Ableton Forum

Base 13-Inch MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air: https://www.macrumors.com/guide/base-13 ... cbook-air/

Videos:

2020 MacBook Pro vs 2020 MacBook Air - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC8qy0xdtx8

Base 13" MacBook Pro 2020 vs 10th-Gen CPU - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK3AOK8uDJo

Looking at these fan issues one other reason to opt for the gen 10 Pro is the internal design. This machine has 2 fans (and better speakers in case one cares) as opposed to the 8th gen design which only has 1 fan...

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/05 ... workhorse/

Still, the device offers roughly competitive performance against a similar Windows laptop and is a step up from the Air across the board. The Air, we should point out, gets very loud, whereas the Pro does not, and the Air likely does not have a thermal setup that can deliver sustained performance.

Again, this is the double fan model...

I came to the same conclusion as this guy. Base model Pro with 16 GB ordered...

https://youtu.be/5RLImNurQhA

Hi Tuur, which one did you go for in the end? Any chance you could share your feedback?

In general, I'm doubting between these two MacBook Pro 13" options - any thoughts and advice from anyone?

Option 1: MacBook Pro 13"
Year: Mid 2020
CPU: Core i5-1038G7 (4x 2.0/3.8GHz) (9'907 CPU Mark according to PassMark Benchmark)
RAM: 16GB
Disk: 512 GB
Price: CHF 1749 (= approx. 1900 USD)
Link to full Specs: https://www.toppreise.ch/preisvergleich ... 729?posf=1

Option 2: MacBook Pro 13"
Year: Mid 2019
CPU: Core i7-8569U (4x 2.8/4.7GHz) (9'251 CPU Mark according to PassMark Benchmark)
RAM: 16GB
Disk: 512 GB
Price: CHF 1'999 (= approx. 2180 USD)
Link to full Specs: https://www.toppreise.ch/preisvergleich ... 770?posf=1

Does anyone have any advice, which one I should go for? In terms of price, PassMark CPU benchmark and year, option 1 is superior. At the same time, I'm very surprised that a slightly older i7 with 2.8 GHz from option 2 (vs. 2 GHz for the i5 from option 1) is supposed to perform poorer according to PassMark.

Would love to go for option 1 given the price tag but just want to make sure I'm not missing something, since it's quite an investment...And intuitively 2GHz feels rather on the low end.

Any thoughts and advice?

Could also throw in an additional USD 650 vs. option 1 and go for the lowest range MacBook Pro 16" Intel Core i7 (6x 2.6/4.5GHz) but would rather not spend this money if there isn't a strong reason to do so vs. the above options (for Ableton use).

For context: Won't use the laptop for video editing, photo editing or anything like this. Ableton will be the most advanced use case I'll have. Also, I'd say I'm an "average" user. Not planning to do anything particularly complex with this. And yes, would love to stay with Apple.

Thanks a lot everyone!

Hi,

I got the first one:

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) - 1,4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 - 16GB / 256GB.

It has the new Intel (Ice-Lake) CPU architecture which is why it has some advantages over the 2019 model (especially in the graphics department). I love the machine. It's fast and quiet and I would buy it again, but in your case I would wait one month to see what they come up with as it looks like this model will be available with the new Apple SoC next month or so.

I expect benchmarks and compatibility tests to show up pretty soon after release, so unless you really need it right away (and considering the fact that you are an 'average' user) I would hold my breath a little bit longer.

Hi Tuur, great, thanks a lot. Very helpful advice!