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Real world difference between low/high end 15 MBP

S

Surfing@Blacks

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 17, 2007
185
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I was wondering what is the real world differences between these 2 machines in respect to editing film, music creation, ext.

Gaming is not a huge factor, keep in mind. Is it worth the extra $ for the upgrade?
 
The GPU is a lot better in the higher version. If you do editing, I'd recommend getting the higher one. You can replace HDD with a SSD later when you have enough cash.
 
jmpnop said:
The GPU is a lot better in the higher version. If you do editing, I'd recommend getting the higher one. You can replace HDD with a SSD later when you have enough cash.
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Pretty sure that GPU doesn't play into video editing.. im i wrong?
 
not all software makes use of CUDA/STREAM/OpenCL, and unless there are benchmarks available, the real-world difference between GPUs is unknown.
 
I don't know if you consider this a "Real world" difference or not but the higher end will retain a higher resale value than the low end. Meaning, in a couple years when you decide to upgrade the high end MBP will be much more desirable than a low end one.

Just something to consider
 
reebzor said:
I don't know if you consider this a "Real world" difference or not but the higher end will retain a higher resale value than the low end. Meaning, in a couple years when you decide to upgrade the high end MBP will be much more desirable than a low end one.

Just something to consider
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I disagree. I bought a 2009 Macbook Pro 13 inch and opted for the more expensive model. When I went to sell it, I didn't get any more money for my machine then those people selling the cheaper model. The only difference was the cheaper one had 2.1ghz instead of 2.53ghz, and 2 gigs of RAM instead of 4, but that didn't seem to be a consideration for most people.

I think people have a perceived value of a Macbook pro on Ebay and Craigslist and the majority of buyers have a certain price point in mind and could care less about specs... It seems to be around $800 for the 13 inch model (previous gens), $1000 for the 15 inch model, and $1200 for the 17 inch. These prices I'm quoting are for 2009 and 2010 models, obviously if you're selling the newest model 2011, you can expect to probably get 90% of retail for your machine...

Feel free to disprove me with some actual data you're seeing on your local Craigslist, or ebay auctions. ;)
 
djrobsd said:
I disagree. I bought a 2009 Macbook Pro 13 inch and opted for the more expensive model. When I went to sell it, I didn't get any more money for my machine then those people selling the cheaper model. The only difference was the cheaper one had 2.1ghz instead of 2.53ghz, and 2 gigs of RAM instead of 4, but that didn't seem to be a consideration for most people.

I think people have a perceived value of a Macbook pro on Ebay and Craigslist and the majority of buyers have a certain price point in mind and could care less about specs... It seems to be around $800 for the 13 inch model (previous gens), $1000 for the 15 inch model, and $1200 for the 17 inch. These prices I'm quoting are for 2009 and 2010 models, obviously if you're selling the newest model 2011, you can expect to probably get 90% of retail for your machine...

Feel free to disprove me with some actual data you're seeing on your local Craigslist, or ebay auctions. ;)
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^^^ what he said
 
when you're editing film and encoding video files the high end MacBook Pro would be faster because of the higher CPU clock speed, though it wouldn't be a huge difference.
 
To be honest I don't see the point of the low end 15" and the MBP 13".

Serious gaming, image or video editing you're better off with the high end 15".

For anyone else the MBA 11 or 13 are more than enough.

This statement will be even more true when the Sandy Bridge MBA comes out ;)
 
alust2013 said:
Gaming is where you would notice the biggest difference. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot.
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richard.mac said:
when you're editing film and encoding video files the high end MacBook Pro would be faster because of the higher CPU clock speed, though it wouldn't be a huge difference.
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What about photo editing? Do you think the higher end config. will help future proof it a little more?
 
you will barely notice anything unless you're video editing/gaming so i'd go with the low end
signature_SmileSPB.jpg
 
Yinmay said:
To be honest I don't see the point of the low end 15" and the MBP 13".

Serious gaming, image or video editing you're better off with the high end 15".

For anyone else the MBA 11 or 13 are more than enough.

This statement will be even more true when the Sandy Bridge MBA comes out ;)
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The GPU doesn't play into the performance of video editing and image editing... i was told that it plays a huge factor in simulations, gaming, and 3d modeling.

So, it would be more wise to get the low end and take the savings for say a SSD drive or something./?? correct??
 
Surfing@Blacks said:
The GPU doesn't play into the performance of video editing and image editing... i was told that it plays a huge factor in simulations, gaming, and 3d modeling.

So, it would be more wise to get the low end and take the savings for say a SSD drive or something./?? correct??
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The high-end also has a better CPU. And the better GPU helps in Photoshop and Final Cut as well.

Again, if you don't do GPU intensive tasks, the Sandy Bridge MBA are more than enough.

I just can't see who could possibly benefit from a MBP13 or low-end MBP15 over a MBA but not from a high-end MBP15.
 
Yinmay said:
The high-end also has a better CPU. And the better GPU helps in Photoshop and Final Cut as well.

Again, if you don't do GPU intensive tasks, the Sandy Bridge MBA are more than enough.

I just can't see who could possibly benefit from a MBP13 or low-end MBP15 over a MBA but not from a high-end MBP15.
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SPBMacintosh said:
you will barely notice anything unless you're video editing/gaming so i'd go with the low end Image
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Surfing@Blacks said:
The GPU doesn't play into the performance of video editing and image editing... i was told that it plays a huge factor in simulations, gaming, and 3d modeling.

So, it would be more wise to get the low end and take the savings for say a SSD drive or something./?? correct??
Click to expand...



There are contradicting statements that the GPU will help in video editing (final cut), so is video editing more CPU or GPU, I will be doing some Final Cut work as well as Aperture, what is CPU and what is GPU. I don't game right now, but I could see myself gaming in the future because of having a faster laptop. Not to mention that a faster config. would help future proof it as well. And what is the Lion release date damnit!
 
Yinmay said:
The high-end also has a better CPU. And the better GPU helps in Photoshop and Final Cut as well.

Again, if you don't do GPU intensive tasks, the Sandy Bridge MBA are more than enough.

I just can't see who could possibly benefit from a MBP13 or low-end MBP15 over a MBA but not from a high-end MBP15.
Click to expand...

How does the GPU help photoshop and final cut... i keep hearing the opposite, could you explain?. Also the 2.0 to 2.2 is a very small boost in CPU. MBA's are nice, but I have my doubt that the new MBA's will have quad cores. So for a a little more you can get a base 15 with quad core, more screen, and ability to upgrade HD and Ram. I was on the fence of what you said but having just 1 machine, i felt more comfortable with the 15 inch than a MBA.
 
The fact you're asking means the low-end model is fine.

What is there a 10% difference at most in cpu clockspeed?

Do the math. AT worst what takes 2 minutes to do some cpu intensive task takes 2 minutes 12 seconds on the lower end MBP. Again worst case.

What takes 10 seconds takes 11 seconds on the lower-end MBP.

I don't get why folks ask these questions.

In this day and age of Google that is. I mean go look at some benchmarks. Macworld has video editing benchmarks. Look at the small difference in speed.

Maybe if you are batch running cpu intensive tasks all day then the extra power is something you need. otherwise it isn't.

And the $400 saved means you can upgrade next year or next product cycle and your new machine will be newer and faster than today's top-end MBP. And you'll be out the same dough.
 
just looking at it on paper, you get .2 more ghz of quad-core i7, 150 more gb of storage, and ~750 more mb of vram on a better ded graphics card. (all with just the standard base models and no modifications, even if they are free [ex. 5400rpm to 7200rpm w/ less storage]). in reality, you won't notice a difference between a 2.0ghz or 2.2ghz quad-core i7 processor. if storage space is important to you, you obviously wouldn't buy a high end model just for that feature...just upgrade the lower end BTO or aftermarket, whatever your preference. the only real difference is the 1gb vram in the 6750m, which as stated, is important if you want to do some gaming on your mbp.

i would go with the low end if you do not wish to play games that are very graphic intensive/have high requirements. the 256mb 6490m will still hold up well for somewhat recent games.
 
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