2015 vs 2017 MacBook Pro 13 inch higher performance

[Timbones]

I’m looking into getting a newer laptop. I’ve had a late 2011 MacBook Pro that is getting sluggish with all of the programs I run. I’m considering the 2015 and 2017 MacBook Pro 13 inch models. The 2015 would have an i7 and like 3.1 ghz where the 2017 have an i5 and 2.5(ish) ghz for anything under about 2200. I could get 16 gb of ram in each. Would having the Kaby lake make up for the slightly lower specs? Is it enough of a difference to pay the$800 price difference? Will they really run at very different speeds. I wish apple had a 13 inch quad core but unfortunately they don’t. What would be better considering price and processing power?

 

[ZapNZs]

How do you use the computer? (what Apps, are they CPU/GPU heavy, are your loads sustained or burst, what kind of RAM usage, what kind of SSD usage?)
Do you use external displays?

 

[andy9l]

I wish apple had a 13 inch quad core but unfortunately they don’t. What would be better considering price and processing power?

Coming in the next few months, but won't offer the same performance as the 15" quad-cores, obviously. Nowhere near.

 

[Timbones]

How do you use the computer? (what Apps, are they CPU/GPU heavy, are your loads sustained or burst, what kind of RAM usage, what kind of SSD usage?)
Do you use external displays?

I want to be able to run programs like CAD smoother, so from my understanding, that 3D modeling requires a fair bit of CPU, GPU and RAM. And the loads are sustained. I’ve never used another screen. Should I look into that?
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Coming in the next few months, but won't offer the same performance as the 15" quad-cores, obviously. Nowhere near.

Have you heard anything about the Razor Blade 14 inch quad core? I like the Mac OS, but would that be something to look into with more power?

 

[DougFNJ]

I had the 2015 i7 and I now have the 2017 i7. Both maxed out with 16gb RAM. I definitely notice a difference on Final Cut Pro X, it is much faster at tasks on my 2017.

It sounds like you hold on to computers for awhile. I typically do except this time out, I did the upgrade for future proofing myself for a good 5 years. Looking at a lot of hardware, the USB-C looks like it’s going to be around for awhile.

I always say, go to your local Apple Store or Best Buy and spend some time messing around with it. Look at accessories you may see yourself buying and see if it is all USB-C now? Look up comparison reviews on YouTube.

 

[leman]

The 2015 would have an i7 and like 3.1 ghz where the 2017 have an i5 and 2.5(ish) ghz for anything under about 2200.

I guess you are talking about the non-touch bar model? The 2.5Ghz i7 (i7-7660U) in the 2017 non-touch-bar is faster than the 3.1Ghz -I (i7-5557U) in the 2015 model, simply because it has significantly higher turbo speed (4Ghz vs. 3.4Ghz). At the same time, the 2017 model uses 15W CPUs which are optimised for battery and burst performance, not sustained performance. So if you need to run demanding tasks for prolonged periods of time, the 15" might be a better choice.

 

[eddjedi]

The 2017 i5 is significantly faster than the 2015 i7, see attached.

It's important to remember that there are now many generations of i5 and i7 processors, later i5s are now faster than older i7s.

 

[leman]

It's important to remember that there are now many generations of i5 and i7 processors, later i5s are now faster than older i7s.

And yet the 2015 will easily outperform the 2017 model if you push it hard for a few minutes, e.g. in numeric applications. As I wrote before, the 15W CPU is optimised for burst — it will be faster in office applications or browsers for instance, where 95% of the time is spend waiting for user input — but it will quickly clock down if it has to do more work.

Unfortunately, Geekbench doesn't show all this since Geekbench itself consists of a series of burst tests.

 

[ZapNZs]

I want to be able to run programs like CAD smoother, so from my understanding, that 3D modeling requires a fair bit of CPU, GPU and RAM. And the loads are sustained. I’ve never used another screen. Should I look into that?

I was asking about the external display because this can increase operating temps, sometimes significantly enough to make a noticeable impact on overall performance.

To my understanding, if the 3D CAD is going to push the CPU and GPU hard in a sustained load, this would make the touchbar model 13-inch a much better match than the nTB, if the 13-inch form factor is the preferred size. Further, it seems likely that the 2015 may perform better in this sort of situation than the nTB, even though CPU benchmarks between the two respective processors slightly favor the 2.3 i5 - presumably, these benchmarks are more burst performance and may not be stressing both CPU + GPU, which inherently means the system has to deal with more heat (the touchbar model has an additional fan, and IIRC additional vents.)

 

[Nixir]

Raw performance wise, 2015 and 2017 are not much different. Wait for the 8th gen intel update. All the newest report shown it is one of the more significant update from intel in years.