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Planning on purchasing a Macbook - is the processor bump needed?

kshen1

kshen1

Cancelled
Original poster
Oct 7, 2013
88
9
Hey guys, my apologies if this thread/question has been posted before,

But I'm planning on picking up a rMB to compliment my Macbook Pro 13" Retina (I use this mainly for work). This rMB will be mainly used for school/uni, and I like it because of the size and weight (I've played with it at the Apple store and my god this thing is light and compact).

My question is, is it necessary to spend the extra $300 to tier up to the $1599 model with a 1.2ghz M processor?

My use cases will be: Word processing, note taking, web browsing, youtube, netflix, etc. Very light and basic work. Anything else such as Video Editing I will use my Macbook pro retina for. However, I like to keep a good amount of windows/tabs open and I was wondering if I really need the 0.1Ghz processor boost. These are things that I can't really test inside an Apple store since they only have the baseline model outside on display.

I don't really NEED the extra 256GB of storage, but I mean it'd be nice to have. What are your guys' thoughts on this? I can provide additional info as needed.
 
If you do not need the extra 256GB then no IMO

I had the 1.1 1st of all and gave it to the Mrs and got the 1.2 for the extra storage but otherwise I cannot see any significant difference in normal day to day use
 
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I had the 1.1 and it was more than enough for word, web browsing ect. I needed more than 1 port though.
 
I have the 1.2 w/ 512GB SSD. In my use case it was more about the space than the bump in CPU speed. I keep a lot of HD Movies on my rMB so I wanted as much space as possible. In your case, I think the 1.1 is the way to go. You will love it. Although, if you can get that deal from eBay posted above, I would jump all over it. Never hurts to have too much computer :)
 
Unless you want to play video, the 1.1 GHz processor is definitely enough to get all your other work done.
 
Admiral said:
Unless you want to play video, the 1.1 GHz processor is definitely enough to get all your other work done.
Click to expand...

In what sense can the 1.2 handle video better than the 1.1?

To the OP, you will only notice the speed difference when doing heavy duty tasks. From my research, a 1.3 MacBook converted a 1080p movie in 35 minutes, whereas the 1.1 MacBook did it in 39 minutes, so just over 10% faster. IMO like the others have said, if you need the extra space than go for it, if not, save that upgrade money and buy a screen/save it for skylake etc.
 
I don't claim that the 1.2 GHz processor bump does anything better than the 1.1. What I said is that the 1.1 does everything well enough, except play video.
 
SSD-GUY said:
My 1.1 plays video fine? What are you trying to play?
Click to expand...

Nothing fancy, that's for sure. Just some h.264 MP4s of various television programs. The performance is just acceptable when playing back the video, but this is a multitasking operating system. Play video and do anything else, just as switching applications, and you're taxing the machine. You'll get interface lag and skipped frames on the video. I am accustomed to more headroom than that, so I'm disappointed with the performance because for my use case it's a little lacking.

Count me among the masses slavering for a Skylake refresh. Skylake doubles video performance, my sole complaint.
 
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Admiral said:
Nothing fancy, that's for sure. Just some h.264 MP4s of various television programs. The performance is just acceptable when playing back the video, but this is a multitasking operating system. Play video and do anything else, just as switching applications, and you're taxing the machine. You'll get interface lag and skipped frames on the video. I am accustomed to more headroom than that, so I'm disappointed with the performance because for my use case it's a little lacking.

Count me among the masses slavering for a Skylake refresh. Skylake doubles video performance, my sole complaint.
Click to expand...

Very much depends on what software your playing the video back on, CPU or hardware decoding makes a significant difference. I have played 20Gb + MKV`s with high bitrates on my 1.2 without issue, I doubt the 0.1 CPU bump makes any difference whatsoever as the video is being decoded by hardware not the CPU.

If your playing the video with VLC, it likely the issue, try Movist from the store or MPV from the web

Q-6
 
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I've been using Movist for a long, long time (and I know the developer). And I have to say I'm a little tired of the "You're doing it wrong" response to this very minor criticism of the retina MacBook's performance. I'm no dope. The Broadwell Core M processor Does. Not. Have. enough power to multitask smoothly under OS X (maybe it's an OS X issue, haven't tested under Windows or Linux) if one of the tasks is video playback. Other general light-use tasks, it's super. Just play video, it's super. As I wrote above, "play video and do anything else" is the point of annoyance.

You love yours? Great. I love mine. I wish it was better in this one respect. Word on the street is Skylake will do the trick for me.
 
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Admiral said:
I've been using Movist for a long, long time (and I know the developer). And I have to say I'm a little tired of the "You're doing it wrong" response to this very minor criticism of the retina MacBook's performance. I'm no dope. The Broadwell Core M processor Does. Not. Have. enough power to multitask smoothly under OS X (maybe it's an OS X issue, haven't tested under Windows or Linux) if one of the tasks is video playback. Other general light-use tasks, it's super. As I wrote above, "play video and do anything else" is the point of annoyance.

You love yours? Great. I love mine. I wish it was better in this one respect.
Click to expand...

Never suggested, just offered experience from my own observations. Bear in mind it may also help others who are stuck or unaware of hardware decoding. VLC is very common and others have had similar issue that Movist or MPV has resolved...

Q-6
 
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From what ive heard the jump from 1.1 to 1.2 is more noticeable than the 1.2 to 1.3. 1.2 seems the most balanced CPU relative to price/performance.
 
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