[vonklaus]

I have an early 2013 i5 2.6ghz MacBook Pro. Nearly 3 years later the newest macbook pro is ~$1500.00 for a slight bump in specs. Better intel graphics and 2.7ghz processor. I have the upgraded version 2.9ghz and 16GB of RAM which I got from work recently.

The article brings up integration with the newest chipset from intel: Skylake. I am sure the 3 computers I referenced above have different iterations of processor, even in the same "family". Am I missing larger improvements by reading too much into the specs? Is a Skylake processor or a jump from intel 4100 - 6100 graphics that large. I am an Apple fan, but a sub 2ghz processor seems very small for a laptop. Does the clock speed (i believe that is the metric) not matter and they are much superior now?

I find it hard to "feel" much improvement after buying a new laptop, so even in concert there doesn't feel like much speed improvement / better experience from hardware, at least within the Apple ecosystem.

Thoughts?

[invesari]

That 1.3 GHz Core M chip will boost to over 3 GHz for short periods of time. It will perform very similarly to a Skylake i5 in tasks like web browsing, but will throttle aggressively under a sustained load. That's where the 1.3 GHz number comes from.

As for the new Skylake i5 - Iris graphics are a huge step up from the 4100 model, but overall there isn't much reason to upgrade. CPUs have been stagnating in terms of performance for a few years now.

[amalag]

I am using a mid 2012 MBP for development and it is great. Kind of amazing that almost 4 years later it still a powerful laptop.

[nsxwolf]

My 2010 would still be a good development machine if it weren't for the defective video card that causes kernel panics. And the grinding fan.

I wonder what the Macbook would be like as an IntelliJ machine. 8GB of RAM is good, and the screen coaxed into native resolution mode has lots of real estate. But how would the CPU hold up? Especially during full Maven builds...

[27182818284]

It certainly doesn't feel like a huge boost. For those in the market to get a laptop, though, I'm betting there are going to be quite a few sales for the rose-gold, though. E.g., for freshman entering this fall, etc

[AdamN]

I would wait for the next generation MBP. Should be in the next few months and a 2013 MBP is very solid and capable.

[vonklaus]

Sure. I won't have the money for the new MBP, but I am excited for it. I was able to get the current MBP (early 2015) through work. As an aside, I bought it 2 weeks ago, and called about the e2015 distinction.

However, I just mean do the ghz mean anything? In 3 years the flagship MBP has moved .1ghz about. From a hardware stand point, is the type (e.g. skylake) a bigger indicator of performance than 2.9ghz or something.

I guess in most basic terms, for all intents and purposes, how much faster is a 2012 MBP with intel i5 2.6ghz v 2015 MBP with intel i5 2.6ghz. All other things equal?