Is the touch bar MBP worth 300€ more?

[Hyloba]

Not regarding the actual touch bar, as I will probably use the laptop in desktop mode a lot, is the 13" touch bar MBP worth 300€ extra?

So besides the touch bar, you get:
Better cpu
Better gpu
Faster ram
4 ports (though 2 at half speed)
3 microphones

Smaller battery
2 fans so probably louder

Are those specs worth the price? I don't want to regret buying a cheaper version and getting frustrated by it.

Who would benefit from these specs and who would manage with the non-touch bar MBP?

I will be using this macbook as a general usage machine and for editing images in photoshop and designing with illustrator. File sizes can get big.

 

[jerryk]

If you can afford it I would get the more powerful system for your tasks.

 

[iizmoo]

I went back and forth on it a lot too, I finally decided was that this really isn't a 1st gen product. Even though the whole packaging changed, each piece is individually mature in their own sense. The question is, if TB become pretty useful in like 2 years and you end up keeping the laptop for 4 or 5, will you kick yourself starting year 3 for not spending the extra money? And the CPU & Misc. upgrade is worth a fair bit of that $300, so it's pretty reasonable. If you change laptop in 2-3 years, it might not matter as much.

 

[keviig]

2 fans so probably louder

Actually, it having 2 fans means 2 heatsinks and 2 heatpipes. Having 2 fans go at a low rpm is better than having 1 going at high rpm. The 2 fan setup for me is actually a reason to get the Touch Bar model. It also has air intakes on the side that the non Touch Bar model doesn't have.

 

[Hyloba]

I went back and forth on it a lot too, I finally decided was that this really isn't a 1st gen product. Even though the whole packaging changed, each piece is individually mature in their own sense. The question is, if TB become pretty useful in like 2 years and you end up keeping the laptop for 4 or 5, will you kick yourself starting year 3 for not spending the extra money? And the CPU & Misc. upgrade is worth a fair bit of that $300, so it's pretty reasonable. If you change laptop in 2-3 years, it might not matter as much.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[Hyloba]

Actually, it having 2 fans means 2 heatsinks and 2 heatpipes. Having 2 fans go at a low rpm is better than having 1 going at high rpm. The 2 fan setup for me is actually a reason to get the Touch Bar model. It also has air intakes on the side that the non Touch Bar model doesn't have.

I didn't think of that! 2 fans would indeed be quieter then, thanks for the reply!