MBP i5 or i7?

[alexjay]

Hi all

I need to make an informative decision between the new MacBook Pro i5 and i7.
I use Lightroom and Photoshop etc. Am I better off taking the i5 and bumping the Ram upto 8GB?
Or should I future proof my purchase, take the i7 and upgrade the Ram later?

The other option was adding a SSD and 4GB ram to my current mid 2010 MBP - 2.4HGz Core 2

Many thanks

 

[Synaesthesia]

There's not much difference, it's very slight. The big speed difference is getting the SSD and adding more RAM. Really, a fast SSD makes a world of difference. It's very easy to migrate all your stuff with Mac, and they're cheaper these days.

 

[koffiejunkie]

Between the i5 and i7, the difference is slight if compared to the difference between either these and a 2.4GHz Core 2 duo. I went from a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo to a 2.5GHz i7, and the performance improvement is around 5.5x. The 1.6GHz Core i5 in the MacBook Air was still roughly twice as fast as the old C2D, so whatever CPU you choose in the MBP is going to be a big improvement. This is based on CPU benchmark results from cpubenchmark.net and my testing in Aperture, i.e. real world performance improvement.

RAM is cheap right now - I paid £35 odd for a 8GB kit from Crucial - but be aware the price will go up as the next generation RAM becomes more commonplace.

 

[alexjay]

Thanks for the input.

Synaesthesia, any recommendations for a SSD?

 

[Synaesthesia]

Anandtech recommends the Samsung 830 range and Intel SSD's. The Vertex 4 is also good.

 

[Rishalin]

The Samsung 830 is lightning quick - i added one into my 2010 MacBook Pro and its amazing what a diff it makes.