Apple Macbook/Pro Questions.

I have a few questions about the Macbook or the Macbook Pro I'd like answered.

First off, I'm interested in buying a laptop for college. I became interested in the Apple laptops due to things like Boot Camp, Parallels, etc. However, I can't really decide on whether to get the Black Macbook or the 15.4" Macbook Pro.

I will be doing some graphics related stuff on the laptop, including programs like photoshop, corel paint, etc. Alongside that, I also do a bit of light gaming. Nothing too serious, just something that can handle CS:S would do, probably. Since I'd like this for college, size as well as running performance/sounds would be somewhat important to me.

Lastly, I wanted to ask about the future of these two laptops. Is there anything happening in the future, say within a year, any major change to the system that I should know about? Or anything else that would be beneficial to hold off from buying either of these two laptops for a year?

 

I think the MacBook Pro is best suited for you. Photoshop and Corel Paint don't actually utilize the GPU, just the CPU, but having a graphics card is always good especially if you plan to game.

Penryn is expected to be released in 2008, and the MacBook Pro will probably get the update to Penryn then. But other than that there's no expected update to the MBP. The MacBook is probably going to get an upgrade in October with LED screens and Santa Rosa. Also, Mac OS X Leopard will be released then.

I don't think there's anything too beneficial that will really make you regret your decision to get the MBP now. By the time Penryn is released everyone will be waiting for the next processor update, and you'll just never get your laptop. Go for it now if you need it now. But of course if you don't need it yet new upgrades are always better.

By the way, this is better suited for the Apple forum than WNSIB. I've marked it for moving to the Apple forum.

 

If your time frame is 1 year, then you might as well hold off. There will always be new things around the corner, and 1 year in the computer market is a loooong time. Just within that year, penryn, naphelim, and who knows what else will be released. Its is very possible that in 1 year, the laptops that are out will make the current "new" releases look like junk, just like the current line of laptops makes the laptops from last year look obsolete.

It is quite likely that the Macbooks will see a major revision by then, and most likely the MBP as well - not to mention the software side of things, with Leopard coming out in October.

as others have said, if you always wait just for the sake of new tech, you'll be waiting forever. Decide when you need your laptop by, and at most look one month beyond that to see if anything is around the corner. Buy your laptop with specs to fit your needs at that time.

 

I, personally, am a firm adherent to the "buy when you need it" philosophy. It's easy to be paralyzed by the constant state of upgrade the computer industry is in. What no one ever tells you, though, is that there aren't that many really big LEAPS. For instance, a year old Core Duo MBP can do everything you want to do just fine probably. Sure, the new Santa Rosa ones will do it better - and are more future-proof - but the upgrades to the graphics and CPU over this past year weren't exactly revolutionary.

On that theme, I haven't personally heard of revolutionary changes coming to the MBP (which, btw, is what you should get - more suited to what you want) that might be coming within a year. There could be a chassis refresh soon - the current one is getting dated - and Penryn will probably be included within a year...but again, I doubt either of those changes would revolutionize your computer. And, in fact, if you wait a year, then perhaps in 2 or 3 years from now, when something revolutionary DOES come, you'll feel bad having a one year old computer you can't bear yourself to get rid of, rather than a 2 year old you're willing to replace

My $.02.