The 13" w/ toucher

[dapork]

So after a lot of agonising I'm coming to the decision to buy the maxed out new 13" with the touch bar.

I know it'll run Logic fine.

How will it do for games compared to the previous generation 15" rMBP?

How important is it to update the processor and memory given that I make music and wanna do some casual gaming? Mainly I wanna play Bioshock Infinite at high settings.

If you guys can help me with this I'll feel confident about placing an order tomorrow. I can't afford the new 15", plus it's big, and I figure why not get the new 13" if it's more powerful than the previous generation 15".

Thanks

 

[dapork]

Come on guys, I know I can get a less biased input here. Is a maxed out 2016 13" more powerful than a maxed out 2015 15"?

The SPECS:

NEW 13"
Intel Dual Core i5 3.1Ghz / Intel Dual Core i7 3.3Ghz (are either of these upgrades worth it?)
16GB 2133Mhz LPDDR3
512GB PCIe-based SSD
Intel Iris Graphics 550

OLD 15"
Intel Quad Core i7 2.8Ghz
16GB στα 1600 ΜΗz DDR3L
Flash storage 512GB
Intel Iris Pro, AMD Radeon R9 M370X w/ 2GB GDDR5

I know Logic will run fine cause it runs decently on my 2009 Macbook. But what about mid level games like Bioshock Infinite; which would be better?

 

[T-Bob]

15" will be more powerful, both cpu and cpu.

 

[ssn637]

The best available benchmarks for mobile GPU's can be found here (e.g. Intel Iris 550, found on the rMBP 13" 2016 TouchBar models):

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Iris-Graphics-550.149937.0.html

Although there are no benchmarks available yet for the rMBP, the Intel Iris 550 is reported to be twice as fast in gaming benchmarks than its predecessor, the Intel Iris 6100, found on the current 13" rMBP laptops. It will in no way match the performance of the AMD Radeon M370X, but for an integrated graphics solution should be quite capable, especially since it incorporates 64 MB of dedicated RAM.

 

[garirry]

I won't really be bothered to assume that the GPU from the old 15" is probably better than the Iris on the new 13", I'm fairly convinced by that. As for the CPU, I think that may be the case as well, but considering that the nMBP's processor's architecture is newer than on the older laptop, it might be faster. You'll have to wait until there's benchmarks for the new MBP in order to compare.

However, the RAM will definitely be faster on the new 13" (which may or may not advantage you depending on what you're doing), however, what's particularly interesting is that the SSD is IMPRESSIVELY faster than on the old model, jumping from ~2 GB/s to ~3 GB/s, which may be extremely pleasant.

 

[dapork]

Damn, I was hoping the new 13" was better than the old 15". If it's not so certain I almost wanna shell out another 500€ and just get a lower end new 15". I would've thought the maxed out 13" touch bar would be better, seeing as it's newer. Plus I was warming up to the idea of a 13", but if it's so much weaker...

So to answer my question about games, would the old 15" run Bioshock Infinite better than the 13" touch bar?

 

[iizmoo]

15" is a completely different class of laptop, you can't compare dual and quad core with discreet graphics.

 

[dapork]

You can get a new MBP 15" w/ €3.581,68, while the last gen 15" is 3.029,00 €. If it comes down to just needing one adapter, I don't see why it isn't worthing shelling out the extra €500 for the new one. New models are more expensive, but the old ones didn't go down...

I was hoping I could get decent performance out of a new 13" but seeing as it has to be 15" regardless of the year, I'll probably go with the new one. I really only need one adaptor for my USB audio interface, I guess a USB-USB-C key as well.

Pain in the ass how hard this decision is. Of course, how can it be easy when these things cost so much. Only thing that sucks is the 2015's are available now while the 2016's can be purchased but no idea when they'll be coming. Greece is a step behind even other Euro countries.

Basically the only thing not worth upgrading is the GHz if I understood correctly. I would upgrade the graphics though.