Which macbook should i get

[Dgrayman00]

Hey guys so I'm going to get a MacBook pro off of Apple's site and I need help. There's 2 ones that Im looking at.

The first one is a 15 inch MacBook pro which has better specs than the 13 inch but the 13 inch has a 3.1ghz clock speed while the 15 inch one has a 2.8ghz. Would that make much difference? I'm planning on using it for Adobe programs, video editing(some),Microsoft office, graphic design. Thanks

 

[COLGeek]

The clock speed differences won't be that big of a deal, if they both have i5 processors. The larger display will definitely be better for editing.

 

[Dgrayman00]

The 13 inch has an i5 while the 15 inch has a i7

 

[SchizTech]

Agreed with the above, though having done a quick check at apple.com I don't see a 15" with a 2.8 GHz CPU among the default configurations. It might be more helpful for the OP to list full specs for the configurations he's looking at (or links if possible).

 

[SchizTech]

The 13 inch has an i5 while the 15 inch has a i7

What I am seeing is that the 15" models are quad core i7s while the 13" are dual core i5. The extra cores on the 15" model would definitely make the 15" a faster laptop in general.

 

[Dgrayman00]

Ok thank you. So even with the higher clock speed that 15" would still be a better option? The 15" also has a 1TB option. I'm not sure if the 13" has one but I know it has a 512gb

 

[SchizTech]

With more cores you tend to see a more responsive system and better multitasking performance. In the case of individual programs, the performance difference depends on how the program in question was written. If the program is able to use multiple cores at once effectively, it should see a benefit from having more cores available. The kind of programs you list (particularly video editing, if the software is modern and professional Adobe software) should be able to use multiple cores to increase performance. Programs not designed to run on multiple cores won't benefit from that and might run faster with a higher clocked core.

In general though, I'd take the i7.

 

[Dgrayman00]

***15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display
2.8GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz
16GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
1TB PCIe-based Flash Storage
Intel Iris Pro Graphics + AMD Radeon R9 M370X with 2GB GDDR5 memory
Force Touch trackpad
Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
Accessory Kit


*** 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display
3.1GHz Processor
1TB Storage
3.1GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz
16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory
1TB PCIe-based flash storage1
Intel Iris Graphics 6100
Force Touch trackpad

 

[SchizTech]

The 15" has several advantages: bigger screen (by default); the CPU has a higher turbo boost speed as well as more cores (turbo boost temporarily runs the CPU at the higher frequency on demand, the highest Turbo freq is for a single core so even apps not optimized for multi core should get the benefit of higher boost frequency) and a better video card. The AMD Radeon in the 15" will benefit certain professional Adobe programs and definitely video editing.

If price difference is no concern, take the 15"

 

[McHenryB]

I'd take the 2.8 quad-core i7 over the 3.1 dual-core i5 any day.

 

[Dgrayman00]

Sorry I got a few things wrong with the 13"
13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display

3.1GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.4GHz
16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
1TB PCIe-based Flash Storage
Intel Iris Graphics 6100
Force Touch trackpad
Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

So the turbo boost is 3.4ghz instead of 3.7ghz and its still a dual core but its an I7 dual core

 

[SchizTech]

Sorry I got a few things wrong with the 13"
13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display

3.1GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.4GHz
16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
1TB PCIe-based Flash Storage
Intel Iris Graphics 6100
Force Touch trackpad
Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

So the turbo boost is 3.4ghz instead of 3.7ghz and its still a dual core but its an I7 dual core

It's still a big advantage to the 15" in performance.

 

[Dgrayman00]

Ok thank you so the 15" i should get? Btw these specs are the customisable one. These aren't the default. The default 15inch was only 2.2ghz

 

[SchizTech]

Ok thank you so the 15" i should get? Btw these specs are the customisable one. These aren't the default. The default 15inch was only 2.2ghz

If performance is the main criteria, the 15" is a clear winner.

 

[COLGeek]

15 all the way. The consensus is clear.