Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mattie12345

macrumors member
Original poster
May 5, 2020
65
10
What are your thoughts on the 10th gen 2020 i5 versus i7 variant ?

is it worth paying the extra for the upgrade?
 
They are the same chip. One is just better quality. The i5 is the i7's that failed to meet the i7 quality requirements and are re-branded as i5 and clocked lower. So you're paying for a higher quality chip. Not much else since they will both turbo.
 
I wounder how the over heating issue are on the new 10th gen i5 on the MacBook Pro Vs the 10 gen i5 on the MacBook Air. I wounder if they both have the same overe heating issues and if there any improvements over the MacBook Air 10 gen i5
 
I'm interested in the very same question with specific regard to thermal performance.

I currently have a late-2016 13" MBP which is running well, but keen to get a speed upgrade. Thermally it's perfect, runs cool and I never hear the fans. I'd like to have something similar whilst boosting performance.

If the i7 performs slightly better, but runs hotter, I'll likely choose i5. If they are more or less equivalent in terms of heat, I'll choose i7.
 
Personally, I would get the i5. Springing for the i7 puts you very close to 16" Macbook Pro territory and you get a whole lot more bang for your buck if you get one of those instead. Heck, if you go for an Apple refurb on the 16" it's only £40 more than the cheapest i7 13". Unless you really really want a 13" it doesn't seem worth it.

If you really need the extra power you'd probably benefit from the 16" anyway.
 
I'm interested in the very same question with specific regard to thermal performance.

I currently have a late-2016 13" MBP which is running well, but keen to get a speed upgrade. Thermally it's perfect, runs cool and I never hear the fans. I'd like to have something similar whilst boosting performance.

If the i7 performs slightly better, but runs hotter, I'll likely choose i5. If they are more or less equivalent in terms of heat, I'll choose i7.

this is why I went with the 8th general i3. with my new iMac that’s comeing soon Was going to get the new MacBook Air 2020 but with the over heating issue of the new 10th gen I did not get one the 8th gen is still a nic. Upgraded over the 5th gen I have in my macbook air 2017
[automerge]1589186863[/automerge]
Personally, I would get the i5. Springing for the i7 puts you very close to 16" Macbook Pro territory and you get a whole lot more bang for your buck if you get one of those instead. Heck, if you go for an Apple refurb on the 16" it's only £40 more than the cheapest i7 13". Unless you really really want a 13" it doesn't seem worth it.

If you really need the extra power you'd probably benefit from the 16" anyway.

but some might like the smaller screen sizes
 
this is why I went with the 8th general i3. with my new iMac that’s comeing soon Was going to get the new MacBook Air 2020 but with the over heating issue of the new 10th gen I did not get one the 8th gen is still a nic. Upgraded over the 5th gen I have in my macbook air 2017
[automerge]1589186863[/automerge]


but some might like the smaller screen sizes

I know ;) "Unless you really really want a 13" it doesn't seem worth it."
 
this is why I went with the 8th general i3. with my new iMac that’s comeing soon Was going to get the new MacBook Air 2020 but with the over heating issue of the new 10th gen I did not get one the 8th gen is still a nic. Upgraded over the 5th gen I have in my macbook air 2017
[automerge]1589186863[/automerge]


but some might like the smaller screen sizes

I'm not interested in the i3. The twin fans and better speakers in the MBP i5/i7 are more my cup of tea. So it's down to one of those.
 
What are your thoughts on the 10th gen 2020 i5 versus i7 variant ?

is it worth paying the extra for the upgrade?

IMHO, the way to look at laptop upgrades from Apple is as follows:

1. RAM. 2. SSD. 3. GPU. 4. CPU.

If you already filled all possible wants/needs for 1-3 then it might be worth looking into number 4.

It’s by far the least bang/buck upgrade you can do.

A slower CPU still gets the job done, it just takes a bit longer.
RAM is a bit more binary, either you have enough or you don’t. Once you don’t it’s game over.

Spending money on a larger SSD will likely save you many hours of file management.
That usually makes up for the extra 0.05(?) sec/day you spend waiting for Safari to open with the i5 :)
 
Last edited:
I heard that there is only modest gains in CPU power from the i5 to the i7 10th gen. So it may be not be worth the $$ to upgrade.

but have seen people ordering the i7 with 16gB RAM/ 512.......... just wondering why they would ONLY upgrade the CPU.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BoneHead001
Still no decent news on this.

Would the expectation be that the i5 is cooler / lower fan noise than the i7, regardless of performance?

I am hovering over a purchase and fan noise / temps more important to me than a mild boost in performance. Happy to buy the i7 if it's the quieter model
 
Last edited:
If I could do it all over again I’d get the i5. And I have a loaded i7/32/2TB config. Measly 3% improvement isn’t worth the $200. Huge waste of money. Always upgrade ram and storage first if you need it.

I had the i7 2020 MBA and that one at least gave you 6-7% improvement for $150. A much better deal than 3% don’t you think?
 
  • Like
Reactions: BoneHead001
If I could do it all over again I’d get the i5. And I have a loaded i7/32/2TB config. Measly 3% improvement isn’t worth the $200. Huge waste of money. Always upgrade ram and storage first if you need it.

I had the i7 2020 MBA and that one at least gave you 6-7% improvement for $150. A much better deal than 3% don’t you think?

How is it in terms of heat / fans for browsing / netflix / simple stuff?

any comment on battery life with the i7?
 
How is it in terms of heat / fans for browsing / netflix / simple stuff?

any comment on battery life with the i7?
It's nice, fans come on in chrome, hardly in safari. Quieter than the MBA 2020 in most usage. The i5 would behave the same. You're not going to get a quieter machine with the i7, they're both going to be limited to 28 watts.
 
Thank you,

I’m lucky in that I can choose whatever spec I like so cost / performance issues are irrelevant.

Am just trying to figure out if which of the i5 or the i7 is better in ways not related to performance, notably fans, temps, and battery.
 
I think you can look at the tests that have been done in terms of CPU power.

I think there is some gains but not much between the i5 and i7 10th generation. The real question is what does those numbers mean in real life ?
 
Any updates on comparisons for the i5 vs i7 CPU ?

With the new benchmark information, is the choice of keeping to the i5 still a better one ?
 
Last edited:
Still waiting ... I'm wondering which one to buy

It’s a question of cost vs need.

If you need the i7, the answer is clear.

From I have read, there are more people opting the i5 for a myriad of personal reasons, not least of which, like I don’t need the i7 performance.

My questions have always been:
1) what does the i7 performance difference really mean and
2) is it worth the upgrade?
 
It’s a question of cost vs need.

If you need the i7, the answer is clear.

From I have read, there are more people opting the i5 for a myriad of personal reasons, not least of which, like I don’t need the i7 performance.

My questions have always been:
1) what does the i7 performance difference really mean and
2) is it worth the upgrade?

Well, here is my $0.02....

People speak of it being only 10% more powerful - to me that is 1-2 generations of chip so the i7 I have ordered will be equivalent (very roughly) to next year's i5. This means I get another year out the device. So to me that is value. yes it is a marginal increase, yes it is a few hundred $'s but each to their own. No right or wrong answer.

To me you need to answer these 2 questions.... Do you want to (can afford to) spend the money? Do you intend to keep the device for a long time?

If neither of these answers are YES, then don't buy it.

Turning over your machine in a few years will get you much greater benfits alebit at a cost - probably a greater outlay than the cost of the i7 now but happy to be proven wrong. Also, If you don't need the additional processing power then don't waste your money. Needless to say if you can't really afford it.. don't stretch your budget to get it as it probably isn't worth putting yourself into a more difficult financial position.

Unfortunately no one can answer what is best for you.... other than youself. Good luck
 
Personally, I would get the i5. Springing for the i7 puts you very close to 16" Macbook Pro territory and you get a whole lot more bang for your buck if you get one of those instead. Heck, if you go for an Apple refurb on the 16" it's only £40 more than the cheapest i7 13". Unless you really really want a 13" it doesn't seem worth it.

If you really need the extra power you'd probably benefit from the 16" anyway.

The 16” MBP is substantially faster that the i5 an i7 in the 2020 13.3”. Getting the i7 doesn’t gain that much relative to the 16”.
 
I need a new macbook pro and like all of you I‘m split between the i5 and i7 (10th Gen)
So a friend of my dad told me that for 3D-Modelling and i7 is absolutley necesary... Is this true?
He‘s an architect so I guess he should know, but he uses the 2015 or 2016 Macbook pro.. has it changed in 2020?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.