i5 or i7 for 13"

[jsn7]

Hello everyone.

I'll be replacing my 2016 13" MacBook Pro (i5, 256,8)

I'm looking for the same size 13" and definitively 16GB RAM.

However, I'm having a hard time deciding which processor I should get, i5 has been enough for me even considering that mine is dual core and newer ones are quad, I know a little bit of extra power is always better but battery life and temperature are holding me from going fully i7. (It is important to note that I do not use the MacBook as a performance machine, I got an i7 laptop and a i9 desktop).

So, I would like to hear opinions from people with i5 and i7 and how you feel about your MacBook, and if you have any recommendations for me.

Thanks

 

[revmacian]

Will you be using the new machine for heavy video editing or gaming? If not, I would go with i5.

I have the base model 2019 MBA (i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) and I do occasional video editing and only suffer some dropped frames. I think the i7 would be overkill for what you have planned.. spend the money on extra storage.

 

[jsn7]

Will you be using the new machine for heavy video editing or gaming? If not, I would go with i5.

I have the base model 2019 MBA (i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) and I do occasional video editing and only suffer some dropped frames. I think the i7 would be overkill for what you have planned.. spend the money on extra storage.

Thanks for your quick reply. My storage is sitting around 60gb used of my 250gb.

You got the quad core right? How has it been?

I'm also worried about the thermals... Somebody with an i7?

 

[revmacian]

Thanks for your quick reply. My storage is sitting around 60gb used of my 250gb.

You got the quad core right? How has it been?

I'm also worried about the thermals... Somebody with an i7?

No, mine is dual core.. see the screenshot. I bought this 2019 MBA brand new at Best Buy and it has turned out to be the best laptop I have ever used - despite my skepticism that it wouldn't be powerful enough for much. I occasionally edit videos in iMovie and it even holds up to that.

Keep in mind that you'll want to leave 10% of an SSD empty so it can perform wear leveling more efficiently. And, Catalina takes about 20GB. I don't think the fan on my MBA has ever turned on - or it's too quiet for anyone to hear.

I've never owned an i7 machine, so cannot comment on that. But, this i5 MBA is amazing.

 

[alter_ohm]

i would wait for the new 13" models coming in the next months. mostly because the next keyboard will be more reliable (scissor key). apple gave an extended 4-year warranty to all the butterfly keyboards - so there is still the warranty for the keyboard if you wait 2 or 3 months.

and no way i would buy a 2-core laptop in 2020 (air). there are already 8-core laptops out there and 12/16-core mainstream desktop cpus from amd. unfortunately software tends to adapt to the processing power being broadly available, so it may be not the best idea to buy such a machine if you want to use it for the next 3 or 4 years (even when its just surfing the web).

the decision between i5 / i7 / i9 is not that important, because its the decision between processors of the same intel generation. if you want huge change in processor performance you would have to wait for the next smaller manufacturing process in combination with a new architecture. since skylake 14nm (6.genereration) there is not much progress going on. the coming intel comet lake mobile processors (2020) are still produced in 14nm. i think we will have to wait for alder lake or meteor lake in 2022/2023 to see a real difference (new architecture in 10nm).

 

[revmacian]

i would wait for the new 13" models coming in the next months. mostly because the next keyboard will be more reliable (scissor key). apple gave an extended 4-year warranty to all the butterfly keyboards - so there is still the warranty for the keyboard if you wait 2 or 3 months.

and no way i would buy a 2-core laptop in 2020 (air). there are already 8-core laptops out there and 12/16-core mainstream desktop cpus from amd. unfortunately software tends to adapt to the processing power being broadly available, so it may be not the best idea to buy such a machine if you want to use it for the next 3 or 4 years (even when its just surfing the web).

the decision between i5 / i7 / i9 is not that important, because its the decision between processors of the same intel generation. if you want huge change in processor performance you would have to wait for the next smaller manufacturing process in combination with a new architecture. since skylake 14nm (6.genereration) there is not much progress going on. the coming intel comet lake mobile processors (2020) are still produced in 14nm. i think we will have to wait for alder lake or meteor lake in 2022/2023 to see a real difference (new architecture in 10nm).

There is no guarantee that the current butterfly keyboard will fail. I still have a 2017 MBP and have seen no indication of keyboard issues with that machine.. and it's from 2017. There is no guarantee that changing the keyboard will solve all problems - the new 16" MBP has the new scissor keyboard but it also has a ghosting problem.

I do, however, think you're spot on about the i5/i7/i9 discussion, very good points made there.