Can anyone explain to me why do we need 10th generation i9?
I understand that it is always cool to have the fastest CPU, but what for? Would not it be better to use 10th gen i7 over i9?
Personally, I would prefer a lower temperature (I put the laptop on my lap a lot) and longer battery life over CPU performance. (The only thing that stops me from buying MB Air is the size of the screen, I need 15 inches).
If you have an option between these two, what model will you choose?
- MBP 16'' with 10th gen i7 (10nm)
- MBP 16'' with 9th gen i9 (14nm)
To build on this discussion a bit, first, the 10nm that we have now, and will have for a while are only low power chips meant for ultrabooks. There will be no H series 10th gen 10nm. H series is unlikely to even get 10nm for the 11th gen, but rather 12 gen in late 2021 or 2022... yeah... The 13 inch MacBook Pro might get a 10nm chip soon, but the 15/16 isn't for at least a year and half, maybe two and half.
Also, which CPU you put in your computer has way less impact on your battery life than what you ask that CPU to do (or the laptop to do, like how bright you want your screen). If you are running blender all day long, yes the i9 will chug through more power more quickly, but it will also get the job done faster (assuming that the i9 isn't throttling, as it appears its not doing in unexpected ways in the 2019 MBP), which leads to the "hurry up and wait" concept. Power draw for the i7 and the i9 in the "wait" state is likely very similar.
So if you're doing X, Y, Z tasks on your computer and they can benefit from the i9's extra cores and GHz, then just get the i9. If you do those same tasks on both the i7 and the i9, the i9 will just save you time and your batter life will be largely unaffected by that choice. If your tasks can't benefit from the i9, then forget about it, get the i7, or even an i5 if given the option, and put that money into something else (RAM/SSD/peripherals).
I agree fully, it is very annoying the way people try to force laptops to be desktops, and then complain when physics can't be altered just because they spent a few thousand dollars.
I have a an iMac that handles major CPU heavy tasks when needed. My laptop just needs a fast enough CPU to get through normal app work. RAM is far more important, and storage after that. CPU comes in 3rd, and it should for anyone using a laptop the right way (aka not forcing it to be a desktop).
I understand when a laptop is someones primary machine or only machine, but that doesn't justify having unrealistic expectations and doesn't change the intended usage of the laptop. That laptop is not meant to entirely replace a machine that has far more power to draw on and far more ability to cool.
If you're truly a professional who is need on processing power, have a desktop and a laptop, and balance your usage habits in a healthy way.
People are looking for the most they can possibly get on a mobile platform and have that platform preform as advertised and in a stable way. The 2018 i9 had problems with that. Frequencies wildly fluctuated at first and performance was not better than the i7. Then Apple did some software fixes and the freqs stabilized, but the problem of the i9 actually giving improved performance over the i7 didn't really happen. Through hook or crook the 2019 model fixed a lot of that (heard rumors Apple is under-volting?).
Anyway, yes, if you're cranking on all 8 cores all day long on a laptop, you're probably doing life wrong. But some people do have work that could benefit from cranking through some tasks as fast as possible for a relatively short time and need to do it on a mobile platform. I try to get work done on the run a lot, and I use remote servers/cloud/clusters (what have you), but that relies on a stable internet connection. Sometimes its nice, or necessary, to have things locally and crank through things a bit, then move back to the remotes. I'm not asking, or hoping, for desktop performance, but I do want as much power under the hood as possible for when the need arises. The extra $200-$400 is ultimately chump change if its saving me time over the life of the machine. If I spent that $200-$400 bucks for nothing though, yeah, I'm gonna be a bit pissed. That was the situation with the 2018 machine, not that people had unrealistic expectations.
