Much difference between 2.4 vs 2.6Ghz MBP 13"?

IceBus

IceBus

IceBus

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18 Oct 2002
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, Washington DC
Hey all...

I'm considering upgrading my 2009 Alu unibody Macbook to a 13" MBP for the increased battery life.

I was wondering if people could tell me if I'll feel much of a difference between the two processor speeds in terms of performance? I'm thinking of getting the 500GB upgrade, and maybe Applecare and so it's already a touch on the pricey side and if there's no huge jump with the processor speed, I'm not too fussed with the extra 200Mhz.

Any thoughts?
 
I'd always go for the higher processor. Two reasons mainly:

a) You can upgrade the HDD and RAM yourself in 12 months time if you want. Apple's prices for RAM and SSDs aren't exactly the best! Whereas the Processor, Screen, Graphics etc you're stuck with for the life of the laptop.

b) I can remember the days when the processing power of a PC was one core at 200MHz :p.
 
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10% faster, 25% more expensive. I don't think you'd notice at all which is the main thing.

Do not buy RAM, HDD or AppleCare from Apple. You can get them all cheaper elsewhere.
 
How often do you utilise 100% of a core? If it's not often, then you wont notice the difference most of the time.
 
If it is indeed the same chip just running 200mhz faster then it's not worth it. You'd have to be encoding stuff or doing something equally intensive regularly to justify it - and a laptop isn't the best tool for that sort of job anyway.
 
At that point I'd be considering whether the battery life is worth the massive cash layout, unless you intend to pass your existing alu macbook on / sell it ?
 
Battery life is a huge issue for me (as I work in third world countries with electricity for sometimes maybe just 3hrs a day) and my mum needs a new computer, so she'll be getting the alu Macbook :)
 
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