Performance boost with new rMBP?

[Fthree]

I currently have a late 2013 13 inch 2.4/256/8rm i5. Its been faithful BUT i know I'm pushing it to its limits. A few months ago i bought a 15 inch $2499 and absolutely LOVED the performance but hated the size as I need powerful and portable so i took it back. I just left the apple store trying out the new 13'. I really could careless about the force track pad (its nice but not enough to warrant a purchase) but I did think about maxing out a 13 (3.1/i7/512/16RM) online. I guess I'm just really looking to see what kind of performance boost i can expect. I know i push this 13 to the limit having multiple things happening at once so everything starts to slow down or lag. Does anyone think that the upgrade would be huge or just a slight bump towards more frustration after spending $2k+? Thanks!

I will however be able to take advantage of education pricing so thatll help save a good $150

 

[Rigby]

Go into activity monitor and check the memory pressure graph. If it's yellow or red, you are memory-limited. In this case an upgrade to 16GB would help. Upgrading the CPU is not likely to make much of a difference.

 

[Fthree]

Thanks! It seems as if I'm pressing the higher end of the graph. I haven't looked at it during high activity times though.

 

[Fthree]

Overall how significant would the upgrade be from my current 13 to the 15?

 

[Rigby]

Depends on what you are doing with it. The 15" MBP has a quad-core CPU, which may run certain tasks better than the dual-cores in the 13" versions.

 

[Fthree]

Sorry rigby I was talking about the maxed out 13 inch 2015 vs my late 2013 13 inch.

 

[Rigby]

Besides configuration options, there are only two significant differences with regard to performance between the late-2013 and the 2015: A Broadwell instead of Haswell CPU, and an SSD with roughly doubled transfer speed. As I mentioned before, the CPU is not likely to make much of a difference, even if you choose the top version (the i7 in the 13" is still just a dual-core, just with a slightly higher clockrate and more cache). The faster SSD *may* make a difference if you often copy large files. If you play games the newer integrated GPU in the Broadwell might help a little, but it will still not make it a good gaming machine. But overall, I don't think any of the upgrades except possibly RAM are likely to help much.

 

[Fthree]

Thanks! I appreciate your help. I'm trying to get as close to the 15 as I can without adding the extra real estate. Dang thing is a beast

 

[ZBoater]

Thanks! I appreciate your help. I'm trying to get as close to the 15 as I can without adding the extra real estate. Dang thing is a beast

Well, the closest is the 3.1GHz i7 rMBP 13", but it is still a ways away. Next step would be the 15".

 

[Fthree]

Thanks, I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that the 13 maxed is nasty and as good as it'll get for me given what I'm looking for.

The lady at the Apple Store was not on the same page with me at all. She heard all the above and recommended the new MacBook. I was like yeahhh

 

[ZBoater]

I was in the same boat. But I could not get over the huge size of the 15". I played with them at the store, and I think that experience is not the same as owning it, but even at the store the 15" just seemed huge. I've been using an MBA for 4 years, and the 13 rMBP seemed SMALLER. I looked it up and the footprint is indeed smaller, even though it is 1 lb heavier and not tapered so it is a little thicker. But from a portability perspective I think I won't lose much going from an MBA to a rMBP.

I've resigned myself to the fact I'll need a powerful desktop to do the few things I need to do that require it. But for 99% of what I do, the rMBP will be just fine. More than fine.

 

[Fthree]

Portability is everything to me. I'd love to have a awesome desktop but would never be in front of it

 

[Hieveryone]

I currently have a late 2013 13 inch 2.4/256/8rm i5. Its been faithful BUT i know I'm pushing it to its limits. A few months ago i bought a 15 inch $2499 and absolutely LOVED the performance but hated the size as I need powerful and portable so i took it back. I just left the apple store trying out the new 13'. I really could careless about the force track pad (its nice but not enough to warrant a purchase) but I did think about maxing out a 13 (3.1/i7/512/16RM) online. I guess I'm just really looking to see what kind of performance boost i can expect. I know i push this 13 to the limit having multiple things happening at once so everything starts to slow down or lag. Does anyone think that the upgrade would be huge or just a slight bump towards more frustration after spending $2k+? Thanks!

I will however be able to take advantage of education pricing so thatll help save a good $150

What do you do typically that pushes your MBPr to the edge?

 

[Fthree]

I typically work with spreadsheets and have multiple apps going at once to get numbers from. When I'm not doing that I edit photos. I am also in school but the work I do on that doesn't bother it a whole lot.