So what should I buy? New 13 inch vs 16 inch vs air ...or wait some more.

[jteller93]

I like most users on here am very dissapointed in the release of the new 13 mbp, I've been looking for a new macbook since october and was really hoping on a significant refresh of the 13 inch model. While I did get the keyboard I was hoping for the screen size remaining at 13 is quite a bummer and also seeing no mention of cooling improvements also kind of worries me. My brother has a 2017 mbp 13 and everything he has to say about the machine is negative especially when it come to how hot it gets.

My question is also kind of a two part question, I'd love to know if there is anyone in a similar line of work (which im sure there is) to express what they look for/need in a computer. then of course what computer would you pick for me?


What I have currently - MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) 1.3 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, Intel HD Graphics 5000 1536 MB
safe to say its over encumbered but it is still a great computer.

What I do - Im a start up ceo, launching a mobile app in late 2020-2021 my day consists of mainly project management so reviewing all facets of the platform ui/ux, development, branding, marketing, testing, and relations/outreach. I am learning and refining my skills to be a full stack developer. I also will be running the adobe suite and sketch for ui/ux.

My work set up- I mainly have been working remotely and once our office is ready I plan on using my laptop to power a larger display when im in. I will be traveling a lot so thats something to keep in mind too. Im bigger guy and dont mind lugging a 16.

Price- I dont plan on spending a ridiculous amount but I definitely want to buy what I need and maybe a tad more then necessary.

Going into today I really thought a pretty loaded 14 inch wouldve been ideal.

 

[maxsquared]

I work at a start up too...

For portability and power balance, I'd definitely with the new 13 inch, which is what I used for work for the last 4 years take around with me to meetings, and the power is pretty good, attach to an external monitor, it's definitely enough for what you do and also it just looks more agile when you meeting investors and etc. I have a 16 inch at home, it's just too big to take around with me. If you can upgrade the RAM you won't regret in the future.

 

[jteller93]

I work at a start up too...

For portability and power balance, I'd definitely with the new 13 inch, which is what I used for work for the last 4 years take around with me to meetings, and the power is pretty good, attach to an external monitor, it's definitely enough for what you do and also it just looks more agile when you meeting investors and etc. I have a 16 inch at home, it's just too big to take around with me. If you can upgrade the RAM you won't regret in the future.

thanks maxsquared for your reply and insight! what are your thoughts on an ideal processor and why?

 

[maxsquared]

Depend on your budget, I'd say if you have money then get the i7 10th gen it will be quicker, but it's NOT end of the world if you get one of the base models, it will still be fast.

I am not technical, I am CProductO, so mostly project management, but sometime I will dig into code myself. At the time I got my 4 year old 13 inch it was a dual core and one of the base models (due to budget at the time), it still runs fine to this day, even some complex TIF or PSD files in Photoshop. What is really suffering is amount of RAM (8GB), it was really bad when we used to run Vagrant, but it's got better since we moved to Docker.

Mind you though, if you ever need to do any sort of Video editing at all, get the Core i7 10th gen.

 

[Falcon80]

I am interested in this topic as well. Is the 16" base model significantly faster than 13" i5 gen 10 model?

 

[Abaganov]

I am interested in this topic as well. Is the 16" base model significantly faster than 13" i5 gen 10 model?

Hells yes

 

[Falcon80]

Hells yes

Thanks for the reply. Even when the 13" having gen 10 processor?

 

[Ryakkan]

The benefit of the new 10th gen Intel processor i5 or i7 is your getting the new 11th gen graphics which can be up to 50-60% better in certain areas. If you want to run Adobe apps I would definitely go for the $1799 or $1999 MBP.

 

[ctjack]

Even when the 13" having gen 10 processor?

nobody knows how it stands with 10 gen, but here are some numbers for 8th gen base and upper from 2019.

cpu comparison

 

[throAU]

What I do - Im a start up ceo, launching a mobile app in late 2020-2021 my day consists of mainly project management so reviewing all facets of the platform ui/ux, development, branding, marketing, testing, and relations/outreach. I am learning and refining my skills to be a full stack developer. I also will be running the adobe suite and sketch for ui/ux.

You have conflicting requirements here.

CEO = you probably want light weight for lugging to meetings, etc.
Full stack developer = you want the most powerful machine you can lay your hands on.

What I'd suggest? Get either a desktop or 16" MacBook for the developer part, and an iPad for the CEO meetings part. A single 13" or single 16" machine is going to be a compromise one way or another.

Your iPad will also be useful for testing your product.
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Thanks for the reply. Even when the 13" having gen 10 processor?

You're talking a 28 watt (including graphics!) mobile 10th gen part in the 13" machine vs. a 45 watt plus part with more cores in the 16" machine.

13" vs. 16" will be no contest, there isn't THAT much difference in performance between 8th (or even 6th) gen and 10th gen to make up the power/clockspeed/core count difference you get in the 16" machine. Never mind that the 16 has a discrete GPU and more thermal headroom.

 

[KPOM]

thanks maxsquared for your reply and insight! what are your thoughts on an ideal processor and why?

I’d get the $1799 model. It’s got the latest processor, a good keyboard, a fast SSD, and fast RAM. Not a disappointment at all. That screen is exquisite. And it is standard with 16GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD.

 

[unoporfavor]

Thanks for the reply. Even when the 13" having gen 10 processor?

be interested to know on this too

 

[Abaganov]

Thanks for the reply. Even when the 13" having gen 10 processor?

yeah 2 more cores, dGPU, a bigger chassis and a better cooling system that can sustain more load

 

[Macalicious2011]

yeah 2 more cores, dGPU, a bigger chassis and a better cooling system that can sustain more load

I has it considered cooling. My mid 2012 15’ Retina MBP has been gullet proof and runs very quiet even when using Chrome under heavy load.

 

[Falcon80]

yeah 2 more cores, dGPU, a bigger chassis and a better cooling system that can sustain more load

I thought I saw several complaints about thermal issue for the 16"? Gen 10 processor supposedly more efficient and thus will be cooler?

 

[throAU]

Gen 10 processor supposedly more efficient and thus will be cooler?

For the 16" machine, the 10th gen part will consume MORE Power than the existing one.

It's basically the exact same chip (not even kidding, it even performs worse in some tests that are already out due to security fixes), except intel have pushed it harder. It most certainly WILL NOT run cooler.

Intel naming of "10th gen" is a complete mess. There are two "10th gen" product lines (both called "10th gen" for intel marketing purposes only)

• Anything "ice lake" with a iX-1XXX (i.e., 1000 series) part number is a new chip (typically for 13" machines). They aren't an amazing improvement either (if at all), but at least they are actually new and have a much better integrated graphics chip (which is a win for 13" machines with no dGPU). They're low power parts for smaller machines (so completely inappropriate for the 16" model).
• Anything else with a part number in the form iX-1XXXX (e.g., the chips likely coming for the 16" machines - an I series part with a 10,000 series number) are a re-branded "9th gen" part with very minor tweaks and a higher clock speed with more power draw IF the laptop vendor has better cooling and pushes it harder

There's really not much to be waiting for/excited about for the coming 16" refresh, and that's not Apple's fault. Intel simply don't have anything that's a decent upgrade to offer.

 

[sundialsoft]

I had to sell my MBP due to not running Catalina so been getting by with my 2015 MBA. 2020 MBA arrives Thursday so I will be fine for several years. I use Xcode mainly.

 

[Queen6]

For the 16" machine, the 10th gen part will consume MORE Power than the existing one.

That's going to please all those suffering throttling on the 16" with external displays connected Personally I'm going to hold off until next year as I don't see much benefit to upgrade this year, beyond a more powerful dGPU in the W10 notebooks.

If anything I like to give AMD a shot and see how they fair as reports look strong with equally performance to Intel with lower power budgets .

Q-6

 

[maxsquared]

The 16 inch will be faster regardless, because of the dGPU. But it weight a ton, as I mentioned above, get a 13 inch, and if budget allows get a 10th gen.

 

[sundialsoft]

I had the big 15" MBP (until Apple retired it) and didn't find it particularly heavy though I wasn't taking it out of the house.

 

[MacNut]

I had the big 15" MBP (until Apple retired it) and didn't find it particularly heavy though I wasn't taking it out of the house.

What do you consider the big one? The ones going back to 2010 were thicker.

 

[jteller93]

You have conflicting requirements here.

CEO = you probably want light weight for lugging to meetings, etc.
Full stack developer = you want the most powerful machine you can lay your hands on.

What I'd suggest? Get either a desktop or 16" MacBook for the developer part, and an iPad for the CEO meetings part. A single 13" or single 16" machine is going to be a compromise one way or another.

Your iPad will also be useful for testing your product.
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You're talking a 28 watt (including graphics!) mobile 10th gen part in the 13" machine vs. a 45 watt plus part with more cores in the 16" machine.

13" vs. 16" will be no contest, there isn't THAT much difference in performance between 8th (or even 6th) gen and 10th gen to make up the power/clockspeed/core count difference you get in the 16" machine. Never mind that the 16 has a discrete GPU and more thermal headroom.

Your points really made me think (for the better). Kind of dawned on me that I never take my laptop to meetings and its always my ipad when im on the run. I guess when im on the move with the laptop I tend post up for a while and when im done with it, it usually stays there. I really believe the 16" is the better machine which is why this had me so torn, the weight/size I really dont mind. I upgraded my iPad this January to the latest pro 11" so Im gonna go 16" and probably the more equipped base with 32 gigs of ram on it.

Now the question is do I give apple till wwdc to see if a refresh happens. or do I just jump in.
kind of leaning towards the good things happen to those who wait and patience is a virtue yada yada yada ideals.
Unless peers on here believe the refresh will be truly negligible.

 

[throAU]

Unless peers on here believe the refresh will be truly negligible.

It's all speculation at the moment but I think (relatively educated guess; I follow cpu developments and am an IT professional for my job)...

• it is unlikely apple will change cpu vendor to AMD, because medium term they likely plan to go in-house and a shift at this point is just an additional short term complication/redesign they don't need. if they had plans to go AMD they would have done so in the 13" machines as well that were just released. They're committed to intel for now.
• intel have literally nothing new to offer of any real consequence until at least 2021-2022. yeah it will be a new model processor but it will perform pretty much identically. intel have major problems at the moment.
• AMD do not have a new GPU ready to be released in the next 2-3 months

Thus: I think at least 3-6 months out there will be no 16" upgrade worth anything. It already has the good keyboard, it already has the best CPU intel can currently put out until they do a major refresh (and the 10th gen refresh they literally just did is a sticker job on the 9th gen CPUs appropriate for the 16" pro.

So, unless you're planning to wait until at LEAST 2021 (and maybe even 2022).... I'd jump in personally. If apple do a refresh I don't think it will be significant, at least not in terms of cpu/gpu power. All you'll maybe get is a different screen (not confirmed). Is that worth waiting for? I don't think so personally. You could be using the thing to make money NOW.

 

[Vazor]

It's all speculation at the moment but I think (relatively educated guess; I follow cpu developments and am an IT professional for my job)...

• it is unlikely apple will change cpu vendor to AMD, because medium term they likely plan to go in-house and a shift at this point is just an additional short term complication/redesign they don't need. if they had plans to go AMD they would have done so in the 13" machines as well that were just released. They're committed to intel for now.
• intel have literally nothing new to offer of any real consequence until at least 2021-2022. yeah it will be a new model processor but it will perform pretty much identically. intel have major problems at the moment.
• AMD do not have a new GPU ready to be released in the next 2-3 months

Thus: I think at least 3-6 months out there will be no 16" upgrade worth anything. It already has the good keyboard, it already has the best CPU intel can currently put out until they do a major refresh (and the 10th gen refresh they literally just did is a sticker job on the 9th gen CPUs appropriate for the 16" pro.

So, unless you're planning to wait until at LEAST 2021 (and maybe even 2022).... I'd jump in personally. If apple do a refresh I don't think it will be significant, at least not in terms of cpu/gpu power. All you'll maybe get is a different screen (not confirmed). Is that worth waiting for? I don't think so personally. You could be using the thing to make money NOW.

Damn, so nothing worth waiting for. Not even the wifi 6?

 

[throAU]

Damn, so nothing worth waiting for. Not even the wifi 6?

Do you have a wifi 6 router? Planning to upgrade to one day 1? Will everybody else?

I'm a network nerd and I couldn't care less about wifi 6 to be honest. WIFI N or AC is fast enough for most stuff and the stuff it isn't fast enough for I want a wired connection.

Work? Still on wireless N.... as with most public hotspots, etc.

WIFI 6 would be nice I guess as a future thing, but in terms of whether it will be worth waiting for.... nope. By the time it is commonplace (and make a significant difference to your day to day) you'll be wanting another MacBook upgrade.