Late 2013 MBP, Early 2015, much of a difference?

[Rocko99991]

Is the late 2013 and early 2015 basically the same machine except for minor spec bumps?

 

[afir93]

To quote Wikipedia:

On March 9, 2015, the 13-inch model was updated with Intel Broadwell processors, Iris 6100 graphics, faster flash storage, increased battery life, and a Force Touch trackpad. On May 19, 2015, the 15-inch model was also updated with similarly fast flash storage, increased battery life, the Force Touch trackpad, and an AMD Radeon R9 discrete graphics card on the higher-end model. The higher-end 15-inch model also added support for dual-cable output to 5120×2880 displays. The 15-inch models were released with the same Intel Haswell processors and Iris Pro graphics as the 2014 models due to a delay in shipment of newer Broadwell quad-core processors. Apple continued to sell the 2015 15-inch model until July 2018.
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Source. So yes, depending on how generously you define it, they are "basically same machine" to some extend. Besides faster CPUs, GPUs and flash storage and somewhat improved battery life, the main improvement was the inclusion of the fantastic Force Touch trackpad which is a pretty big plus in my book. But outside of these changes they are pretty much the same, yes.

 

[Rocko99991]

To quote Wikipedia:

On March 9, 2015, the 13-inch model was updated with Intel Broadwell processors, Iris 6100 graphics, faster flash storage, increased battery life, and a Force Touch trackpad. On May 19, 2015, the 15-inch model was also updated with similarly fast flash storage, increased battery life, the Force Touch trackpad, and an AMD Radeon R9 discrete graphics card on the higher-end model. The higher-end 15-inch model also added support for dual-cable output to 5120×2880 displays. The 15-inch models were released with the same Intel Haswell processors and Iris Pro graphics as the 2014 models due to a delay in shipment of newer Broadwell quad-core processors. Apple continued to sell the 2015 15-inch model until July 2018.
​

Source. So yes, depending on how generously you define it, they are "basically same machine" to some extend. Besides faster CPUs, GPUs and flash storage and somewhat improved battery life, the main improvement was the inclusion of the fantastic Force Touch trackpad which is a pretty big plus in my book. But outside of these changes they are pretty much the same, yes.

Ok, thanks.

 

[jerryk]

Ok, thanks.

Dramatic increase in SSD performance. 600 MB/sec to 1400+ MB/sec

 

[MBAir2010]

and retina display!

 

[Rocko99991]

and retina display!

They both are retina.

 

[mmarcus178]

One other difference. The early 2015 13" can push a 4k monitor at 60hz, the 2013 cannot. That may or may not matter to you. I recently upgraded from a 2013 to a 2015 because it does to me.

 

[infernoguy]

One other difference. The early 2015 13" can push a 4k monitor at 60hz, the 2013 cannot. That may or may not matter to you. I recently upgraded from a 2013 to a 2015 because it does to me.

if you get a late 2013 MacBook Pro 15" you can push 4K at 60hz as long as you use a Thunderbolt 2 to DisplayPort cable.