nTB i7/16Gb/256Gb vs TB i5/16Gb/256Gb

[hoffman2000]

Work computer, so I'll be developing, and running a couple of VMs and it should be fine since my current soon-to-be dead laptop is waaaaay worse and handles them perfectly.

My final question is, should I go :
nTB: i7/16GB/256SSD
TB: i5/16GB/256SSD

I don't want to go for 15", too big and I want the portability of 13. So I'm between those, and I can't really decide... Battery life or ports + 2 fans... People say it's not very useful TB, but the processor is way better I guess. Help me choose?

• Is battery life difference too much? Any real numbers?
• Better the nTB i7 or the base TB i5?

Current setup:
HDMI + Ethernet + keyboard usb + mouse (only while at work, obviously)

 

[cruisin]

If your needs are met currently then aiming for a better battery and a lower price seems like the way to go. The base clock is higher on the touch bar, but the turbo boost seems the same for both. So you would only see a improvement if you run a longer process that uses all of the processor (rendering, compiling, etc). The i7 option feeds into the longer processing side, as it has more cache and a tiny speed bump.

Battery life: https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...book-pro-touch-bar-mid-2017-battery-life.html
The touch bar version cuts between an hour to two from the battery life. It still has a good battery, but there is a decrease.

One point to go to the touch bar is that BetterTouchTool can make macros for a personalized experience, even if the app is not updated for the touch bar. The default touch bar experience is dependent on the apps being updated to take advantage. Maybe see what people use the touch bar for, and see if it seems useful. The touch ID option to skip logging in is nice, but not critical.

You need either four dongles or one big hub for your setup. The hub would be likely be better as it's easier to keep track of a single dongle and even with four ports you need space for power.

 

[hoffman2000]

If your needs are met currently then aiming for a better battery and a lower price seems like the way to go. The base clock is higher on the touch bar, but the turbo boost seems the same for both. So you would only see a improvement if you run a longer process that uses all of the processor (rendering, compiling, etc). The i7 option feeds into the longer processing side, as it has more cache and a tiny speed bump.

Battery life: https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...book-pro-touch-bar-mid-2017-battery-life.html
The touch bar version cuts between an hour to two from the battery life. It still has a good battery, but there is a decrease.

One point to go to the touch bar is that BetterTouchTool can make macros for a personalized experience, even if the app is not updated for the touch bar. The default touch bar experience is dependent on the apps being updated to take advantage. Maybe see what people use the touch bar for, and see if it seems useful. The touch ID option to skip logging in is nice, but not critical.

You need either four dongles or one big hub for your setup. The hub would be likely be better as it's easier to keep track of a single dongle and even with four ports you need space for power.

I found a hub that does have ethernet + HDMI + a few USB3 ports so that's already fine for me on my side.

So you are saying the i7 will perform better in compìling tasks and virtualization? Or the i5?

 

[ZapNZs]

Both are solid choices.
How important is noise levels?
Do you play to use external displays with the system? If external displays are to be used, especially 4k displays, I've become a big advocate for the TB.
Will you ever want to use a 4k display and USB 3.1 data speeds simultaneously?

IIRC, Fusion 10 now has considerable touchbar support also, which could be of use for your needs?

 

[hoffman2000]

Both are solid choices.
How important is noise levels?
Do you play to use external displays with the system? If external displays are to be used, especially 4k displays, I've become a big advocate for the TB.
Will you ever want to use a 4k display and USB 3.1 data speeds simultaneously?

IIRC, Fusion 10 now has considerable touchbar support also, which could be of use for your needs?

It depends on how 'noisy' if I'm on a plane and everyone is hearing me than it'd be important. If I'm with a text editor and an airplane sounds then it's important... I will use VMWare Fusion Pro 10, hope a single VM doesn't make it sound like an airplane.
At the moments no plans for 4k, but 1080p display will be used for 8 hours at least in a daily basis. So I'd like to be able to use a display and still have USBs

P.S: This dongle solves all my connectivity problems, so far https://www.amazon.es/dodocool-Puer...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3R8D7N9B626HSGMS2BK9 in 1 port

 

[FrozenDarkness]

if you are a software developer, i'd suggest no touch bar because escape key is just not the same and you'd be forced to remap it to something like the caps key.

 

[hoffman2000]

if you are a software developer, i'd suggest no touch bar because escape key is just not the same and you'd be forced to remap it to something like the caps key.

i know, but there's more stuff than simply the esc key... ports, fans... and I know because I use vim, but generally with an external keyboard