Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Need Advice on tMBP Specs… Still Undecided!
- Thread starter Ash9414
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I did consider it, but like people have said, it's an almost negligible upgrade. That money is probably better off spent elsewhere.
borgusio
macrumors 6502
I am going for 2,9 16 GB 1 TB
On the 13" cpu upgrades are non sense since there is no cache improvement.
On the 13" cpu upgrades are non sense since there is no cache improvement.
Although there's not much difference in the single core performance in Geekbench, the scores for multi-core performance are much better for the 3.1GHz i5. Really can't make up my mind!
borgusio
macrumors 6502
Mhmm... it does not sound quite right. Define "much better" and quote the source
I was looking at the scores from the Geekbench results (https://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks).
2.9GHz i5 CPU: 3761 / 7415
3.1GHz i5 CPU: 3821 / 7582
So not much difference in single core performance, but there's a bigger gap between the multi-core scores.
RyanC1384
macrumors member
This doesn't look very compelling for the cost. I wouldn't imagine you would even be able to recognize the difference on either score.
borgusio
macrumors 6502
You are talking about 2%, meaning for instance:
- Assuming that you play videogames with your Mac, it would be 0,3 more FPS. Not worth mentioning.
- Assuming that you earn your salary with it, say you are a video editor, it would be 10" quicker in a 10' video rendering. Assuming that your price per hour is 200 bucks, it would take you 1.800 hours to earn that investment back. Basically after one year you will break even. Unfortunately by then the new model may be out and the depreciation of your used one will be much more than that.
By the way: I got an irresistible offer for a MacBook 12 512 GB and I jumped on it - I postponed my purchase to next year, until the battery problems are solved
Sounds like you've changed your mind from considering the upgrade to the 3.1GHz i5 then. I've now been similarly convinced. I will be ordering the 2.9/16/512 model this evening. Thanks for all your help guys!
RyanC1384
macrumors member
Indeed, the only other decision I'm stuck on is to go with the i7 13"?
It just seems by the time you fully upgrade the 13" it's smarter to just go to the 15"...but I like the smaller form factor.
Will probably end up with the 2.9, 16gb, and 1TB
From the looks of the benchmarks, it doesn't seem like the i7 is a huge improvement either. And it doesn't have any more cache. Therefore, probably not worth the extra ~£250 it'll cost to upgrade.