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Switching from 27" iMac 2.7GHz Quad i5 to 15" rMBP

I

idyll

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 5, 2007
502
19
I'm looking to switch from my 2011 27" iMac 2.7GHz Quad i5 to the current 15" MacBook Pro Retina i7 with Iris graphics.

Primary uses will be Photoshop and Illustrator at home, connected to a Thunderbolt display with very rare travel. I do need to take a portable to take with me occasionally.

Primary reasons for switching are speed, the lack of AC WiFi on my iMac, older Bluetooth on my iMac, slower hard drive on iMac, slower memory on iMac, etc.

Looking purely at the Geekbench scores, the MacBook Pro Retina seems to be 25% faster than my iMac? Not to mention the much faster SSD hard drive, as my iMac has a traditional 7200 RPM 1TB hard drive, and the faster memory at 1600 MHz vs 1333 MHz.

iMac: https://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/579907
MacBook Pro: https://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/2862851

Do you guys think this makes sense or would it not be much of a performance upgrade?
 
It's a 4 years newer computer, so it will be faster anyway. But yes, the SSD and CPU along will make it much faster than your current setup.
 
Based on those scores the MBP's MultiCore score is 50% higher than the iMac. So any apps that you have that use multiple cores (most today do) will be much faster. SingleCore is also 25% faster so really everything will run 25% to 50% faster.

The Memory is the same speed there is just more of it in the rMBP.

Depending on what GPU you have in the iMac the rMBP Intel Graphics will be 49% faster than the 6770m or 22% slower then the 6970m.

The SSD in the rMBP is very fast, with up to a 2Gb transfer rate. but in all honesty you could through a EVO 550 in the iMac with the 540Mbps speeds. Even though the rMBP is technically almost 4 times faster you will probably never use anything that will take advantage of that speeds. With the 540Mbps and 0ms seek time its still a huge jump.

With the MBP the CPU will be 25% to 50% faster. No Change in the memory speed but even DDR4 isn't that much better in real world tests. Graphics will either be slightly faster or slower but not real change. But the HD is a lot faster but you could get the same performance by swapping out the drive in your iMac.

If you need portability it will feel like an upgrade, if you don't then upgrade the HD in your iMac.
 
What are your thoughts on getting the base 13" MacBook Pro Retina?

How much slower would that be than my current iMac?
 
idyll said:
What are your thoughts on getting the base 13" MacBook Pro Retina?

How much slower would that be than my current iMac?
Click to expand...

You're comparing a dual core to a quad core. The 13" model will be slower. If my quick napkin math is right, 25% slower according to the geek bench 3 scores.
 
Don't mean to hijack the thread I'm kinda in the same boat.. I currently have a Mid-2011 21.5" with the same 2.7Ghz CPU os the OP and 12GB RAM, I want to go back to a MacBook for portability. I'd already be stretching my budget a bit to get the 13" rMBP 3.1/16/512 but I'm concerned it might be a downgrade to what I have now. The 15" rMBP 2.2/16/512 seems like it would be an upgrade all around but.. lose portability and of course some extra $$$ - where I'm already going over budget..

Most of the time I'm doing basic things - email, internet, etc... I do use Aperture for my photos (going to switch to Lightroom when I get a new Mac), some photoshop - just a few touchups, nothing really major and some Handbrake video conversions.
 
Hls811 said:
I'd already be stretching my budget a bit to get the 13" rMBP 3.1/16/512
Click to expand...

Don't waste your money on the i7 in that 13" rMBP. The tiny amount of performance you gain from that upgrade isn't worth what you pay for it.
 
T5BRICK said:
Don't waste your money on the i7 in that 13" rMBP. The tiny amount of performance you gain from that upgrade isn't worth what you pay for it.
Click to expand...
No?? I was thinking i5 to i7 might be a little bump to help placate my worries of going backwards.
 
Yeah I've been looking at the 13" MacBook Pro Retina benchmarks on Geekbench and it seems like it would be a downgrade from our 2011 2.7GHz i5 iMacs performance-wise for apps that use multiple cores. The single-core scores are higher (?), though.

Otherwise, the only benefit would be the SSD hard drive and portability it seems.

13" MacBook Pro Retina Benchmarks: https://browser.primatelabs.com/gee...&q=macbook+pro+13+retina&sort=multicore_score

2011 iMac / 2.7GHz i5 Benchmarks: https://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/search?dir=desc&q=imac+2011+i5+2.7&sort=multicore_score
 
Well, I ordered a 13" rMBP tonight - I went with the 3.1/16/512 option - I got it through the refurb store so the price wasn't too bad. It actually cost me less than if I priced out a new 2.9/16/512 (that config isn't currently available as a refurb, but would have saved me about $170 based on historical pricing) - it was a small price to pay for whatever the increase in performance is.

I'm not big on Geekbench ratings but since they are posted here I ran some comparisons and the MBP should be faster than what I have, maybe not in every way but a majority:
2011 iMac vs 2015 13" rMBP

2015 rMBP 2.9 vs 2015 rMBP 3.1
I know the difference may only be somewhere from 4%-7% but at least to me its worth it. That $170 difference is just about 7% of the cost so it works out.

What really pulled me away from the 15" is that I went into the Apple store tonight to play with both. In simple tasks - opening and switching between apps, general editing in Photos, garage band, etc - there was either no different in speed or it was minimal. I'll swear that a few things were actually faster on the 13 even though that shouldn't be the case.. One test I ran was importing some stock photos into iMove (403 pictures to be exact) - the import process for both took a while, the 15" was faster but not by that much, but long enough where I was watching the spinning wheel while it processed (I could still do other things in other apps) - but what it made me realized was neither of these is instant and if if i was going to end up waiting for things to run I might as well save some money.
 
I just went through this, was looking at the mid to high end rMBP13, then Best Buy offered deals on the entry level rMBP15 which meant with the USPS moving coupons dropped the price to 1600 -- so i jumped at it.

While i would have loved to have the larger HD that the rMBP13 had at that price, trading that for the quad i7, 16GB ram, and larger screen might be worth it in the long run.

Now I have to figure out how to spend the $30 coupon they sent me for making the purchase ...
 
Hls811 said:
Well, I ordered a 13" rMBP tonight - I went with the 3.1/16/512 option - I got it through the refurb store so the price wasn't too bad. It actually cost me less than if I priced out a new 2.9/16/512 (that config isn't currently available as a refurb, but would have saved me about $170 based on historical pricing) - it was a small price to pay for whatever the increase in performance is.

I'm not big on Geekbench ratings but since they are posted here I ran some comparisons and the MBP should be faster than what I have, maybe not in every way but a majority:
2011 iMac vs 2015 13" rMBP

2015 rMBP 2.9 vs 2015 rMBP 3.1
I know the difference may only be somewhere from 4%-7% but at least to me its worth it. That $170 difference is just about 7% of the cost so it works out.

What really pulled me away from the 15" is that I went into the Apple store tonight to play with both. In simple tasks - opening and switching between apps, general editing in Photos, garage band, etc - there was either no different in speed or it was minimal. I'll swear that a few things were actually faster on the 13 even though that shouldn't be the case.. One test I ran was importing some stock photos into iMove (403 pictures to be exact) - the import process for both took a while, the 15" was faster but not by that much, but long enough where I was watching the spinning wheel while it processed (I could still do other things in other apps) - but what it made me realized was neither of these is instant and if if i was going to end up waiting for things to run I might as well save some money.
Click to expand...


Just wanted to see how you were getting on with it almost a week later. Is it up to par with the 21" iMac you had?

Thanks!
 
idyll said:
Just wanted to see how you were getting on with it almost a week later. Is it up to par with the 21" iMac you had?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
For the most part yes.. I've been transferring data and copying things to/from external drives so I've really been running it through the paces and it seems fast enough. There's been a few times its run slow but with everything I'm doing on it I think its to be expected. I was away for the early part of the week and had to do something in Photoshop - thats the primary reason I switched, I couldn't have done it if I had the iMac so its a fair tradeoff.

I bought a 24" monitor to connect to it and have the MBP right next to it so the Dual screen is nice too. :)
 
Hls811 said:
For the most part yes.. I've been transferring data and copying things to/from external drives so I've really been running it through the paces and it seems fast enough. There's been a few times its run slow but with everything I'm doing on it I think its to be expected. I was away for the early part of the week and had to do something in Photoshop - thats the primary reason I switched, I couldn't have done it if I had the iMac so its a fair tradeoff.

I bought a 24" monitor to connect to it and have the MBP right next to it so the Dual screen is nice too. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for getting back!

The few times its run slow - would the iMac have been similarly slow or do you think it's the MacBook Pro?
 
idyll said:
Thanks for getting back!

The few times its run slow - would the iMac have been similarly slow or do you think it's the MacBook Pro?
Click to expand...

I think the iMac would have been slow too - its really just been while migrating photos from my old Aperture Library (30,000 photos) to Lightroom and running a time machine backup of about 185GB (via Wifi) at the same time. And even then, when I say slow it wasn't unusable - I was still online doing some things and it was fine. Thats far harder than I'll ever push it during regular use.
 
I would stick with the iMac and throw in an SSD and more ram...itll be like a new desktop all over again

Laptops dont appeal to me as much anymore, specially if you own an iphone and ipad as well...
 
idyll said:
Thanks for getting back!

The few times its run slow - would the iMac have been similarly slow or do you think it's the MacBook Pro?
Click to expand...


after really using the 13" this weekend I think its going back and I'm going to get the 15". I've noticed a few times when doing something or switching between apps where it just seems like its a bit slow - even the genie effect when opening an app doesn't seem completely fast enough. I'm comparing it to my 4+ year old iMac and this just seems like it should be faster. I only have 14 days to return it (which is Wednesday) but I think I'll spring the extra cash and get the 15".
 
Hls811 said:
after really using the 13" this weekend I think its going back and I'm going to get the 15". I've noticed a few times when doing something or switching between apps where it just seems like its a bit slow - even the genie effect when opening an app doesn't seem completely fast enough. I'm comparing it to my 4+ year old iMac and this just seems like it should be faster. I only have 14 days to return it (which is Wednesday) but I think I'll spring the extra cash and get the 15".
Click to expand...

Maybe Yosemite's UI is too much for 13" rMBP so see if El Caption's UI get the best of 13" rMBP?
 
Badrottie said:
Maybe Yosemite's UI is too much for 13" rMBP so see if El Caption's UI get the best of 13" rMBP?
Click to expand...
I don't think its that - or I hope its not that, it wouldn't be a good sign sign for this thing being able to handle future OSes.

right now I'm connected to a non-4K 24" Monitor which I think may be part of what I'm experiencing as far as the UI issues. I was thinking about going to 4K just to get the most out of the retina display but I think this thing would really struggle with it.

I think for most users the 13" is probably great, I think I just may be expecting too much of it and need to pay to get the experience I'm expecting.
 
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