Upgraded 2020 MBP 13" or base 2019 16"

[donleon]

Hello friends. I just upgraded to the 2020 high end 13" MPB... I bought two; The base high-end model and an upgraded model with 32gb of memory and 1tb SSD. I'm writing from the base high-end which I've had for a week now and expect to receive the 32g next week, so either way, I'll return one and am going to take advantage of the grace period for returning them to evaluate them side by side.

Now, a lot of what I've been reading online that since I'm paying for the same amount for the upgraded 13" as a base 16" I should just buy the 16"...

Current use cases: Multiple Chrome windows/profiles open at once — I do a lot of research and recruiting on LinkedIn for work and use youtube a lot, + trello, zoom, slack, messages, spotify. No gaming or Netflix. My current memory demand is almost never less than 12gs and I've pushed it up to 15gs already with swap use up to 5gs.

I'm using ~13Gb with ~1.5gs of swap at time of writing, though I don't really notice a performance dip and the pressure stays green. CPU and GPU temp is ~55ºC.

I know that if needed, I can be responsible with memory management and not overdo it in chrome.
It's also possible I start uploading a few videos to youtube at some point in the future / within the year (but still tbd).

What do you guys think? My budget constricts buying an upgraded memory 16" for now and this will be my main computer. I expect to hold onto it for ~3 years at least. I use a second monitor at my desk but do travel on occasion (where I typically deeply miss the 2nd monitor...hard to work out of a coffee shop when you're used to the 2nd screen).

Honestly, my other serious consideration was keeping this base mbp to make it easier to sell + upgrade in the near future if the MBPs they roll out in 21 or 22 are so good (+sexy) that I'll want to upgrade anyway... in which case, what will hold its value better of the three options? or is this just me being dumb?

Thanks a million for your help, I've been seriously thinking about this sh*t for 2 weeks now and am still not sure what to do.

0 complaints about this high-end 2020 MBP. She's beautiful and fast!

 

[evec]

If you can afford 2kg weight and size for travelling should get 16", it everything better that 13".

 

[sixtydashone]

Your workload doesn't really justify "needing" the extra power of the 16", so I'd say it's down to whichever form factor you prefer. If you want a bigger screen and maybe the laptop will spend most of its life docked, go with the 16". If you intend to travel with the laptop or carry it around in a backpack on a regular basis and can get by with a smaller screen, go with the 13".

 

[iRun26.2]

You don’t seem to have any reason for the power of the 16”. The display would be the main reason for you to get the 16” (in my opinion).

I’m stuck in the same spot but I know I would be helped by the power of the 16” (however, I don’t know if that overrides the lack of portability of the bigger computer).

 

[LFC2020]

Go with the big boy, hamburger with the lot 16" 😍

My next purchase will be a 16", don't need the power of a 16", want it for the bigger screen.

If you don't care about a bigger screen, 13" is a solid MacBook.