Buying the upcoming Macbook Pro (13" or 15" decision)

[JMac1996]

Hello Guys,

i were following some threads here on MacRumors and i wanna buy one of the new upcoming MBP's.
It's no secret that there is a difference in power between the both (13" and 15") machines.
However, i was aiming for this configuration:

new 13" rMBP
i7 3,1GHz (dual Core)
16GB RAM (hopefully DDR4)
512GB SSD

This configuration would me cost in germany a total of ~2.500€.
Maye this is going to be even more expensive, when the new ones will be released.

I wanna do Videography (Final Cut), Music Production (Bitwig Studio/Logic Pro) with this machine.
I like the formfactor of the 13" rMBP. But does it come up with the required power to handle heavier tasks? Or is a 15" rMBP the better choise?

I searched for a similar thread but I didn't find that kind of topic, so I decided to start a thread.
Is there someone, who could tell me how the current 13" rMBP handled Videoediting, etc.?

Thanks for reading, hope some of you reply.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Hello Guys,

i were following some threads here on MacRumors and i wanna buy one of the new upcoming MBP's.
It's no secret that there is a difference in power between the both (13" and 15") machines.
However, i was aiming for this configuration:

new 13" rMBP
i7 3,1GHz (dual Core)
16GB RAM (hopefully DDR4)
512GB SSD

This configuration would me cost in germany a total of ~2.500€.
Maye this is going to be even more expensive, when the new ones will be released.

I wanna do Videography (Final Cut), Music Production (Bitwig Studio/Logic Pro) with this machine.
I like the formfactor of the 13" rMBP. But does it come up with the required power to handle heavier tasks? Or is a 15" rMBP the better choise?

I searched for a similar thread but I didn't find that kind of topic, so I decided to start a thread.
Is there someone, who could tell me how the current 13" rMBP handled Videoediting, etc.?

Thanks for reading, hope some of you reply.

Firstly the i7's have not been worth the upgrade for years on the dual core a 2-3% performance increase is not worth the cash.

For the video editing the 28w skylake chips have a 64mb eDRAM cache that should provide a big boost to video editing capabilities on the 13 inch compared to the current chip. Unfortunately these chips are not seemingly in anything else I can find, so I can't tell you how good it will be.

You really will have to wait for it to come out to see if the increased iGPU will make up the difference for a quad core and iris pro graphics enough for your use case or wether you will be better off with the 15 inch. Do remember that the 15 inch should be slimmer and lighter it may be a good form factor for you this time round, if nothing else, more screen real estate is better for editing.

 

[JMac1996]

Firstly the i7's have not been worth the upgrade for years on the dual core a 2-3% performance increase is not worth the cash.

For the video editing the 28w skylake chips have a 64mb eDRAM cache that should provide a big boost to video editing capabilities on the 13 inch compared to the current chip. Unfortunately these chips are not seemingly in anything else I can find, so I can't tell you how good it will be.

You really will have to wait for it to come out to see if the increased iGPU will make up the difference for a quad core and iris pro graphics enough for your use case or wether you will be better off with the 15 inch. Do remember that the 15 inch should be slimmer and lighter it may be a good form factor for you this time round, if nothing else, more screen real estate is better for editing.

Thanks for your answer.
Hmm is that really no big deal if you decide for the i5 or i7 processor?
Would be a good way to save some cash for extras.
How much power can i expect from the new skylake i5/i7? Is there a comparable windows device out there with the exact same chip?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Thanks for your answer.
Hmm is that really no big deal if you decide for the i5 or i7 processor?
Would be a good way to save some cash for extras.
How much power can i expect from the new skylake i5/i7? Is there a comparable windows device out there with the exact same chip?

It means next to nothing on these processors, they are all dual core with the same graphics. As far as I can tell no one else is using the 28w iris graphics equipped chips that we assume are going in the rMBP.

 

[BornAgainMac]

If you get a base model MacBook Pro or close to the base model, the smaller one is best. If you get the specs maxed out, the price difference is very small so you might as well get the 15 inch plus you get 4 cores instead of 2.

 

[JMac1996]

Damn, ok.
But it says Pro in it's name. So i still will be able to edit videos and produce music right?
I will pay extra for the 16GB RAM if needed. That's for sure.
Is there a task that the dual cores in the macbook 13" can't handle well?
I don't mind some minutes in Video rendering times. if I render a Video within 15 Minutes than in 10 or 8 with the 15" then i am fine with that.
but is there something that requires quad core power? Are there Apps in Mac Store which doesn't run at dual core machines??

 

[JMac1996]

Could actually someone tell me how the last rMBP's (2015) handled video editing in Final Cut Pro X with 1080p content?
I wanna focus myself jsut on the 13" models. I can not afford a 15" it's just too expensive for mysself.
Is there someone out there who uses Final Cut and Logic Pro on an daily basis on a 13" Retina Macbook Pro?
Searched for some Benchmarks, but I didn't find results that helped me out.
What performance we can await from the upcoming rMBP (2016)?
I wanna buy one of those.
Thanks

 

[appleish19]

Could actually someone tell me how the last rMBP's (2015) handled video editing in Final Cut Pro X with 1080p content?
I wanna focus myself jsut on the 13" models. I can not afford a 15" it's just too expensive for mysself.
Is there someone out there who uses Final Cut and Logic Pro on an daily basis on a 13" Retina Macbook Pro?
Searched for some Benchmarks, but I didn't find results that helped me out.
What performance we can await from the upcoming rMBP (2016)?
I wanna buy one of those.
Thanks

I have a 2012 MacBook Pro 13 inch i7 with an SSD and 8 GB of RAM. I've used Final Cut Pro to make a few 30 minute videos for family with some transitions and 3D effects. It handles the video editing part very well. It takes a little while to render the video at the end but I just go have some tea or a coffee.

I haven't used any audio production software but I'm sure he would be fine. The dual core chips are pretty capable. Not as powerful as the quad core but will definitely get the job done.

Mein ist sehr nett.

 

[JMac1996]

I have a 2012 MacBook Pro 13 inch i7 with an SSD and 8 GB of RAM. I've used Final Cut Pro to make a few 30 minute videos for family with some transitions and 3D effects. It handles the video editing part very well. It takes a little while to render the video at the end but I just go have some tea or a coffee.

I haven't used any audio production software but I'm sure he would be fine. The dual core chips are pretty capable. Not as powerful as the quad core but will definitely get the job done.

Mein ist sehr nett.

Thanks for your reply.
I like to hear that. Mhh i quess the render times that you talked about are fine for my terms of use.
2012 this machine had made a good job so far. Any issues or replacements in this time?

If hope if i am going with the new version of the 13" rMBP, it will serve me well and fly though the programs.
How about battery Life? Is your machine running out of battery before the indicator at the top right does?

Thanks

 

[appleish19]

Thanks for your reply.
I like to hear that. Mhh i quess the render times that you talked about are fine for my terms of use.
2012 this machine had made a good job so far. Any issues or replacements in this time?

If hope if i am going with the new version of the 13" rMBP, it will serve me well and fly though the programs.
How about battery Life? Is your machine running out of battery before the indicator at the top right does?

Thanks

No no issues or replacements. I have the original Apple SSD and I've never had a problem with anything on it.

Definitely the graphics on the new version of the 13 inch retina MacBook Pro are much better than the ones I have. My battery is around 5 to 6 hours. But it's also several years old. The new one has 10 hour battery life.

Can't wait to get one of the new ones just announced. The 13 inch supports 5K and 4K displays.

 

[JMac1996]

Yep.
The new ones are sweet. I'm going to order mine soon.
But these things are expensive.
I saw the keynote and I'm interested if you can see this graphic boost in real life too. 75% faster in almost every way of usage sounds nice.
I am fine with the Skylake-Chips. Don't need more than that.
I up to 16GB of RAM for sure aand 512GB of SSD.
Damn, this thing will cost me about 2600€.
Maybe i can get the student discount.

 

[JMac1996]

Hello again,
So the new Macbooks arrived and i wanna pick one up. It will be very pricey for me, but the machine is going to be my daily driver. So to be clear, yes i want to spend my money on one of those Macbooks and i don't wanna change to Windows. I'm coming from there.
I attached an image of two configurations, that i am aiming at.
The price is in € and with the student discount on it. (I am from Germany)
Can you help me out, which i should go for?
Thanks

 

[xtrev2]

Hello again,
So the new Macbooks arrived and i wanna pick one up. It will be very pricey for me, but the machine is going to be my daily driver. So to be clear, yes i want to spend my money on one of those Macbooks and i don't wanna change to Windows. I'm coming from there.
I attached an image of two configurations, that i am aiming at.
The price is in € and with the student discount on it. (I am from Germany)
Can you help me out, which i should go for?
Thanks

Hey jmac, I'm actually faced with exactly the same dilemma right now, right down to the same configurations in specs that you're selecting.

We've all heard about how the 15 inch MacBook Pro is definitely going to be more powerful (thanks to its quad core) and more capable at graphics processing (thanks to its Radeon GPU), and starting at 16gb of RAM doesn't hurt either. The 13 inch is no slouch either, especially since software does play a huge part in performance and the end-user experience, hence I think the 13 incher would be more than capable for the tasks you mentioned as well.

Hence, I think what's important would be down to the little things. Portability, size, etc. I have huge hands so typing on a 13 inch laptop does feel a little cramped. I'm coming from a 15 inch laptop, hence screen real estate does matter, having that 2 extra inches in diagonal space is actually a huge difference. But if you're someone that carries your laptop around with you everywhere you go, you would really appreciate the smaller footprint of the 13 incher, being able to casually swing it around, open it in the middle of the metro or bus without elbowing your neighbouring passengers, and all in all being more portable (although I must say that the 15 incher, being merely 1.8kg is no elephant either).

If you're someone like me that treasures portability with a good balance of power, and who plugs his laptop into a display at home anyway, then I'd recommend going for the 13 inch model.

If you don't mind carrying a 15 incher around (that's larger than A4 paper by the way), then I think the extra cores and graphics card wouldn't hurt.

Hope it helps you make a decision!

 

[appleish19]

Hello again,
So the new Macbooks arrived and i wanna pick one up. It will be very pricey for me, but the machine is going to be my daily driver. So to be clear, yes i want to spend my money on one of those Macbooks and i don't wanna change to Windows. I'm coming from there.
I attached an image of two configurations, that i am aiming at.
The price is in € and with the student discount on it. (I am from Germany)
Can you help me out, which i should go for?
Thanks

Both of those look like great machines to me. I personally would go with the 15 inch. You get a discrete graphics card and quad core CPU, that will help with any video editing music production or anything like that. It will greatly speed up the processing times and what you can do with them. Plus it's future proofing.

For that price I would definitely go with the 15 inch anyway.

Plus the 15 inch only weighs 4 pounds. Less than my 13 inch.

That's what I'm planning on doing in the next couple months. Plus the extra screen real estate is really nice.

 

[JMac1996]

Both of those look like great machines to me. I personally would go with the 15 inch. You get a discrete graphics card and quad core CPU, that will help with any video editing music production or anything like that. It will greatly speed up the processing times and what you can do with them. Plus it's future proofing.

For that price I would definitely go with the 15 inch anyway.

Plus the 15 inch only weighs 4 pounds. Less than my 13 inch.

That's what I'm planning on doing in the next couple months. Plus the extra screen real estate is really nice.

Hey jmac, I'm actually faced with exactly the same dilemma right now, right down to the same configurations in specs that you're selecting.

We've all heard about how the 15 inch MacBook Pro is definitely going to be more powerful (thanks to its quad core) and more capable at graphics processing (thanks to its Radeon GPU), and starting at 16gb of RAM doesn't hurt either. The 13 inch is no slouch either, especially since software does play a huge part in performance and the end-user experience, hence I think the 13 incher would be more than capable for the tasks you mentioned as well.

Hence, I think what's important would be down to the little things. Portability, size, etc. I have huge hands so typing on a 13 inch laptop does feel a little cramped. I'm coming from a 15 inch laptop, hence screen real estate does matter, having that 2 extra inches in diagonal space is actually a huge difference. But if you're someone that carries your laptop around with you everywhere you go, you would really appreciate the smaller footprint of the 13 incher, being able to casually swing it around, open it in the middle of the metro or bus without elbowing your neighbouring passengers, and all in all being more portable (although I must say that the 15 incher, being merely 1.8kg is no elephant either).

If you're someone like me that treasures portability with a good balance of power, and who plugs his laptop into a display at home anyway, then I'd recommend going for the 13 inch model.

If you don't mind carrying a 15 incher around (that's larger than A4 paper by the way), then I think the extra cores and graphics card wouldn't hurt.

Hope it helps you make a decision!

Thank you very much guys! I appreciate your answers.
Just pushed out my order to Apple...
I went with the space grey 15" model. I carried around a 15" Dell XPS before for school and the slightly bigger footprint wouldn't hurt me that much.
I went also with the EDU discount so i saved almost 200€
...
Love to everyone out there
For now i am waiting for my new Macbook Pro and i think it will serve my needs the next couple of years.

You guys are awesome.

 

[dara_3]

Hi all - apologies in advance for my newbie question but hoping someone can help. I am very much ready for new Macbook Pro. Since 2011 I've been using a:
13" Macbook Mid 2010
2.4 ghz Intel Core Duo
4 GB ram, 256 storage
It's been used many hours a day for 5.5 years and has definitely gotten tired over the past year. Though it's been slow lately, I've used it for Photoshop and InDesign projects faithfully.

I plan to use the new computer for the same things but I'm looking forward to a faster machine that will let me run more programs simultaneously, which has been a struggle lately on my 2010 MB. As much as I covet the bigger 15" screen, it's a bit out of my price range and I know I can hook up to an external monitor. I also have no problem using external hard drives for storage. I don't do gaming or significant video editing (maybe just some basic stuff, not Final Cut or anything).

So I'm thinking I will be more than pleased with the performance of the new base MBP 13" with Touchbar. I'm curious about the $90 upgrade to the 3.1GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz from the standard. What difference would that make? Any other upgrade that would be significantly worth it? Perhaps the 16 GB ram instead of the processor? Or maybe neither.

 

[JMac1996]

Hi all - apologies in advance for my newbie question but hoping someone can help. I am very much ready for new Macbook Pro. Since 2011 I've been using a:
13" Macbook Mid 2010
2.4 ghz Intel Core Duo
4 GB ram, 256 storage
It's been used many hours a day for 5.5 years and has definitely gotten tired over the past year. Though it's been slow lately, I've used it for Photoshop and InDesign projects faithfully.

I plan to use the new computer for the same things but I'm looking forward to a faster machine that will let me run more programs simultaneously, which has been a struggle lately on my 2010 MB. As much as I covet the bigger 15" screen, it's a bit out of my price range and I know I can hook up to an external monitor. I also have no problem using external hard drives for storage. I don't do gaming or significant video editing (maybe just some basic stuff, not Final Cut or anything).

So I'm thinking I will be more than pleased with the performance of the new base MBP 13" with Touchbar. I'm curious about the $90 upgrade to the 3.1GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz from the standard. What difference would that make? Any other upgrade that would be significantly worth it? Perhaps the 16 GB ram instead of the processor? Or maybe neither.

Hello dara_3,

the base MBP 13" with Touchbar sounds great for that use. If you can afford it go for it. It should handle Photoshop & InDesign without any problems. I would definitely go and pick up the 16GB RAM for your machine. In my eyes it's worth it and will increase your workflow (render times, etc.).

 

[iEMH]

Hello again,
So the new Macbooks arrived and i wanna pick one up. It will be very pricey for me, but the machine is going to be my daily driver. So to be clear, yes i want to spend my money on one of those Macbooks and i don't wanna change to Windows. I'm coming from there.
I attached an image of two configurations, that i am aiming at.
The price is in € and with the student discount on it. (I am from Germany)
Can you help me out, which i should go for?
Thanks

Damn...I would pay a student to get me the 15" for that price here in Berlin

 

[JMac1996]

Damn...I would pay a student to get me the 15" for that price here in Berlin

You have to remember that this prices are without Tax or "Mehrwertsteuer".
I ordered the second one (15") and paid 2,7k with student discount included.

 

[dara_3]

Thanks so much for the advice JMac1996. I very much appreciate your reply! I'm definitely getting the MBP 13" with Touchbar. I'm not sure I can swing the 16GB but I think I'll be okay with the 8. I know it will be a big upgrade regardless.

Hello dara_3,

the base MBP 13" with Touchbar sounds great for that use. If you can afford it go for it. It should handle Photoshop & InDesign without any problems. I would definitely go and pick up the 16GB RAM for your machine. In my eyes it's worth it and will increase your workflow (render times, etc.).

 

[CArtmann]

Thanks so much for the advice JMac1996. I very much appreciate your reply! I'm definitely getting the MBP 13" with Touchbar. I'm not sure I can swing the 16GB but I think I'll be okay with the 8. I know it will be a big upgrade regardless.

I'm editing in FCPX with 2012 13" MacBook Pro with 16 GB ram and 420 GB SSD & 500 GB HD

Would strongly advise anything less than 16GB RAM and 1 TB SSD for video edit, as you can't updated later and you would like to have the computer for 3-4 years.

 

[Blackstick]

Here in the US, if you crank the RAM, processor and SSD on a 13", you're $100 from the 15" which gives you a Quad-core, more screen real estate- just a better mac overall.

 

[JMac1996]

Thanks so much for the advice JMac1996. I very much appreciate your reply! I'm definitely getting the MBP 13" with Touchbar. I'm not sure I can swing the 16GB but I think I'll be okay with the 8. I know it will be a big upgrade regardless.

Sounds good. I think the new machines will serve all of our greedy needs, just well.
If you're not in hurry i would take the time, and wait for some reviews. The important information of the 13" without TouchBar is already up.

Here in the US, if you crank the RAM, processor and SSD on a 13", you're $100 from the 15" which gives you a Quad-core, more screen real estate- just a better mac overall.

Almost the same here. I was able to receive the student discount and between my BTO 13" and the 15" were just 100€ to 200€ difference.
So i bite in the sour apple and went for the 15".

 

[xtrev2]

Thanks so much for the advice JMac1996. I very much appreciate your reply! I'm definitely getting the MBP 13" with Touchbar. I'm not sure I can swing the 16GB but I think I'll be okay with the 8. I know it will be a big upgrade regardless.

Hi dara, I definitely agree with jmac and feel that you should go with the 16GB RAM upgrade, it'll futureproof your machine for the foreseeable future and it'll definitely allow your machine to handle much more hope you consider it!

 

[JMac1996]

Hi dara, I definitely agree with jmac and feel that you should go with the 16GB RAM upgrade, it'll futureproof your machine for the foreseeable future and it'll definitely allow your machine to handle much more hope you consider it!

I am really starting to like the community on here.
Can't wait to write posts from my new Macbook.