Late 2013 vs early 2014 13" rMBP

[thadoggfather]

it appears literally only difference is 2013 has slightly slower clock speed proc at base 2.4 vs 2.6, and less GB ram only for certain skus but same ports, screen, body, processor architecture (Haswell) and presumably battery life.


should i go for it? looking at one that will still have AppleCare until July next year, and has 8gb/256gb, the threshold for what i'm looking for,

agreed upon $600, i think I'm going to do it to complement my 2015 12" rMB

seems late 2013-base 13" rMBP 2016 non touch bar bench REALLY similarly, in terms of compute

i know the 13" have crazy ssd speeds for 2016 tho, and 2015 bumps it up quite a bit too

 

[thadoggfather]

ended up picking up late 2013, mint shape! great deal, woo

179 charges too, low mileage

 

[Howard2k]

I think the SSD and Wifi speeds were increased sometime between 2013 and the 2015 weren't they? Did you miss those updates for yours?

Sucks to be you, it's probably only really, really, really fast while mine is really, really, really, really fast.

Sounds like to a good deal to me though!

 

[thadoggfather]

I think the SSD and Wifi speeds were increased sometime between 2013 and the 2015 weren't they? Did you miss those updates for yours?

Sucks to be you, it's probably only really, really, really fast while mine is really, really, really, really fast.

Sounds like to a good deal to me though!

getting 270mbit down over wireless ac, connected to 2013 airport extreme so can't say but appears the same. my TWC package is 200 down I believe, haha.

SSD performance, yes I will give you that. I believe it increased in 2015, and even further with 2016 maxing out beyond the speed reading on black magic if I recall correctly.

but as far as I know, reads and writes are same between late 2013 and early 2014.
2015 onward has force touch, track pad. the "fake" haptic click

but proc benching seems really similar between 2013-2016 (again, just non touch bar ULV 2.0ghz skylake proc, can't speak for other 2016 SKU's , I would hope they are substantially better!)

I win from Tim Cook dragging his feet on MBP refreshes, but also Intel slacking on what they are offering. From Haswell to Skylake, I would expect quantum leaps. Not splitting hairs,

 

[BrettApple]

I own a Late 2013 13" mid tier model (2.4 GHz/8GB/256GB) that I purchased literally the same week the Mid 2014 models released not knowing they were coming, but in the end the only difference is .2 GHz anyway. Difference here is that mine was $1,499 and not $600, sounds like a deal!

After running a Blackmagic Disk Speed Test I'm seeing around 715 MB/s read and 725 MB/s write, pretty much even read/write speeds here varying from test to test. This is with the 256GB SSD, two lane PCIe I think. The later ones (2015 models) use 4 lanes. For example my work 2015 MacBook Air (1.6/8/256) gets around 1,300 MB/s R/W speeds with the same size SSD. I do believe they are swappable however so in theory you could upgrade it if you really felt the need too.

Still faster than a SATA III SSD though, even when fully saturated at 600 MB/s.

As for WiFi, I'm pretty sure they're just about the same as current models as they are all 802.11 AC. Hooked to the UniFi here at work I'm working at a link speed of 600 MB/s according to Network Utility. Not quite the 1300 theoretical max, and I'm pretty close to the AP but it's far better than 802.11n and my 2015 MacBook Air gets the same speeds anyway. Both will max our our 200 down 20 up cable connection any day. I suppose there could be minor differences form a Late 2013 to the Early 2015 regarding the chipset or antennas or something.

 

[thadoggfather]

I own a Late 2013 13" mid tier model (2.4 GHz/8GB/256GB) that I purchased literally the same week the Mid 2014 models released not knowing they were coming, but in the end the only difference is .2 GHz anyway. Difference here is that mine was $1,499 and not $600, sounds like a deal!

After running a Blackmagic Disk Speed Test I'm seeing around 715 MB/s read and 725 MB/s write, pretty much even read/write speeds here varying from test to test. This is with the 256GB SSD, two lane PCIe I think. The later ones (2015 models) use 4 lanes. For example my work 2015 MacBook Air (1.6/8/256) gets around 1,300 MB/s R/W speeds with the same size SSD. I do believe they are swappable however so in theory you could upgrade it if you really felt the need too.

Still faster than a SATA III SSD though, even when fully saturated at 600 MB/s.

As for WiFi, I'm pretty sure they're just about the same as current models as they are all 802.11 AC. Hooked to the UniFi here at work I'm working at a link speed of 600 MB/s according to Network Utility. Not quite the 1300 theoretical max, and I'm pretty close to the AP but it's far better than 802.11n and my 2015 MacBook Air gets the same speeds anyway. Both will max our our 200 down 20 up cable connection any day. I suppose there could be minor differences form a Late 2013 to the Early 2015 regarding the chipset or antennas or something.

hindsight being 20/20, woulda scooped a late 2013 with a price drop right after early 2014 and just enjoyed it for this long, BUT

I had a great run with MacBook Air 2011, breathed new light in it with a heavily discounted TB dock to get some usb3 functionality since that didn't come up Air 2012 with Ivy Bridge, mine was Sandy I think..

had a 2014 refurb Pro briefly, then lusted into 2015 model, then realized they're essentially the same and 12" rMB just came out so I went that route and don't have much in the way of computing needs. Will NOT be doing away with that machine at all (the 12"), will make a great float/alternative/travel beast.

But I miss more screen, MagSafe, ports, and more key travel (key travel+butterfly combo would be beast but apparently you get one or the other) and... wait for it....


APPLE GLOW LOGO!