MBP: dual vs quad core

[stek]

My MBP is the 13" dual core with 8GB and 256 SSD, runs Linux VM's fine and can push most apps without problem.

I have a Retina 3.4 i7 iMac, 1Tb SSD, 32gb ram, tried to build a Solaris Cluster, shared storage on another VM, made the machine unusable, so don't think SSD's are the be all, same set up is flying on a what, 6 year old T5220 in the shed/data centre....

That's SPARC over x86 probably tho, the main reason Linux on X86 is utter pants.....

[BlueSharp]

My MBP is the 13" dual core with 8GB and 256 SSD, runs Linux VM's fine and can push most apps without problem.

[SimonMac]

I will be happy with a 12" screen. It would be nice to be back to the size of my old vaio z505...

I use my MBP for ClientsCo, so anything less than 13" inch and it starts to get unproductive

[eek]

My MBP is approaching 4 years old, still runs like a dream, but if the teased MacBook Air with Retina appears I will be jumping, unless its a 12" chassis rather than the current 13"

I will be happy with a 12" screen. It would be nice to be back to the size of my old vaio z505...

[Spoiler]

I'm a bit hesitant to mess with your head at htis point but Macbook Air is a much more portable proposition, with basically the same spec.

Thankfully the MBP has already been ordered, so I can't be dithering about which one to get any more, but appreciate the advice. I went to the store and felt up the 13" & 15" MBP, and am pretty happy with the 13" - I didn't pick up the Air though !

[SimonMac]

I'm waiting for the macbook retina (and probably the iphone 6s plus) and then replacing this macbook retina 15...

My MBP is approaching 4 years old, still runs like a dream, but if the teased MacBook Air with Retina appears I will be jumping, unless its a 12" chassis rather than the current 13"

[eek]

That 3GHz CPU is a monster. Makes my puny 1.4GHz Air envious.
...but the top end Macbook Air boosts to 3.3GHz, this MBP boosts to 3.5GHz.
Other than than basically same CPU.
I'm a bit hesitant to mess with your head at htis point but Macbook Air is a much more portable proposition, with basically the same spec.

I'm waiting for the macbook retina (and probably the iphone 6s plus) and then replacing this macbook retina 15...

[yasockie]

Thanks for the confirmation. I'm getting the 13" MBP with the 3ghz i7 cpu, 16gb ram, 512SSD option - so I should be good to go !

That 3GHz CPU is a monster. Makes my puny 1.4GHz Air envious.
...but the top end Macbook Air boosts to 3.3GHz, this MBP boosts to 3.5GHz.
Other than than basically same CPU.
I'm a bit hesitant to mess with your head at htis point but Macbook Air is a much more portable proposition, with basically the same spec.

[Spoiler]

Thanks for the confirmation. I'm getting the 13" MBP with the 3ghz i7 cpu, 16gb ram, 512SSD option - so I should be good to go !

[SimonMac]

I have a 2011 MBP with the 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 and have had no problem running VM, if you have some extra money I would recommend an SSD over the stock HDD as IMO that will give you a bigger bang for your buck than upping the CPU

[DigitalUser]

You should be fine mate - I've just purchased a 13" MBP (basic spec - no upgrades on RAM, CPU or SSD) and although I don't plan to do any serious dev on it I suspect a couple of VMs should be catered for just fine (depending on how much memory you allocate to each VM, of course).

[Spoiler]

Trying to decide between the 13" and 15" MBP. I really want to go for the 13" for portability (i will be lugging it around a fair bit), but the one thing I'm hesitating on is that the 13" comes with dual-core vs the 15" quad-core. I'll get 16gb ram on either model.

I will occasionally be running some VMs on it (one or two Linux based VMs), and not overly intensive. A quick search appears to show that the 13" should cope with this no problem.

Any personal experiences out there of running VMs on a 13" dual-core MBP ?!