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13'' MBP 2015 or 2017?

S

steppedaughter

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 24, 2018
1
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Hey everyone,

I am about to purchase my first MBP, so i went through bajillion articles, reviews and videos about MBPs, however still cannot decide, thus came here in desperate need of advice from someone who had used them before.

Considering the sum i can afford to spend on it, I've stopped on two options:

1) 13'' MBP mid-2017 without Touch Bar
2.3GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5
8GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
128GB SSD storage
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640

2) 13'' MBP early-2015 with Retina display
2.7GHz Intel Core i5 (Broadwell)
16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
256GB PCIe-Based Flash Storage
Integrated Intel Iris Graphics 6100

So, as a person who mainly uses a laptop for editing photos and videos, i would prefer the second one with the SD cardreader, USB-3 ports, bigger storage and RAM. However, the idea of buying a laptop which was manufactured 3 years ago kinda makes me concerned, since a lot of sources are saying that soon the new MBP will be released and USB-C ports will become common in the nearest future (but having only two of them and a bunch of dongles is a huge drawback)...

Idk... any ideas? sos!
 
  • for photography I would recommend larger storage - I've used both 256 and 512GB laptops and the 256 makes me keep checking the capacity as it keep cree
  • ping close to 80% full. A rule of thumb for SSD is to keep about 10-20% free for optimal performance.
  • for video I would recommend a laptop that can sustain CPU performance. see other threads including my mega-review of the 13-ntb 2017 which shows that laptop is extremely poor at sustaining any kind of performance. In my own experience even youtube fullscreen hits the laptops limits. My 2015 13" and 15" don't have that problem. The cooling is better. To put it another way - there's not point in a modern super fast CPU if it can only go fast for 1 second before it has to be limited.
  • most important spec is memory for overall performance and future proofing. most applications today would consider 8GB to be small, minimum 16GB if you want to use your laptop with modern apps into the next few years.
  • I had the 2015 13" with Iris 6100 - it was good. It drove a 4k external display really well. The only thing it wasn't so good at was super-smooth performance but it was ok. I upgraded to the 2017 and regretted it - yes it was smoother at 4K but it hit 100C and the fans at full 7200 RPM too often. I have now reverted back to a 2015 15".
  • The 2015 15" CPU was 2 years old when it was released - and today in 2018 it still performs admirably.
  • I love that I no longer have to mess about with dongles - many of dubious quality - and one that kept overheating. USB3 and SD card slots are useful as is HDMI for conferences and presentations.
  • Most of all - have you tried the keyboard? Some love the new keyboards, some hate them. I hate the ergonomics - very low travel and high noise. Worse than that they seem extremely unreliable with dust potentially damaging the keys terminally - requiring a £700 full keyboard replacement. What happens when your warranty ends?

Have you considered a Dell XPS 13? For less money you get modern parts in a well reviewed package. I was very tempted except I want to use MacOS right now not windows.
 
steppedaughter said:
Hey everyone,

I am about to purchase my first MBP, so i went through bajillion articles, reviews and videos about MBPs, however still cannot decide, thus came here in desperate need of advice from someone who had used them before.

Considering the sum i can afford to spend on it, I've stopped on two options:

1) 13'' MBP mid-2017 without Touch Bar
2.3GHz dual-core 7th-generation Intel Core i5
8GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
128GB SSD storage
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640

2) 13'' MBP early-2015 with Retina display
2.7GHz Intel Core i5 (Broadwell)
16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
256GB PCIe-Based Flash Storage
Integrated Intel Iris Graphics 6100

So, as a person who mainly uses a laptop for editing photos and videos, i would prefer the second one with the SD cardreader, USB-3 ports, bigger storage and RAM. However, the idea of buying a laptop which was manufactured 3 years ago kinda makes me concerned, since a lot of sources are saying that soon the new MBP will be released and USB-C ports will become common in the nearest future (but having only two of them and a bunch of dongles is a huge drawback)...

Idk... any ideas? sos!
Click to expand...

Be careful with 2015 pro. I have one and just before the warranty end the typical lcd delaminating started so now in apple service.. i dont know whats about the newest model but most of the 2015 pro have /will have this problem i guess..
 
I agree with Surface above.

If you want "the latest and so-called greatest", get a 2017.

If you want LONGEVITY, and a computer that won't quit on you, get the 2015. They're built like tanks compared to the newer ones...
 
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SurfaceBookUser said:
2015. The 2016/2017 keyboard is guaranteed to prematurely fail after enough use.
Click to expand...

Blanket statement like "guaranteed to fail" is not really fair, even if it is your opinion. I believe without a shadow of a doubt that many 16/17MPBs will live a long and full use without requiring keyboard replacement

To the OP...I would actually suggest the 2015, even though I am a strong proponent of the 16/17 models. I say the 15 for you because of your intended uses, and the fact that the nTB model of the 17 doesnt hold up very well at high load as its using an older cooling system than the CPU wants...further, I think that 128GB is crippling in this day in age...The 15 is still a very usable and serviceable computer...

If you're set on the new design, (which it kinda sounds like you are already)...I would strongly suggest checking out the Apple refurb store...you may be able to find a 16 base TB model for around the same price as a new nTB...
 
I have a 13" 2017 MBP TB model and I love it. To be honest I also have a 15" 2015 MBP with dGPU that I use for most of my video and photo work. I bought the 13" MBP to use as my at home, on the couch, laying in bed computer and it's been great. Even if I have the 15" at home I almost always reach for the 13" MBP (I'm typing on it now!). When editing photos, the 13" is almost as fast as the 15" with maybe just a slight lag when editing large groups of photos. For video work the 15" is obviously much faster at encoding, however when scrolling in FCPX the 13" works fine. I also agree that you should check out the Apple refurb store for the best price.
 
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If you wait for the update to the 2018 model, it'll have the 8th generation intel chip that is quad core instead of dual. If you do any CPU-intensive work, it'll double your performance.
 
cookies! said:
If you wait for the update to the 2018 model, it'll have the 8th generation intel chip that is quad core instead of dual. If you do any CPU-intensive work, it'll double your performance.
Click to expand...

You keep posting this but it's simply not true. The 8th gen quad core processors do not use Iris graphics. Intel is suppose to be releasing a dual core 8th gen with Iris. That is more than likely what Apple will use.

Will it be 8th gen? Yup! Will it be quad core? Nope, unless Apple decides to dump Iris graphics, which is highly unlikely..
 
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raqball said:
You keep posting this but it's simply not true. The 8th gen quad core processors do not use Iris graphics. Intel is suppose to be releasing a dual core 8th gen with Iris. That is more than likely what Apple will use.

Will it be 8th gen? Yup! Will it be quad core? Nope, unless Apple decides to dump Iris graphics, which is highly unlikely..
Click to expand...

More likely to use the upcoming intel AMD hybrid cards with a dual core and AMD graphics cores if you ask me still dual core though. I would have liked to have seen the AMD added to the quad core but I doubt it fitted on the die size for the chip, similar for iris graphics with edram cache etc making it a non starter with the quad core part.
 
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I have an upgraded nTB: i5, 16gb, 256gb - and I feel like its a bit underpowered. If I have a bunch of tabs/powerpoints open - it'll start getting some serious dropped frames. Also, if I output to an external 1080p monitor as well, that seems to cause some lag as well. Ideally, youd want to go for a 2015 15" or a 2013 13" wTB.
 
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