Should I swap out my Macbook Pro for a Mac Pro?

[Avenger]

I currently have a late 2008 unibody 2.4ghz 15" Macbook Pro with 4GB of RAM and a 5400 rpm hd. i was using it on the road for work but now I am using it mainly at home connected to a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse. I don't do too much heavy work. I use Aperture, iPhoto, Office 2011, Plex, Safari, iTunes and the like.

Would I be better served with a Mac Pro since I am not utilizing the mobility of the Macbook Pro? The iMac is out of the question since I have room for my one monitor which is shared between a Mac and PC. My main complaint with my current setup is that it is not too snappy. It takes time to load apps and perform certain operations, I'm have a feeling most of it is tied to disk IO. I went to an apple store today and tried out the current models of the Mac Pro, Macbook Pro and iMac and just did some application opening and closing and a few operations. They all seemed to behave pretty similar (I expected the Mac Pro to be faster but I guess for what I was doing it didn't matter.

So the conclusion I am coming to is that the increments in processor speed between the models didn't seem to affect the performance of the apps I am using. So is it valid to assume that I should go for an SSD in my Macbook Pro and forget abt upgrading to a Mac Pro for now. Are there any other benefits that I'm missing?

 

[S.B.G]

So is it valid to assume that I should go for an SSD in my Macbook Pro and forget abt upgrading to a Mac Pro for now. Are there any other benefits that I'm missing?

Yes, based on your description of use and what you want, an SSD would solve your problems and save you a ton of money on a Mac Pro. You may also want to max out your RAM too. Then you'd be all set for many years to come.

 

[alust2013]

There really isn't a reason to buy a Mac Pro for that, that's way overkill and very expensive. I'd pop an SSD in there and you'll see a real difference. Processing power really doesn't affect how fast apps open, so a Pro won't open apps any faster than another computer with a HDD that's just as fast.

 

[FluJunkie]

I've been in a similar boat to yours - slightly older machine, but the same basic specs and the like.

I can tell you, upgrading from a 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM hard drive has been like a breath of fresh air for my MacBook. I imagine an SSD would be even better.

I'm still looking at a Mac Pro, because the machine has gotten old enough, and my demands hard enough, that I've started wishing I had something more powerful. And with a "good for the road" laptop in the form of my current MBP, a desktop machine seemed...logical.

 

[Avenger]

Thanks for the quick responses. I'm probably going to go the SSD route with the Macbook Pro unless I find a real good deal on a Mac Pro (which I'd then update with a small SSD for the boot disk if I got it and then sell my macbook pro to make up some of the cost). Though the prices on ebay for used Mac Pros are through the roof so that is probably out. The only real thing then that attracts me to a Mac Pro is the potential for expandability. The fact that I can stick in 4 TB of HD's in there without breaking a sweat.