAir.
I'm no religious Mac fan myself but bought a Macbook Pro in 2008, since then I've changed 3 Windows Laptops and the Mac is still performing as good as whatever I buy for similar price range in Windows computers, you can diss them all you want but they sure do know how to make notebooks.
Looking forward to refreshing my Macbook once it dies out (hopefully soon for tax purposes!)
i don't understand the bickering about mac pricing. ozbargain is all about getting a great deal compared to the market average for a particular product. if you don't want a mac, don't buy one! for those who do want these products, this is a great deal.
Keep in mind that the 13'' you're referring to is last year's model that only has 2.4ghz and 4gb ram compared to this year's 2.6ghz and 8gb ram.