Help with choosing a MacBook Pro

[Spectre06]

I just bought a 2020 13” 16GB Ram 512Gb i5 10th gen for $1,699.00 ........I got it yesterday and haven’t opened it yet because I can exchange it for a 16” 16GB Ram 512Gb with intel core i7 and the AMD Radeon 5300 for $2,099.00. ($400 difference) I can’t decide what to do!!! I do not do any video editing, mostly just photoshop and a little gaming.

 

[dinobear]

Sounds like you already made the decision lol

 

[Spectre06]

Sounds like you already made the decision lol

Hahaha. Well like I said I haven’t opened it and can just exchange it for the 16”. I just don’t know if the 10th gen processor is a big of deal as having the dedicated GPU.
I’m not sure if the iris graphics are all that great.

 

[planteater]

If the best portability is not a driving concern, go for the 16. The extra screen real estate will be welcome.

 

[dinobear]

From what I've read, there isn't much of a difference between 9th and 10th gen intel CPUs. Intel hasn't made great improvements in their CPUs and it sounds like it's more rebranding than anything.

GPU would make the biggest difference if you're doing graphic work or gaming I suppose. If you don't need a lot of GPU power, the 13" feels a lot more portable than the 16". I wish they made "13 with GPU options!

 

[Spectre06]

From what I've read, there isn't much of a difference between 9th and 10th gen intel CPUs. Intel hasn't made great improvements in their CPUs and it sounds like it's more rebranding than anything.

GPU would make the biggest difference if you're doing graphic work or gaming I suppose. If you don't need a lot of GPU power, the 13" feels a lot more portable than the 16". I wish they made "13 with GPU options!

GPU on 13” would be perfect balance.
[automerge]1595785618[/automerge]

If the best portability is not a driving concern, go for the 16. The extra screen real estate will be welcome.

I don’t travel much and mostly just sit on the couch with my laptop.

 

[ctjack]

I think you can see people here buying even maxed out MBP 13 2020 with price tag of $2400-$3600. But MBP 16 is all better than even maxed out 13 incher. Which leads us to an opinion, that higher end 13 inch is more of a luxury product. It is ultimate portable small laptop with power. So you are paying luxury price for it. Personally I would go 16 inch with no questions asked ($2039 refurbished), if i were to buy $1799 MBP 13 2020. It is like only $200-300 difference, which is very well justified by the power of 16 inch.

 

[0128672]

Just another voice saying go for the base model 16" for the larger screen. The refurb store often has the base models for $2039, but there are no base models today. As you probably know, those like-new refurbs come with the same one-year warranty as new machines and an option to buy Applecare. Also refurb shipping is much faster than the regular Apple Store these days. Here's the link if you want to check back: https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac/16-inch

 

[Spectre06]

Just another voice saying go for the base model 16" for the larger screen.

Yeah I do quite a bit of photoshop editing, 16” will definitely serve me better. Thank you.
[automerge]1595789734[/automerge]

I think you can see people here buying even maxed out MBP 13 2020 with price tag of $2400-$3600. But MBP 16 is all better than even maxed out 13 incher. Which leads us to an opinion, that higher end 13 inch is more of a luxury product. It is ultimate portable small laptop with power. So you are paying luxury price for it. Personally I would go 16 inch with no questions asked ($2039 refurbished), if i were to buy $1799 MBP 13 2020. It is like only $200-300 difference, which is very well justified by the power of 16 inch.

The 13” I bought was like $1,649 and the 16” I will exchange it for is $2,099. Apple care for 13” is $269 and $379 for 16”. So it’s about $560 difference.

 

[ctjack]

($400 difference) I can’t decide what to do!!!

So it’s about $560 difference.

If difference is $560 then just stick to your 13 inch. Since $560 is still $560 saved.

 

[Spectre06]

If difference is $560 then just stick to your 13 inch. Since $560 is still $560 saved.

Yeah I didn’t know the Apple care cost was different between the two, I was just looking at the $400 price difference. Wife will be much happier if I keep the 13”.

 

[nothingtoseehere]

Yeah I didn’t know the Apple care cost was different between the two, I was just looking at the $400 price difference. Wife will be much happier if I keep the 13”.

For your use case, the 16" sounds better (me not doing Photoshop or gaming so I am a 13" guy). Your financial and domestic situation is only for you to evaluate
[automerge]1595797175[/automerge]

For your use case, the 16" sounds better (me not doing Photoshop or gaming so I am a 13" guy). Your financial and domestic situation is only for you to evaluate

...I forgot to mention that at times, I did some picture editing. The bigger the screen, the better.

 

[posguy99]

Yeah I do quite a bit of photoshop editing, 16” will definitely serve me better. Thank you.

So plug it into a monitor when you need to do work like that. You can buy a nice 4k monitor for what you're going to spend moving up to the 16".

 

[CheesePuff]

A couple things that have not been mentioned here... on the 16", you get better speakers, better microphones, and improved thermals/cooling from the previous design. In my opinion since portability is not as critical, I prefer the 16" for the larger display and better performance which in the end is worth $400 more.

 

[Spectre06]

A couple things that have not been mentioned here... on the 16", you get better speakers, better microphones, and improved thermals/cooling from the previous design. In my opinion since portability is not as critical, I prefer the 16" for the larger display and better performance which in the end is worth $400 more.

Thank you, all together it will be $560 more to exchange the 13 for the 16. I don’t care about speakers or microphone BUT I am very interested in the improved thermals/cooling especially if the 13 tends to get hot.

 

[involuntarheely]

after having tried both, I'd say it's difficult to go wrong as they are overall pretty similar in terms of the kind of thing that doesn't work.
overall I liked both machines and ended up returning the 16 because too big and I didn't like the typing experience (the keyboard is fine, it's the way my hands positioned that I don't like and didn't feel super comfy. I type for work so I care)
I'm really liking the 13 and i think the only real major issues are with Intel.

here are my impressions

- typing on the 13 is better because the keyboard is closer to the edge of the case
- the 16 has a gigantic trackpad - too much for me
- the 16 has excellent battery life IF you dont use or disable the dGPU. very much less so if you use the dGPU. some software will turn the dGPU on and it will stay on even if idling
- my 16 at the time had these tiny lags every now and then (keyboard or cursor freezing for like half a sec) which didn't seem to happen when on dGPU
- battery life on the 13 is good but not excellent. I'd say a little better than the 16 on dGPU
- 13 runs hotter and louder if you really push it. I use it in clamshell mode connected to a screen and temps are at most around 65celsius
- fans on the 13 will stop if you're not doing much. fans on the 16 are always on (ie longer term may collect more dust?)
- compared to the 2019 13in 4-ports, the 2020 is a bit hotter at all times. notebookcheck also measured higher idle power consumption. idk if this helps in any way but just thought I'd mention
- there's a thread here with people (me included) reporting battery capacity decrease after a few cycles with both 13 and 16. maybe it's nothing but for what it's worth my old 2019 had 99.5% after 50 cycles whereas now I'm seeing 96% after 10 (battery health mode turned off)

 

[Spectre06]

Wow good info, thanks for taking to time to share that with me, it’s helpful.

 

[DevPreach]

I don't do any gaming on my 13" MBP(that's what my custom built Windows PC is for),but I do use Photoshop and Lightroom and the respective plugin suites of the Nik Collection3 and OnOne Photo RAW 2020 for photo editing and design work and the 13" works just fine. I got the upgraded base model with the 8th gen core i5 processor and 512 GB SSD and it has handled everything that I've thrown at it thus far with flying colors. I cannot complain about this MBP. Now graphics processing is not the main reason why I got the 13 inch. My main motivation behind purchasing the one that I did was portability back and forth from home to work and all the other places in between(mostly field trips and high school sports charters as I drive school bus so I have to be able to fit my bag into tight spaces on the bus), price(like I said I'm a bus driver I don't make a lot of money lol), battery life as I don't always have access to a wall outlet to plug it intoand the fact that my local Best Buy had it available and in stock so I didn't have to wait forever for Apple to ship it to me. I may not be your average user but I love my MacBook Pro and nothing can change that.

 

[TurboJobo]

I went from a 13" 2017 to a 15" 2019 and is way better. The 13" is lighter and more portable you will feel the difference between the two, but the screen and gpu is just way better and also the performance is much better. my laptop rarely leaves my house since im out of college now and the 13" was so great to put in backpack and going places i doubt my 15" would be like that but hey it can still take it if i need unlike the imac i got lol

 

[Fishrrman]

You'll never be happy unless you spend the extra $400 and get the 16"...

 

[Spectre06]

You'll never be happy unless you spend the extra $400 and get the 16"...

That is exactly what I have come to the conclusion of. I am going to return the 13”, and either get the 16” now or wait until the end of the year to see what apple does next.