Hi folks, I am looking to upgrade my tiring MacBook Pro '07 with the new MacBook Air. My main uses include Football Manager, Photoshop CS6, iPhoto, iMovie, Handbrake, Office and possibly Google SketchUp. I was thinking of holding out for a MacBook Pro Retina, but I don't think I will need the full power like I used to. If I make the purchase I am going to go for 13 inch, 8GB RAM and 256SSD, but I am unsure what processor to go for. For my needs will I be able to get away with i5, or would it be best to pay the additional £122 for the i7? Advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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Advice before I buy.
- Thread starter dontlookback82
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Given what you posted, handbrake can be very cpu intensive and photoshop has the potential of stressing the cpu, depending on what you do with it.
For most users, the i7 is not needed imo, and if you want to beef up the specifications, like ram or storage then that would be a better use of money
For most users, the i7 is not needed imo, and if you want to beef up the specifications, like ram or storage then that would be a better use of money
Since at least the 2011 MBA models, Apple has offered an optional CPU. You are running software that can benefit from a faster CPU. So, the question is how much do you run this software and how valuable to you is a 27% faster CPU?
Can you 'get away with i5'? Of course you can. You're trading money for time and no one but you can determine the value of your time and how much money you have.
If you plan to use HandBrake a lot i would suggest to take the i7. I have the i5/8gb/256gb myself and i tried handbrake to see how long it would take to convert a movie. An average movie took over 2 hours so i would guess u could benefit from the i7 if u do this a lot.
You would make good use of an i7, so if you can afford it, then that's what you should get. If you can't afford it, then that question answers itself.