More SSD or faster processor?

[That 1 Guy]

I am planning on buying a MacBook Pro and found I can can either get a 512GB SSD (from 256)
or a processor boost to
i7 3.1-3.4GHz (from i5 2.7-3.1GHz) for the same price of $300 extra. A few questions:

1) Will I see a noticeable performance boost?

2) Will I need that much storage?

3) Are any of these options worth it, or should I just skip them both and go with i5 2.9-3.3GHz and 256 Gig for only $100? (Or just not upgrade at all (i5 2.7-3.1 256))

Note: This laptop will last me through high school and college. I plan to transfer some photos/videos (100 photos 10 videos every year), do some light video editing, and play some light games (Minecraft, Asphalt 8).

Thanks!

 

[jasonkaler]

You're probably better off with a bigger disk.
Most people don't need the extra processor speed where as running out of disk space is very common, and software and videos only get bigger each year.

A processor is much easier to upgrade later, just swap the chip. Changing drives is a hassle and risk the chance of losing data.

 

[That 1 Guy]

Ok thanks, jasonkaler!

 

[BadAsAl]

Processors are not upgradeable on MacBook Pro's. I think jasonkaler might be thinking of a desktop computer, which usually are easy to swap processors on.

If you look at passmark.com, you will see the base i5 2.7 scored 4330, the i5 2.9 scored 4631 and the i7 3.1 scored 4905.
So you get about a 7% jump in power for each upgrade.
$300 for a 14% jump in performance is not that good a bargain, and you won't notice the difference anyway in my opinion.

So I agree that getting the bigger SSD will serve you best if you decide to upgrade at all. I highly recommend you don't plan on upgrading anything later on, although possible, Apple makes it very difficult to do so for the average person.

 

[That 1 Guy]

The funny thing is, I just found out that I can get the 512 SSD AND 2.9-3.3 processor for the same $300! So that's a 7% boost AND double the SSD.
Thanks for the info BadAsAI!

And also Apple makes it extremely hard to upgrade their laptops. I think the ram is even soldered on in the new MBP.

 

[BadAsAl]

Yeah, you really are limited to only being able to upgrade the storage capacity on the new MBP's (though even that is not simple). I wondered about the RAM but you are right, that is not an option either.

 

[jasonkaler]

Processors are not upgradeable on MacBook Pro's. I think jasonkaler might be thinking of a desktop computer, which usually are easy to swap processors on.

If you look at passmark.com, you will see the base i5 2.7 scored 4330, the i5 2.9 scored 4631 and the i7 3.1 scored 4905.
So you get about a 7% jump in power for each upgrade.
$300 for a 14% jump in performance is not that good a bargain, and you won't notice the difference anyway in my opinion.

So I agree that getting the bigger SSD will serve you best if you decide to upgrade at all. I highly recommend you don't plan on upgrading anything later on, although possible, Apple makes it very difficult to do so for the average person.

Yea, I'm used to 'normal' PCs. I forgot that Apple does stuff like that to their supporters.

 

[BadAsAl]

Processors are not upgradeable on MacBook Pro's. I think jasonkaler might be thinking of a desktop computer, which usually are easy to swap processors on.

If you look at passmark.com, you will see the base i5 2.7 scored 4330, the i5 2.9 scored 4631 and the i7 3.1 scored 4905.
So you get about a 7% jump in power for each upgrade.
$300 for a 14% jump in performance is not that good a bargain, and you won't notice the difference anyway in my opinion.

So I agree that getting the bigger SSD will serve you best if you decide to upgrade at all. I highly recommend you don't plan on upgrading anything later on, although possible, Apple makes it very difficult to do so for the average person.

Yea, I'm used to 'normal' PCs. I forgot that Apple does stuff like that to their supporters.

yeah they pretty much don't want anyone messing around with their hardware