12" 2017 MacBook - base vs max performance

[weezin]

I love the 12" MacBook. I know the keyboard sucks. But I really love the rest (and don't actually mind the keyboard all that much).

I have a 2017 base model that I got used, but was thinking of upgrading to the max spec model (i7, 16gb ram). My question is - how much faster would this max version be than the base model?

 

[sunapple]

You could take a look at benchmarks:

m3: 870/1650
i5: 911/1695
i7: 952/1702
MacBook Air M1: 2333/8309

I did own the 12", loved it for sure, but MacBook Air M1 goes above and beyond in performance, keyboard, also more hours of battery life and bigger screen size. Comparing them side by side which I happened to do last week, the difference in size is small.

BTW the i7 model runs hot quickly and therefore is not great at keeping the peak performance for very long, but that problem already exists in the base model as well. It's a performance upgrade but I wonder what your use case would be for justifying it.

 

[weezin]

Thanks for those specs. Obviously the M1 trounces them all in terms of performance, battery, etc.

But for me and my use case, there's definitely a tradeoff size-wize. I have an M2 13" Air sitting here next to my 12" and I greatly prefer the 12" for my use case as a couch and travel computer.

The reason I asked about this is I tried to use my 12" m3 for some work tasks the other day, including Slack, several tabs open in Chrome, and Zoom and it didn't do that great. I figured the i7/16gb would fare a bit better and I'm sure it would, although how much better is questionable.

 

[sunapple]

Thanks for those specs. Obviously the M1 trounces them all in terms of performance, battery, etc.

But for me and my use case, there's definitely a tradeoff size-wize. I have an M2 13" Air sitting here next to my 12" and I greatly prefer the 12" for my use case as a couch and travel computer.

The reason I asked about this is I tried to use my 12" m3 for some work tasks the other day, including Slack, several tabs open in Chrome, and Zoom and it didn't do that great. I figured the i7/16gb would fare a bit better and I'm sure it would, although how much better is questionable.

Ah, should’ve read your signature. Though it puts these abstract numbers in a nice bit of context.

I think you would benefit most from RAM increase, assuming you’re on 8GB.

 

[weezin]

Thanks!