(13" rMBP 2015) Should I get i5 2.7GHz or 2.9GHz?

[nattynnat]

Now that the new Macbook pros 2016 have come, there is only one 13" Macbook pro 2015 on display. (Then you can customise it after)

I remembered there used to be :
1. 13" 128gb SSD with 2.7GHz
2. 13" 256gb SSD with 2.7GHz
*3. 13" 512gb SSD with 2.9GHz (no option for 2.7GHz)

I decide to go with 512gb SSD, but now I can choose between 2.7GHz or 2.9GHz.

So, my question is should I go with 2.9GHz (the same as apple sold it before) or save a few bucks and go with 2.7GHz?

Ps. I plan to use this Macbook Pro for browsing, basic video editing +recording some music (Logic Pro x)

 

[SRLMJ23]

I have the 13" 2.7GHz, and it Turbo Boosts to 3.1GHz and it handles everything I throw at it, and the same things you throw at it. Also, the Intel Iris 6100 graphics is actually pretty damn good. I would say save the money and go with the 2.7GHz, of course I am bias because I own it. How much is Apple taking off to go with the 2.7GHz? That is the main question I guess.

 

[nattynnat]

I have the 13" 2.7GHz, and it Turbo Boosts to 3.1GHz and it handles everything I throw at it, and the same things you throw at it. Also, the Intel Iris 6100 graphics is actually pretty damn good. I would say save the money and go with the 2.7GHz, of course I am bias because I own it. How much is Apple taking off to go with the 2.7GHz? That is the main question I guess.

With upgraded SSD to 512GB, it costs $1,699 for 2.7GHz (and $1,799 for 2.9GHz)

The only reason I'm considering the 2.9GHz is because Apple used to force buyers to go with 2.9GHz if they want 512GB SSD. (That was before the New 2016 Macbook pros came)

Now that we can config everything from the start, I think it's an opportunity for me to go with 512GB SSD and be able to save $100, right?
I don't need to go with what Apple used to suggest, right? Hahaha.

 

[SRLMJ23]

I would say save that $100.00 and buy some accessories for your new MacBook Pro (or any other iDevices you have, or anything you want) or just save it period. It is powerful enough for anything we do and can definitely handle more. Remember, Apple has a 14 day return period and actually I think it is longer right now due to the holiday season, so you can try it out and if you do not think it is powerful enough you can go with the 2.9GHz. Let me know what you pick, and good luck/enjoy!

 

[PaulWog]

I would save the money and go with the 2.7GHz.

Generally, the limiting factor will be the amount of RAM you have, the speed of your SSD, or the speed of your graphics solution. Getting a 10% faster processor usually doesn't equate to a 10% improved user experience.

 

[SRLMJ23]

I would save the money and go with the 2.7GHz.

Generally, the limiting factor will be the amount of RAM you have, the speed of your SSD, or the speed of your graphics solution. Getting a 10% faster processor usually doesn't equate to a 10% improved user experience.

Agree completely. If Apple will allow you, I would take that $100.00 and put it toward maxing out your RAM at 16gb! RAM generally is what causes people to upgrade earlier than they want when software & macOS starts taking up more of it, you have less for what you want to do. Does Apple offer the 16GB RAM option with the 2.7GHz i5?

 

[BBD90]

If you have money upgrade RAM and storage and if you still have money left over buy something else because processor bumps are not worth the price being charged.

 

[nattynnat]

Agree completely. If Apple will allow you, I would take that $100.00 and put it toward maxing out your RAM at 16gb! RAM generally is what causes people to upgrade earlier than they want when software & macOS starts taking up more of it, you have less for what you want to do. Does Apple offer the 16GB RAM option with the 2.7GHz i5?

If you have money upgrade RAM and storage and if you still have money left over buy something else because processor bumps are not worth the price being charged.

Thanks guys! I'm just gonna go with 2.7GHz!
What about SSD 512GB + 8GB RAM vs. SSD 256GB + 16GB RAM?
The prices are the same, should I go with higher RAM or higher SSD ???

 

[SRLMJ23]

RAM for sure. You can never upgrade the RAM on the MacBook Pro, however, you can upgrade your SSD in the future if you need more storage. Also, you can use external drives and what not for storage stuff to save some space. RAM, RAM, RAM!

 

[PaulWog]

Thanks guys! I'm just gonna go with 2.7GHz!
What about SSD 512GB + 8GB RAM vs. SSD 256GB + 16GB RAM?
The prices are the same, should I go with higher RAM or higher SSD ???

If you're asking that question, you probably don't need either.

SSD: You can always get an external storage drive to store pictures and movies off of the laptop. If you're editing video, external storage is pretty much the way to go once you finish editing something.

RAM: You'll probably only need 16GB of RAM when you're already looking at a new laptop. However, 16GB is useful to have.

My vote is RAM.

 

[nattynnat]

RAM for sure. You can never upgrade the RAM on the MacBook Pro, however, you can upgrade your SSD in the future if you need more storage. Also, you can use external drives and what not for storage stuff to save some space. RAM, RAM, RAM!

If I understand correctly, your 13" Macbook pro has 8GB of RAM, and you do recording, right? (SSD 128 or 256?)
How well does it handle Logic Pro?
And do you do any video editing?
[doublepost=1480054275][/doublepost]

If you're asking that question, you probably don't need either.

SSD: You can always get an external storage drive to store pictures and movies off of the laptop. If you're editing video, external storage is pretty much the way to go once you finish editing something.

RAM: You'll probably only need 16GB of RAM when you're already looking at a new laptop. However, 16GB is useful to have.

My vote is RAM.

Will 16GB of Ram do better for simple video editing (for Youtube), recording music & running Windows on bootcamp?
That's all I plan to do, will 256GB SSD be enough? Is 16GB of RAM too much for my daily work?

 

[BBD90]

If I understand correctly, your 13" Macbook pro has 8GB of RAM, and you do recording, right? (SSD 128 or 256?)
How well does it handle Logic Pro?
And do you do any video editing?
[doublepost=1480054275][/doublepost]
Will 16GB of Ram do better for simple video editing (for Youtube), recording music & running Windows on bootcamp?
That's all I plan to do, will 256GB SSD be enough? Is 16GB of RAM too much for my daily work?

You can circumvent limited storage capacity by using external hard drives or cloud storage but if you run out of RAM you can't really do anything about that...

 

[PaulWog]

Will 16GB of Ram do better for simple video editing (for Youtube), recording music & running Windows on bootcamp?
That's all I plan to do, will 256GB SSD be enough? Is 16GB of RAM too much for my daily work?

I'm not sure how much RAM you will need. My Windows desktop was running on 8GB of RAM until recently. I upgraded to 12GB of RAM, which fit my needs better. However, if I ran just my web browser and photoshop, I wouldn't have need to upgrade. Running a game + web browsing + photoshop and whatnot made me upgrade.

As far as the SSD goes, if you're doing bootcamp, you might want 512GB. Bootcamp means you need to basically have 2 computers worth of storage. One for OS X, and one for Windows. It's really hard to say how much storage you'll use. I'm using a 13" 2015 MBP right now (8GB RAM, 128GB storage), and I'm doing just fine. However, all I do on the Macbook is use the internet, word process, etc... simple stuff.

 

[SRLMJ23]

If I understand correctly, your 13" Macbook pro has 8GB of RAM, and you do recording, right? (SSD 128 or 256?)
How well does it handle Logic Pro?
And do you do any video editing?
[doublepost=1480054275][/doublepost]
Will 16GB of Ram do better for simple video editing (for Youtube), recording music & running Windows on bootcamp?
That's all I plan to do, will 256GB SSD be enough? Is 16GB of RAM too much for my daily work?

You understand correctly, haha. Yes, I have 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD. I will address storage first. Right now I have 61.68GB of the 128GB available and most of the used storage is from my MASSIVE iTunes library. Everything I edit goes onto a "Western Digital My Passport for Mac" so I save a lot of space using that plus thumb drives for other things and now iCloud Drive which I really like for storage in the cloud.

Performance: My MacBook Pro handles Final Cut Pro X absolutely fine, no hangups or anything. I cannot speak to Logic Pro because I do not use it, but since Final Cut Pro X definitely requires more system performance than Logic Pro, I imagine it would handle it perfectly.

Also, I just want to let you know I pay $2.99 a month for 200GB of iCloud Storage. So that handles my iCloud Backups for all my iDevices (which does not take up much space at all) and the rest is for iCloud Drive storage. Take advantage of it.

http://www.apple.com/icloud/icloud-drive/

I say go for 16GB RAM (just because you cannot upgrade it at all) and it will help with your video editing and what not. I also say save money and go for the 128GB SSD IF you are going to take advantage of external and cloud storage. If you are not going to take advantage of external/cloud storage go with the 256GB SSD.

Honestly, 8GB of RAM would be enough for you, but like I said since you cannot upgrade it, go with the 16GB of RAM and your MacBook Pro will last even longer.

The i5 2.7GHz is a really nice chip, and when that Turbo Boost kicks in you can definitely tell.

I hope I have helped you make your decision. Let me know what you do! Good Luck!



Edit: I also do store some of the videos I edit in iCloud Drive because then they are available on my iPhone 7 Plus, iPad Pro 9.7", Retina iPad Mini 2, and my MacBook Air. Also iCloud Drive is supported on Windows, so it is a win-win.