So in this case, the i5 lacks hyper threading and the i7 has hyper threading. In desktops, the quad core i5 has 4 cores and 4 threads, while the quad core i7 has 4 cores and 8 threads. In the case of the 13', both i5s and i7s have 2 cores and 4 threads, so both have hyper threading. Hyper threading differences is only valid when core count is the same but thread count is different. In where I work (VMware), a lot of my colleagues compile code on just sub-2GHz i5s (like the MacBook Air processors). But since you're comparing a dual core i7 and a dual core i5, nothing would benefit from it.Ĭompiling code is a very trivial task for the most part. If it was a quad core i7, then hyper threaded tasks like video editing and rendering, media production and audio production would greatly benefit from it. My personal 13' sometimes experiences lag on the internal retina display, but the moment I put it into clamshell mode and stick it into an external 1080p display, all lag disappears. Even I experience frame drops sometimes with my 15' (late-2013 2.6/16/1TB/750M). The UI lag is due to poorly written GPU drivers, not because of the processor. There is no scenario that will benefit from the dual core i7, because it's identical to the dual core i5 aside from the slightly higher clock speed and slightly larger cache.

2015 macbook pro 13 i7