What should my next mac be? Graphic Design Student.

Right now I am still rocking the 2.26 Ghz Intel core 2 duo macbook pro 13". I upgraded the memory to 8 gig and it still runs fairly well.
I am still in college, and have recently adopted a minor in graphic design so I have been using heaving software on my mac which I can tell has slowed it down a lot. I have mostly been using Adobe products (Photoshop, illustrator ect..) and it seems to be doing alright. However I have also been starting to use Maya for 3D animation and well it hasn't been holding up too well. Also the 13" screen isn't exactly ideal for design aspects.
So right now, I'm trying to figure out what I should do. My options are the following,
Option 1:
Keep my 13" macbook pro to take to and from school- and purchase a 21.5 in Imac for use at home.
Option 2:
Or sell my 13" macbook and upgrade to a 15" macbook pro.
If I got with option 2, my next question is:
Should I go with the 15 in 2.6 ghz processor, or should I go with the 15in 2.3 ghz processor with a retina display?
Storage isn't too big of a deal because I use an external hard drive to store most of my files.And with the student pricing they are both the same price.
Any help or recommendations would be phenomenal!

I would go with option 1 with a little catch.  Upgrade to SSD on your 13 inch so you can take advantage of the 8GB and SSD speed.
Once you get home, you can do the rest with your new Imac.
If you go with option 2, you're stuck with 1 machine.  That's why I went with option 1.

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