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Anyone switch from 13” to 15” Pro?

T

tjleonard

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 25, 2013
581
381
My 13” 2016 MBP w/TB (i7 max cpu, 16gb Ram, 1tb hard drive has been really slow when working (kind of random but seems to be slow with almost everything). Sometimes restarting can help, usually not.

Anyone go to a 15” from 13” and if so, did you notice dramatic speed increases?
 
I did buy a cooling mat for work that has the fans under it. It is helping a little, but I’ll still get some delayed typing, slow program switches, etc. Sometimes when I’m typing I out type what is going whatever I’m typing in (and misses a lot of what I type). You can tell it’s being super slow though.
 
Have you tried running the Activity Monitor to see what you computer is doing when it gets slow? If not, run (Utilities | Activity Monitor) and select the CPU. Sort the % CPU column
 
tjleonard said:
My 13” 2016 MBP w/TB (i7 max cpu, 16gb Ram, 1tb hard drive has been really slow when working (kind of random but seems to be slow with almost everything). Sometimes restarting can help, usually not.

Anyone go to a 15” from 13” and if so, did you notice dramatic speed increases?
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The 15" has a 2 more CPU cores, but for normal single threaded applications there should not be a big difference, in my experience. I only profit from the better CPU when I run Virtual Machines or do a parallel processing Matlab model calculation (or similar). Something seems to be wrong with your MacBook. I would get it checked by Apple or maybe do a re-install of macOS, and stick to Sierra, do not yet upgrade to High Sierra.
 
whg said:
The 15" has a 2 more CPU cores, but for normal single threaded applications there should not be a big difference, in my experience. I only profit from the better CPU when I run Virtual Machines or do a parallel processing Matlab model calculation (or similar). Something seems to be wrong with your MacBook. I would get it checked by Apple or maybe do a re-install of macOS, and stick to Sierra, do not yet upgrade to High Sierra.
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I’ve reinstalled MacOS two times. I’m not sure if it’s a 13” problem or my MacBook issue. I just can’t figure out which program is doing it, if it is the result of a single program.
 
tjleonard said:
I’ve reinstalled MacOS two times. I’m not sure if it’s a 13” problem or my MacBook issue. I just can’t figure out which program is doing it, if it is the result of a single program.
Click to expand...

Can you attach a screenshot of activity monitor of both the CPU and memory tabs taken when the Mac is slow?
 
tjleonard said:
Anyone go to a 15” from 13” and if so, did you notice dramatic speed increases?
Click to expand...
Yes, due to the fact it has a dGPU, and quad core processors. I'd say when I moved back to the 15" from the 13" the speed was noticable.
 
I’ve used 11” and 13” models of MacBooks (Air, Pro) for the last 12 years or so. When the 2016 MBP models came out, I first got myself a 13” non-touchbar model but returned it and bought a 15” (stock mid-range model). The thing is a beast. Very fast. Great battery life. Not much heavier that my 2014 13” model was. Sometimes I miss having a super light laptop, but my iPad Pro fits that description.
 
maflynn said:
Yes, due to the fact it has a dGPU, and quad core processors. I'd say when I moved back to the 15" from the 13" the speed was noticable.
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I'd second this. I have a 2016 13" MacBook Pro, the 512gb model with 8gb ram (I can't remember if it also had an improved processor in it or not) and the 2017 15" with 512gb and 16gb ram. It's a huge difference in Photoshop, Lightroom and InDesign, where I spend most of my time. It might just be the extra ram, but man. I use my 13" for work and my 15" for personal, but there's been a few times on big projects that I've brought my 15" into work because it's noticeably faster than the 13". And in Lightroom there's no contest, even with high res .jpg files. When we get into RAW, the 15 just kills the 13.
 
Eric8199 said:
I'd second this. I have a 2016 13" MacBook Pro, the 512gb model with 8gb ram (I can't remember if it also had an improved processor in it or not) and the 2017 15" with 512gb and 16gb ram. It's a huge difference in Photoshop, Lightroom and InDesign, where I spend most of my time. It might just be the extra ram, but man. I use my 13" for work and my 15" for personal, but there's been a few times on big projects that I've brought my 15" into work because it's noticeably faster than the 13". And in Lightroom there's no contest, even with high res .jpg files. When we get into RAW, the 15 just kills the 13.
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Now I have the choice to ride it out for a couple months hoping for the next bump, or go ahead and get a 15!
 
tjleonard said:
Now I have the choice to ride it out for a couple months hoping for the next bump, or go ahead and get a 15!
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I don’t expect the next bump to be a very big one personally. We've seen no rumors of anything. I guess it depends on how bad you need it. If you need it now, get it now. If not, wait for WWDC when we MIGHT see new ones.
 
tjleonard said:
My 13” 2016 MBP w/TB (i7 max cpu, 16gb Ram, 1tb hard drive has been really slow when working (kind of random but seems to be slow with almost everything). Sometimes restarting can help, usually not.

Anyone go to a 15” from 13” and if so, did you notice dramatic speed increases?
Click to expand...
I moved from 13" to 15" (13" 2016 TB to 15" 2017) but did so mainly for screen real estate. My 13 inch is the base model. The 15" is the mid-tier with 512 GB and whatever the jumped up card is.

I can discern no differences in performance, noise, etc. Then again, I've never pushed either system.
 
I went from a 13" 2016 nTB MBP (2.4 GHz i7 Dual-Core / 8GB / 512GB / Iris 540) to a 15" 2015 MBP (2,5 GHz i7 Quad-Core / 16GB / 512GB / R9) and haven't really noticed any difference at in everyday use. The external 4K display is smoother with the R9 than the Iris 540 but really, the differences are negligible.

I don't push my systems to the max though, and I've been quite happy with the 13" 2016's overall performance.
 
I went from a 2013 loaded 13” to a mid range 2016 15” and the difference Is very big. That said, I didn’t like the extra bulk. I thought the new 15” being only a half pound more would make it worth the extra weight and size, but I use my machine in the field a lot and I just never liked it. I still have both, but I need to get rid of both of them as I use an X1Carbon now. I do miss my Mac though, but I have to use Windows for work so th3 Thinkpad is a decent compromise.
 
I have a base 13' 2017 nTB 8 256 and I'm coming from a 2015 base 15' and dare i say this little macbook pro has kept up surprisingly well. I don't push them that hard so thats probably why. But i will say this 13 is more enjoyable to use.
 
I don't think people realize that it's not so much the weight difference, it's the center of balance for me. when I use it in bed, or balanced on my lap, you feel more of the weight as it is harder to balance.

Personally, I think 13" with a monitor is the sweet spot. Can't wait for quad core.
 
ToroidalZeus said:
The 15" has better cooling which helps under heavy usage..
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How so? Prior to the 2016 model year and onwards, the 13" MBPs used a single blower-type fan for cooling and the 15" had dual fans. Starting with 2016 both the 13" and 15" models were equipped with dual blower-type fans. Both the 2016 and 2015 13" MBPs are using the same 28-watt rated chips, so why was a single blower fan sufficient on the prior model but not the newer model? I think it comes down to thinness. Apple couldn't move the same amount of air with a single mounted fan solution.
 
utgjon said:
What do you do with your laptop?
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Glockworkorange said:
I’m interested in the answer to this as well.
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I don't do enough to get a huge slowdown...

I usually remote into 3-4 servers with Jump Desktop, Outlook, Word, aText, FlyCut, Bartender, Alfred, AdGuard, Mosaic, Snagit, Safari (sometimes Chrome too, with 5-6 tabs in each). Essentially, that isn't a lot...and it should run all of these without any trouble. I could use Parallel's if the machine would run it decently, although that will tend to slow some things down and it starts getting warm. I don't normally see anything in Activity Monitor that jumps out during the slowdowns. I did attach a screenshot though, but keep in mind that it's not acting slow at all right now.
 

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Is your SSD full? They like to have at least 10-15% free for provisioning... When a SSD if full it drops to a crawl.
 
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