Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

i7 Processor vs 512GB SSD?

J

justinf77

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 18, 2003
643
568
I'm buying the new 13" rMBP but can't decide between two different configurations:

2.9 GHz i5
512GB SSD
16GB RAM

or

3.3GHz i7
256GB SSD
16GB RAM

Comes down to getting the maxed out processor or double the amount of storage. Not sure which would be more beneficial for me. I use cloud services for storage and do just fine with 256GB on my current MacBook Air, but it would be nice to have the extra space. On the other hand, I'm sure the i7 performance will be quite a few steps above the base i5.

Which would you choose?
 
Processor for me. I put 99% of my stuff in OneDrive. 256 GB of local storage is more than enough for me.
 
I chose the i5 based mostly on my budget. But I did think about going for the i7. If you can make 256GB work like I can and don't see a need for it in the future, I would go big on the processor.
 
Personally, paying extra for the dual core i7 in the 13 inch MBP is NEVER worth the price. The differences in speed vs what you pay ($300, right?) is totally unbalanced. Sure, the i7 has a bit more chache & turbo boost, but the differences are still minor is nearly every use case (light or heavy) If you want true i7 performance, pony up for the 15 inch. Otherwise, put that money towards more storage (if necessary) or in your pocket.
 
iKnowMr.Jobs said:
Personally, paying extra for the dual core i7 in the 13 inch MBP is NEVER worth the price. The differences in speed vs what you pay ($300, right?) is totally unbalanced. Sure, the i7 has a bit more chache & turbo boost, but the differences are still minor is nearly every use case (light or heavy) If you want true i7 performance, pony up for the 15 inch. Otherwise, put that money towards more storage (if necessary) or in your pocket.
Click to expand...

Yep, this is exactly the line of thinking I went through when making the decision. And in this case it was even easier because the i7 doesn't even have a larger cache size than the i5 - literally the only difference is clock speed. If the upgrade was $100 I would've gone for it, but $300 just seems insane for that.
 
justinf77 said:
I went with the 512GB version and the base i5 processor. I saw the spec sheet and there's literally no difference between i5 and i7 aside from the clock speed, and I don't think a slight boost in peak performance is worth $300.
Click to expand...

Good call. The i7 is not worth the price, it's the same class of CPU, just a slightly higher clock speed.
 
I'd probably skip the i7 on the 13 inch. From past experience with a previous gen, the gains you'll see day to day are relatively minor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back