Which one...?

[cdecker15]

Hi guys!
I am sure a million people are asking for advice here, and well I can't really decide which I should get. I'll explain...

I am planning on definitely getting this year's new Macbook Pro with the touch bar. Being a college student (having to take it to/from school/work), I think the 13in is more my style. Now, where I can't decide...

Base Model ($1700) ** College/EDU Pricing

This laptop will basically be used for school, and I am a Computer Science Major, so testing of applications, etc will be done from it. Powerpoints, word, etc... Note Taking. I definitely only need the 256GB SDD. Is it worth dishing out either an additional $180 for the 16GB of RAM or either $90 or $270 for the CPU? Why or why not?

Thanks in advance!

 

[monkeydax]

Hi guys!
I am sure a million people are asking for advice here, and well I can't really decide which I should get. I'll explain...

I am planning on definitely getting this year's new Macbook Pro with the touch bar. Being a college student (having to take it to/from school/work), I think the 13in is more my style. Now, where I can't decide...

Base Model ($1700) ** College/EDU Pricing

This laptop will basically be used for school, and I am a Computer Science Major, so testing of applications, etc will be done from it. Powerpoints, word, etc... Note Taking. I definitely only need the 256GB SDD. Is it worth dishing out either an additional $180 for the 16GB of RAM or either $90 or $270 for the CPU? Why or why not?

Thanks in advance!

CPU is going to be indistinguishable unless you're working on intensive rendering, and even so it's a 10-15% increase in performance. 8GB of RAM is still very sufficient in our day, but 16GB would help you future proof your Mac beyond 3-4 years. I'm on an 8GB 15" rMBP from Late 2013, and don't see any lack of RAM so far, 3 years in (despite "heavy" utilisation with lots of powerpoint and easily 20+ tabs at a time sometimes. Of course an i5 dual-core CPU that you can find in a 13" isn't going to be as powerful as what you can get on any 15", but that should still be comfortable for the next 3-4 years, easy.
[doublepost=1479196749][/doublepost]If you ask me, if you had the money for just 1 upgrade (and you will definitely spend this money), go for the 16GB RAM upgrade. If not, save that money, get yourself some nice accessories (maybe a mouse, some cases, you're gonna need dongles for HDMI and your USB devices.

 

[Steve121178]

The non-Touch Bar base mode with 16GB should do the trick. Or if you want to spend more, the base 13" Touch Bar with 16GB upgrade.