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MBP 2018 13" i5 or i7
- Thread starter hajime
- Start date
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Bump. Would like to hear opinions about this choice, and whether anyone thinks the i7 would have lower battery life than the i5.
If you look at the Geekbench scores between the i5 and i7, there is about a 10% improvement. I was debating the same thing but decided it was worth it to get the 16gb ram and 512 ssd vs the upgraded CPU. $400 for both upgrades vs $300 just for CPU.
i5 - 4451 Single Core / 16453 Multi-Core
i7 - 5102 Single Core / 17557 Multi-Core
I wish the second in store option was i5/512/16. Would be buying it today.
I think the i7 is going to end up having more thermal throttling and lower battery life. They already doubled the number of cores without reducing below 14 nm.
Looking at the scores, the i5 is also faster then other 8th Gen i7 laptops like the XPS 13, Matebook x Pro etc. I currently have a Matebook X Pro and don't even come close to using the full speed of the i5 in this machine, so the MBP should be even better.
I'm never sure a RAM upgrade is worth it, because Mac OS is so good at compressing the RAM
Also with the speed of NVME drives now Page Ins / Page Outs would happen without even noticing really.
I plan to be using VMs though, so I’m sharing the RAM between multiple OS’es. I think having a little extra would be helpful for that, I don’t want it doing a lot of paging.
Comparing Geekbench scores for the CPU yes, it's faster. The SSD is also faster.
Matebook X pro gets around 13,000 on the Multi-Core, just like a lot of other Windows laptops running the 8th gen i7 8550u.
The other difference is the Matebook x Pro with the i7 has a MX150 Graphics card vs the Integrated graphics of the 13" MBP. So graphics wise the Matebook will be quite a bit faster.
I am also a bit concerned. I am undecided about the 13” and 15” base config CPU models (with 16GB and 512GB SSD).
Which one will have the longer battery live and would be quieter? Is the cooling system in the 15” superior? I’m not concerned under full load but rather noise levels in light to mid heavy use... I can accept noise when it’s crunching numbers, but am pretty easily annoyed by constant fan noise when doing light stuff.
I take everything I read with a grain of salt. You'll have so many buyers who can't afford the upgraded processor, and many who can't afford the upgraded model, who will trash the change and the higher specs. There were so many people on here who bashed Apple for throttling last week, and look how that turned out for them.
Think of it like a car. If you're considering a Mercedes S-Class, you'll always have opinions about how leather seats are too hot and cloth is better, the paint on a Toyota has more coats, and the engine is made in the same plant as Hyundai. So, there's no point in getting the upgraded Mercedes, correct? You're wasting your money because it's not a better car and you can get the same thing for less, right? Not saying everyone does this, but I've encountered enough of these types to know to watch out for them.
The i7 is better than the i5. That's just the way it is. Even if it's "marginally" better in someone else's eyes doesn't mean it won't be much better in yours. Perspective is changed by the value of a dollar to the person. It's not worth it to the guy making $20 an hour, but it probably is to the guy making $100 an hour. Companies like Apple and Intel can't charge substantially more for a product that's the same as a lower model. If you think they do, I can bet you have cloth car seats and use generic paper towels.
When I made my decision a few weeks ago, I decided to get as much computer as I could reasonably afford and make use of. I usually upgrade RAM first, then processor, then storage, but that may not fit your needs. Either way, upgrading storage instead of RAM or processor is crazy to me. Storage can be expanded. CPU and RAM cannot. And next time you want to upgrade, you'll have an easier time selling an i7 than an i5. Macs hold their value so well, I don't even worry about the cost for processor or RAM. I'm maxing it out and I'll sell it for 3/4 it's original price when the next model is released, and buy another one.
Good luck!