Which is a better deal? (15" early 2013 or 13" haswell)

[Tanmayg]

Hi guys, I am really confused between the two specifications!

15" 2.4 i7, 8gb ram, 256 ssd (early 2013) for $ 1800

or

13" 2.6 i5, 16gb ram, 256 ssd (haswell) for $ 1770

Now I consider myself a power user, and this mac(my first) will be my main machine. I want this to last for at least 4-5 years. My only reason for considering a 15" previous model is that I am getting a quad core. New 15" are 200$ extra and i am on a limited budget!
Also, I am planning to use my macbook at scaled resolutions!

So which of the following according to you all is a better deal?

 

[Freyqq]

15" will be faster by almost every metric. However, you give up 802.11ac, less ram, and less battery life.

Overall, I'd go fro the 15.

 

[Tanmayg]

15" will be faster by almost every metric. However, you give up 802.11ac, less ram, and less battery life.

Overall, I'd go fro the 15.

Thank you for your suggestion. My main problem was giving up 16gb ram, but then many people say that 8 is also sufficient.

I hope 15" early 2013 model doesn't have heating or other issues!

 

[FrozenDarkness]

i think this is a pretty big difference for you mainly in size. you shouldn't overlook taht detail.

 

[Freyqq]

Thank you for your suggestion. My main problem was giving up 16gb ram, but then many people say that 8 is also sufficient.

I hope 15" early 2013 model doesn't have heating or other issues!

The huge increase in speed easily makes up for it. Also, you are caching to an SSD, so it's not so bad. Finally, 10.9 introduces memory compression, which will help a little too.

 

[Tanmayg]

i think this is a pretty big difference for you mainly in size. you shouldn't overlook taht detail.

I personally think that 13" is a bit small for all time use but i can manage with it, and i was willing to because of the price difference.
But then I saw 15 inch for nearly the same price but older model and less ram. Now as it is my first mac i dont know if buying a previous model has some downsides(like lack of support, etc) or should I be really compromising on ram?
Also which of these devices will perform better in scaled resolutions, etc.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

honestly, just slow down a bit. if you think the 13" is too small for you, give up sotp looking at that one, see if you can find a 15" one with 16gb of ram

 

[Tanmayg]

The huge increase in speed easily makes up for it. Also, you are caching to an SSD, so it's not so bad. Finally, 10.9 introduces memory compression, which will help a little too.

So if I run windows 8 on parallels and simultaneously use OSX (photoshop,1080p videos, web browsing, etc) will 8 GB ram be able to manage all?

 

[applegeek25]

So if I run windows 8 on parallels and simultaneously use OSX (photoshop,1080p videos, web browsing, etc) will 8 GB ram be able to manage all?

I'd pass on both. Parallels will chew through 8GB of RAM like nobody's business (especially if you're simultaneously running CPU-intensive apps on the OSX side). You'll want the upgraded 16GB RAM option + dedicated graphics. Based on the two machines you've listed, it's going to be a trade-off no matter what. The 15" model will give you the dGPU, but you'll suffer on RAM.

Even if you won't be running Parallels and OSX apps at the same time, I still think you'd be cutting it close on available memory.

 

[Freyqq]

So if I run windows 8 on parallels and simultaneously use OSX (photoshop,1080p videos, web browsing, etc) will 8 GB ram be able to manage all?

If you gave win 8 about 1.5 gb of ram to work with, that leaves 6.5 for OSX. Photoshop will probably need to cache on big files, but it greatly depends on what you are doing. Still, caching to an SSD isn't so bad.

8 gb is overkill for 1080p video and web browsing.

Keep in mind that you really technically have 9 GB of ram, as the 650M has 1gb of GDDR5.

 

[Tanmayg]

I guess i will do lesser multitasking to make up for the 8gb ram.

What about their performances on scaled resolution? I will be using at scaled resolutions and dont want the UI to lag.
Also i read somewhere that 15 inch keeps switching between dgpu and hd4000. In that case the iris of 13 inch should be better for UI?

 

[applegeek25]

If you gave win 8 about 1.5 gb of ram to work with, that leaves 6.5 for OSX. Photoshop will probably need to cache on big files, but it greatly depends on what you are doing. Still, caching to an SSD isn't so bad.

8 gb is overkill for 1080p video and web browsing.

Keep in mind that you really technically have 9 GB of ram, as the 650M has 1gb of GDDR5.

You have to keep in mind that Windows 8 will require at least 1GB of RAM for the 32-bit version and at least 2GB for the 64-bit version. Additionally, some applications will require at least 2GB minimum (i.e. Visual Studio 2013 needs at least 1.5).

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I guess i will do lesser multitasking to make up for the 8gb ram.

What about their performances on scaled resolution? I will be using at scaled resolutions and dont want the UI to lag.
Also i read somewhere that 15 inch keeps switching between dgpu and hd4000. In that case the iris of 13 inch should be better for UI?

Scaled resolutions on the retina MBPs are actually software simulated. You may notice a slight UI lag and performance hit if you're not running the default "Best For Retina."

"Automatic graphics switching" allows the OS to switch between dGPU and iGPU automatically when needed. It attempts to balance battery life + performance. You have the option of de-selecting the feature in System Preferences, but this will cause the dGPU to run 100% of the time.

 

[klogg]

Do you really need portable machine? If not, consider and look, for used mac pro. That will give you all the power you need for the same amount of money!

 

[Tanmayg]

You have the option of de-selecting the feature in System Preferences, but this will cause the dGPU to run 100% of the time.

Can this result in heating issues. Btw is there an heating issue at all because of the dgpu.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will be ordering the 15 inch before it gets sold out.

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Do you really need portable machine? If not, consider and look, for used mac pro. That will give you all the power you need for the same amount of money!

Yes, I am sure I need a laptop. I am a graduate student and sometimes have to work/study at different places.

 

[applegeek25]

Do you really need portable machine? If not, consider and look, for used mac pro. That will give you all the power you need for the same amount of money!

The current Mac Pro line has only received minor spec updates for the past several years. I believe there was one slight update last year and nothing for at least 2 years prior.

 

[applegeek25]

Can this result in heating issues. Btw is there an heating issue at all because of the dgpu.

Generally speaking, the laptop will shut down way before it gets to the point of overheating. Apple will not allow it to continue operating above a certain temperature. It'll force a shut down and won't allow you to boot up until the temp has fallen.

If you're running the dGPU constantly, then yes you will notice the laptop getting warm. I always make sure that if I'm working within an app that I know will activate the dedicated graphics card for a long period of time, I'll plug in the charging cable and rest the laptop on a table (for optimal air circulation).

 

[Tanmayg]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I finally got the 15" 2.4GHz i7, 8GB, 256GB GT 650M (1GB) version with free parallels and LoJack from bhphotovideo for $1805.