Discrete Graphics on 15 inch

[yozh]

Hello,

Currently I have one of the first 2012 Retina Macbook Pros the lower end model but with 16GB of RAM. As you know that model has dual GPUs. I`m going to be upgrading to a newer one as my Apple Care will run out in July and I dont usually keep MBP that long.

Can anyone tell me how much of a diffrence is it for none intense video editing or game playing to by a lower end current 2015 rMBP ? I really dont want to waste extra money and the lower end model seems to suit me with all other specs just graphics seem to worry me a bit.

 

[Freyqq]

Well, the 650M is faster than the Iris Pro 5200 for gaming. It is a downgrade in that respect.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Hello,

Currently I have one of the first 2012 Retina Macbook Pros the lower end model but with 16GB of RAM. As you know that model has dual GPUs. I`m going to be upgrading to a newer one as my Apple Care will run out in July and I dont usually keep MBP that long.

Can anyone tell me how much of a diffrence is it for none intense video editing or game playing to by a lower end current 2015 rMBP ? I really dont want to waste extra money and the lower end model seems to suit me with all other specs just graphics seem to worry me a bit.

If you don't do much gaming or video editing the IRIS Pro is a decent integrated solution that will just about match the 650M in yours unless you are gaming or using CUDA accelerated software.

But if you are buying the lower end model then get a refurb 2014 as the only real difference between that and the one released tuesday is the force trackpad, you could save a bundle.

 

[yjchua95]

Hello,

Currently I have one of the first 2012 Retina Macbook Pros the lower end model but with 16GB of RAM. As you know that model has dual GPUs. I`m going to be upgrading to a newer one as my Apple Care will run out in July and I dont usually keep MBP that long.

Can anyone tell me how much of a diffrence is it for none intense video editing or game playing to by a lower end current 2015 rMBP ? I really dont want to waste extra money and the lower end model seems to suit me with all other specs just graphics seem to worry me a bit.

For games, it will be a fair bit worse because the 650M performs better than the Iris Pro 5200 in games. But when it comes to professional tasks that leverage OpenCL (practically everything in the Adobe CC suite plus FCP X), the Iris Pro will outperform it.

 

[yozh]

If you don't do much gaming or video editing the IRIS Pro is a decent integrated solution that will just about match the 650M in yours unless you are gaming or using CUDA accelerated software.

But if you are buying the lower end model then get a refurb 2014 as the only real difference between that and the one released tuesday is the force trackpad, you could save a bundle.

Isnt it a new CPU upgrade and new faster flash + new trackpad? Also I didnt see any 2014 models available for lower price as of yesterday, Ill check again today.

 

[Naimfan]

I have both a base 15" and the 15" with the 750m; both Mid-2014. When playing Civ V they are indistinguishable. No idea on first person shooter games as I don't play them (served in Iraq and Afghanistan, so lived the real thing).

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[yozh]

I have both a base 15" and the 15" with the 750m; both Mid-2014. When playing Civ V they are indistinguishable. No idea on first person shooter games as I don't play them (served in Iraq and Afghanistan, so lived the real thing).

Hope that helps a bit.

It does ! And thank you for your service !

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Isnt it a new CPU upgrade and new faster flash + new trackpad? Also I didnt see any 2014 models available for lower price as of yesterday, Ill check again today.

The CPU is still haswell and a tiny bit faster, not worth worrying about.

The faster flash will only make a difference if you spend a lot of time copying huge files around your computer in most activities sequential read write performance is of limited benefit.

As for the dGPU that only applies to the top spec model and would be the only reason to buy a 2015 model in my opinion.

The refurb store will be selling the 2014 low end like hotcakes as people realise the 2015 low end model is just not worth the money for the update...

 

[yozh]

Just looked and the refurbished 2014 is $1,600 with edu discount the 2015 I think is a better choice.

I think lower end might work for me, i dont do crazy gaming and very retly a lot of video editing.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Just looked and the refurbished 2014 is $1,600 with edu discount the 2015 I think is a better choice.

I think lower end might work for me, i dont do crazy gaming and very retly a lot of video editing.

With educational discount it'll be worth the difference what is it?? About $100 difference...

 

[yozh]

With educational discount it'll be worth the difference what is it?? About $100 difference...

I think $200-300. I have to check when I get in. Its confusing I saw that CPU was brought to the latest in some articles, but I cant seemed to find that now.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I think $200-300. I have to check when I get in. Its confusing I saw that CPU was brought to the latest in some articles, but I cant seemed to find that now.

It is the latest, it is slightly faster but still haswell.

Broadwell chips suitable for the 15 inch (Broadwell H quadcore mobile chips) Have not been released by Intel and indeed may not be released at all as Skylake is on time and the few months between releases would make poor business sense. Intel can just retool the 14nm fabrication process to skylake and start pumping them out.

 

[yozh]

With educational discount it'll be worth the difference what is it?? About $100 difference...

Ok so now you got me thinking if I should upgrade at all.

Update: Apple tells us that Intel's Broadwell CPUs and GPUs are not included in the new MacBook Pros, which means that we're still looking at Haswell-based CPUs and Intel Iris Pro 5200 GPUs. That CPU and GPU performance in the base model isn't improving after a year-and-a-half is disappointing, especially given that the quad-core Broadwell launch is supposedly happening soon.

Just my apple care will be up in July and you know murphy's law

 

[yozh]

So the EDU price is $1,899.00 for new 2015s. Current refurbished 2014 models are $1,609.00. So $10 under $300. Is it worth going with a newer model, in my mind I think yes.

But now I'm thinking if there is any point to upgrade now, since CPUs did not change and most likely there will be another upgrade this year to the new Intel CPUs.

So my question from OP, has changed to find out your guys opinion is it worth upgrading at this time from the original 2012 rMBP to the new 2015 rMBP.

 

[yjchua95]

Just looked and the refurbished 2014 is $1,600 with edu discount the 2015 I think is a better choice.

I think lower end might work for me, i dont do crazy gaming and very retly a lot of video editing.

If you do a lot of video editing, the R9 M370X can greatly help you because FCP X and the video editing stuff in Adobe CC are heavily reliant on OpenCL, and NVIDIA cards suck in OpenCL. AMD cards completely trash the NVIDIA ones in OpenCL tasks.

 

[yozh]

If you do a lot of video editing, the R9 M370X can greatly help you because FCP X and the video editing stuff in Adobe CC are heavily reliant on OpenCL, and NVIDIA cards suck in OpenCL. AMD cards completely trash the NVIDIA ones in OpenCL tasks.

Nah dont really do too much video editing. Once in a while very basic stuff and not using FCP...

 

[Naimfan]

So my question from OP, has changed to find out your guys opinion is it worth upgrading at this time from the original 2012 rMBP to the new 2015 rMBP.

No. If it were me, I'd get a refurbished Mid-2014 or find one at Best Buy if in the US and have them price match to B&H and then use a mover's 10% off coupon on it.

 

[yozh]

No. If it were me, I'd get a refurbished Mid-2014 or find one at Best Buy if in the US and have them price match to B&H and then use a mover's 10% off coupon on it.

With all that, the price is actually more then refurbished and comes out to be about $280 less than a brand new one. With $280 savings and the drop in resale value, I don't really see much savings vs benefits of the new model.

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No. If it were me, I'd get a refurbished Mid-2014 or find one at Best Buy if in the US and have them price match to B&H and then use a mover's 10% off coupon on it.

But my real question is not the money savings or refurbished vs new etc...

My question is due to potential hardware change this year again, if the new CPUs are around the corner is it worth waiting for them, instead of jumping on the currently released specs ?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

With all that, the price is actually more then refurbished and comes out to be about $280 less than a brand new one. With $280 savings and the drop in resale value, I don't really see much savings vs benefits of the new model.

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But my real question is not the money savings or refurbished vs new etc...

My question is due to potential hardware change this year again, if the new CPUs are around the corner is it worth waiting for them, instead of jumping on the currently released specs ?

It's up to you but the current one will not be much better than what you have.

I would wait but I wouldn't expect miracles from skylake and it may not be with us until march next year.

 

[yozh]

It's up to you but the current one will not be much better than what you have.

I would wait but I wouldn't expect miracles from skylake and it may not be with us until march next year.

Thanks sound reasonable. Just not having warranty really scares me.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Thanks sound reasonable. Just not having warranty really scares me.

Well thats your call but I think if it's lasted this long it'll do you another year. Of course if it dies you'll have to buy a new one but you are going to do that anyway. The only Issue I see is that if it dies you'll lose out on resale...

 

[yozh]

Well thats your call but I think if it's lasted this long it'll do you another year. Of course if it dies you'll have to buy a new one but you are going to do that anyway. The only Issue I see is that if it dies you'll lose out on resale...

Right and thats a big part of it. The resell is what is going to pay for the half of the new one. If something breaks, unlike the older non Retina once it's pretty hard to replace anything in this (not impossible, but hard). Mine is actually at the store right now getting the screen replaced, due to dead pixels and other stuff. Anyway have to wait for the back to school program to get a better deal. Have to make some decisions...

Thanks for the replies guys !

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Right and thats a big part of it. The resell is what is going to pay for the half of the new one. If something breaks, unlike the older non Retina once it's pretty hard to replace anything in this (not impossible, but hard). Mine is actually at the store right now getting the screen replaced, due to dead pixels and other stuff. Anyway have to wait for the back to school program to get a better deal. Have to make some decisions...

Thanks for the replies guys !

Back to school is usually just $50-100 itunes vouchers these days.

But yeah if you want to keep applecare and get the best price for this then you'll have to do it now, when skylake comes out this will lose some resale value as it's still a competitive bit of kit at the moment.

 

[yozh]

Back to school is usually just $50-100 itunes vouchers these days.

But yeah if you want to keep applecare and get the best price for this then you'll have to do it now, when skylake comes out this will lose some resale value as it's still a competitive bit of kit at the moment.

When I got this one it was $100 iTunes Gift card, assuming this will be the same, $100 is $100.

Again thanks for the replies. I`ll think about it. Seems that my original question leads to getting just lower model with Iris is good enough for me.

 

[yozh]

So here is another kicker. Just got my MacBook from the bar. They replaced like half of the laptop...

and new magsafe