I agree, but I think they're both overpriced for what they are. Or rather (and perhaps more fairly) their lower end offerings have unnecessary compromises making them untenable. If Dell offered a lower end machine with 16gb RAM, or Apple with a gen 10 chip, I'd take it, but they don't and there's no good reason for that save for driving people up to their more expensive machines which are largely overkill for my needs
New MBP 13"
- Thread starter manic111
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An equivalent spec XPS 13 is £150 cheaper, has a 4K touch screen and twice the storage. More ports on the Mac though (never thought I’d say that!)
If you match the storage on the Mac it’s £350 more, ouch!
Don’t get me wrong it’s a nice machine but it isn’t £1.8-£2k nice.
I have an XPS 7390 (I think, the 6 core i7) and a 2020 XPS 9300 with a 4k screen. Very nice machine, but battery is woeful.
Should have a 10th gen i5 13" MBP shortly too, so will do a comparison/performance run through when it lands.
Cool, would love to know your thoughts as I need a new laptop to replace my 12" Macbook. I'd like something more powerful, as I no longer have desktop computer, so trying to decide whether to go for the 13" MBP or the 16" MBP. Or something else entirely?
I'm favouring the 13" model (as it's around £700 less with the same SSD/RAM) and feels like a much better size for a laptop. Waiting to see some benchmarks but I'm sure that new 10th generation CPU would offer enough grunt for everything I do on it. However, the 16" one is considerably more powerful and I don't really carry it about much, other than around the house, so maybe that would be the better option?
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I also have a Macbook i7 (I think) and a 16" MBP. I'll drop in a link to the run through when it lands.
The 16 is an AWESOME machine, but I travel a lot, and you know when you're carrying it. That's why I picked up the XPS. Only time I take the 16 on my travels now is when I know I'll need to do some video processing/photo editing (my camera RAW files are 120MB
) . I'm hoping the 13" may fill that gap so I can recycle on the XPS units.
The 16 is an AWESOME machine, but I travel a lot, and you know when you're carrying it. That's why I picked up the XPS. Only time I take the 16 on my travels now is when I know I'll need to do some video processing/photo editing (my camera RAW files are 120MB
) . I'm hoping the 13" may fill that gap so I can recycle on the XPS units.I work in IT Systems Support so often run a couple of VMs for testing, network analysis/design, scripting, development, troubleshooting, productivity, etc. I'd probably want to install boot camp or at least run Windows through something like parallels/Virtualbox. That's why I want a laptop with a 16Gb RAM and a 1TB SSD. Also a bit of general productivity using office apps and some light photo/video editing. I used to game quite a bit but tend to do most of it now on my Playstation/Switch so not overly concerned about GPU performance. Would be nice to be able to run some games but it's not essential.
The desktop i normally used, until it failed last month, was an i7-5820k from 2015 but I'm guessing that even a mid-range i5 10th gen mobile processor would likely be quicker than it these days? A lot of stuff is increasingly cloud/web based/remote access now anyway so I don't see my hardware requirements increasing over the next few years anyway.
I had a look at the Macbook Air 13" but most reviews seem to suggest if you're doing anything remotely intensive you should get the Pro instead. I thought the Air might struggle as a frequently run a couple of VMs in the background?
As epic as the 16" model looks it just feels like more laptop than I actually need. Plus I think the footprint/weight would make it awkward to lug around. Plus I use my laptop docked to a 34" display at home so the extra screen size isn't really that much benefit to me. I'm like to see some benchmarks comparing the two though just so I can quantify the performance difference between them.
That was the other thing that caught my eye as, like you suggested, I can get a suitably spec'd (16Gb,1TB) Macbook Pro 16" for around £2000 refurbished. Does anyone have experience of buying refurnished from the Apple store. It does make me nervous spending that much money on a laptop which is effectively second hand! They still offer Applecare with it and offer the usual warranty so maybe it's safe enough though?
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It's partly because people are wary of the 2016 to 2018 models. The keyboards are too much of a risk on a used model so the older pre-butterfly models are still desirable.
Agreed, I think everyone had been expecting a new 14" display whereas all we got was literally just an updated keyboard and Intel chipset/CPU.
Does anyone know when we'll start seeing benchmarks of this new chipset as I believe it's exclusive to Apple at the moment so it's difficult to gauge what the performance will be like.
To me it seems like Apple changed the bare minimum on this model because they knew people would jump at it for the fixed keyboard. They are saving any possible size change and newer CPU for next year to entice people to upgrade again. The older CPU is disappointing when even the very latest Intel CPU's are expected to be unable to keep up with the new Ryzen 4000 mobile CPU's for power and energy efficiency. I imagine Apple got a good price on them from Intel.
However I will probably still get one for my daughter. She needs something for college in September. I considered the new Air but that is a little underpowered. The new MBP is sufficient even if a little disappointing.
Mine is due on the 12th - I'll post up the stats when I receive it.
Cool
I'm pretty much at the stage where I think I'll go for the 13" MBP but I want to see some benchmarks first so I know how the performance compares to the 16" MBP.
Cool
I have the 16” as my desktop replacement and it’s mainly hooked up to a 43” 4K screen. It really is an amazing machine and the discrete GPU is always enabled when on an external display which is nice. Apart from the weight (doesn’t bother me) you get the best of both worlds. It’s a very very quick machine as a desktop replacement and I’ve always got 10 desktops open with a ton of programs running, it never slows down or gets loud with fans. For the first time in a long time I feel content with my computer and will now only change when a new ARM Mac comes out to replace it.
Looks like the review embargo has lifted for the 13" Macbook Pro :-
https://www.macworld.com/article/35...book-pro-delivers-a-big-graphics-upgrade.html
https://www.engadget.com/apple-macbook-pro-review-13-inch-2020-123043115.html
https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/7/2...-keyboard-performance-video-premiere-affinity
https://mobilesyrup.com/2020/05/07/13-inch-macbook-pro-2020-review/
On first impressions I can see why Apple still offer the 8th generation CPU's on the entry level MBP's as there isn't that clear a jump with the 10th generation models. Maybe only around 25% which is quite disappointing really. It's not actually any quicker than the new Air on single threaded apps and only around 30% better on multi-core stuff. Makes you wonder just how much closer these benchmarks would have been had Apple fitted better cooling to the Macbook Air as it's performance is clearly constrained by the thermals.
On paper the new 13" Macbook Pro appears to be far closer to the Macbook Air 13" in terms of performance than it is to the Macbook Pro 16" model..........
Edit: Just watched the latest MKBHD video and that seems to be the main takeaway in that as he puts it the 13" Macbook is the awkward middle child sandwiched between the 13" Air and 16" Pro. If you care about performance in a laptop it probably makes more sense to go for the 16" model and if you don't the 13" Air would likely do everything you need.
https://www.macworld.com/article/35...book-pro-delivers-a-big-graphics-upgrade.html
https://www.engadget.com/apple-macbook-pro-review-13-inch-2020-123043115.html
https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/7/2...-keyboard-performance-video-premiere-affinity
https://mobilesyrup.com/2020/05/07/13-inch-macbook-pro-2020-review/
On first impressions I can see why Apple still offer the 8th generation CPU's on the entry level MBP's as there isn't that clear a jump with the 10th generation models. Maybe only around 25% which is quite disappointing really. It's not actually any quicker than the new Air on single threaded apps and only around 30% better on multi-core stuff. Makes you wonder just how much closer these benchmarks would have been had Apple fitted better cooling to the Macbook Air as it's performance is clearly constrained by the thermals.
On paper the new 13" Macbook Pro appears to be far closer to the Macbook Air 13" in terms of performance than it is to the Macbook Pro 16" model..........
Edit: Just watched the latest MKBHD video and that seems to be the main takeaway in that as he puts it the 13" Macbook is the awkward middle child sandwiched between the 13" Air and 16" Pro. If you care about performance in a laptop it probably makes more sense to go for the 16" model and if you don't the 13" Air would likely do everything you need.
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Yeah that's pretty much where I'm sitting atm, in all likelihood I'll plump for the i5 Air
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It's a shame they didn't go AMD, an 8 Core/16 Thread 4800U would be perfect for the 13" MBP.
That's the conclusion I'm starting to come to. The £1800 13" MBP doesn't feel like it has enough performance to justify the price hike over the 13" i5 Air.
I'm thinking in gonna buy the MacBook Air i5. Just need to to a bit more research to make sure it can handle running virtual machines but I think it'll be sufficient for what I use it for.
So I waited since January for the anticipated update in March. That was understandably delayed and then all the hype around the increased screen size started. This update has been a disappointment. You're talking £1800 to get an actual updated MacBook Pro 13. So I placed an order for a 16 now. A bit annoyed I've wasted five months waiting for this, but at least it is now an informed decision.
I've been reading a few more reviews and benchmarks and I've come to the conclusion that for my workload it would make more sense to go for the 13" Pro rather than the Air I had been considering.
Especially as I need it with 16Gb Ram and 512Gb storage so the price difference isn't that large (~£300) when comparing a spec'd up Air to the base spec 10th generation 13" Pro.
Is anybody else planning on getting one?
Especially as I need it with 16Gb Ram and 512Gb storage so the price difference isn't that large (~£300) when comparing a spec'd up Air to the base spec 10th generation 13" Pro.
Is anybody else planning on getting one?
