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lobo1978

macrumors 6502
Sep 22, 2011
394
259
I have the no TB version, and I will probably pick up the TB version just to compare and see if I find it worth the extra cost. I don't push the machine, so it would truly come down to the TB vs battery life for me.

76% battery life and mine says 11 hours 53 mins as the projected battery left :O

That is just web browsing and using a Remote Desktop.


Can you read power consumption while idle? You can use free coconutbattery for it.
 

c0mm0n

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2008
80
24
If you put money aside, would you still buy this one ? Why ?

Still can't decide between the 2.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,735
6,100
If you put money aside, would you still buy this one ? Why ?

Still can't decide between the 2.

If money is not issue, you should get the 15" :p

Seriously though, if money is no problem it comes down to the difference in battery life. That is what my decision will come down to. $300 is not that much if battery is equal. On paper the TB MacBook will be pretty damn powerful, and you get the touchbar, which at the very least will help help b.c touchID.
 

c0mm0n

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2008
80
24
15" is too big and I'm done with dgpus.

I use a 2012 rmbp 15 and mb12 2015, the 13" will replace both.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,735
6,100
15" is too big and I'm done with dgpus.

I use a 2012 rmbp 15 and mb12 2015, the 13" will replace both.

With real life usage I think the no TB will get 10.5 hours and the TB will probably be closer to 9. Is that a big deal to you? If not, get the TB.
 

Tycho24

Suspended
Aug 29, 2014
2,071
1,396
Florida
Does a 16 GB RAM upgrade make sense in this model with the base CPU?

Absolutely!!!!
TBH, processor speed is quite certainly (& by far) the very least important spec w/ regards to system performance on almost all tasks... look at any upgrade guide. They will 100% of the time recommend a RAM upgrade 1st, as the best way to eek better performance out of your system.
There is a reason that processors peaked out around 4ghz, about ten years ago & nobody has complained. And that in gaming, the processor is always the lowest denominator in the recommended specs.
The next most important component for high performance is a fast hard drive.
Consider this: you could have the fastest processor known to man, coupled with an ungodly amount of RAM, but a 5,400 rpm hard drive. THAT would be your bottleneck! It is basically impossible for hard drive to not be your bottleneck if you think about it... in a nutshell- the processor sends the info it is working with to RAM, & runs it from there because both the processor and the RAM are ridiculously fast, compared to spinning disks.
So, the fact that we are now at a point where all of our options in this department are SSD, & that Apple prioritizes use of the very fastest of these is fantastic!
I'm ordering up a 13" mbp for my son, to last him through his college career (& beyond!)
I'm bumping it to 512gb, & to 16gb RAM. That is a six year computer.
You are making a VERY intelligent decision, if you sport for the 16gb upgrade.
 

bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Aug 16, 2007
2,454
438
Canada
The new non-touchbar 13" version is $1899 as-is in Canada. Upgrade to 16GB ram and 512GB SSD and it's $2379. Both prices do not include tax which is 13% in Ontario.

They also still offer a "classic" version with all the sensible I/O which is $1549 as-is and $2269 with 16GB and 512GB SSD.

I have a 2014 13" now with 8GB and 512GB SSD. Would it make sense to upgrade? Even grab a refurb 2015?
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,735
6,100
Absolutely!!!!
TBH, processor speed is quite certainly (& by far) the very least important spec w/ regards to system performance on almost all tasks... look at any upgrade guide. They will 100% of the time recommend a RAM upgrade 1st, as the best way to eek better performance out of your system.
There is a reason that processors peaked out around 4ghz, about ten years ago & nobody has complained. And that in gaming, the processor is always the lowest denominator in the recommended specs.
The next most important component for high performance is a fast hard drive.
Consider this: you could have the fastest processor known to man, coupled with an ungodly amount of RAM, but a 5,400 rpm hard drive. THAT would be your bottleneck! It is basically impossible for hard drive to not be your bottleneck if you think about it... in a nutshell- the processor sends the info it is working with to RAM, & runs it from there because both the processor and the RAM are ridiculously fast, compared to spinning disks.
So, the fact that we are now at a point where all of our options in this department are SSD, & that Apple prioritizes use of the very fastest of these is fantastic!
I'm ordering up a 13" mbp for my son, to last him through his college career (& beyond!)
I'm bumping it to 512gb, & to 16gb RAM. That is a six year computer.
You are making a VERY intelligent decision, if you sport for the 16gb upgrade.

I will kind of argue the opposite. OS's are so optimized now that they can run perfectly fine on 2-4 GB machines. Unless you are doing hardcore task you will never push the limits of 8GB.
 

c0mm0n

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2008
80
24
With real life usage I think the no TB will get 10.5 hours and the TB will probably be closer to 9. Is that a big deal to you? If not, get the TB.

No but l'm not sold by the touch bar tbh.

Will place an order on the TB and wait for reviews.

Thanks

The new non-touchbar 13" version is $1899 as-is in Canada. Upgrade to 16GB ram and 512GB SSD and it's $2379. Both prices do not include tax which is 13% in Ontario.

They also still offer a "classic" version with all the sensible I/O which is $1549 as-is and $2269 with 16GB and 512GB SSD.

I have a 2014 13" now with 8GB and 512GB SSD. Would it make sense to upgrade? Even grab a refurb 2015?

Wait 6 months and upgrade to new models through refurb imho.
 

Hyloba

macrumors 6502
Sep 30, 2014
395
234
Hmm I am doubting between a touch bar and non touch bar, but I would like 16gb of ram and 512 gb of storage.

Price difference is 2050 vs 2290 euro. It seems with 240 euro extra you get better processor, more ports, better mic, faster ram (unsure?), touch bar, better gpu, touch id. Seems to be worth the 240 euro if a bump of 8gb is already 240 euro.

My question is though, at what point will you notice a difference in cpu and gpu? I don't really care about the touch bar or 1 hour of battery difference.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,735
6,100
Hmm I am doubting between a touch bar and non touch bar, but I would like 16gb of ram and 512 gb of storage.

Price difference is 2050 vs 2290 euro. It seems with 240 euro extra you get better processor, more ports, better mic, faster ram (unsure?), touch bar, better gpu, touch id. Seems to be worth the 240 euro if a bump of 8gb is already 240 euro.

My question is though, at what point will you notice a difference in cpu and gpu? I don't really care about the touch bar or 1 hour of battery difference.

If you plan on keeping the machine for any length of time, get the most you can afford. Ignoring the TB, you are getting a better CPU and GPU with that version. Those two things alone could be worth $300. If you think of it like that the TB just because an added bonus you may or may not use. I am sure it will be useful in some cases, mostly the apple stock apps: iMessage, calendar, Safari, etc.
 

motime

macrumors 6502
Jun 9, 2015
302
176
The new non-touchbar 13" version is $1899 as-is in Canada. Upgrade to 16GB ram and 512GB SSD and it's $2379. Both prices do not include tax which is 13% in Ontario.

They also still offer a "classic" version with all the sensible I/O which is $1549 as-is and $2269 with 16GB and 512GB SSD.

I have a 2014 13" now with 8GB and 512GB SSD. Would it make sense to upgrade? Even grab a refurb 2015?

You already have a solid machine, why on earth would you want to upgrade?
 

Hyloba

macrumors 6502
Sep 30, 2014
395
234
If you plan on keeping the machine for any length of time, get the most you can afford. Ignoring the TB, you are getting a better CPU and GPU with that version. Those two things alone could be worth $300. If you think of it like that the TB just because an added bonus you may or may not use. I am sure it will be useful in some cases, mostly the apple stock apps: iMessage, calendar, Safari, etc.

Thanks for the advice! I could indeed ignore the touch bar, but if Apple were to abandon the tech some years down the road, resale value would drop I presume. Anyway it's impossible to know what the future of the bar will be.

When I first saw the keynote about 3d touch I thought it was a gimmick, but it truly changed the way I interact with my phone for the better. On the other hand I plan on using the laptop mostly in desktop mode so I won't see much of the touch bar, making it indeed less useful to me. Can't hurt to have it I guess.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,735
6,100
You already have a solid machine, why on earth would you want to upgrade?

like most of us haha. New design, new keyboard, pound lighter.
[doublepost=1477865556][/doublepost]
Thanks for the advice! I could indeed ignore the touch bar, but if Apple were to abandon the tech some years down the road, resale value would drop I presume. Anyway it's impossible to know what the future of the bar will be.

When I first saw the keynote about 3d touch I thought it was a gimmick, but it truly changed the way I interact with my phone for the better. On the other hand I plan on using the laptop mostly in desktop mode so I won't see much of the touch bar, making it indeed less useful to me. Can't hurt to have it I guess.

I just cannot see them abandoning it. If anything, it will make its way down to the lower tier models.
 

bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Aug 16, 2007
2,454
438
Canada
You already have a solid machine, why on earth would you want to upgrade?

I guess I'm just thinking that having one of the last "classic" models would give me that much more longevity. Maybe in 4-5 years USB-C will be everywhere and standard but we're not close to that yet. I've never ever seen any USB-C products in the wild.
 

snakes-

macrumors 6502
Jul 27, 2011
357
140
is the overall performance good? have someone edited short movie or something else? this is the last question is it worth the cpu upgrade or not?
 

Hyloba

macrumors 6502
Sep 30, 2014
395
234
Well no. Upgrade the CPU for $150 more, or buy the TB version (with a slightly better CPU) for $300 more.

But a cpu upgrade for the non touch bar MBP costs 340 euro, which makes it more expensive than the base touch bar MBP.
 
Last edited:

budfoot

macrumors 6502
Jul 1, 2008
261
167
Boston, MA
Thanks for the advice! I could indeed ignore the touch bar, but if Apple were to abandon the tech some years down the road, resale value would drop I presume. Anyway it's impossible to know what the future of the bar will be.

When I first saw the keynote about 3d touch I thought it was a gimmick, but it truly changed the way I interact with my phone for the better. On the other hand I plan on using the laptop mostly in desktop mode so I won't see much of the touch bar, making it indeed less useful to me. Can't hurt to have it I guess.


Running the touch bar MBP in desktop mode completely defeats the purpose. That's why I went with the non-tb. I run desktop mode 90-95% of the time.
 

Hung_Solo

macrumors member
Apr 13, 2016
51
18
Just ordered. I have no desire for the touch bar as I use an external display 75% of the time anyway in clamshell mode.
 

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Acronyc

macrumors 6502a
Jan 24, 2011
912
396
Just ordered. I have no desire for the touch bar as I use an external display 75% of the time anyway in clamshell mode.

I'm in a similar situation which is one of the reasons I ordered the non touch bar version (16/512/i5). I'm curious about the touch bar, but not enough to get it when I would likely barely use it as I'm in desktop mode most of the time.
 
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