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Deciding is hard! Opinions wanted.

D

drober30

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 5, 2007
848
106
I have been using a MBA 11" since 2011. I think the little computer is amazing, however, my eyes have worsened and I have decided that my upgrade will be a 13" MBPr

Now I'm trying to decide if I should order the 16GB?

Regardless of what I'm using it for now, what do you think would be the best choice?

1. i5 16GB -
2. i7 8GB -

If you had to choose between the two not knowing what you might start using your computer for in the future, which one would you pic? Both will cost $1999
 
Go i5/16GB. You won't notice a big difference between the i5 and the i7, but someday you might really need that extra RAM.
 
I would open up activity monitor and check it during your regular usage and see if you are using more of your CPU or more RAM. That will tell you which area you need to upgrade first.

Regardless if it were me I would buy one of the following:

1) Base level 15" rMBP - it cost the same as the higher end 13" and you get an i7 processor that is Quad Core and 8 gigs of ram, or

2) Spend $200 more and get the same above computer with 16 gigs of ram.

The reason I would go with the 15" Quad core is that the base model 15" performs more than 40% faster on average than the 13" dual core during multi tasks.

Generally speaking a faster processor on a dual core machine will be slightly faster than a slower processor on a quad core machine during regular tasks, but as the number of tasks increase and or require more resources the quad core will quickly surpass a core 2 duo machine.
 
Last edited:
mwchris said:
I would open up activity monitor and check it during your regular usage and see if you are using more of your CPU or more RAM. That will tell you which area you need to upgrade first.

Regardless if it were me I would buy one of the following:

1) Base level 15" rMBP - it cost the same as the higher end 13" and you get an i7 processor that is Quad Core and 8 gigs of ram, or

2) Spend $200 more and get the same above computer with 16 gigs of ram.

The reason I would go with the 15" Quad core is that the base model 15" performs more than 40% faster on average than the 13" core 2 duo during multi tasks.

Generally speaking a faster processor on a core 2 Duo machine will be slightly faster than a slower processor on a quad core machine during regular tasks, but as the number of tasks increase and or require more resources the quad core will quickly surpass a core 2 duo machine.
Click to expand...

Why are you referring to a multiple generation old processor in the Core 2 Duo? Are you referring to a dual core machine?
 
drober30 said:
I have been using a MBA 11" since 2011. I think the little computer is amazing, however, my eyes have worsened and I have decided that my upgrade will be a 13" MBPr

Now I'm trying to decide if I should order the 16GB?

Regardless of what I'm using it for now, what do you think would be the best choice?

1. i5 16GB -
2. i7 8GB -

If you had to choose between the two not knowing what you might start using your computer for in the future, which one would you pic? Both will cost $1999
Click to expand...

I have always tried to persuade people to buy as much as they can afford. This is so they do not get disappointed in their purchase in a short period of time. It is not necessarily about what your needs are now but rather, how long what you purchase will remain relevant; and the more that you can buy now the more relevant your computer will be in a couple of years.

.........i7 16GB, would be my choice.

That's my 2 cents, hope it helps.
 
I would always spend money on memory before processor speed. I consider 16gb to nbe the best choice for new machines.
 
Thanks to everyone for their responses!

Ordering the top of the line has always been my style, takes the guess work out of it but I just can't justify spending over $2k for a computer.

A 15" is just to big for my use at home. I do run a 15" i7 16GB RAM at work and it has been great while running Parallels.

I'm leaning toward the i5 with 16GB of RAM. To bad this machine has to be ordered with a 1-2 week lead time.
 
I went i5, 2.6, 16 gb, 512. Wanted the 16 gb ram for future proofing and the possibility of running WM's without hiccups. Don't think there is any sense in upgrading the processor on the 13" but i needed to upgrade to get the 512 gb ssd. If you need more power and don't mind the extra weight go 15" quad i7! Coming from a Toshiba satellite this 13" is incredible fast and smooth. Never owned a mac before but i'm already loving it! :) Good luck!
 
I agree with the other posters who went with the 16GB memory upgrade over the CPU upgrade. The two offerings are close in performance and structure. The I7 has 4MB of L3 cache where as the I5 has 3MB.

EveryMac shows the following for the I7 and I5 respectively:

Geekbench 6020/6877 (MC, 3.0)* 5842/6535 (MC, 3.0)*

Something odd is that PassMark's website shows the I5 as being faster than the I7.

In the past, I would have easily said go for the I7 also. But now, it seems that the advantages the I7 had in the previous versions no longer hold true for the current version.
 
glenthompson said:
I would always spend money on memory before processor speed. I consider 16gb to nbe the best choice for new machines.
Click to expand...

Completely agree - Say what you want about Intel, but pretty much their entire range of processors are just astounding feats of electrical engineering. It used to be that what processor you had dictated what you can do. Now, with almost no exceptions, it only dictates how fast you can do it.

RAM on the other hand is a real limit, even if it is sometimes hard to max out 16GB. But hit that limit and things slow down fast. And while calling OSX a RAM hog is a bit unfair, it definitely likes to use what it has.

Case in point: My work has over the past year seen brand new Dell 24" fake iMacs - half-decent LCDs, pentium processors which aren't too bad. I know that there isn't too much you can do with a AIO LCD computer, but still the design screams cheapo iMac copy. I needed to edit an image, and finally found a portable app version of Gimp that the network and non-admin account would let me run. It took forever even to start, and then I looked at the amount of RAM the machine had… 2GB.

Size is completely personal, and I'm sure you know the differences between the models. But beyond that, I would as a priority put the processor upgrades a distant third beyond SSD size and RAM tied for first - it doesn't help if you can't run all the apps you want, or carry all the data you need for them.

David
 
red321red321 said:
Why not get the i7? You can never upgrade the processor.
Click to expand...

I came really close to just getting the i7 as to take all the guess work out of it but in reading some posts and comparing the processors, the slight speed bump and extra 1MB in cache was not worth the $180. I really don't think "I" would notice the difference.

I will roll this machine down to my wife next year when they offer quad cores in the 13"

Although components are not upgradable, the computer is always replaceable!;)

----------
fskywalker said:
Nice choice, hope by now the 16GB Ram option delay has been solved and you get it soon!:p
Click to expand...

Me too! It stated 1-2 weeks when selecting the RAM option. Interestingly enough was, when I selected two day shipping, it only changed the arrival date by one day so I just stuck with free shipping.

Last date on estimated delivery was December 24, Christmas eve so I'm hoping it comes earlier.
 
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