2015 rMBP 15" Base or rMBP 13" 2.5 upgraded 16GB Ram

[meyer1131]

Ive had a runaround with Apple the past few weeks just trying to purchase a computer on my Apple Barclays Rewards cards. I now have 2 machines, the 15" 2015 Base rMBP and the 13" rMBP 2.7 GHZ with upgraded RAM to 16GB. Which will be better for long term? I understand with the 15inch I am getting an upgraded graphics card though not dGPU and a quad core vs a dual core. I am coming from a 15" 2011 MBP. Would you recommend returning the 15" or the 13"?

I do a lot of web surfing, google hangouts, Skype, Microsoft Office, but I am looking to get into some computer science programming.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Ive had a runaround with Apple the past few weeks just trying to purchase a computer on my Apple Barclays Rewards cards. I now have 2 machines, the 15" 2015 Base rMBP and the 13" rMBP 2.7 GHZ with upgraded RAM to 16GB. Which will be better for long term? I understand with the 15inch I am getting an upgraded graphics card though not dGPU and a quad core vs a dual core. I am coming from a 15" 2011 MBP. Would you recommend returning the 15" or the 13"?

I do a lot of web surfing, google hangouts, Skype, Microsoft Office, but I am looking to get into some computer science programming.

Thats a decision only you can make, if you want the best portability the 13 inch will be fine for your use, if you want best performance the 15 inch will be a better performing machine for many apps.

 

[meyer1131]

Is the non dGPU 15" worth it? A lot of people seem to be going with the dGPU model- however, I will not be doing extensive video editing or gaming. I am curious about the base 15 vs the 13.

 

[Fthree]

Is the non dGPU 15" worth it? A lot of people seem to be going with the dGPU model- however, I will not be doing extensive video editing or gaming. I am curious about the base 15 vs the 13.

Having both a 15 and a 13 i can say that its all a matter of choice. I love the portability of the 13 over the 15 but genuinely like having the extra screen real estate for photo editing, school or whatever else. I cannot suggest at the Dgpu over the non but i do have the Dgpu and it is handling everything amazingly.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Is the non dGPU 15" worth it? A lot of people seem to be going with the dGPU model- however, I will not be doing extensive video editing or gaming. I am curious about the base 15 vs the 13.

Well the GPU is about 40% faster and the quad core is about 2x the performance in multithreaded apps for the 15 inch over the 13 inch, but if you never use that performance it doesn't matter.

 

[meyer1131]

Well the GPU is about 40% faster and the quad core is about 2x the performance in multithreaded apps for the 15 inch over the 13 inch, but if you never use that performance it doesn't matter.

Thanks for all of the help Samuelsan2001 what are some examples of multithreated apps? And are you saying the Iris Pro is 40% faster than the Iris6100?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Yep about 40% faster than the 6100, the eDRAM cache really makes a difference with the IRIS pro.

Many apps are mutithreaded and leverage multicores these days, the likes of photoshop, FCPX, games, autocad, and many others, to be honest you are better off looking at the apps you want to use and seeing what sort of requirements you may need. Of course these apps all work fine on a dual core too and many of them will show little difference until your use of them becomes very involved or heavy.

This is the trouble with these questions, it is very difficult to know what is relevant to your use...

 

[pjfan]

The term "computer science programming" is broad. Four cores will help tremendously for specific programming tools. If you can stand the size and weight (improvement from your previous MBP), then go for the 15" as it's a great machine with little tradeoff. The price difference is minimal with the 13" you configured.

The reason to consider 13" is if you desire portability and cost, and the performance will be stellar with it if that matters. Check the refurb store for the 2015 13" rMBP options.