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macdaddy1991

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 13, 2010
230
152
Basically I'm wondering with all the throttling issues that the 15" has been facing. is there that much of a difference in performance when looking at the 13" i5 vs i7. Currently debating upgrading from my 13" late-2013 rMBP but having difficulty deciding between the 13" and 15" models. Given the issues the 15" is facing, is it worth the price difference?
 
I think it's more of a size problem than a performance problem that you should consider for yourself. 13'' also has throttling problem, every laptop does, just not as severe as 15'' i9.
Price-wise, I actually find 15'' a better value. 2.2 6-core i7 should be at least on par with 2.7 4-core i7 in performance. But the price difference is only $100 if you compare models with 16GB RAM. For that $100, you get DDR4 vs DDR3, dGPU, bigger screen, etc., in addition to CPU performance gain.
But I ended up getting a high spec 13'' even though it's a lesser value in my opinion simply because of the size. Having 15'' for 10 years, I can't deal with its bulkiness anymore.
 
For me I like the 32GB RAM capabilities of the 15” as well as the bigger screen, but I am not a fan of the dGPU in the 15” (and the 13” has a better iGPU).

Thinking a 13” with an eGPU solution might be the best of both worlds but then you are limited to 16GB of RAM, but for the majority of people this will be fine.

For me, as I’d use Windows/Ubuntu on the machine as well as a lot of third party dev software - I am also worried of the issue where the dGPU is used rather than the iGPU when it’s just not needed, resulting in huge battery uses.

My first MacBook was 15” 2014, although I got the iGPU version to avoid the above issue.
 
Considering they fixed the throttling issue, I’d that was the only thing making you lean away from the 15” then go for the 15”. Otherwise give us a bit more information about your uses and what is important to you so you can get more specific advice for your case.
 
Considering they fixed the throttling issue, I’d that was the only thing making you lean away from the 15” then go for the 15”. Otherwise give us a bit more information about your uses and what is important to you so you can get more specific advice for your case.

Graduate school, PS, Lightroom, some premiere (mostly do this on my desktop), recording live sets, ableton
Also potentially looking into live streaming. I've started an event series recently and I think it would be cool to start live streaming them and it would be cool to have a capable laptop for that.

I love the form factor and portability of my 13" but the performance benefits and screen real estate of the 15" tempt me very much
 
PS, Lightroom,
Both PS and LR benefit from a larger display, and imo, you get more bang for the buck with the 15" MBP, including dGPU, more cores, more ram (by default). Just my opinion, but I've used both and I found LR to be too constrained in a 13" form factor.
 
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Both PS and LR benefit from a larger display, and imo, you get more bang for the buck with the 15" MBP, including dGPU, more cores, more ram (by default). Just my opinion, but I've used both and I found LR to be too constrained in a 13" form factor.
I agree with that but keep coming back to portability. Ultimately all that suff i mentioned is either for graduate school or stuff on the go. When I'm home i work on my larger displays anyways with my desktop.

It would be nice to have a larger screen in the lab though so i dont feel like i need to go home as much to get any computer work done. I always feel too constrained on my 13" when trying to do any actual work on it. I again keep coming back to the trade-off for portability.
 
You can get the base 13 and external monitor for about the price of base 15.

At home, I always use my desktop with large (34" ultrawide) displays. I'm just very torn if the trade-offs are worth it
 
I had a 2016 15" base model but upgraded the cpu to an i7 2.6 quad core.. I'm just curious to find out how the 2.2 six core would compare. For me storage isn't a problem since most of the time I have other machines for work use. So portability is the key for me. Since I don't have that laptop anymore I'm thinking of a newer model but don't need it too powerful. Any i9 cpus in a laptop is a waste since it won't ever be cooled properly, but that's my opinion.
 
Do you like small laptops? 13"

Do you like large laptops? 15"

Love this. You clicked on this link you seemed uninterested in, and took the time to provide an answer that just comes across as sarcastic and unhelpful. SMH

Side note, I appreciate those who are taking the time to give an actual reason for why they selected the one they selected. Thanks.
 
Love this. You clicked on this link you seemed uninterested in, and took the time to provide an answer that just comes across as sarcastic and unhelpful. SMH

Side note, I appreciate those who are taking the time to give an actual reason for why they selected the one they selected. Thanks.

I am not sure the poster was being sarcastic. Maybe at first glance it seems that way but the vast majority of members here have a hatred for the old 17" MBP which I still use as my daily driver and take it on planes around the world for business. I love it in every way possible. That said, a lot of people here think the 15" is too large for travel. Many think the 13" is the "sweet" spot. That's great. Everyone is different. What I believe in is my personal opinion and I would never try to shove my thoughts down someone's throat. All of us have different reasons for liking/hating all of Apple's products. Since Apple makes only two sizes now in the MBP line, it has come down to whether or not you want a "small" laptop or a "large" one. I think maybe that was the posters intent. Perhaps he was summarizing his thoughts rather than writing a mini novel like I am doing now.
 
Now that there has been a patch to help stabilise the new 15 inch MacBook Pros, have you given thought to what you might want to get?

As for me, I found that the 13 inch had too small of screen real estate and I was always getting annoyed with wanting a bigger screen. I do a lot of RAW image processing and layout so from my MacBook Air 5 years ago, I went 15 inch and never went back.
 
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