3rd Gen Macbook Pro Retina vs 4th Gen

SenileTomato · Apr 19, 2014

After looking at the differences of the 15 inch 3rd gen 8gb ram model vs the 15 inch 4th gen 8gb ram model, it looks like the 3rd gen takes the cake. Despite that Apple has put in a new and 'faster' processor, the 4th gen is .4 ghz slower, and is also lacking the 1gb Nvidia Geforce 650M dedicated memory. Instead, it has the on board graphics card, which I am doubtful of.

Now my question is, does anyone have any personal experiences in comparing both of these models in action? I know this may sound silly, but I enjoy using my MBP retina for gaming with its excellent display, and have found the 3rd gen does an excellent job so far. The problem is they no longer sell the 3rd gen, so I am wondering what are the pros and cons, specifically in gaming, when it comes to the 4th gen vs the 3rd gen.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Mark

leman · Apr 19, 2014

If you play lots of games, the older model with the 650M would be a better choice. Otherwise, they are more or less equal. The Haswell CPU has potential to be faster in certain areas, but for that you would need software that supports its new features (which is still quite rare). The new integrated GPU can be faster than the 650M in certain scenarios and slower in other ones (e.g. gaming). I'd take the cheaper one.

mrcheezit · Apr 19, 2014

Yep I agree with the poster above me, the 3rd generation one is better. I've used both at a local reseller and it definitely handles games better but again like he said some software will take advantage of the haswell processor but not much at this point. I would just go for the 3rd gen.

Naimfan · Apr 19, 2014

I may be missing a generation, but aren't the current retina models the third generation?

First was Mid-2012 2.3, then Early 2013 2.4, and currently Late 2013 2.0.

Yes, no, maybe?

simon48 · Apr 19, 2014

Naimfan said:
I may be missing a generation, but aren't the current retina models the third generation?

First was Mid-2012 2.3, then Early 2013 2.4, and currently Late 2013 2.0.

Yes, no, maybe?

Yeah, I think that's right.

Justinhub2003 · Apr 19, 2014

Naimfan said:
I may be missing a generation, but aren't the current retina models the third generation?

First was Mid-2012 2.3, then Early 2013 2.4, and currently Late 2013 2.0.

Yes, no, maybe?

I would say a generation update would mean a new CPU generation and the MBP usually sees 2 models per generation update.

Example: Mid 2012 was Ivy Bridbge
Early 2013 was IVy bridge but with a spec bump: 2.3ghz to 2.4ghz
Late 2013 was Haswell.. And depending on when the haswell upgrades come out, we could see the early 2014 model with haswelll chip but .1 ghz faster

yjchua95 · Apr 19, 2014

simon48 said:
Yeah, I think that's right.

Yes, there's the mid-2012 and early-2013 (both Ivy Bridge), and the late-2013 (Haswell).

However, I think the OP said 4th generation because Haswell is the 4th generation of the Core iX series.

2nd was Sandy Bridge, 3rd was Ivy Bridge and 4th is Haswell.

dalupus · Apr 19, 2014

SenileTomato said:
After looking at the differences of the 15 inch 3rd gen 8gb ram model vs the 15 inch 4th gen 8gb ram model, it looks like the 3rd gen takes the cake. Despite that Apple has put in a new and 'faster' processor, the 4th gen is .4 ghz slower, and is also lacking the 1gb Nvidia Geforce 650M dedicated memory. Instead, it has the on board graphics card, which I am doubtful of.

Now my question is, does anyone have any personal experiences in comparing both of these models in action? I know this may sound silly, but I enjoy using my MBP retina for gaming with its excellent display, and have found the 3rd gen does an excellent job so far. The problem is they no longer sell the 3rd gen, so I am wondering what are the pros and cons, specifically in gaming, when it comes to the 4th gen vs the 3rd gen.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Mark

just save up an extra $600 and get the one with the 750M with 2GB of video memory. Or you can pick it up from the refurb store for just $120 more.
As a bonus you get 16GB or ram.

mcarling · Apr 20, 2014

Justinhub2003 said:
I would say a generation update would mean a new CPU generation and the MBP usually sees 2 models per generation update.

You're extrapolating from a data set of one. It happened once, so you say "usually"??? I use terms like "Ivy Bridge rMBP, "Haswell rMBP", "Broadwell rMBP", etc. to avoid ambiguity in how "generations" are counted.

With the regard to the OP's question, if gaming performance is the criterion, get a 2.3GHz or 2.6GHz Haswell 15" rMBP with the 750M discrete GPU. Why are you looking at only the 2.0GHz model? Price? If so, then keep the one you have.

yjchua95 · Apr 20, 2014

mcarling said:
You're extrapolating from a data set of one. It happened once, so you say "usually"??? I use terms like "Ivy Bridge rMBP, "Haswell rMBP", "Broadwell rMBP", etc. to avoid ambiguity in how "generations" are counted.

With the regard to the OP's question, if gaming performance is the criterion, get a 2.3GHz or 2.6GHz Haswell 15" rMBP with the 750M discrete GPU. Why are you looking at only the 2.0GHz model? Price? If so, then keep the one you have.

For Sandy Bridge, there were two models (early-2011 and late-2011).

For Ivy Bridge, there were also two models (mid-2012 and early-2013).

For Haswell, I wouldn't be surprised if a speed bump was announced during WWDC.

Justinhub2003 · Apr 20, 2014

yjchua95 said:
For Sandy Bridge, there were two models (early-2011 and late-2011).

For Ivy Bridge, there were also two models (mid-2012 and early-2013).

For Haswell, I wouldn't be surprised if a speed bump was announced during WWDC.

Exactly what i was saying.

Its not even just the retina models, its been the trend as of the last few Intel chip interations.

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