is the new macbook pro worth the extra money?

[slicing]

Would it be worth spending an extra $800 on the new late model 15-inch: 2.6GHz with Retina display
Specifications
2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
16GB 1600MHz memory
1TB PCIe-based Flash Storage
Intel Iris Pro Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
with 2GB GDDR5 memory
Built-in battery (8 hours)2

or

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display
Originally released February 2013
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
16GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
768GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

 

[Wuiffi]

Would it be worth spending an extra $800 on the new late model 15-inch: 2.6GHz with Retina display
Specifications
2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
16GB 1600MHz memory
1TB PCIe-based Flash Storage
Intel Iris Pro Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
with 2GB GDDR5 memory
Built-in battery (8 hours)2

or

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display
Originally released February 2013
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
16GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
768GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

cpu is a bit faster (you won't notice), iGPU is a lot faster (probably smoother UI), dGPU is in theory faster (guess not much difference). SSD is PCIe based and nearly twice as fast and it has wifi ac. I wouldn't pay 800$ for it (most improvements are just not enough to justify it for me), but the new one is better in every possible aspect (battery life is probably the most important)

if those 800$ don't hurt you, the late 2013 is the better computer, but the early 2013 refurb imo is better value

edit: one more thing: the new one has thunderbolt 2, which in theory is able to drive 4k displays at 60hz. so if you think you will every buy one or a tv and want to use it as display, the late 2013 is the one to buy!

 

[maflynn]

If you can swing the 800, I think you get a better computer for your money.
Bigger faster SSD, better iGPU, better dGPU and better power management.

 

[MCAsan]

Compare the speed bench scores for them or a model close to them.


https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1694284/

 

[AppleGoat]

if those 800$ don't hurt you, the late 2013 is the better computer, but the early 2013 refurb imo is better value ...

True.

Also, the higher end late-2013 15" is a better value than the lower end late-2013 15" IMO. When does that ever happen?

 

[7itanium]

I was holding off on the upgrade.... but I just picked up a 13" retina MBP and its amazing

the haswell upgrade is a big deal, the retina display is unsurpassed and it has a much better SSD. among other things

if you can swing the upgrade I say go for it... after all that older macbook is worth some nice cash on craigslist still so you could make that $800 up pretty easily

 

[GSPice]

The 2013 you mention is worth it for:

1. Faster flash storage
2. Bigger flash storage
3. Thunderbolt 2 (4k, etc.)
4. Battery life
5. Iris Pro absolutely crushes HD 4000
6. Resale value?

The 2013 is not worth it for:
1. Just the 750m dGPU - not much improvement, except for occasions that take advantage of it's 2GB of memory, vs. the 650m's 1GB.

Unfortunately I can't say if that all adds up to $800 of value for you.

 

[slicing]

When already paying close to $3000 I thought $800 isn't really that much more since a extra 250gb external SSD cost $469(I'm in Australia)

LaCie 256GB SSD Rugged Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 Solid-State Drive
A$ 469.95

So will the late model support 4k monitors or not?

I think I'm leaning towards the new one, going to be keeping this one long term doing occasional movie editing

Thanks for your help

Forgot to mention, so the early 2.8ghz is comparable in speed to the late 2.6 ghz processor? That's where I was getting a bit confused

 

[maflynn]

Forgot to mention, so the early 2.8ghz is comparable in speed to the late 2.6 ghz processor? That's where I was getting a bit confused

You're not going to see any real world differences between a 2.8 and a 2.6 processor, though a newer 2.6 would probably closer in performance to the prior 2.8, maybe even faster who knows - either way it shouldn't be part of your decision matrix

 

[Wuiffi]

So will the late model support 4k monitors or not?

Over HDMI it supports:

HDMI video output
Support for 1080p resolution at up to 60Hz
Support for 3840-by-2160 resolution at 30Hz
Support for 4096-by-2160 resolution at 24Hz

Over Thunderbolt (2) right now it does 4k at 30Hz, but in theory it should be able to do 60hz as soon as they update the drivers (it does support it under windows - bootcamp)
See here

 

[yjchua95]

Would it be worth spending an extra $800 on the new late model 15-inch: 2.6GHz with Retina display
Specifications
2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
16GB 1600MHz memory
1TB PCIe-based Flash Storage
Intel Iris Pro Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
with 2GB GDDR5 memory
Built-in battery (8 hours)2

or

Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display
Originally released February 2013
15.4-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2880-by-1800 resolution at 220 pixels per inch
16GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
768GB Flash Storage
720p FaceTime HD Camera
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5 memory

Totally worth it for the Haswell rMBP. Since it's a 1TB SSD, it uses a 4-lane PCIe bus, so you get read/writes of around 950MB/s to 1.2 GB/s. Way faster than the refurb model.

And the Iris + GT750M is worth it too. When doing OpenCL stuff, you can use the Iris, and when playing games or CUDA-assisted apps, you can use the NVIDIA.

The Intel HD 4000 in the refurb model is pathetic compared to the Iris.

PS the GT750M in the rMBPs is GDDR5, so it actually outperforms the GTX660M.

 

[zI INFINITY Iz]

Totally worth it for the Haswell rMBP. Since it's a 1TB SSD, it uses a 4-lane PCIe bus, so you get read/writes of around 950MB/s to 1.2 GB/s. Way faster than the refurb model.

And the Iris + GT750M is worth it too. When doing OpenCL stuff, you can use the Iris, and when playing games or CUDA-assisted apps, you can use the NVIDIA.

The Intel HD 4000 in the refurb model is pathetic compared to the Iris.

PS the GT750M in the rMBPs is GDDR5, so it actually outperforms the GTX660M.

So instead of extremely fast read/write speeds, you get even more extreme ones.

And a stronger iGPU, for when you aren't using the dGPU but still need power.

And 250GB's of storage.

I can't say if that adds up to $800 of value. I guess it's personal.

 

[yjchua95]

So instead of extremely fast read/write speeds, you get even more extreme ones.

And a stronger iGPU, for when you aren't using the dGPU but still need power.

And 250GB's of storage.

I can't say if that adds up to $800 of value. I guess it's personal.

The PCIe-based SSD and the Iris in the Haswell does add up to it in the end.

 

[jkcerda]

Bought the older end because I saved a pretty penny on a decent system. Your mileage might vary

 

[Badrottie]

Go with Refurbished 2013 rMBP and save some money for your girlfriend's needs.

 

[slicing]

Or the other option is this
15-inch: 2.3GHz
with Retina display
Specifications
2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz
16GB 1600MHz memory
512GB PCIe-based flash storage 1
Intel Iris Pro Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
with 2GB GDDR5 memory
Built-in battery (8 hours)2
Available to ship:
Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
A$ 3,199.00

I can get it for A$2852

So with the upgraded SSD and processor it would cost $3769.

I will be buying a 4k tv in half a year when I move into my new place and won't be planning to upgrade the mac for a while.

 

[Robotoki]

The late 2013 model is not worth 800 bucks more.

Go with refurbished.

 

[nigameash]

I recently bought the late 2013 rmbp and couldn't be happier. Go with the latest model. It's well worth the $800.