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Kerching

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 26, 2008
84
2
Notting Hill Darlink
Going with:-

2.3 i9
2Tb SSD
5500 GPU

Only question is how much RAM 16/32Gb?

I will be doing the usual things - email/word/excel/web/netflix

The most instensive app i use would be Photoshop and then i am not an uber geek running extreme workflows on it. Just someone who takes photos and does mild editing on them.

Your thoughts and possible abuse awaited....
 

cdames00

macrumors regular
Mar 19, 2012
122
77
You’re probably getting way more MacBook than you need. But like the 16” I bought last week, sometimes it’s about want not need!
 

glenthompson

macrumors demi-god
Apr 27, 2011
2,983
844
Virginia
16 should be fine for that workflow. What's your current disk utilization? That will drive how big an SSD you will need. I currently use about 300+gb and consider a 1tb SSD to be the sweet spot for price/capacity. If you're already well over 500gb then the 2tb makes sense.
 

kodabear

macrumors regular
Sep 5, 2020
104
49
16 Gb Ram should be plenty for what you describe what you are using it for. I have 32 GB on my 13" MBP and use Photoshop and LR and find the 32 GB works best for me. Having said that you might want to future proof it and get 32 GB of Ram for that day when you find you wish you had it.
 

Kerching

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 26, 2008
84
2
Notting Hill Darlink
16 should be fine for that workflow. What's your current disk utilization? That will drive how big an SSD you will need. I currently use about 300+gb and consider a 1tb SSD to be the sweet spot for price/capacity. If you're already well over 500gb then the 2tb makes sense.

Currently got 1Tb and definitely need to move to 2Tb.

[automerge]1602866508[/automerge]
16 Gb Ram should be plenty for what you describe what you are using it for. I have 32 GB on my 13" MBP and use Photoshop and LR and find the 32 GB works best for me. Having said that you might want to future proof it and get 32 GB of Ram for that day when you find you wish you had it.

My gut has been saying 32Gb to get it some future proofing - I have 16Gb on my nearly 7 year old 15" MBP
 

ght56

macrumors 6502a
Aug 31, 2020
839
815
The 16GB will be fine.

Are you going to frequently be using external displays?
 

ght56

macrumors 6502a
Aug 31, 2020
839
815
Never use one at all

That spec will be plenty sufficient. You could even do the base i7/5300M and you would be fine. For your usage scenario, I don't think you're going to see much (if any) of a difference between the i7 and i9, or the 5300 and 5500 (with most of your usage, you will be using the iGPU and not the dGPU.)
 
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TL24

macrumors 65816
Oct 20, 2011
1,456
1,356
For your needs I'd say 16GB and get 2TB instead. I'm a sucker for big specs so I went all in with 64GB of RAM and the 5600m GPU lol but I plan on holding onto my MBP 16 for the next 3-5 years.
 
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Kerching

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 26, 2008
84
2
Notting Hill Darlink
For your needs I'd say 16GB and get 2TB instead. I'm a sucker for big specs so I went all in with 64GB of RAM and the 5600m GPU lol but I plan on holding onto my MBP 16 for the next 3-5 years.

Well given my current one is nearly 7 years old, I intend to hang on to this one for at least 3 more like 5 years. So that was my thinking for 32Gb
 

TL24

macrumors 65816
Oct 20, 2011
1,456
1,356
Well given my current one is nearly 7 years old, I intend to hang on to this one for at least 3 more like 5 years. So that was my thinking for 32Gb

In that case I'd say shell out the money for 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. If you're not going to be doing any dGPU intensive stuff then the 5500m 8GB GPU will do you just fine.
 
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APPLEGO

macrumors member
Apr 7, 2017
32
18
😄 Same as your situation, I am using Late 2013 Retina 15-inch MacBook Pro with macOS Catalina 10.15.7 as daily machine which was bought in October 2013 (also 7 years ago, time flies). Although this thing is still not showing any signs of slowing down, I am already considering my next main computing machine.

Since Apple announced Mac hardware transition from third-party’s (Intel, Nvidia, etc.) to own silicon this June, and it also promised that Apple silicon will provide better performance and efficiency compared with the current lineup (of course, if newer products are not better than those they intend to replace with, that will be wired and detrimental to Apple’s reputation), I have possessed strong interests in joining Apple silicon Mac family.

My workflows do not necessarily require systems beyond macOS, and Apple silicon will definitely bring better user experience of macOS compared with what third-parties' chips can bring, so I think the best possible experience for me can only be offered through Apple's customized silicon. Therefore, my upgrade plan becomes clear: once Apple releases 16-inch (or whatever the largest display size available) MacBook Pro with own in-house silicon, I will choose the highest spec options provided that the highest spec is not Intel or any third-party’s.

If Apple still offers Intel chips options, I will then wait for the moment when Apple silicon completely replaces Intel or Apple silicon becomes the highest spec available. Well, when I talk about "highest specs", I do not take storage into consideration. I do not need many disk spaces so I will just go with the lowest storage. However, for those which will affect speed and performances, such as processor, memory and graphics, I will go for the highest ones.


But I still respect your decision in purchasing an Intel MacBook Pro due to its universality of compatibility and versatility in many business as well as engineering environments. Hope you will enjoy it!
 
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Kerching

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 26, 2008
84
2
Notting Hill Darlink
😄 Same as your situation, I am using Late 2013 Retina 15-inch MacBook Pro with macOS Catalina 10.15.7 as daily machine which was bought on October 2013 (also 7 years ago, time flies). Although this thing is still not showing any signs of slowing down, I am already considering my next main computing machine.

Since Apple announced Mac hardware transition from third-party’s (Intel, Nvidia, etc.) to own silicon this June, and it also promised that Apple silicon will provide better performance and efficiency compared with the current lineup (of course, if newer products are not better than those they intend to replace with, that will be wired and detrimental to Apple’s reputation), I have possessed strong interests in jumping forward to joining Apple silicon Mac family.

My workflows do not necessarily require systems beyond macOS, and Apple silicon will definitely bring better user experience of macOS compared with what third-parties' chips can bring, so I think the best possible experience for me can only be offered through Apple's customized silicon. Therefore, my upgrade plan becomes clear: once Apple releases 16-inch (or whatever the largest display size available) MacBook Pro with own in-house silicon, I will choose the highest spec options provided that the highest spec is not Intel or any third-party’s.

If Apple still offers Intel chips options, I will then wait for the moment when Apple silicon completely replaces Intel or Apple silicon becomes the highest spec available. Well, when I talk about "highest specs", I do not take storage into consideration. I do not need many disk spaces so I will just go with the lowest storage. However, for those which will affect speed and performance, such as processor, memory and graphics, I will go for the highest ones.


But I still respect your decisions in purchasing an Intel MacBook Pro due to its universality of compatibility and versatility in many business and engineering environments. Hope you will enjoy it!

Ok............ not sure that actually helped. It appears your are talking about your own upgrade path not mine.
 

pugxiwawa

macrumors 6502a
Nov 10, 2009
534
1,244
I would probably go with i7/5300M and use the saving to bump memory to 32GB. I tried both configuration i7/5300M vs i9/5500M and there's very little difference (if at all, couldn't really tell) in daily tasks.
 

Grohowiak

macrumors 6502a
Nov 14, 2012
768
793
i7/5300 + 32GB + 2TB is what I would go as well in your case that's if you really want that 32GB for some reason.
My opinion 16GB will do fine.
You will see no speed difference and you'll have less heat thx to the i7.
 
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Mike Slayer

macrumors member
Oct 1, 2020
38
32
i7/5300 + 32GB + 2TB is what I would go as well in your case that's if you really want that 32GB for some reason.
My opinion 16GB will do fine.
You will see no speed difference and you'll have less heat thx to the i7.


I agree with Grohowiak. I personally have a 2020 MacBook Pro 13" with the 10th Gen i7 and 32GB of ram. This is my first Apple computer ever so after reading a lot about the 12", 13" MBA and MBP have issues with heat I was thinking about going with the i5 over the i7. I decided to go with the i7 and even under serious load it handles it rather well. I forgot to mention I use TG Pro to change the fan presets on my MBP 13" so it's a more aggressive cooling profile. I would imagine the I9 can put out some serious heat then add a GPU and even the 16" MBP might have a hard time with it. Going with the i7 and 5300 GPU on the 16" MBP would probably handle it like a boss if your use more aggressive fan profiles. Since I started using TG Pro my temps stay around 28-38 degrees Celsius and when the CPU starts loading up the highest I have seen it was 68 degrees Celsius. I can simulate 100% CPU usage and even then it will stay just over 80 degrees Celsius. The workload you plan to do with it the i7 and 5300 will be more than enough while not drawing so much power and creating more heat like the i9 and 5500/5600 could. Save the extra money that the i9 and 5500 would cost and put it toward the 32GB and 2 TB. i7, 5300, 32GB of ram and 2TB of storage will make a slick running 16" MBP. In the end it's your choice. If you want to keep it for a extended period of time like others and myself plan to then max out the specs as much as you want. That is what I did when I ordered my 2020 13" MBP. Only thing I didn't max out was storage. I just got the 1TB since I didn't need more than that. I always keep the bulk of my files and such stored on external drives and not on my MBP so I didn't need or want to spend the money on the extra storage. I think which ever way you decide to go i9 or i7, 5500 or 5300, 16GB ram or 32GB ram you will be just fine and having more power than you need in a computer is never a bad thing just in case you need it in the future.
 
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