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Which MacBook Pro i5 or i7 for 24/7 online and hardcore photo editing

U

unriven

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 21, 2012
8
0
Gaborone, BW
Friends,

After getting iphone4 i am turning to like the simplicity of apple stuff.

i am 24/7 online, music at all times and do lot of ms office work or watch movies. My PC crashes or freezes all the time while i work on photo editing, making photobooks and stuff as a professional photographer.

So want to upgrade to 13inch i5 or i7 macpro after reading all review etc a hell lot confused wat to get... unable to deside and dont know computer language and understand technical specification of what will be good for photo editing work.

Pls sugggest.. need portability so 13inch is i think for sure.. 15 inch.. dont have money..lol.. ;) not yet..

Rgds,
 
unriven said:
So want to upgrade to 13inch i5 or i7 macpro after reading all review etc a hell lot confused wat to get... unable to deside and dont know computer language and understand technical specification of what will be good for photo editing work.

Pls sugggest.. need portability so 13inch is i think for sure.. 15 inch.. dont have money..lol.. ;) not yet..
Click to expand...
It's very unlikely that you'd notice any performance difference between the i5 and i7, given your planned use. I would recommend 8GB of RAM. As far as 13" vs 15", that's purely personal preference.
 
unriven, your question is a good one and one I'd like to know the answer to as well.

I do a lot of Aperture and Photoshop work, so I'm assuming the 15" is best due to the apps taking advantage of the quad-core processor, over the 13" dual-core, but I will let someone way smarter than me officially answer this, since the dual core has higher clock speeds.
 
I'd say the i7 13" is the way to go for the description you've given. if at all possible the low end 15" quad core might be your best bet if you can squeeze the cash out.
 
unriven said:
Wats quadra core and how is it different from i5 or i7?:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

the i5 processor in the 13" macbook pro has two CPU cores, meaning it can do two things simultaneously... Hyperthreading allows it to sort of do two things at a time on each core for a total of 4 things at once.

the i7 on the 13" is the same way (2 cores, possible 4 instructions at a time).

the i7 quad core has four CPU cores, plus hyper threading to essentially do 8 things at once.

the i5 processor has a maximum of 6MB of (L3)cache onboard. This is where the processor stores repeat instructions (say heavy recursive calculations)
the i7 processor has anywhere from 8MB to 15MB of that same cache.

I'm not sure on the exact configuration in the current lineup because I dont know which CPU's apple stuck in there.
 
ryane67 said:
the i5 processor in the 13" macbook pro has two CPU cores, meaning it can do two things simultaneously... Hyperthreading allows it to sort of do two things at a time on each core for a total of 4 things at once.

the i7 on the 13" is the same way (2 cores, possible 4 instructions at a time).

the i7 quad core has four CPU cores, plus hyper threading to essentially do 8 things at once.

the i5 processor has a maximum of 6MB of (L3)cache onboard. This is where the processor stores repeat instructions (say heavy recursive calculations)
the i7 processor has anywhere from 8MB to 15MB of that same cache.

I'm not sure on the exact configuration in the current lineup because I dont know which CPU's apple stuck in there.
Click to expand...

So what i understand i should be making a choice b/w 13" i5 DC (Dual Core) and 15" i7 QC (Quadra Core) coz.. 13 i7 and 13 i5 wont make much diff due to DC so why pay extra for 13" i7.. wat do ya say??

Thx btw..
 
In my opinion, the difference can be answered by two general statements.

i7 over i5 in the 13" gives you more horsepower on big tasks with similar amounts of "do a bunch at the same time"

i7 quad core in the 15" over either dual core in the 13" gives you both more horsepower on big tasks as well as the ability to do more things at one time.

If you are really limited to the 13" then back to my first statement, get the i7.
 
ryane67 said:
In my opinion, the difference can be answered by two general statements.

i7 over i5 in the 13" gives you more horsepower on big tasks with similar amounts of "do a bunch at the same time"

i7 quad core in the 15" over either dual core in the 13" gives you both more horsepower on big tasks as well as the ability to do more things at one time.

If you are really limited to the 13" then back to my first statement, get the i7.
Click to expand...

Not quite clear... is it if i want to do photoshop i can do it quicker ie the app with respond faster for i7 then i5?

with DC vs QC.. i can run more apps smoothly in QC simuntaniously???
 
When I made my decision for video editing I went with the i7 13". The reason being is the i7 is showing benchmark scores about 15% above the i5. To me, that is a good bump. The 15" base model however is about 50% better than the 13" i5. However, that all comes at a price of an additional $600, or 50% greater price and it's a bigger machine. Carrying around a 15" is a pain IMO. If using it solely at home, that's not bad.

So, let's look at the i5 vs i7 13" models. You gain a 15% CPU performance. You also gain double the ram which doing the upgrade yourself is probably $50. You also gain a bigger hard drive, doing that upgrade is probably $100. So now you are paying $150 for a 15%, which IMO is a good price to pay in the overall scheme.

Now, to go from the 13" i7 to the 15" i5 you are paying $300 and getting a 25% performance increase however at the loss of hard drive and RAM. Is the extra $300 worth it?

For photo and video editing, personally neither a 13" or 15" are satisfactory. So I throw out the entire display in comparison and say an external monitor is needed to do either effectively.

I hope that helps some.
 
JediSkipdogg said:
When I made my decision for video editing I went with the i7 13". The reason being is the i7 is showing benchmark scores about 15% above the i5. To me, that is a good bump. The 15" base model however is about 50% better than the 13" i5. However, that all comes at a price of an additional $600, or 50% greater price and it's a bigger machine. Carrying around a 15" is a pain IMO. If using it solely at home, that's not bad.

So, let's look at the i5 vs i7 13" models. You gain a 15% CPU performance. You also gain double the ram which doing the upgrade yourself is probably $50. You also gain a bigger hard drive, doing that upgrade is probably $100. So now you are paying $150 for a 15%, which IMO is a good price to pay in the overall scheme.

Now, to go from the 13" i7 to the 15" i5 you are paying $300 and getting a 25% performance increase however at the loss of hard drive and RAM. Is the extra $300 worth it?

For photo and video editing, personally neither a 13" or 15" are satisfactory. So I throw out the entire display in comparison and say an external monitor is needed to do either effectively.

I hope that helps some.
Click to expand...

Good comparison.. easier for my silly brains to understand...Given this comparison i would like to research more on haveing 13" i7 with added ram.. hard disk upgrade..nope.. coz till now i have been saving my stuff in external HD.. toshiba..1tb.. do u think it would be compatable???

Also i have been reading that screen resolution is not tat gr8 for photo editing.. therfore an external monitor would be better wen in office ... wat r ur suggestions for external mac monitors or other...

----------

is there any rumors of retina display being introduced for 13" MBP?? if yes.. wen shall be a tentative release date??
 
unriven said:
Good comparison.. easier for my silly brains to understand...Given this comparison i would like to research more on haveing 13" i7 with added ram.. hard disk upgrade..nope.. coz till now i have been saving my stuff in external HD.. toshiba..1tb.. do u think it would be compatable???

Also i have been reading that screen resolution is not tat gr8 for photo editing.. therfore an external monitor would be better wen in office ... wat r ur suggestions for external mac monitors or other...

----------

is there any rumors of retina display being introduced for 13" MBP?? if yes.. wen shall be a tentative release date??
Click to expand...

The 13" i7 comes with 8gb of RAM. I personally don't see a need for 16gb yet. You would have to do some serious hardcore video or photo editing to be able to even use more than 8gb. I'm sure it's possible, but I haven't seen it yet.

Hard drive is totally up to you if you prefer internal or external. Are you wanting to take your external drive and put it internal? I'm confused on your asking if it's compatible question. If it's external, it will definitely still work with the 13".

The 13" retina I believe is expected to be released in October last I heard. Again, still a rumor so it may not be till later. My biggest issue with the Retina model is they are taking the MacBook Air design in that NOTHING is upgradable. I do like the addition of built in HDMI however, the loss of Firewire is huge. Firewire is still greatly used in the video world and hasn't been totally phased out. Until it is, it's still highly needed and Thunderbolt to Firewire adapters are very pricey. I think the Retina is too far ahead of it's time.
 
JediSkipdogg said:
The 13" i7 comes with 8gb of RAM. I personally don't see a need for 16gb yet. You would have to do some serious hardcore video or photo editing to be able to even use more than 8gb. I'm sure it's possible, but I haven't seen it yet.

Hard drive is totally up to you if you prefer internal or external. Are you wanting to take your external drive and put it internal? I'm confused on your asking if it's compatible question. If it's external, it will definitely still work with the 13".

The 13" retina I believe is expected to be released in October last I heard. Again, still a rumor so it may not be till later. My biggest issue with the Retina model is they are taking the MacBook Air design in that NOTHING is upgradable. I do like the addition of built in HDMI however, the loss of Firewire is huge. Firewire is still greatly used in the video world and hasn't been totally phased out. Until it is, it's still highly needed and Thunderbolt to Firewire adapters are very pricey. I think the Retina is too far ahead of it's time.
Click to expand...

i have been using external HD-Toshiba which i would like to use for MPB too.. internal HD is not that important to me..

the retina 15" seem to come with HDMI.. wont it be convineant /fun to hookup MBP to TV and enjoy as i like to watch loads of movies..

with HDMI model r they gonna discontinue firewire adapter?? did know tat!!! thunderbolt may be future but most of the other gagdets we use need firewire.. with my canon too
 
unriven said:
i have been using external HD-Toshiba which i would like to use for MPB too.. internal HD is not that important to me..

the retina 15" seem to come with HDMI.. wont it be convineant /fun to hookup MBP to TV and enjoy as i like to watch loads of movies..

with HDMI model r they gonna discontinue firewire adapter?? did know tat!!! thunderbolt may be future but most of the other gagdets we use need firewire.. with my canon too
Click to expand...

FIrewire was removed from the 15" Retina MacBook Pro. I would assume they would also remove it from the 13" Retina Macbook Pro when it comes out.

I do like the HDMI built in, however for $45 you can buy a cable to give one HDMI out.
 
A few important questions

1. Please let us know what your budget is?

2. Also can you do RAM and Hard Drive upgrades yourself or is that something you will leave to apple when you buy it? (you will save a lot of money if you can do it yourself)

3. Will you just be running photoshop or other apps such as aperture or the CS suite (indesign, illustrator) at the same time or any other apps such as video editing ?

If you let us know these things we could advise you with the machine that would suite you best. :eek:
 
unriven said:
Friends,

After getting iphone4 i am turning to like the simplicity of apple stuff.

i am 24/7 online, music at all times and do lot of ms office work or watch movies. My PC crashes or freezes all the time while i work on photo editing, making photobooks and stuff as a professional photographer.

So want to upgrade to 13inch i5 or i7 macpro after reading all review etc a hell lot confused wat to get... unable to deside and dont know computer language and understand technical specification of what will be good for photo editing work.

Pls sugggest.. need portability so 13inch is i think for sure.. 15 inch.. dont have money..lol.. ;) not yet..

Rgds,
Click to expand...

I would get the 15' Mac Book Pro with i7 and with 8GB for what you are doing I personally think 13' is way to small for movies and photo/video editing. Cheers and good luck on your choice.
 
unriven said:
what all other softwares i need to purchase appart from ms office mac version...i also plan to buy photoshop for mac..
Click to expand...
If you search, you'll find that there are many free apps that can do most of what you'll want to do. This should get you started, and includes links to software recommendations:

Helpful Information for Any Mac User
Portables Fast Start: The New User's Guide to Apple Notebooks
unriven said:
do i need antivirus..
Click to expand...
Macs are not immune to malware, but no true viruses exist in the wild that can run on Mac OS X, and there never have been any since it was released over 10 years ago. The only malware in the wild that can affect Mac OS X is a handful of trojans, which can be easily avoided by practicing safe computing (see below). Also, Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Lion have anti-malware protection built in, further reducing the need for 3rd party antivirus apps.
  1. Make sure your built-in Mac firewall is enabled in System Preferences > Security > Firewall

  2. Uncheck "Open "safe" files after downloading" in Safari > Preferences > General

  3. Disable Java in your browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox). This will protect you from malware that exploits Java in your browser, including the recent Flashback trojan. Leave Java disabled until you visit a trusted site that requires it, then re-enable only for the duration of your visit to that site. (This is not to be confused with JavaScript, which you should leave enabled.)

  4. Change your DNS servers to OpenDNS servers by reading this.

  5. Be careful to only install software from trusted, reputable sites. Never install pirated software. If you're not sure about an app, ask in this forum before installing.

  6. Never let someone else have access to install anything on your Mac.

  7. Don't open files that you receive from unknown or untrusted sources.

  8. For added security, make sure all network, email, financial and other important passwords are long and complex, including upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.

  9. Always keep your Mac and application software updated. Use Software Update for your Mac software. For other software, it's safer to get updates from the developer's site or from the menu item "Check for updates", rather than installing from any notification window that pops up while you're surfing the web.
That's all you need to do to keep your Mac completely free of any Mac OS X malware that has ever been released into the wild. You don't need any 3rd party software to keep your Mac secure.
 
Bigger difference isn't i5 vs i7 but is SSD versus hard drive. I'd MUCH rather have a i5 with SSD over a i7 without. Night and day user experience difference.

8 GB RAM is fine, OSX terrific at managing memory. BTW, trying to edit photos on a 13 is real tough.... 15 would be my minimum, but understand your cost constraint. A person can get used to damn near anything anyway...
 
unriven said:
My PC crashes or freezes all the time while i work on photo editing, making photobooks and stuff as a professional photographer.
Click to expand...

13" is pretty weak for what you're suggesting. As for the quoted portion, what's it like on ram/disk space and how many photos/how large are you opening at once? Obviously it could be a hardware or installation issue, but if you're talking about something like photoshop/lightroom, they write a lot of data to disk if they can't hold it in ram. If you're really low on ram and working with higher resolution or 16 bit per channel modes, I could see it locking up at times. I'm just wondering about this. If you're not aware of what is slowing you down, it's possible you won't address the problem entirely. The macbook would probably be newer, and right there you're likely to see some improvement, but the other details remain.
 
brokeneck said:
Bigger difference isn't i5 vs i7 but is SSD versus hard drive. I'd MUCH rather have a i5 with SSD over a i7 without. Night and day user experience difference.

8 GB RAM is fine, OSX terrific at managing memory. BTW, trying to edit photos on a 13 is real tough.... 15 would be my minimum, but understand your cost constraint. A person can get used to damn near anything anyway...
Click to expand...

The problem though is with photo and video editing an SSD isn't up to pay without absolutely using an external drive. If you save anything on the SSD you will wear it out in no time flat doing photo/video work.
 
JediSkipdogg said:
The problem though is with photo and video editing an SSD isn't up to pay without absolutely using an external drive. If you save anything on the SSD you will wear it out in no time flat doing photo/video work.
Click to expand...

I guess using an SSD as a scratch drive for video isn't a great idea, especially with a third party drive that lacks TRIM support on a Mac. Likely less of an issue on a stock Macbook SSD. In either case I don't think that moving around tons of RAW images is going to wear out a SSD, at least based on what I've read from AnandTech.
 
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