MacBook Pro 17" Hard Drive and RAM suggestions

Hi, I want to but the new 17" MacBook Pro with 3.06GHz processor.
I am still unsure whether to choose 4GB or 8GB RAM as well as whether to choose SSD or HDD.
This MacBook will be used to develop iPhone apps, so I would want to have it speedy. On the other hand, I do not want to pay very much extra to get a slight noticeable improvement in speed. What I mean by this is that if 4GB of RAM is more than enough to develop apps then I will most likely not see a huge difference between having 8GB or 4GB of RAM.
I would appreciate to hear some opinions about both SSD and RAM size and whether it is wise to upgrade considering current prices.
Thanks in advance,
P.S. I want to order Antiglare film. Does anyone know about any of its disadvantages, or is it a pure benefit?

For what you described you want to do, 4GB RAM is plenty, and a fast 7200 RPM drive is fine. As for the anti-glare, if you don't want the distraction of sometimes having to see light sources behind you or reflections, get the anti-glare. The glass/glossy screen has more vibrant colors and deeper blacks, but you will get some reflection some time. Your eyes learn to ignore that quite quickly, but some people don't like it.
Unless you're doing heavily intensive app development, and maybe doing video/audio, 8GB is not worth it, and the SSD is even more not worth it. iPhone apps are not that demanding in terms of pure power.
Bryan

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hey, can i clone my Macbook Pro internal hard drive and then paste it all onto a formated external hard drive, then make the Mac use the external as the primary hard drive? please help for i only have around 618mb left out of 189GB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If what doesn't work?
If cloning your internal drive to the external drive is not successful, I expect CCC will tell you so. Assuming that doesn't happen, you will have a bootable replica of the internal drive on the external drive once CCC has finished.
You can then do any of several things:
1. Replace your internal drive with a much larger one (320GB or 500GB, or even larger), and clone the external drive's contents onto the new drive so you'll have all your data in one place. Note that if you do this, you'll also need to buy an external drive that's large enough to back the new internal drive up on.
2. Boot from the external drive as a temporary measure while you clear at least 30-40GB of data off the internal drive, allowing you to keep using it and saving small amounts of data to it. The external drive will then contain the only copies of the files you've deleted from the internal drive, so you'll need a seond external drive large enough to back both the other drives up on.
If you can't comfortably clear a minimum of 30GB off the internal drive, you really need a larger internal drive right now, and you shouldn't bother fooling around with the inadequate one you have — you'll just quickly overfill it again.
3. Replace the optical drive in your MBP with a large conventional hard drive, giving you two hard drives inside the machine. You will then need one or more external drives large enough to back up both of the internal drives.
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Hi there,
I've just purchased a 13" MBP which I absolutely love but have a few questions about upgrading it. I want to swap out the hard drive for a larger capacity but just want to make sure I purchase one that will fit.
I'll number the questions for ease of answering.
1. Will this hard drive be correct? I know it's a 2.5" SATA but I didn't know if the dimensions are ok for the 13" MBP.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-Scorpio-Black-WD3200BJKT-internal/dp/B001FBJJQ4
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Many thanks

That article I believe to be incorrect! The author never mentions which Scorpio drive....Blue or Black. The Blue does not contain a free fall sensor option as the Black is available with our without free fall sensor. The free fall sensor will interfere with the Sudden Motion Sensor (SMS) built into the Mac. SMS can be disabled but my experience first hand with the Scorpio Black in my MBP 13 was not good even after disabling the SMS and merely using the free fall sensor in the Black. If you want a 7200 RPM drive and you like West Dig get the Black without the free fall sensor. You will be much happier. I run the Black in several Windows Laptops and it streams fast then the 7200.4 which I also have in a windows laptop and the scorpio black performed better and more stable! I just dont think I personal would not use it on the MBP 13...I took mine out for it was problematic!! If you want a 500 GB go with the Fujitsu or the Hitachi...even the the Western Dig Scorpio Blue with does not have a free fall sensor. The author of that article mentioned ShockGuard that is not a Free Fall sensor and only engages durring spin up or down as well as parks when it is off. This does not sense a fall like the SMS or a built in free fall sensor. Many MBP unibody owner have used the Blue and it has been hugely successful!!! My experience which is very extensive with Seagate as of late has not been favorable. I do not like the latest generation of drives they are producing we are seeing extensive failures (higher % compared to other OEMs). Stick with those three.
If you want battery life, the Fujitsu or Hitachi are very good choices Fujitsu being a little better
For speed the WD Blue is best on synthetic tests but it is a little power hungry. I am sticking with the Fujitsu in real world test it seemed to do better than the others...H2Benchw it wasnt as good. PCmark it did very well. The Gaming, Video and other test it seemed to do well on but not as good in the h2Benchw.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mobile-hdd-notebook,2305.html
Great info!!!

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No need to type in all caps - we HEAR you!
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Clinton

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I just purchased a Macbook white (Late 2006 model) for my son off ebay. I know next to nothing about hard drives and RAM.
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Replacing the Hard Drive and RAM is very easy. Apple has a PDF file with instructions for replacing a hard drive and RAM. You'll need a #0 phillips screwdriver for the "L" bracket and a Torx 6 driver for the caddy screws.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook13inch_HardDriveDIY.pdf
http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/MacBook_13inch_MemoryDIY.pdf

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Hi all,
This isn't a question, just thought some of you may be interested.
After reaching a stage of rapidly diminishing hard drive space (mainly due to my new hobby of movie making)I was faced with a choice of expanding this Mac or buying a new one. After doing the sums, decided to bite the bullet and expand this one. I've added RAM in the past, but the thought of changing my hard drive was a bit daunting. Nevertheless, after downloading the instructions and reading this discussion group, I figured I could do it.
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Cheers
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Up till the iSight, Apple made computers which were easily serviceable by their owner...
?? What about the 128k, 512k, 512ke, plus, se (all flavors), iMac G3, iMac G4, eMac, Mac mini, laptops, iPod, Newton, etc.?
Really the only Apple devices that Apple expects you to completely disassemble and replace internal parts are the devices targeted for professionals (Mac Pro, Power Mac, etc.).

I had problems with my MacBook pro's hard drive.

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The recycle program makes it easier for you to trade in your old Mac and buy a new one. Apple has a partner that will take the old one and give you a gift card for the value -- if your old Mac is in pretty good condition and doen't have problems (passes the diagnostics).

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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1177
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Message was edited by: leroydouglas

MacBook Pro 17" Hard Drive and RAM suggestions

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