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Help me decide: Mid 2014 rMBP or Mid 2015 rMBP

Z

Zen Desk Pro

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 18, 2015
62
9
Chicago, Illinois
Here's the deal. I ordered a 15 inch mid 2015 rMBP the other day from a big box retailer. However, it's 256 GB.

I just found a deal where I can get a brand new 15 inch Mid 2014 rMBP with 512 GB for $100 dollars more.

Do you guys think I should return the Mid 2015 for the mid 2014?

Is the slight price difference worth the storage bump?


I guess what's most important is: what exactly were the spec upgrades from mid 2014 to mid 2015? Other than the trackpad? Any noticable differences? (Realistically, for a relatively casual computer user)?

I have a 1TB external HD that I dock to my monitor when I use my notebook as a desktop. Usually for media storage. Small, light, and frequntley used files are stored on the internal AND the external HDD.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
256? I would return the 2015 on that alone. I wasn't even aware you could build one with 256mb SSD. You sure it's not 512? The last time I built on online it had 512 as min...

I would just wait until OCtober and see if they launch a skylake MBP
 
Spetsnazos said:
256? I would return the 2015 on that alone. I wasn't even aware you could build one with 256mb SSD. You sure it's not 512? The last time I built on online it had 512 as min...

I would just wait until OCtober and see if they launch a skylake MBP
Click to expand...

Well, 256 GB, but yes. Waiting until October is not an option as my old laptop's hard drive has fried out. And skylake is not of interest to me right now due to how expensive it most likely will be.

Check this out: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-m...lver/8532502.p?id=1219343246944&skuId=8532502

That's the notebook.

I just wanted to know if there's a huge difference between mid 2014 and mid 2015. I'd plan on upgrading to el captain right away. But, as someone who's buying their first Macbook, would I even notice the difference? I'm coming from a low to mid end Windows PC.

Does the 2x read/write and flash storage speed make that much of a difference to someone who uses the notebook casually? Small photoshop projects, amateur video editing, amateur web design and website building, web browsing, flash games, light gaming (some steam here and there). Does the graphics card update make that much of a difference?

I just don't want to stress about internal storage management the whole time owning this notebook. The last notebook I had came with 500 GB of HD storage. And I distinctly remember using half of that towards the end of it's life. And this was with me being pretty conservative about what went on the external HDD and what stayed on the internal.


Thanks.
 
Zen Desk Pro said:
Here's the deal. I ordered a 15 inch mid 2015 rMBP the other day from a big box retailer. However, it's 256 GB.

I just found a deal where I can get a brand new 15 inch Mid 2014 rMBP with 512 GB for $100 dollars more.

Do you guys think I should return the Mid 2015 for the mid 2014?

Is the slight price difference worth the storage bump?


I guess what's most important is: what exactly were the spec upgrades from mid 2014 to mid 2015? Other than the trackpad? Any noticable differences? (Realistically, for a relatively casual computer user)?

I have a 1TB external HD that I dock to my monitor when I use my notebook as a desktop. Usually for media storage. Small, light, and frequntley used files are stored on the internal AND the external HDD.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Does the 512GB model have the 750M? If so, that's a nice upgrade if you use graphically intensive programs.
 
Freyqq said:
Does the 512GB model have the 750M? If so, that's a nice upgrade if you use graphically intensive programs.
Click to expand...
Yes, along with it's Crystalwell processor, it has
  • 512GB PCIe-Based Flash Storage
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M Graphics (2GB)

Should I make the switch? Offer ends soon.
 
I guess in other words what I'm meaning to ask is:

What is it that the R9 M370X can or would allow me to do that the 750M wouldn't?

What kinds of tasks would a user have to be frequently engaged in in order to notice the differences between these graphics cards? Hardcore gaming? Large video editing, transporting, exporting? Rendering? Web browsing?
 
Zen Desk Pro said:
I guess in other words what I'm meaning to ask is:

What is it that the R9 M370X can or would allow me to do that the 750M wouldn't?

What kinds of tasks would a user have to be frequently engaged in in order to notice the differences between these graphics cards? Hardcore gaming? Large video editing, transporting, exporting? Rendering? Web browsing?
Click to expand...


If you got a 256Gb one then it doesn't have the R9 M370X in it, as the ones with a dGPU only come in 512GB and up you cannot configure it for less storage with dGPU. Which means you have a 2015 with iGPU (haswell crystalwell IRIS Pro graphics) the 2014 has better graphics and slower ssd and no force touch. This will make little difference unless you do gaming or 4K video editing, in many use cases it won't make much difference. Unless we know what you use the machine for it is impossible to tell what is a better buy for you.
 
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Samuelsan2001 said:
If you got a 256Gb one then it doesn't have the R9 M370X in it, as the ones with a dGPU only come in 512GB and up you cannot configure it for less storage with dGPU. Which means you have a 2015 with iGPU (haswell crystalwell IRIS Pro graphics) the 2014 has better graphics and slower ssd and no force touch. This will make little difference unless you do gaming or 4K video editing, in many use cases it won't make much difference. Unless we know what you use the machine for it is impossible to tell what is a better buy for you.
Click to expand...

Wow, you're absolutely right, and I feel incredibly stupid now :eek:

I guess that settles it. Since I don't do any 4K video editing and don't really game that much on my computer, I'll go with the 2014 rMBP mid 2014 and return the other one. Will this notebook allow for light gaming? Such some indie Steam titles, or a game like CS:GO from time to time?


Thanks.
 
Zen Desk Pro said:
Here's the deal. I ordered a 15 inch mid 2015 rMBP the other day from a big box retailer. However, it's 256 GB.

I just found a deal where I can get a brand new 15 inch Mid 2014 rMBP with 512 GB for $100 dollars more.

Do you guys think I should return the Mid 2015 for the mid 2014?

Is the slight price difference worth the storage bump?


I guess what's most important is: what exactly were the spec upgrades from mid 2014 to mid 2015? Other than the trackpad? Any noticable differences? (Realistically, for a relatively casual computer user)?

I have a 1TB external HD that I dock to my monitor when I use my notebook as a desktop. Usually for media storage. Small, light, and frequntley used files are stored on the internal AND the external HDD.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You're definitely getting more for your money going with the 2014 model.

From your post, I imagine you're choosing between a 2015 2.2Ghz/256GB/16GB RAM/Iris Pro model, versus a 2014 2.5Ghz/512GB/16GB RAM/Iris Pro/750M model. For $100 more, the 2014 model is a no brainer in my opinion.

The 2014 model is literally the exact same computer as the High-end 2015 model except with no Force-Touch Trackpad and a 750M instead of a M370X. Go for the 2014 model.
 
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Zen Desk Pro said:
Wow, you're absolutely right, and I feel incredibly stupid now :eek:

I guess that settles it. Since I don't do any 4K video editing and don't really game that much on my computer, I'll go with the 2014 rMBP mid 2014 and return the other one. Will this notebook allow for light gaming? Such some indie Steam titles, or a game like CS:GO from time to time?


Thanks.
Click to expand...

750M is more than powerful enough for gaming. Even modern games if you turn the resolution down. I can play the kind of games you want to play on max settings on my Iris Pro/8GB RAM/256GB Late 2013 15".
 
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Thanks Zeke. You've made my decision so much easier. I've decided to get the Mid 2014. As it best suits my needs. Plus, it came free with a 1TB external hard drive (ordinarily 130 dollars). I bought an external HD before, but I'll keep it. Either I'll use one as a bootable safe clone backup and the other as a permanent, extended hard drive (by docking it to my display) or I'll give one to my brother.


Thanks again!
 
Zen Desk Pro said:
I guess in other words what I'm meaning to ask is:

What is it that the R9 M370X can or would allow me to do that the 750M wouldn't?

What kinds of tasks would a user have to be frequently engaged in in order to notice the differences between these graphics cards? Hardcore gaming? Large video editing, transporting, exporting? Rendering? Web browsing?
Click to expand...

R9 M370X - give back a little battery life
 
Spink10 said:
R9 M370X - give back a little battery life
Click to expand...
Yeah, I just realized that.

Although, on average the newer Macbook added about 30 minutes of battery life a session. Also not a reason for me to need to downgrade on SSD storage. Plus, I'm coming from a 500GB pc that lasted 4.5 hours tops off the charger. So this will be a nice upgrade to that. Downgrading on the storage would have been giving up too much for what little i'd gain.

Thanks again for all of your help.
 
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