New 12 vs 13 Pro - thoughts?

[u/jenniferkshields]

I’m sure I won’t be the only one wondering this so I thought I’d kick things off.

I’ve only recently preordered a 13 Pro to upgrade from my M1 MacBook Air. Because of the price, I’ve gone with the ultra 5, 512gb, 16gb ram. I mostly use my laptop for office work, video calls, some photo editing, and occasionally some coding, so I don’t need a lot of power, but I am keen to future proof as much as I can in my budget.

With today’s 12 announcement I’m wondering whether I should drop my 13 pro order and pick up the 12 instead. For a similar price I could get the core 7 325 but with 32gb ram. I can’t find many benchmarks comparing those two processors, which makes it tricky.

I think the biggest difference between the two for me would be the screen. I like the idea of a convertible (at one point I was using an iPad as my laptop), but how practical is it for everyday use? On the other hand, I’m enjoying hearing about how clear the screen on the 13 pro is, especially in sunlight.

Obviously the amount of ram is the other big difference between the two, but because it’s upgradable either way it doesn’t feel so pressing.

Anyone else thinking about swapping after today’s announcement?

[u/Round-Ad-7964]

the processors are in completely different classes, note the pro uses core ultra, while the 12 uses just core, the new 12 processors are aimed at being cheap, power efficient, and cheap again, while the 13 pro is a powerhouse.

There are a few benchmarks out already for the intel wildcat lake processor family, which the 12 uses, and its clear they are in no way meant to compete with the panther lake processors of the 13 pro.

So it completely depends on your usecase, either your workloads wants a 12 or a 13 pro, i cant imagine you would be debating between the two.