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2.0 ghz i5

sevoman

sevoman

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 23, 2016
43
11
Ancient Egypt
Going to order the 13" non touchbar model
Only two processor choices:
- 2.0 ghz dual core i5 Turbo to 3.1 ghz
- 2.4 ghz dual core i7 Turbo to 3.4 ghz

I am for sure getting 16 gb ram + 256 ssd

Question: Is there a marked difference between the 2.0 i5 vs the 2.4 i7 in terms of:
-battery life
-fan usage/noise
-speed (web browsing, emails, spreadsheets, watching videos, occasional 1080p video editing)

Want to order this thing soon, the processor choice is bugging me.
I don't want to get an i7 if I don't need it and it will eat up battery... but the 2 ghz i5 does seem underpowered.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
 
sevoman said:
Going to order the 13" non touchbar model
Only two processor choices:
- 2.0 ghz dual core i5 Turbo to 3.1 ghz
- 2.4 ghz dual core i7 Turbo to 3.4 ghz

I am for sure getting 16 gb ram + 256 ssd

Question: Is there a marked difference between the 2.0 i5 vs the 2.4 i7 in terms of:
-battery life
-fan usage/noise
-speed (web browsing, emails, spreadsheets, watching videos, occasional 1080p video editing)

Want to order this thing soon, the processor choice is bugging me.
I don't want to get an i7 if I don't need it and it will eat up battery... but the 2 ghz i5 does seem underpowered.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Won't effect battery etc. Really not much point maxing out the base model, you won't notice a difference. I don't know what the cost of the upgrade is though, it could be worth it at $100 but honestly if it's several hundred I wouldn't bother. Especially for your use you just would never see the benefit, whereas that extra few hundred could go towards a fancy new chariot.
 
New_Mac_Smell said:
Won't effect battery etc. Really not much point maxing out the base model, you won't notice a difference. I don't know what the cost of the upgrade is though, it could be worth it at $100 but honestly if it's several hundred I wouldn't bother. Especially for your use you just would never see the benefit, whereas that extra few hundred could go towards a fancy new chariot.
Click to expand...


The upgrade from i5 to i7 is $300
Although I did read somewhere that having an i7 vs i5 does increase battery usage, under same usage.
A golden chariot costs a lot, right now I'm good with my old one. ;)
 
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If you want me to be honest I think the i5 will be just fine. Core i5's are monsters. The most intensive task you named was editing 1080p video and I don't think the Core i5 will give you any issues with that.

I'd only recommend the i7 if you were editing 4K footage from a high end camera like a RED or something.
 
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As far as I know there really isn't much difference between i5/i7 in the dual core architecture. If you were wanting to spend that money you'd be best with the base MBP. Otherwise I vote just keep it vanilla, the i7 will not get you any closer to Horus.
 
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New_Mac_Smell said:
As far as I know there really isn't much difference between i5/i7 in the dual core architecture. If you were wanting to spend that money you'd be best with the base MBP. Otherwise I vote just keep it vanilla, the i7 will not get you any closer to Horus.
Click to expand...

Merci!
 
Beside their clock frequencies, those i5 and i7 are exactly the same processor (same features and/or technologies).

http://ark.intel.com/compare/91169,91156

The only relevant difference is thus their turbo max frequency; 3.1GHz versus 3.4GHz.

When loaded at 100%, wait times will be:

32 msec instead of 30 msec
32 sec instead of 30 sec
32 min instead of 30 min

Does it worth is $300?
 
Last edited:
Geekbench benchmarks show only 5%-10% difference between the 2.0GHz i5 and the 2.4GHz i7. Its unlikely you'll see the difference in real-world situations.

The 2.0GHz chip, despite the seemingly low base clock speed, is definitely not underpowered. It's essentially the same speed as the high-end i7 13" model from 2015.
 
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Yoshimura said:
Beside their clock frequencies, those i5 and i7 are exactly the same processor (same features and/or technologies).

http://ark.intel.com/compare/91169,91156

The only revenant difference is thus their turbo max frequency; 3.1GHz versus 3.4GHz.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that was a good comparison.
Considering they have the same number of cores... is the clock frequency the major indicator of performance?
[doublepost=1479931516][/doublepost]
xraydoc said:
Geekbench benchmarks show only 5%-10% difference between the 2.0GHz i5 and the 2.4GHz i7. Its unlikely you'll see the difference in real-world situations.

The 2.0GHz chip, despite the seemingly low base clock speed, is definitely not underpowered. It's essentially the same speed as the high-end i7 13" model from 2015.
Click to expand...


Thanks, I think I've made up my mind... non touchbar + i5 + 16 gigs + 256ssd
BTW I read on laptop mag that the touchbar version gets 1 hour less battery life.
 
Just wanted to add this in here since I didn't earlier. If you're curious as to what the difference is between the i5 and i7--it is hyperthreading. I could try and explain it, but I'd do a poor job. Linked below is a Wikipedia article on hyperthreading. :)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-threading

You might read that article and think "wait so you're telling me the i7 is an 8 core processor?!" (which it isn't), but most developers don't take advantage of hyperthreading in their apps. So for most folks, the i7 is a waste since the i5 is basically the same processor. Get the i5 for sure.
 
v0lume4 said:
WHAT. Color me uninformed! How long has this been the case? Since Skylake?
Click to expand...

I thought it'd always been the case? (Barring random differences in lower powered versions). I thought i3 was dual core, i5 was dual core or quad core with hyper threading, and i7 was quad core with hyper threading? So i3 budget, i5 best value/performance, and i7 outright the winner!
 
Yoshimura said:
Both have hyperthreading. Both are exactly the same!

http://ark.intel.com/compare/91169,91156
Click to expand...

New_Mac_Smell said:
I thought it'd always been the case? (Barring random differences in lower powered versions). I thought i3 was dual core, i5 was dual core or quad core with hyper threading, and i7 was quad core with hyper threading? So i3 budget, i5 best value/performance, and i7 outright the winner!
Click to expand...

Okay. I feel like a colossal dumb dumb. I just checked the Apple website and I literally had no idea that the 13" MBP's are shipping with dual core processors (I should have read the OP more closely). I thought the 13" models shipped with quad cores like the 15".

You two were right. On dual core chips, both i5 and i7 provide hyper threading ( I assume to make up for the lack of four cores). I just looked up the quad core chips and for those, the i5 doesn't have hyperthreading but the i7 does.

Thanks for pointing that out to me!
 
The i5 and i7 will have similar battery with low use.
On medium use i7 will use more battery about 10%.
On high use i7 will use more battery about 15-20%.
 
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