I'm new to apple products. I have some questions regarding Macbook Pro.

[Guest]

I'm planning to buy a Macbook Pro MD101HN/A and upgrade the RAM to 16GB and add an SSD later on (as it's cheaper than a 8GB RAM + 128GB SSD Macbook from Apple). I might need the built-in ethernet port, so thats another reason for choosing this model.
Since I haven't used a Macbook before, I'm gonna ask a few questions:

1. Regarding the display:
Does the display resolution of Macbook Pro MD101HN/A feel too low by today's standard?
Should I go with the newer model of Macbook pro or Air for a better experience?
I have never used a display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. So I need some opinion on this.

2. Regarding RAM:
If I choose to go with the MD101HN/A model of Macbook Pro and upgrade to 16GB of RAM later on, would I be able to utilize all of it? I have read on some forum that you can't actually use the whole 16GB. Is that true?

3. Regarding SSD:
Does Yosemite have good TRIM support for third party SSDs? What brand of SSDs are fully supported or compatible?

4. Regarding Bootcamp and driver support:
Do all Windows apps work fine on bootcamp? (I might need to use some Windows apps until I find Mac alternatives for every Windows software I use.)
How good is the Windows driver support on bootcamp? I'll be installing Windows 10.

5. Regarding battery:
How long would the battery (of Macbook Pro MD101HN/A) last under heavy usage? What is the minimum amount of time it would last for? (Assuming it's in good condition)
I do know that Macbooks last a long time in general. But I'm just curious. The first four questions are much more important.

I'll be using Google Chrome with lots of tabs. I'll be doing some moderate amount of multitasking. I would also be running one virtual machine or maybe two (very rarely) every now and then. Portability counts as a bonus. Which Mac laptop would you recommend?

Thank you in advance

 

[0x1eef]

1. I wouldn't recommend non-retina macbook just because retina screens are awesome.

2. Officially, Apple claims 8GB max. Some third parties actually sell 16GB kits that work (check everymac.com). With a random RAM not full utilization will be the least problem. Might as well crash constantly or not even boot.

3. SSD is okay, though, even on older models like my mid-2010 MBP. Don't worry about TRIM much. First, Apple supports TRIM for all SSDs since Yosemite 10.10.4. Second, modern SSD controllers don't need to rely on TRIM, they perform decent garbage collection themselves.

4. Bootcamp drivers suck. Period. Virtual machine will be better.

5. 5 years & 900 cycles later, I'm able to squeeze 2-3 hours of moderate usage. In 2010 I could get full 6 hours on Wi-Fi, Flash & everything. Apple claimed 10 hours battery life then. Mind you, Snow Leopard wasn't as power efficient as modern versions of OSX

Which one to recommend? 13 retina MBPro 2015, or course. Fast, portable with amazing battery life and screen.

 

[Guest]

1. I wouldn't recommend non-retina macbook just because retina screens are awesome.

2. Officially, Apple claims 8GB max. Some third parties actually sell 16GB kits that work (check everymac.com). With a random RAM not full utilization will be the least problem. Might as well crash constantly or not even boot.

3. SSD is okay, though, even on older models like my mid-2010 MBP. Don't worry about TRIM much. First, Apple supports TRIM for all SSDs since Yosemite 10.10.4. Second, modern SSD controllers don't need to rely on TRIM, they perform decent garbage collection themselves.

4. Bootcamp drivers suck. Period. Virtual machine will be better.

5. 5 years & 900 cycles later, I'm able to squeeze 2-3 hours of moderate usage. In 2010 I could get full 6 hours on Wi-Fi, Flash & everything. Apple claimed 10 hours battery life then. Mind you, Snow Leopard wasn't as power efficient as modern versions of OSX

Which one to recommend? 13 retina MBPro 2015, or course. Fast, portable with amazing battery life and screen.

Thank you for your response and I'm sorry for the late reply. I guess I would go for the 13 inch MBPro retina 2015.

Do you think that 8GB of RAM would be enough if I intend to keep this notebook for the next five years?
I don't expect it to run a virtual machine or do heavy multitasking for five years, but just basic tasks with moderate multitasking (Multiple Chrome tabs + some apps). Would it be enough?

One more thing, do Macbooks feel cooler to touch compared to other laptops (from other brands) in general? Or do they heat up?

What is the failure rate of Macbooks? Do I need an Apple Care extended warranty?

I'm sorry for asking too many questions. Thank you for your time

 

[0x1eef]

About RAM: I can't say. I bought mine in 2010 with 4GB, upgraded to 8GB two years later. I am a developer and a heavy VM user (2-3 Vagrant machines simultaneously or Win8.1 + Ubuntu in GUI, with other apps opened, like Atom, Skype, Twitter). Recently upgraded to SSD and my experience became more pleasant. 8 GB seems okay for my use, I think that 5yo CPU is what's limiting me. And seeing how I can pull heavy multitasking (browser, 2 instances of Visual Studio, MS TestManager, our app etc.) on my work Win machine with about 6GB of RAM out of 16 being used I can say you're probably safe for at least 2-3 years. But I really can't make such a prediction. Probably even you don't know what you might want to run on your laptop in 3 years or so.

About temps: Well, mine was cool back in the days, went through thermal interface refresh twice. There are several factors to consider: while TDP of the CPUs lowered in 5 years, Macbooks also became thinner. And aluminum body actually helps heat dissipation. You won't get burned but the it will get warm. And with a light-to-moderate usage mine is more like "warm" warm rather than "hot" warm even while standing on a couch. Expect to feel less pleasant temps at the bottom in something like 50% CPU load (but nothing to be scary about, either)

About Apple Care: There's no official Apple presence in my country so I couldn't even order it. They are reliable but again, they are so much packed and in so compact bodies that it's hard to say. I also had brief experience with 13" rMBP 2013, 13" MBA 2012. So I can only argue about their strengths, but when it comes to real life using and abusing for a prolonged periods of time, I can only judge from 2010's perspective.
If you're okay with paying for extended (what is it, 3 years?) warranty, then do it. Sorry, nothing I can help with here.

 

[Guest]

About RAM: I can't say. I bought mine in 2010 with 4GB, upgraded to 8GB two years later. I am a developer and a heavy VM user (2-3 Vagrant machines simultaneously or Win8.1 + Ubuntu in GUI, with other apps opened, like Atom, Skype, Twitter). Recently upgraded to SSD and my experience became more pleasant. 8 GB seems okay for my use, I think that 5yo CPU is what's limiting me. And seeing how I can pull heavy multitasking (browser, 2 instances of Visual Studio, MS TestManager, our app etc.) on my work Win machine with about 6GB of RAM out of 16 being used I can say you're probably safe for at least 2-3 years. But I really can't make such a prediction. Probably even you don't know what you might want to run on your laptop in 3 years or so.

About temps: Well, mine was cool back in the days, went through thermal interface refresh twice. There are several factors to consider: while TDP of the CPUs lowered in 5 years, Macbooks also became thinner. And aluminum body actually helps heat dissipation. You won't get burned but the it will get warm. And with a light-to-moderate usage mine is more like "warm" warm rather than "hot" warm even while standing on a couch. Expect to feel less pleasant temps at the bottom in something like 50% CPU load (but nothing to be scary about, either)

About Apple Care: There's no official Apple presence in my country so I couldn't even order it. They are reliable but again, they are so much packed and in so compact bodies that it's hard to say. I also had brief experience with 13" rMBP 2013, 13" MBA 2012. So I can only argue about their strengths, but when it comes to real life using and abusing for a prolonged periods of time, I can only judge from 2010's perspective.
If you're okay with paying for extended (what is it, 3 years?) warranty, then do it. Sorry, nothing I can help with here.

Thank you for your response