Can anyone compare the i7 13” MBP to a 2013 Mac Pro (trash can) ?

[darkus]

I’ve been thinking about moving from my desktop trash can to a laptop mainly for portability reasons, although it would still be used 99% of the time on my desk plugged into power and an external monitor.

What I’ve been looking at is a decked out 13” MBP i7 with tons of fast ram.

I currently have a 2014 Mac Pro Xeon 3.5 with 32gb of relative slow ram.

I don’t really want to sacrifice power and stability for the 1% of time I’ll be using the MBPportable.
I also would love to see a bump in performance with a new purchase. Ideally.


From online benchmarks the two systems seem roughly equivalent with maybe a slight advantage to the MBP.

but I’ve been burned by benchmarks before....

It’s a long shot, but:
was curious if anyone out there has experience and actually owns both systems and could compare? Would going to the new i7 13” MBP be an actual step up, lateral move, or downgrade?

thanks!

 

[TheRdungeon]

I think it's total suicide buying a brand new intel Macbook Pro right now, I'd wait a couple of months for the release of the rumoured 14". I realise that you've probably considered that already but it's going to absolutely blast the trash can Mac Pro when it's released. Or if you need something now I'd get a base M1 Macbook Pro and then sell it and swap to the 14" when it comes out

 

[ascender]

What will you be doing with the laptop when you're not at your desk? Like @TheRdungeon says, its a bad time to buy an Intel Mac unless you absolutely, positively need one. If you need to be portable now, I'd pick up an M1 Air or Pro unless you can get a really good deal on a used 13" MBP.

 

[loby]

It really depends...I agree with the above threads about NOT getting an Intel i7 right now, UNLESS it is a killer price and current demands require it now. I have an i9 MacBook Pro 2018 Intel with 32GB RAM, 1 TB SSD and a 2016 Mac Pro (2013 model) 12-Core with 64 RAM 1 TB SSD.

Each out perform in different applications so it depending on your needs. FCPX is my main app. Probably the i7 would be comparable in most things with your version of Mac Pro.

 

[darkus]

My work requires dual boot with windows so I need intel for sure.

My work is mixed consisting of photoshop, premier, android studio, Xcode and usually about 100 tabs open in safari / chrome 😀 With all those programs open and running at the same time, so I am interested in raw horsepower and reliability.

The trash can has been fine but with the dining end of Intel macs I was thinking of future proofing and adding some portability. but if it ends up being a lateral move or a downgrade then I’ll stick with what I have

thanks

 

[darkus]

It really depends...I agree with the above threads about NOT getting an Intel i7 right now, UNLESS it is a killer price and current demands require it now. I have an i9 MacBook Pro 2018 Intel with 32GB RAM, 1 TB SSD and a 2016 Mac Pro (2013 model) 12-Core with 64 RAM 1 TB SSD.

Each out perform in different applications so it depending on your needs. FCPX is my main app. Probably the i7 would be comparable in most things with your version of Mac Pro.

Thanks.
Do you find both of your systems to be equal for the most part?
I do a lot of editing in premier in addition to photoshop and after effects work at the same time. It can for sure be taxing on my current system

 

[loby]

Thanks.
Do you find both of your systems to be equal for the most part?
I do a lot of editing in premier in addition to photoshop and after effects work at the same time. It can for sure be taxing on my current system

Adobe apps are a hit or miss, but generally ok. I use primarily FCPX, so cannot comment about Premier.

Like I mentioned before, some tasks are done better than others depending on what you are doing, but generally I get close to the same results. I have done some testing with projects etc. comparing the two and do not get a consistent "the is better to use" between the two machines. With the Intel i7 MacBook Pro you will get fans running if you are rendering, but I did not see a major slowdown with the i9, so probably the i7 will be ok. Projects finished within a few minutes of each other and not a big deal breaker for me. Note that the i7 will run hotter than the already hot running Mac Pro 2013 (but Big Sur seemed to cool it down without too much of performance hit), so be aware of that in making decisions. I do not find projects tapping the system's resources to slow down multitasking with the i9 if that is important (probably due to the T2 chip).

Intel machines did not "all-of-a-sudden" not work well anymore just because Apple Silicone came out. They still do the job, but the future is Apple Silicone and for some tasks my little cheap M1 Mac mini races around my expensive Mac Pro and MacBook Pro. But not ALL tasks. I am a "BIG FAN" of cooler running less fan noise systems, so the Apple Silicone is a game changer for me (besides the performance increases per $). I have used the Mac Pro to keep me warm during cold winters, so intel chips has some benefits...

If comparing a first generation M1 MacBook Pro to whatever you are buying model of the i7, if the prices is comparable, I would get the M1 MacBook Pro over the Intel i7 now. The M1 is comparable in speed/performance or better in many tasks at a fraction of the cost and would now be the better choice (unless you need to run Windows).

 

[Mike Slayer]

I own a mid 2020 13" MBP with the I7 and 32gb of ram. From my research it looks to be comparable to your current Mac when it comes to the processor. Single core scores on the I7 are better but multicore scores look pretty close. Of course the new 13" MBP will have faster ram so that should be a plus. One thing to think about is that Microsoft is working on a ARM based OS. That on a 14" MBP should be a big bump up in performance but all that might take awhile. You should be able to find a intel 13" MBP like you need for along time. Probably at damn good prices if you wait for the 14" but you decide it's taking to long for everything to pan out. I would think waiting could be win win either way in my opinion.