16" VS 2020 13" MBP for music production

[Abaganov]

Asking for a friend who works in logic. does the 16" base model offer any significant value compare to the 13" MBP 10 gen chip base model when it comes to music production ? thanks in advance!

 

[Fishrrman]

I'd want the 16" -- for the larger display.
With DAW software, the larger the display... the better.

 

[Abaganov]

I'd want the 16" -- for the larger display.
With DAW software, the larger the display... the better.

he works with a ultrawide monitor so the display not a huge issue

 

[drxcm]

Both will be awesome for logic.

 

[DanMan619]

In terms of music production, the biggest difference between the 2020 13" MBP and the 2019 16" MBP would be the CPU options and RAM. DAWs tend to be more CPU intensive than GPU intensive (based on what my roommate who also produces music like your friend does tells me), GPU basically doesn't matter. The 13" has the newer 10th gen chips, but the 16" 9th gen chips have more cores. The 13" tops out at 4 cores and the 16" starts at 6 cores in it's base model. RAM is (again, according to my roommate) your next most important spec because it helps determine how many plugins or instruments and what not you can have open at once in the DAW. The 13" has up to 32 GB of RAM and the 16" has up to 64 GB of RAM.

Me personally i'd probably go for the 16" mainly just for the 2 extra CPU cores and the option of upping the RAM to 64GB (even on the base model). I would think in this case with the two having released so close together and Intel's year to year CPU updates being so minimal these days, i think the CPU core count and RAM capacity would matter more than 9th gen vs 10th gen. The 13" would still be totally useable though for sure long as your friend isn't doing projects with a gazillion audio tracks with tons of effects and such.