MBP 2015/2016 buying help

[dexterie]

Hello guys!
A friend of mine has to buy a new MBP (it has to be a Mac and bought from Apple as he has some gift cards and wants to use them). He asked me for an opinion on what to buy and I don't know what to tell him.
He's balancing between both versions and both sizes (he works in IT).

So what's best:

--2016 13" base MBP (non touch), i5, 16Gb, 512Gb: 2230 EUR (is it worth upgrading the CPU making it i7 for 2590 EUR?)

--2016 13" w/ touch, i5 2.9, 16Gb, 512Gb: 2539 EUR

--2015 15" i7 2.2 (base), 16Gb, 512 Gb: 2541 EUR

He will mostly use it in clam shell mode with an external monitor and says he won't care much about the touch bar anyway. He doesn't mind dongles and adapters and so...

So I guess the deal would be between the new 13" without touch bar (with that config or maxed out) and the 2015 15" with the above config. Would the 13" last for a while? Will he see that much of a difference between both machines? Is the 2015 still a good machine?

Thanks for your help!

 

[sinoka56]

quad core vs dual core

if he intends to type on it, will he like the new keyboard

 

[dexterie]

quad core vs dual core

if he intends to type on it, will he like the new keyboard

I think he'll use a magic keyboard, as the MBP will be in clamshell mode. he uses the laptop as a desktop most of the time BUT still needs to take it every now and then to meetings and when traveling.

so..the quality of the new displays isn't that important nor the keyboard the machine comes with.

he's more afraid of the old iGPU Intel Iris Pro Graphics) being a lot slower than the new 540/550.

 

[betsbillabong]

I am pretty sure the 15" with quad-core will be WAY faster than any 13".

 

[dexterie]

I am pretty sure the 15" with quad-core will be WAY faster than any 13".

That was my immediate reaction as well but then he said that a sales guy at a MediaMarkt he went to visit to see both models side by side (something like Best Buy or so) told him that the GPU in the 2015 15" should be slower (not by much) and that its display is worse.
I mean...seriously? These guys like to make buyers more confused than what they were when they entered the store. The "normal" retina display is good enough.. not the new P3 gamut and so but who cares? he won't even use that display that often!

 

[dexterie]

It seems he's going for the 15" so he can have all the ports and so. Hope he doesn't regret it.

Thank you for the replies.

 

[dexterie]

Guys, is there any way to buy a new 2015 15" with dGPU from Apple?