1.2GHz 8GB vs 1.3GHz 16GB. Worth the upgrade?

[OliveroNYC]

Love my 12 inch, still the most perfect MacBook Apple has ever created.
I have the 1.2GHz 8GB, and it is fast enough most of the time (but gets hot and slow occasionally) mostly with Safari.
Do you think it would be worth upgrading to the 1.3GHz 16GB while there are machines available?

 

[Xand&Roby]

There are a pair of YT video that compare 1.3 vs 1.4Ghz full upgraded (BTO), the autor not see a real improvement between the upgrade release.
I'm astonished when see it a couple of years ago 'cause I was searching a 1.4Ghz 16Gb for use it until 2027~2029, but the video tell it doesn't worth the price (1949€ for the BTO).
I think the BTO will suffer less breeze in the end of his days, but differences will be really granular, I've seen the same situation in 2003/2005 PowerBooks 12" and iBooks 12": while the PB could be upgraded to 1.25Gb of ram and 7200 rpm hdd (I upgraded one of mine and not the other) and the iBook could be upgraded to 1GB of ram and 5400 rpm hdd, issues hit everyone, and the upgraded one seems slow then the other two, but the upgraded run everyday Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro suite, also other desktop publishing apps, while the other only works on web and office applications.

 

[OliveroNYC]

There are a pair of YT video that compare 1.3 vs 1.4Ghz full upgraded (BTO), the autor not see a real improvement between the upgrade release.
I'm astonished when see it a couple of years ago 'cause I was searching a 1.4Ghz 16Gb for use it until 2027~2029, but the video tell it doesn't worth the price (1949€ for the BTO).
I think the BTO will suffer less breeze in the end of his days, but differences will be really granular, I've seen the same situation in 2003/2005 PowerBooks 12" and iBooks 12": while the PB could be upgraded to 1.25Gb of ram and 7200 rpm hdd (I upgraded one of mine and not the other) and the iBook could be upgraded to 1GB of ram and 5400 rpm hdd, issues hit everyone, and the upgraded one seems slow then the other two, but the upgraded run everyday Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro suite, also other desktop publishing apps, while the other only works on web and office applications.

Thank you, super useful.

 

[EugW]

I assume you have the 2017 m3 model, right? If so, it would not be useful to upgrade to an i5 just for the CPU. Check out my 2017 MacBook Cinebench-over-time benchmark thread below.

This is how the 2017 MacBook Core m3, i5, i7 behave during sustained CPU load: 10+ runs of Cinebench

I posted this originally in a different thread, but I think it deserves its own thread. See this post for results of the m3, i5, and i7, with the m3 tested on two different table tops...

forums.macrumors.com

Here we compare the 2017 m3, i5, and i7 models in Cinebench, repeatedly a bunch of times sequentially. For the m3, it is also tested on a wood table (retains heat) and a granite counter (wicks away heat).

However, if you have an older 1.2 GHz MacBook, then the CPU boost may be significant.

16 GB may or not help you, depending on how much you multitask. For Safari alone it will not be helpful. I find that with browsers plus light Office plus Messages plus FaceTime plus email, 8 GB is more than enough. However, occasionally if I also have multiple large PowerPoint presentations and a bunch of other stuff open, then 8 GB is not enough.