2015 vs 2017 Macbook Pro

[JPack]

Brighter screen? I have a 2012 15" rMBP and compared it to a friend's 2017 15" MBP. The screens were identical as far as we could see, both for texts and images. Just looking at the screens, we could not tell which was the newer machine.

The 2017 MBP display is rated at 500 nits brightness. The 2012 model was 300 nits.

Take it to an area with bright ambient light, let the sensor adjust, and you'll notice the difference.

 

[raqball]

The 2017 should be much brighter..

The 2015 is rated at about 380 nit and the 2017 is rated at about 500 nit.

 

[senttoschool]

Get the 2017 MBP.

For most day to day operations, the latest MBP provides much better performance than 2015. This is due to the SSD being nearly twice as fast compared to 2015 in read/write operations. Most home office applications are limited by I/O speeds.

The processor itself between the 2015 and 2017 model are fairly similar. You're getting more L2 cache but lower clock on the 2017 model.

Keep in mind battery aging isn't limited to cycles. If the MacBook is plugged in all day and night, the battery ages due to being kept at 100% charge. Li-ion ages even if it's not used.

Faster read/write operations make pretty much zero difference in day to day performance - especially home office applications.