13" vs. Refurb 15" - Future proofing

[teknikal90]

Hi all,

I bought a refurb base model 1.4ghz 13" MBP last week. Put 256gb storage on it and 16gb RAM.
I don't upgrade often.
I use it for Logic Pro and Mainstage.

Of course, the 16" launched but that didn't affect the refurb prices on 13" models. But it did on 15" refurbs!

So now the pricing structure is a bit messed up. for CA$1869 I get the model I got... but for QA$2319 I can get a base model late 2019 15" MBP.

the question is should I pull the trigger?

Is $450+ tax worth the 6 core processor upgrade in terms of future proofing and +2 extra thunderbolt ports? I could care less for the additional screen size, in fact, I find the 13" to be way better for portability.

Any thoughts? Kind of time sensitive now as I'm nearing the 15 day return policy mark...

Thanks in advance.

 

[Fravin]

Yes, you should.

Actually I did it!

The base 2019 15" model is a beast compared to the 1.4 MBP. The CPU is tremendously faster. The 6 cores runs like 12 threads, and this makes a huge difference. You have DDR4 RAM in the 15", the 13" uses low powered DDR3. That means a lot of performance thrust.

But CPU/RAM isn't the show stopper here. It's the GPU. While you are getting a struggling GPU from an Intel week processor (the TDP is just 15w in MBP13's 1.4 i5) you will have a dedicated and powerful Radeon PRO 555x with GDDR5 (it doesn't share memory with the system).

Besides that, you will have a more faster SSD too. The SSD in 15inch is twice as fast with readings about 2.300mb/s while the 13inch only reaches about 1.100 mb/s.

And most importantly you will get a full sized TrackPad!

 

[teknikal90]

Yes, you should.

Actually I did it!

The base 2019 15" model is a beast compared to the 1.4 MBP. The CPU is tremendously faster. The 6 cores runs like 12 threads, and this makes a huge difference. You have DDR4 RAM in the 15", the 13" uses low powered DDR3. That means a lot of performance thrust.

But CPU/RAM isn't the show stopper here. It's the GPU. While you are getting a struggling GPU from an Intel week processor (the TDP is just 15w in MBP13's 1.4 i5) you will have a dedicated and powerful Radeon PRO 555x with GDDR5 (it doesn't share memory with the system).

Besides that, you will have a more faster SSD too. The SSD in 15inch is twice as fast with readings about 2.300mb/s while the 13inch only reaches about 1.100 mb/s.

And most importantly you will get a full sized TrackPad!

what do you use your mac for?

 

[Fravin]

Mainly for photo editing.

 

[teknikal90]

Anyone with experience with music??

 

[teknikal90]

Bump

 

[Fravin]

Well, My brother works with Music Production. And I've been helping him with his Macs since 90's. So I think I could help you.

He uses ProTools. His needs are based in two things: RAM and CPU. He doesn't care about disk speed. But RAM speed is game changer. Recording live audio is a CPU related process so you should look for a better CPU.

IMO, if you do audio work, you should jump in for the 15" MBP.

 

[RyawesomeU13]

I have almost the same laptop as you, 1.4, 16gb, 512 ssd. This little laptop benchmarked faster than the 2017 MacBook Pro 15's, it's very powerful for a 13" laptop. The ssd as well is slow on the 128, but pretty good on the 256 and 512 sizes. Based on what you read all over these forums people make it sound like EVERYONE needs the most highest powered ridiculous spec machine. I see posts like 'oh I do some excel, emails, powerpoint, etc', and you get people chiming in saying oh definitely you need the power of the 15" laptop. In reality, again, this little 13 is so capable, go watch reviews on YouTube to see what its capable of. Sure, the 15" has a bigger screen, dedicated gpu, and some other different features, but it is a bigger machine. I have a 2013 mbp15 as well which is very similar in size to the 2019 mbp15. I find it just a little too unwieldy and heavy for more portable use, in my lap, etc, and I've actually barely touched it since getting this 1.4. The reality is that tech moves so fast and people were thrilled with this sort of performance with the 2017 MacBook Pro 15's, which this has surpassed, but suddenly it's not powerful enough? It's so easy to get caught up in the hype, whether it's from apple, or all sorts of users assuming everyone has to be able to edit 8k 2 hour long videos... Good luck on your decision, my advice would be go check out a 15" in person at a Best Buy or something and unless you think wow I love the increased size, save your money and enjoy your mbp 13"