What MBP 13" for my needs?

[fraxool]

Hello,

Actually I have a MBP 15" Retina 2014 with i7 2.5Ghz / Dedicated Graphic Card / 16Go RAM. I was going to keep it with the purchase of a 2016 12" M5 Macbook. I wanted to do that because I will be travelling a lot during the next months. I am a freelance web / app developer, and for the moment, I work full time on my 15" MBP. However, after thinking deeply about this idea, I thought that it was not a so good one.

Even if it could be, because I would still have my 15" for the biggest CPU tasks, I will be on the road & travelling most of my time (almost not at home) in the next months. Why bothering with a 15" that I could barely use? So instead of that, I have put if for sale, and have already someone interested. In case I sell it, I am deeply thinking about the best compromise between the 12" and the 15" : the MBP 13". I need a compact computer to use when I am in the train, plane, and that I can put in my bag for long walks.

My use is mainly these apps :

- XCode
- Coda 2
- Atom
- iOs / Android Emulators
- Video with mostly iMovie but sometimes Final Cut too (1080p, maybe little 4K in the future) - but light edit overall (mainly vlogs for my YT channel filmed with a GoPro)
- Photoshop CC
- Normal tasks like web browsing etc.

That will be my main work station. So I am really thinking about the configuration. I have read here and there, that the i7 is not worth it, is it right? Should I stick with the i5 3.1Ghz or even the 2.9? About the RAM, it will be 16Gb, for sure. And as for the SSD, is there a speed difference that gives a real change in real world tasks (not only benchmarks) ?

I will have the budget for the maxed-out one, but if I can keep my money for some useless upgrades regarding my use, it would still be great!

Thanks for your help!

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Yeah the i7 is rarely worth the effort and a .2 increase in processor speed will make very little difference to you unless you are maxing it out all the time so I'd go for the 2.9 i5 with 512 SSD and the 16gb ram upgrade if I was you.

It will, of course, be slower at transcoding video than the 15 inch (about half the speed maybe even slower) everything else will be just fine. All the ssd's in the new machines are blisteringly fast just buy on the size you need.

 

[andy9l]

I'm also keen to find out what the differences are between the mobile dual-core i5 and i7 CPUs.

On the quad-cores the main difference is hyper-threading, but it seems both dual-core i5 and i7 CPUs allow for equal hyper-threading. From benchmark figures and Intel docs, it really does look like a £180 price tag for a 2.5%-or-less performance boost in perfect situations.

Possibly just a profit grab from the lesser informed?

 

[fraxool]

Thanks for the replies!

The person who comes tomorrow to see my MBP 15" really should take it. So I will need a new one quickly after that because it's my main workstation. So until now I think the configuration I'll get is the following :

MBP 13" Touch Bar with :

- 512Gb SSD
- 16Gb RAM
- i5 2.9Ghz

Hope I will not regret it... But I don't think! The size seems to be the best for my needs. Hope the performances will follow.

 

[andy9l]

I'm sure it'll be fine. You've always got 14 days to send it back either way.

 

[ZapNZs]

I think you will be very happy with the 13 you are considering, and that you will be thrilled with the balance of portability & power.

Since this will be your main workstation, are you going to be using an external monitor(s) when not on the go?

 

[fraxool]

Done! After reading A LOT of topics and your amazing answers, I have just ordered the following config :

MBP 13" Touch Bar with :

- 512Gb SSD
- 16Gb RAM
- i5 2.9Ghz

Can't wait to receive it!

Since this will be your main workstation, are you going to be using an external monitor(s) when not on the go?

Yes, I have an Asus 23" external monitor to work with ;-) !