mid 2012 i5 vs i7 advice

[mark1239]

I'm going to buy a new laptop in few hours having instant need of it, it has to be a long term purchase(4+ years), but I don't know if the 13 inch(I need a 13 inch one) i7 worths the difference of price with the i5 one.

what I intend to do is: browsing, video streaming, netbeans, web programming(from web sites to web applications), xcode, aperture(not very frequently), and having an external monitor I intend to make an intense use of a virtual machine during the previous operations.

The questions are:

- the 13'' base (i5, 4gb ram) is sufficient for my purpose?
- Will I have significant advantages with the i7 one?
- Is a good idea to buy the 13 base one and install 8gb ram and a 256gd ssd instead of buy the 13'' i7 one?

Thanks in advance.

 

[maflynn]

I'd go with the 256GB SSD and 8GB of ram over choosing the i7. I think those options will give you more bang for your buck then getting the i7. Just my $.02

 

[kodeman53]

I'm going to buy a new laptop in few hours having instant need of it, it has to be a long term purchase(4+ years), but I don't know if the 13 inch(I need a 13 inch one) i7 worths the difference of price with the i5 one.

what I intend to do is: browsing, video streaming, netbeans, web programming(from web sites to web application), xcode, aperture(not very frequently), and having an external monitor I intend to make an intense use of a virtual machine during the previous operations.

The questions are:

- the 13'' base (i5, 4gb ram) is sufficient for my purpose?
- Will I have significant advantages with the i7 one?
- Is a good idea to buy the 13 base one and install 8gb ram and a 256gd ssd instead of buy the 13'' i7 one?

Thanks in advance.

Unlimited funds, then get the i7.
Limited funds, the advice has not changed from the first MBA, or any computer;

1. Get enough hard drive/ssd space.
2. Memory.
3. Processor.

 

[mark1239]

I'd go with the 256GB SSD and 8GB of ram over choosing the i7. I think those options will give you more bang for your buck then getting the i7. Just my $.02

Unlimited funds, then get the i7.
Limited funds, the advice has not changed from the first MBA, or any computer;

1. Get enough hard drive/ssd space.
2. Memory.
3. Processor.

Thanks both for answering, funds cover the i7 one, I'm just trying to understand if for my usage I will have some advantage or if I will just buy something more (hyper-threading, more cpu cache, more frequency) that I will never use.

 

[kodeman53]

Thanks both for answering, funds cover the i7 one, I'm just trying to understand if for my usage I will have some advantage or if I will just buy something more (hyper-threading, more cpu cache, more frequency) that I will never use.

Most people will never use a faster CPU. Yes, it might be nice to use, should your requirements change in the future, but there are better ways to spend $$$, e.g., max out memory and increase storage space.