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i7 quad from 2011 vs. i5 from 2015

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pixeltarian

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 21, 2009
49
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I do audio production. I use Logic Pro X. I use AU plugins and such.

I am leaning towards a newer macbook air for audio production because I don't feel like spending 2 grand to get a quad. Gut then again there is the used market...

Will an i7 quad core from 2011 run circles around a dual core i5 from 2015?

if so... Why would anyone ever want to buy a macbook pro from the apple store when anything short of the $2000 models are blown away by computers that are nearly 4 and a half years older?!
 
"Run circles" is a slightly strong term. Cpu power only matters if you can leverage it. The 2011s are still faster than the current Airs. The 2014 15" models are faster than the 2011 15" models. You could always buy a refurbished 2014 quad, which is virtually identical to the late 2013s. Something to keep in mind is that these things don't change as much year over year as they did a decade ago. That being said I would avoid the 2011s completely. They had a lot of issues with the gpus. Repairs of older models are always refurbished boards, and I haven't had great luck with them. You would be better off with a refurbished late 2013 or 2014 model. Note that the refurbished units in the Apple Store don't necessarily use refurbished logic boards. Many of them were probably returns when it comes to the newer models. Apple can't actually resell a returned unit as new.
 
thekev said:
"Run circles" is a slightly strong term. Cpu power only matters if you can leverage it. The 2011s are still faster than the current Airs. The 2014 15" models are faster than the 2011 15" models. You could always buy a refurbished 2014 quad, which is virtually identical to the late 2013s. Something to keep in mind is that these things don't change as much year over year as they did a decade ago. That being said I would avoid the 2011s completely. They had a lot of issues with the gpus. Repairs of older models are always refurbished boards, and I haven't had great luck with them. You would be better off with a refurbished late 2013 or 2014 model. Note that the refurbished units in the Apple Store don't necessarily use refurbished logic boards. Many of them were probably returns when it comes to the newer models. Apple can't actually resell a returned unit as new.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info!

There are no quads in the refirb section on apple's site at the moment... but Apple only seems to knock %15ish off the new price. I can find a mid 2012 quad i7 macbook pro for $1,100 in the used market.

Does anyone know what the most recent non-retina display quad core macbook pro is? Because I do audio and will be using "clamshell" mode quite often, I don't care a lot about the display.

Basically, I have a budget of $1300 and really want it to be a quad core processor.
 
pixeltarian said:
Thanks for the info!

There are no quads in the refirb section on apple's site at the moment... but Apple only seems to knock %15ish off the new price. I can find a mid 2012 quad i7 macbook pro for $1,100 in the used market.

Does anyone know what the most recent non-retina display quad core macbook pro is? Because I do audio and will be using "clamshell" mode quite often, I don't care a lot about the display.

Basically, I have a budget of $1300 and really want it to be a quad core processor.
Click to expand...

Ah. Well there are a couple things to keep in mind. One is that the refurbished 2014s will go down in price when they are refreshed again. This is me personally, but I really prefer the rmbp displays. They have nicer viewing angles, but I'm picky. The 2012/early 13s are also covered by a repair program. Apple has experienced gpu problems with many generations. the other area where I've experienced a lot of problems is batteries, but the newer ones don't seem to experience the same issues. Even then battery service is more reliable than logic board service (again personal experience).

Here's the article macrumors ran recently.

The next Apple notebook I purchase will have integrated graphics. Note that is the reason I suggested the late 2013/2014 15" models. All 13" models and Airs also lack this problem, because none of them have discrete graphics.

I don't really have experience with audio production. Some of those areas can vary quite a bit in terms of requirements depending on what you actually want to run. Anyway in your position I would probably go for a newer 13" macbook pro or Air over an older 15" for the reasons I mentioned. Even something as simple as battery service is quite expensive. Apple charges $179 for battery service on a 15" cmbp and $199 on a rmbp. Depot repairs in the case of a bad logic board run roughly $330 to fix anything and everything, as long as it hasn't experienced water damage or user abuse.
 
I sold my 2012 15" cMBP for $1,100...and then bought a 2014 15" open boxed retina for a total of $1,440 at best buy (open box, movers coupon, student discount).

The 2012 cMBP was a great computer, and I never had problems with audio recording.

I owned a 13" 2014 retina too for awhile, and it handled logic well too.

I think you'll be fine with whatever you get, but the quad does give piece of mind..and 16 gigs ram is rather unnecessary, but also nice.

With the 2014 15" on numerous sales recently, can you save up some more and look for some deals on it ?

Go to best buy and try to find open boxes (they told me they had none when I called). Also sign up for a movers coupon at USPS and student discount coupon at best buy if applicable.
 
pixeltarian said:
Does anyone know what the most recent non-retina display quad core macbook pro is? Because I do audio and will be using "clamshell" mode quite often, I don't care a lot about the display.
Click to expand...

The 2012 model you've highlighted in your post.

Ivy bridge/650m.
 
picked up a mid 2012 15" MBP with retina display/quad i7/16GB Ram/SSD for $1050. I think it was a good deal. Is that a good deal?
 
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