Macbook Pro Retina 15" Mid-2012 or Late-2013?

[ManOfAllSeasons]

I'm new to Macbooks and can't decide which one to get (both same price from friend). Here are the specs:

Macbook Pro Retina 15" Mid-2012
2.6 GHz i7 (Ivybridge)
16 GB Ram
512 GB SSD
Intel HD Graphics 4000 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
Battery Life: 7 Hours (according to Apple)
Apple's Specs: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP694?locale=en_US

Macbook Pro Retina 15" Late-2013
2.3 GHz i7 (Haswell)
16 GB Ram
512 GB SSD
Intel Iris Pro + NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
Battery Life: 8 Hours (according to Apple)
Apple's Specs: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP690?locale=en_US

I mainly use it to program, edit pictures/videos, and data modeling on occasion. I commute/travel a lot for work however and need a good battery life. Are there any major differences between the laptops? For example: CPUs (2.3 GHz Haswell vs. 2.6 GHz Ivybridge) and graphic cards (650M vs 750M)? Which one should I get?

 

[tubeexperience]

The newer one, obviously

 

[Spink10]

I'm new to Macbooks and can't decide which one to get (both same price from friend). Here are the specs:

Macbook Pro Retina 15" Mid-2012
2.6 GHz i7 (Ivybridge)
16 GB Ram
512 GB SSD
Intel HD Graphics 4000 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
Battery Life: 7 Hours (according to Apple)
Apple's Specs: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP694?locale=en_US

Macbook Pro Retina 15" Late-2013
2.3 GHz i7 (Haswell)
16 GB Ram
512 GB SSD
Intel Iris Pro + NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
Battery Life: 8 Hours (according to Apple)
Apple's Specs: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP690?locale=en_US

I mainly use it to program, edit pictures/videos, and data modeling on occasion. I commute/travel a lot for work however and need a good battery life. Are there any major differences between the laptops? For example: CPUs (2.3 GHz Haswell vs. 2.6 GHz Ivybridge) and graphic cards (650M vs 750M)? Which one should I get?

^^

 

[Hellhammer]

What is the price difference?

 

[duervo]

Since price is same for each, get the 2013.

 

[tubeexperience]

How much are you paying, if I may ask?

 

[campyguy]

Are there any major differences between the laptops?

Plenty, two big differences - coming from an owner of both of those rMBPs (mid-2012 is my company backup and late-2013 is my main machine). 2012: SATA SSD and decent graphics support. 2013: much, much faster PCIe SSD and support for 4k @60Hz on two displays over DP plus the internal display at full res @ 60Hz.

The only question I would ask is which manufacturer made the display - you'd prefer the Samsung panel over the LG panel (all of our LG panels in both manufacture years went back because of burn-in issues...), and all we have now are those Macs with Samsung panels. Lots of instructions here on MR on how to determine the panel maker...

 

[ncm34]

I'm new to Macbooks and can't decide which one to get (both same price from friend). Here are the specs:

Macbook Pro Retina 15" Mid-2012
2.6 GHz i7 (Ivybridge)
16 GB Ram
512 GB SSD
Intel HD Graphics 4000 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
Battery Life: 7 Hours (according to Apple)
Apple's Specs: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP694?locale=en_US

Macbook Pro Retina 15" Late-2013
2.3 GHz i7 (Haswell)
16 GB Ram
512 GB SSD
Intel Iris Pro + NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
Battery Life: 8 Hours (according to Apple)
Apple's Specs: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP690?locale=en_US

I mainly use it to program, edit pictures/videos, and data modeling on occasion. I commute/travel a lot for work however and need a good battery life. Are there any major differences between the laptops? For example: CPUs (2.3 GHz Haswell vs. 2.6 GHz Ivybridge) and graphic cards (650M vs 750M)? Which one should I get?

I owned the 2012 model when it came out and sold it to get the top-line Late 2013" (off the refurb store) because the lackluster performance on the HD4000 chipset was driving my OCD crazy. Mission Control was choppy, switching between spaces dropped frames, and even resizing windows was like watching a time-lapse film.

If this is something that will bother you, get the Late 2013. The Iris Pro blows the HD4000 out of the water. In fact, it's so good that in many situations it can offer most of the performance of the 750M (AnandTech has a review on this, I believe); you should try the base model Late 2013" with just the Iris Pro to see if it works well enough for you. I only use the dedicated chipset when I plug into my desk (which has 2 monitors).

 

[King Shady]

I owned the 2012 model when it came out and sold it to get the top-line Late 2013" (off the refurb store) because the lackluster performance on the HD4000 chipset was driving my OCD crazy. Mission Control was choppy, switching between spaces dropped frames, and even resizing windows was like watching a time-lapse film.

If this is something that will bother you, get the Late 2013. The Iris Pro blows the HD4000 out of the water. In fact, it's so good that in many situations it can offer most of the performance of the 750M (AnandTech has a review on this, I believe); you should try the base model Late 2013" with just the Iris Pro to see if it works well enough for you. I only use the dedicated chipset when I plug into my desk (which has 2 monitors).

Still running strong here on the OG Retina. 2012 model and absolutely no lag. Though, obviously the OP should get the 2013 model because of the price factor in this scenario.

 

[littlepud]

Late 2013 all the way. You risk having GPU issues with the GT650m but the GT750m's all seem to be fine.

 

[ncm34]

Still running strong here on the OG Retina. 2012 model and absolutely no lag. Though, obviously the OP should get the 2013 model because of the price factor in this scenario.

Just to clarify, what resolution setting are you running at? I had mine set at 1920x1200 (the highest setting) and the choppiness was definitely there. Can't say if any software updates fixed this as I sold the laptop in early 2014.

Here's a report about the interface lag I'm referring to - http://www.cnet.com/news/some-retina-macbook-pro-owners-seeing-interface-lag/

It seems that the HD4000 is just not capable of pushing smooth animations while scaling a 3840x2400 desktop.

 

[King Shady]

Just to clarify, what resolution setting are you running at? I had mine set at 1920x1200 (the highest setting) and the choppiness was definitely there. Can't say if any software updates fixed this as I sold the laptop in early 2014.

Here's a report about the interface lag I'm referring to - http://www.cnet.com/news/some-retina-macbook-pro-owners-seeing-interface-lag/

It seems that the HD4000 is just not capable of pushing smooth animations while scaling a 3840x2400 desktop.

I run at full Retina resolution and output to one 1080p monitor. I'm guessing software updates helped, but I never noticed anything 4 years ago either.

 

[Badrottie]

I vote for 2013...2012 is about to dead soon