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

MBP 13" 16GB RAM

E

eimis993

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 24, 2013
81
12
Hi everyone!

Thinking of upgrading my MBA 13" 2013 base model with MBP 13" 256B SSD, going for cheapest cpu option, dont think its worth upgrading, because its still dual core even tho its i7. Im just not sure about ram, should i go for 8 or 16? More leaning towards 16. Machine will be used for college as Im multimedia student and 4gb ram just don't cut it anymore. So the software will be adobe programs, stuff like ableton and similar. The other thing is that im running windows 10 as a virtual machine in parallels which i use for php and html, because just prefer windows environment for these things. So currently im allocating on 2gb of ram because i only have 4gb in total. With new machine im probably gonna use 4gb for virtual, so if i get 8gb ram only 4gb will be left, if i get 16 - then 12gb. In the end what should i max out ram? Also maybe cpu would bottleneck and there is no reason for 16gb ram in 13" pro? 15 is out of question because its too big and i need as much battery as i can get. Dont want macbook air because of screen.

Thanks!

p.s. Marry Christmas! :D
 
ALL recent (and new) 13" macbook pro's are dual core. the i7 is good, but 4GB ram really isn't enough these days. so, since you're doing this, go for 16GB ram. better to have it than not.
 
fisherking said:
ALL recent (and new) 13" macbook pro's are dual core. the i7 is good, but 4GB ram really isn't enough these days. so, since you're doing this, go for 16GB ram. better to have it than not.
Click to expand...
i7 on 13" is out of question for me, definitely not worth imo, its only 20% improvement from base i5.
 
also side question - would it be able to handle 4k monitor at 60hz?
 
Honestly if you want the i7, just go for the 15". The RAM you would need at least 8GB by current standards i would suggest, 16GB to be good for the future. I don't see a point of an i7 in a 13" though.
 
ajay96 said:
Honestly if you want the i7, just go for the 15". The RAM you would need at least 8GB by current standards i would suggest, 16GB to be good for the future. I don't see a point of an i7 in a 13" though.
Click to expand...

what if you want a 13" (for me, in nyc, it's a backpack thing), and you want the most power you can get in a 13"? you may not see the point, but it's perfect for me..
 
  • Like
Reactions: ajay96
fisherking said:
what if you want a 13" (for me, in nyc, it's a backpack thing), and you want the most power you can get in a 13"? you may not see the point, but it's perfect for me..
Click to expand...
Well it comes down to what you need. But in my view I'd think that if you are looking for a powerful laptop you should go for the 15" MBP. If you are looking for one that's just really portable, go for the MBP 13". It comes down to what you want and need also. I just went for the 13" mainly because I wouldn't really need the i7 for the thing I do.
 
eimis993 said:
also side question - would it be able to handle 4k monitor at 60hz?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it handles 3840x2160 at 30 Hz, and 4096x2160 at 24 Hz (but on this resolution, mirroring is not supported if I'm not mistaken), but correct me if I'm wrong. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: ajay96
ajay96 said:
Well it comes down to what you need. But in my view I'd think that if you are looking for a powerful laptop you should go for the 15" MBP. If you are looking for one that's just really portable, go for the MBP 13". It comes down to what you want and need also. I just went for the 13" mainly because I wouldn't really need the i7 for the thing I do.
Click to expand...

the difference for me (mostly running logic X) is significant...am having none of the issues i had with my earlier i5 13" macbook pro. true, it comes down to what one needs...
 
Personally I would go for the 256GB SSD... I went for the 128GB in my MacBook Air, which is not enough sometimes (had to copy everything onto an external drive to free up some space, multiple times).

I'm pretty sure 8GB would be enough (4GB is enough for me for Photoshop and things like that) but would like to have 8GB or more). :)

I plan on upgrading to a rMBP with 16GB and 256GB just to future proof.

But at the end of the day, it's totally up to you what you choose. :)
 
eimis993 said:
Im just not sure about ram, should i go for 8 or 16? More leaning towards 16.
Click to expand...

To be honest 8GB will do what you want to do just fine, but the 16GB will give you some headroom.

I went for the extra RAM.

eimis993 said:
i7 on 13" is out of question for me, definitely not worth imo, its only 20% improvement from base i5.
Click to expand...

fisherking said:
20%? significant enough for me (and i'm seeing it, at least running logic X). whatever you do, more is more...
Click to expand...

It's a 6.8% increase in speed(according to geekbench 3 for the 2.7Ghz i5 vs the 3.1GHz i7), and a 23.1% price increase($1299 base rMBP vs $1599 base rMBP with i7 upgrade). It's not worth it for most users.

I ended up buying the i7 anyway because it was the only way to get 16GB of RAM in store. I was in a hurry and needed a new computer right away.
 
As an anecdotal here I have a 2015 MBP 2.9/8GB/512GB and I run Logic Pro X on it with 15-20 audio tracks plus Addictive Drummer 2 and it handles it all wonderfully. I would only have gotten the 16GB RAM version if it was a free upgrade. In my use case, 8GB works just fine.
 
Two years ago I upgraded from a late 2010 MacBook Air (256GB SSD and 4 GB RAM, maximum at the time) to my current late 2013 MacBook Pro 13" with 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM. I have never had any issue not having enough RAM with Photoshop, Illustrator, VMware Fusion with Creo and other things running all at the same time. I have, however, often used around 12GB RAM. I only have the i5 version but it is doing pretty well I think. So in my experience, yes the 16GB was definitely worth it (for me) since it could not be upgraded later on. And I would definitely choose that again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back