15" rMBP: i7 2.3 or 2.6 GHz?

If $100 extra isnt a big deal to you, than 2.6

2.3 will have SLIGHTLY better battery life and not that significant of performance increase, unless you like to show off benchmarks.

Orlandoech.com said:

If $100 extra isnt a big deal to you, than 2.6

2.3 will have SLIGHTLY better battery life and not that significant of performance increase, unless you like to show off benchmarks.

Click to expand...

If it's truly only $100 extra, than I'd say to definitely go for it.

I was asking myself the same question a few months ago, and then just went with the 2.6 GHz model. Haven't thought about that question since. I also certainly don't regret spending a little extra.

I have the 2.7ghz I do raw editing myself and love the power. I do game once in a while. go for 2.6GHz

why cut yourself off from the best?

wait till mid 2013 and pick up a 3.6Ghz Haswell for the same price if not cheaper than your options now

For $100 more for 300MHz extra speed (both at the base and turbo boost) going from the 2.3GHz to the 2.6GHz seems worth it. I'm not sure why people would spend the extra $250 to go from the 2.6GHz to the 2.7GHz, though.

KPOM said:

For $100 more for 300MHz extra speed (both at the base and turbo boost) going from the 2.3GHz to the 2.6GHz seems worth it. I'm not sure why people would spend the extra $250 to go from the 2.6GHz to the 2.7GHz, though.

Click to expand...

I went with the 2.7GHz because of the 8MB Chache and the more turbo boos.
And when i buy a machine i would like for it to be top class.
And at the time i bought it money wasn't the question
The SSD on the rMBP can be upgraded and i think its only a question about time before there are more options for upgrading SSD.

Mine usually runs pretty cool.. unless I have 3 VMs open + whatever's running on the OS X side.. Even then it's no more than 85 degrees...

For $100, I would just get the 2.6 and not think too much about it... As for battery life, I have no idea what the 2.3 gets, but I get around 7.5 - 8 hrs on mine when using casually... 5 - 6 when really making it work!

It seems to me - from what I've been reading here - that the most economical way to go would be spend the $100 for 2.6 and call it a day for most users. That is if you're hell-bent on not having a stock machine.

For myself, I use Reason and AudioDesk (music) and I think I'm going to go with the 2.6 because I plan on keeping this machine for 6 years or so. My '07 iMac and '07 MacBook are both still performing well so I use that as my own personal longevity mark. I'm only looking to upgrade and consolidate.

So, any musicians out there with a 2012/13 rMBP? If so, what are your experiences with your relative CPU choices and what would you do differently if you could?

Thanks in advance!

i had a 2.3 which i went back cause due to IR issues. i briefly had both the 2.3 and the 2.6 i ordered to replace it and ran a few quick tests. a handbrake video conversion of a 44 min long SD video file from avi to mp4 took about 2 min 29 secs on the 2.6 as opposed to iirc 2 min 40 secs on the 2.3Ghz

take from that what you will.

It is confusing.

macchiato2009 said:

ok thanks

apple should offer less confusing choices

or is this just a marketint trick to do upselling and encourage people to spend more money on options

Click to expand...

It is confusing because those are not really any options for the consumer, Apple just leads you on to thinking there are options but the best way to buy apple is to buy the top of the top of the line at all times. With Apple you 'get what you pay for' literally, you have to bypass the fake options and choices made just to sell all their products and go RIGHT to the maxed out components - then you will be gliding and singing for over 8+ years down the road of blissful computing on a single machine (when I finally converted to a 17"MBP in 2006 from a 1998 PC, my life changed forever) only recently did I add to my Apple collection!!

macchiato2009 said:

but did you notice any change in the battery life or heat ?

what i don't like sometimes with apple products is extra power coming with more power consumption and more heat

i saw that on some previous macs and on the ipad

Click to expand...

You really won't notice a difference between the two unless you're a power user. I used the $100 to upgrade the RAM to 16 GB and kept the CPU at 2.3.

macchiato2009 said:

but did you notice any change in the battery life or heat ?

what i don't like sometimes with apple products is extra power coming with more power consumption and more heat

i saw that on some previous macs and on the ipad

Click to expand...

That's not just an Apple thing. The more power you put into circuitry the more heat will be created, and the more energy used. It's a case of thermodynamics, if you buy a Windows laptop and upgrade the CPU then the higher specced unit will get hotter, and have a shorter battery life.