2019 MBP 13” vs 15”

[reserves]

I’ve been waiting on a spec bump, but I much prefer the 13” form factor over the 15”.

However now it seems the performance gap between the 13” & 15” is even bigger with this update.

The 15” now has a newer gen processor, as well as all the previous advantages of the 15” like the discrete graphics card.

Mostly this doesn’t affect me day to day, but I do use Parallels a bit as well as video editing time to time.

Considering getting the 15” now over the 13”, just feels bang for buck going to be getting better deal, much newer tech.

Is it really going to make a difference day to day?

Interested to hear some thoughts.

 

[Nbd1790]

Unless you're dealing with a lot of video editing (or other comparable graphic intensive work such as 3d modeling) - no. Your day to day will be almost identical in terms of performance with regular tasks. Keep in mind, the 13 inch models have much newer tech as well, almost doubling the processing speed from the previous 13 inch models.

The difference in processing power (and graphic power) between the 13 and 15 inch models have always existed, and the gap is comparable to previous years, but the overall processing power of both of these models have improved dramatically (aside from the non Touch Bar 13 inch model)

 

[reserves]

Keep in mind, the 13 inch models have much newer tech as well, almost doubling the processing speed from the previous 13 inch models.

Thanks. However the new 13” released today has stayed at 8th gen, where as the 15” got upgraded to 9th gen.

Point taken, i’ve had 2 13”, but with this release the gap between 13 & 15 have grown.

Hence wondering if it’s time to jump to the 15”.

Luckily my 2018 13” is within its return period.

Anyone think going from 13” to 15” makes more sense now?

 

[Nbd1790]

Understood. I've always been a fan of 15 inch models because of the extra screen real estate as I'm often working on the road. Although, I deal with a lot of Audio Editing and Photo Editing on a daily basis so I do prefer to have the extra power. It really comes down to if you're going to use any of that extra power your paying for (as the price gap isn't exactly a small one). If it means anything at all, I still use a 2013 and 2015 15 inch model, deal with a lot of power hungry programs and don't have any hiccups, issues or complaints. In comparison to any of the 2018/2019 models, these models are inferior in terms of processing power. Hope that helps!

 

[Ploki]

If they fixed cooling, maybe

 

[Infinite Vortex]

I really like my MBP 13" i7 2018. While I've always preferred the 15" there's nothing about the size and weight I prefer. Maybe my perspective is skewed because I have an iMac 5K late-2015 i7 32GB/512GB to use as a day to day machine but the quad-core i7 is the sweet spot for me with regards to a portable unit. The 13" with a 4K display work really well.

At the end of the day its all about compromise and the compromises you're prepared to make.

 

[Dave245]

If you will make use of the extra power then I say go for it. On the other hand I wouldn’t chase specs and buy something just because it has higher numbers or a different generation processor.

I had the 2011 MacBook Pro 15” and it worked great, at the time I used it around university, halls and even when travelling. It died last year, after serving me really well over the years.
I’m looking at the 13” MacBook Pro with Touch Bar now, while I do like the 15” screen the 6 core processor is just overkill for someone with my needs, (photo editing in Pixelmator Pro, a little video editing in iMovie, a lot of word processing and so on).

PS. Does anyone know what percentage the performance jump is from last years (2018) 13” MacBook Pro, to the new 2019 13” MacBook Pro? It doesn’t seem that much higher. Although for me going from a 2011 MacBook Pro, I’m assuming it will be huge differences.

 

[Howard2k]

Keep in mind, the 13 inch models have much newer tech as well, almost doubling the processing speed from the previous 13 inch models.

I think you are comparing the 2019 to the 2017? The 2018 13" is a quad core too.

Concerning the 13" there is no substantial improvement in performance at this point. We haven't seen benchmarks and we don't know all the details about SSD and wifi performance, but in terms of CPU it appears to be relatively minor. Certainly not double.

 

[maflynn]

Considering getting the 15” now over the 13”, just feels bang for buck going to be getting better deal, much newer tech.

I've always felt that the 15" gives you more bang for your buck, whether its more cores, a dGPU, larger screen or a more powerful processor.

 

[Infinite Vortex]

I've always felt that the 15" gives you more bang for your buck, whether its more cores, a dGPU, larger screen or a more powerful processor.

Yes but for me, no. When you're always having to get on flights, even the bus, the 15" is a PITA.

 

[Dave245]

I've always felt that the 15" gives you more bang for your buck, whether its more cores, a dGPU, larger screen or a more powerful processor.

Does the 15” have less battery life in real world use tho? With those extra cores, don’t they affect battery life?

 

[maflynn]

Does the 15” have less battery life in real world use tho? With those extra cores, don’t they affect battery life?

When I owned a 15" MBP, I was getting an all day battery, I can't say if the 13" is better or not. Remember, the 13" may have less cores, and smaller screen, but its in a smaller body so it has to use a smaller battery. I wouldn't be surprised if the 13" battery rating is the same as the 15

 

[buran-energia]

There's some chance we'll see another macbook in the summer, perhaps with a new edge-to-edge display...?

Other than that, it will only make a night and day difference depending on the specs, software and what monitors you're using. You weren't too specific with that, and only you know those. I imagine you'll see a significant difference between 13 and 15 inch Vega 20/32GB/8 cores when editing videos or compiling software. Running Windows in Parallels and just, say, MS Word there and not using 4k+ monitors? Probably not so much.

 

[tim1000]

When I owned a 15" MBP, I was getting an all day battery, I can't say if the 13" is better or not. Remember, the 13" may have less cores, and smaller screen, but its in a smaller body so it has to use a smaller battery. I wouldn't be surprised if the 13" battery rating is the same as the 15

15 inch has longer battery life

 

[leman]

Thanks. However the new 13” released today has stayed at 8th gen, where as the 15” got upgraded to 9th gen.

The 8th gen vs 9th gen is mostly marketing. It’s still the same core as last year with identical per-core performance, the 8-core i9 just have more of them, which gives them an edge if you are doing a lot of sustained parallel processing.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Considering getting the 15” now over the 13”, just feels bang for buck going to be getting better deal, much newer tech.

Completely agree about more "bang" ....but it is £600 more....so don't agree about bang for buck. Depends what your needs preferences are.

 

[Zerosopher]

I am also thinking about which one I am going to choose. At first, I expected there would be a spec bump but it was not.

The 13 inches model still has LPDDR3 RAM, the same as last year. This is bothering me if I should go to the 15 models. I also need to carry MacBook every working day. Not sure if I should go for it.

 

[kschendel]

The 8th gen vs 9th gen is mostly marketing. It’s still the same core as last year with identical per-core performance, the 8-core i9 just have more of them, which gives them an edge if you are doing a lot of sustained parallel processing.

This.

9th gen also has slightly better thermals, at least in the desktop line where the 8th gen used paste and the 9th gen is soldered. I don't know if that is true for the processors Apple is using, though.

 

[Beau10]

When I owned a 15" MBP, I was getting an all day battery, I can't say if the 13" is better or not. Remember, the 13" may have less cores, and smaller screen, but its in a smaller body so it has to use a smaller battery. I wouldn't be surprised if the 13" battery rating is the same as the 15

I got way less battery on a 2017 15" vs. my 2018 13" (both quad). We're talking about 5-6 hours vs 8-9. I always brought my power adaptor w/ me for my 15", and would only for the 13" if I knew I'd be doing much video conferencing which is a pretty big drain.

Similar use case, doing programming w/ node.js/React. I feel a large part of the difference was due to the eGPU switching on. Regardless, with very light use w/ GPU switched off, at best that 15" would report 9-10 hours... but then the 13" typically reports 15 hours right off a charge.

 

[Costino1]

I purchased the 15" MacBook Pro 2018 in late Dec simply for the screen size...only reason I went with the 15" over 13" was for the real estate. Spec wise, it doesn't matter to me since the MBP is overkill for what I use it for; but its nice to know I have the power if needed.

 

[Falhófnir]

Wait, so if the 13" is still on 8th gen, what did they update in it? just the KB? OTOH, the 9th gen is a very modest difference unless you opt for the 8 core i9, in which case you won't be looking at the 13" at all anyway. Personally I find 13" laptops too small as a main machine anyway, and being tethered to a screen I'd just as well get a desktop.

 

[Howard2k]

Wait, so if the 13" is still on 8th gen, what did they update in it? just the KB? OTOH, the 9th gen is a very modest difference unless you opt for the 8 core i9, in which case you won't be looking at the 13" at all anyway. Personally I find 13" laptops too small as a main machine anyway, and being tethered to a screen I'd just as well get a desktop.

+100MHz base CPU.

 

[sosumi99]

Thanks. However the new 13” released today has stayed at 8th gen, where as the 15” got upgraded to 9th gen.

Point taken, i’ve had 2 13”, but with this release the gap between 13 & 15 have grown.

Hence wondering if it’s time to jump to the 15”.

Luckily my 2018 13” is within its return period.

Anyone think going from 13” to 15” makes more sense now?

The 15" has always been better bang for the buck, and the raw spec gap between the two has widened with this generation (though the MBP design has issues with thermal throttling, so actual performance gap may be comparable with previous generations).

The real benefit of the 13" has always been size and portability, and I've stuck with the form factor for that reason. It's a small advantage, but crucial for me.

 

[Dave245]

I wonder what the benchmarks will be for the 13” new MacBook Pro.

 

[SvenLorenz1975]

Does anyone know why they didn't go 9th gen with the 13"? Are there no 9th generation CPUs available that would be right for the 13"?

I wanted to update my MBP 13" this year, but now I don't know if I should.