MBP 1,1-10,2 2011 vs 2012 13" MBP

[retta283]

I'm interested in getting a 13" non-Retina MBP just to have something to lug around that's a bit newer than my 2009 15", but I am trying not to compromise much on overall specs. Obviously the 2012 is the newest, but the 2011 runs Snow Leopard and PPC software, which is a draw for me. I am weighing a few different things here:

1. Are the Ivy Bridge CPUs really much faster than the Sandy Bridge equivalents these days, mostly for keeping web browsing/videos from feeling sluggish? I find my 2009 15" is rather sluggish on websites whereas my 2012 mini with i5-3210m is not at all, even with same amount of RAM.

2. tying into the above, do the i7 models of either year run hotter than the i5? Is it worth springing for an i7 on one of these given they are still 2 core with 4 threads?

3. Does the jump from HD 3000 to 4000 make a significant difference?

4. I recall SATA cable failure is a very prominent issue on the 2012. Does it affect the 2011 as well and is it a one-time replacement fix or does it keep happening?

5. Are batteries cross-compatible between the two?

The only thing I know 100% is USB 3 is a big upgrade but I don't expect to do much data transfer once the computer is set up. Had thought about MBA but it seems like those are significantly weaker and I have to buy what I want at time of purchase with no option to upgrade (effectively none due to the price of the SSD upgrades...)

 

[theMarble]

Are the Ivy Bridge CPUs really much faster than the Sandy Bridge equivalents these days... do the i7 models of either year run hotter than the i5? Is it worth springing for an i7 on one of these given they are still 2 core with 4 threads?

Ivy Bridge chips are ~15-20% faster than SB. The 2011 i7 and 2012 i5 are practically the same in CPU performance, with the 2012 i7 being ~20% faster than those two. Both the i5s and i7s have a 35W TDP, however the i7 will boost higher, so could run slightly hotter. With fresh thermal paste though, it wouldn't be noticeable at all.

Does the jump from HD 3000 to 4000 make a significant difference?

The HD 4000 is ~50% faster than the HD 3000, it will be a much more noticeable change than any i5 to i7. Even for web browsing, the HD 4000 will be better.

I recall SATA cable failure is a very prominent issue on the 2012. Does it affect the 2011 as well and is it a one-time replacement fix or does it keep happening?

I believe it affects all Unibody MBPs to some extent, but more often on the 2012. My own 2011 13" had its original SATA cable fail, I did replace it with one from a 2009 13" and it has been fine since then.

Are batteries cross-compatible between the two?

Yes, their batteries are identical.

A lot of your decision comes down to whether you want to run 10.6 or not. If you want to, a 2011 is your only option. If you are willing to go 10.7/10.8, then I would look into either a 2012 13" rMBP or the 2013-14 Air. Both are much lighter and have better displays than the 13" Unibody, and the 2013-14 Air specifically gets you Haswell, the HD 5000 (which is a way faster iGPU), and a much better SSD and battery. You do lose out on upgradable RAM and SATA storage, but if its a secondary retro Mac - how much does that matter to you?

 

[retta283]

A lot of your decision comes down to whether you want to run 10.6 or not. If you want to, a 2011 is your only option. If you are willing to go 10.7/10.8, then I would look into either a 2012 13" rMBP or the 2013-14 Air. Both are much lighter and have better displays than the 13" Unibody, and the 2013-14 Air specifically gets you Haswell, the HD 5000 (which is a way faster iGPU), and a much better SSD and battery. You do lose out on upgradable RAM and SATA storage, but if its a secondary retro Mac - how much does that matter to you?

Are the 2013/14 Air displays really much better quality than the 13" non-Retina MBP, or is it just the extra resolution? It may seem counterintuitive but the higher res on the Air may actually be a downside with my old eyes. Nowadays when given a choice I will always take a lower PPI display for the larger text even at the cost of sharpness, and unfortunately, working space too. Been a while since I saw one of the old Airs in person though so it may be more tolerable than I am thinking in my head.

I am curious about the jump to Haswell though, does that really make a big difference even with the much lower CPU clock speeds? The iGPU is alluring for sure, but there are certain compromises with the Air. Namely the inability to have 16GB RAM, which while not entirely necessary I do find myself pushing past 8GB sometimes when multitasking even in Mavericks. SSD cost is another factor because I do want to have at least 500GB or ideally 1TB of internal storage, thanks to running multiple OSes partitioned it really makes things tighter than they otherwise would be, and I do bulk imports of DV tapes sometimes still which can eat up a lot of space. With MBP I can run dual drives with a mechanical, and use FireWire.