Is this a crazy idea?

Hi there,

So, first a bit to myself:

I am a recend graduate and just started my first job at a cool start-up in San Francisco, CA.

I am currently working with a Lenovo T60, which sees his limits pretty often the last days ( I am working with lots of open Windows, like Excel, PPT, Debugger Programs, IE, Chrome, FF, PS, InDesign, etc. at the same time).

My company told me that they would buy me a good MBP.

So, of course I followed the rumors about the new MBP too. And I would buy one right away if they were out!
But they are not and to be honest, I dont think that they will before July.

So that is really a bumer! Thats why I kinda came up with a crazy idea:

I am thinking of getting a super MBP for around 3k USD. I would probably have to pay a 1000USD out of this myself.

And then when the new MBP come out I sell it and use the money to buy a new one.
What do you think how much I would get for the 3k MBP in summer when the new ones come out? What do you think in general about this idea?

Why am I doing this?

Well, I really would like to have a MBP right now (my T60 could still make the job- no doubt, so I could wait, if necessary).

I am hoping for the new 15" MBP to have:

- higher resolution than the old ones
- hope for better GPUs (I love to game from time to time)
- and that they might get rid of the heat issue.


And finally three questions regarding the config:

-What would you choose in general?
- Does it make sense to get the SSD from Apple? (I was thinking of getting the standard 500GB 7200rpm and then get a faster SSD and then swap the HDD to the hard drive area and the SSD to its normal place. Does the 15" MBP allow that and does it use SATA III?)


Would it be better if I sold the MBP then over craigslist or something similar or back to Apple directly? Should I get Applecare?

Ok, I know a lot of (stupid) questions. But it would be great if you helped me answer them.

This would be my first Mac (was never able to afford me one on my own), so I would like to make a good decision.

Thank you very much guys!

Best,

Ben

 

Probably very bad if the company finds out you did that. Even if you're contributing your own money toward the purchase, the company is still footing the bill for most of it. The laptop isn't technically yours. Best to play it safe, especially since you're going to be new there. If I were the one hiring you and found you doing this, I'd fire you.

 

yes,

but its no problem. Its gonna be my laptop. But thank you for your concerns! ;-)

 

I say don't worry about the heat differences. The current machines run cool under day to day things and when you game or encode, anything is going to run hot.

The new ones running cooler would only allow them to do less underclocking of the gpu. Don't worry, they will make sure it runs hot when taxed.

Ask yourself, would 20% more frames per second be enough enough to help me do my job better?

And does Very High instead of Ultra really make a game more fun in the after hours?

Grab a 17" for the rez, get 8 gigs in there and put an SSD in it, and don't look back. IF they put solid state on board, you are already there...

If they add a more sharp hi dpi screen, the people you build product for will not have it for another 4 years anyway, so you dont need to be designing text that small yet for that reason.

 

Yeah you are kind of right joer80.

The thing is just: Its my first Mac and I get some money from someone to pay for a really good one. So I want to have simply the best possible.

And it would just kill me if I paid that money and in 2 months something new and better would be at the horizon...

Ah, why cant Apple not just say when they will release it then everything would be so much easier!

;-)

 

I agree... I want to know also...

I am holding out for the refresh and have a t500 I am using as my laptop until then. But only because I use a 27" imac all day!

ps. Your Apple care covers the ssd if you get the apple one at time of purchase. Thats a pro vs adding one yourself later...

 

Hm, yeah. If they would release in May or even early June I think I would be able to wait and spend the time with my high tec machine! Which is actually not too bad when you consider that I paid 150USD for the machine... ;-)

But still new MBP is what I want!!! ;-))

 

Dude, why are you spamming so many threads?

 

I want to get as much ideas as possible.

 

Well, knock it off. Post spamming is a violation of forum rules.

 

Sry, then I apologize!

 

This is a terrible idea.

If the laptop is yours either way, you might as well pocket the money even if you intend to sell the laptop. It won't depreciate as much, and there's nothing preventing you from using those funds later anyway.

Work gives you $2000 for a laptop. You invest another $1000. You buy a $3000 laptop. Depreciates 25% and you sell. You now have $2250.

Work gives you $2000 for a laptop. You have $1000 and you keep it in your pocket. You buy a $2000 laptop. Depreciates 25% and you sell. You now have $2500.

This is just an example. The reality is even more extreme. Depreciation percentage goes up the more money you put into the laptop. Doing it your way would probably end up costing you an extra $500 compared to the obvious alternative (above).

----

That's just basic math. Your startup probably would have had better luck hiring me.

Of course, if we want to really assess the value of this option, it would be good to ask if this is even a good idea at all. Is it worth several hundred dollars to upgrade from the current gen to the new gen when it comes out? Might depend on what's in there, but the answer is almost certainly no in all cases. There won't be a significant difference, and it's simply not worth this type of cost.

 

Smart guy! And you are right!

I know that it is stupid! I am just a bit desperate of waiting! Finally I get the chance to afford a MBP and then I am just in front of a release (that nobody knows when it will be there).

So lets see.

 

You're not really right in front of a release. More like in the middle. And you have to keep in mind that releases are happening every 8 months or so. So, a mere few months after going through this exercise, you'll be in precisely the same position. Are you going to turn everything upside down again every few months?

Unless the release was major (this release is expected to be relatively minor) AND you didn't have any urgent need for a laptop (you do have an urgent need- you need this device for work) I would recommend not wasting your time.

Upgrade in a few years. ~2-3 would be pretty frequent.

 

How did that android commercial go?...

If you buy that new iphone 4s, people may still think you have an iphone 4!

 

Just because you've been given $2000 to spend, doesn't mean you need to use it all. In fact, you would really impress your employer if used less than that. If you're buying a Mac, use your employer's money to purchase a base 15-inch model, upgraded to the high-resolution screen. Then use your own money to purchase a 3rd-party SSD and RAM and install them yourself. This way, you can move these items to any new notebook you might buy later this year or next.

You'll get something that's more than adequate for what you need to do, you look good to your employer for being responsible with their money, and you'll end up with some upgrades that you can take with you. Win-win-win.

 

I second the notion of going for a high res screen. Also recommend matte.

 

It is very cute of you all to care that much for me and my decision! Thank you very much.

Well, I want to spend that amount of money (and probably) put in a bit more.

I am working 70 hours peer week for 2000k USD. So I think its just fair if I max it out.

What I was thinking lately about is: why not getting the 17" MBP. I would have a better screen and also there would be less heat issues and also maybe some performance improvements. What do you think about it? The portability is not too bad either... Like this I would not be too down if the new 15"MBP would have a higher resoultion screen AND all the other improvements...

 

cute of you all? Are you a girl just askin?

 

nope. i am not.

 

Considering the hardware in the MBP 15 ($2199 model) and 17 is identical, you would see no performance improvement whatsoever. Your productivity would certainly increase due to the higher resolution screen.

 

If it was me i would wait, a lot of people say that waiting for the update won't be worth it, but the truth is it will be just as worth it as any other update and its right around the corner. Forget ivybridge, sure itll bring you better battery life, better integrated graphics, better performance (10-15%) and run cooler.... The big boost will be from either AMD's NGC graphic cards or Nvidia's Kepler which is built using 28nm and is new architecture for both, atleast i hope they put a new graphic card in there and not one of those ty third time rebrands.... which is pathetic they are doing that but anyways with quad cores in laptops, I wouldnt considered any processor update really an upgrade, besides for better battery life and encoding purposes a quad core, even first gen i7 is more than fast enough for 99% of people.

 

I been to the Apple store today to have a closer look at 17" and 15" MBP. What i personally found out was that the anti glare is not really good at the MBP. And I am scared that the glared one will be too reflective. I actually had some issues with the screen when I was at the Apple store...

Hmm.....

 

are they not paying you aside from the laptop? I'm confused.

 

Of course they do (2kUSD) but its somehow a welcome present at this start up.

 

Apple has anti-glare displays in apple store and you didn't like them? I use an anti-glare display and I wouldn't live without it now. You are right in your assertion about the reflection on the glossy display, since it is like glass and size of the whole lid.

 

How do you know this? The update might not be worth it or nearly the same level of update as going from the previous generation to Sandy Bridge. Additionally, the roadmap for only a few Ivy Bridge processors have been released meaning it might be another 3-4 months (at least) before we see any substantial upgrade. That is just Intel too, there is no guarantee that Apple would out the latest and greatest from AMD or Nvidia in the MBP line.

Either way, it is hard to predict if an update will be worth it until it actually happens. I don't think you can say it will be worth it even compared to previous updates or even say that it is just around the corner when Intel's roadmap says otherwise.

 

Slimmer 13-Inch and 15-Inch MacBook Pros Reportedly in Production - Mac Rumors

 

I think you should pay attention to the end of your link there where it says Mac Rumors. That is it, anything up to this point is just conjecture and rumor no matter how many "inside sources" they have. We won't officially know anything until Apple announces it.

 

true that! but still, a lil bit of light on the horizon...

 

Not really. Nothing is certain until Apple says so.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Its just speculation from what i've seen on the web, I also agree with you that it might not be around the corner, but intels ivybridge quad cores are going to every other PC vendor very soon and it wouldn't be Apples best interest to wait. I believe it will be worth the wait, Apple as of recently has been trying really hard to keep their products up to date and also add some new innovation along with it, especially now that theres a lot of immiatation macbook pro's out there now. After seeing asus put the 640m in that tiny notebook, apple will surely follow with something that can compete, i believe they will make a 15 inch Air but still keep their pro line as it is 2/3 of their current laptop sales.

It won't be as big of performance upgrade as from the 2010 MBP model to the 2011 because they added quad cores and a way better graphic cards... although the upgrade from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge is as much of a upgrade performance wise as the first gen i7 to SB (1.73 to 2.0 ghz and it will be going from 2.2 to 2.6ghz and a supposibly 60% faster IGP along with all the other benefits, higher turbo, runs cooler, 3d trigate. This is only the quad cores im comparing but all the other processors get atleast a .2ghz increase (ULV models) with the same benefits, and with how hot the macbooks run and with how much of a faster IGP Ivy Bridge will have (looking at the Airs and 13 inchers) I would say this update is worth it alone for the faster graphics, core clocks, and cooler running chips.

With the graphics, it wont be as big of jump as from the 330m to the 6490m or 6770m but the jump to NGC will provide around a 25% increase which I think is worth it. They could even switch to nvidia as kepler has a pretty big feat for Nvidia. In the end it is up to the person buying to decide if the update is worth waiting for.

 

Whether it's worth it to wait depends entirely on the cost of waiting. There's little point arguing about whether it's worth it if you're just looking at the differences between the machines. To make matters even more hilarious, you both have different ideas about the changes themselves and the value of those changes.

For the OP, the cost of waiting is extremely high, because he needs it now for his job. Waiting for a minor speed / efficiency boost is not a good idea for the OP. For someone who doesn't need a laptop anyway, the cost of waiting is zero. Of course, that person would need to consider whether to buy upon release or continue to wait. If the cost of waiting is low enough, there is likely a larger update coming 9 months later.

 

Whether its worth the wait in this case is entirely up to the OP and if he's ok with not having the latest and greatest in a couple months. If this is the case he should get one now but otherwise going back to the OP

If I was in his position, the cost of waiting would be little if anything at this point because he states he can do his job but has to make some sacrifices of not having a million things going on at once, it's up to him if he wants to buy a Mac now and then have buyers remourse in a couple months (who knows when) when a new one comes out, or he could buy one now and waste his money selling it and buying another one. He obviously shows that he wants the best and Ivybridge and new graphic cards are done being developed and are ready, companies are pretty much just waiting for the old stock to clear out before they allow customers to buy the updated computers.

I hate it when people bring up the "Theres always something around the corner" Yeah thats true with EVERY ELECTRONIC THING and I think is a bad arguement because you have absolutely no proof that in 9 months a larger update will come out (most likely will though). But we do know in a couple months a guaranteed decent upgrade will be coming (They will atleast put Ivybridge in there and probably a faster graphics card but with the rumors of the MBP getting smaller i'm not sure). Also with computers it's a given that upgrades come every Q1-Q2 of a new year and usually in the later part of that year they just release the same hardware with bumped up specs. It isn't given when a company will release the updates hardware, though most of them seem to release new ones at the same time so they don't lose customers to other companies.

There's all these rumors that Apple is redesigning the look of the Macbook Pro for the first time since 2008 (Probably removing optical drive and some minor cosmetic changes) he would have the latest looking version where as if he bought one now in a couple months he wouldn't have the newest looking MBP.... Kinda a dumb arguement but im sure some people care about this.

In the end this is all just speculation and my opinion take it as you will...

 

intel operates on a minor/major processor release cycle. Ivy bridge is the minor release. The next release scheduled for 2013 will be a major release, iirc.

Although the sun could stop rising tomorrow, it's safe to say that the 2012-2013 update will be much more significant in terms of compute power than the 2011-2012 update.

But that's besides the point. Although he mentioned he could wait if necessary, I don't think he actually could. His t60 is insufficient enough for the job that the company offered to get him something else. If he waits for months before taking them up on the offer, it won't be a very professional choice, in my opinion.

 

I completely agree, by waiting and not buying a computer right away since they offered to buy you one is a slap in the face to your company. Obviously I believe its worth waiting but when your company wants you to have a computer to better help you do your job I wouldn't hold out on them, they want you to be as efficient of a worker as you can thus them buying you a new computer.

Althought like i said in a earlier post any processor upgrade at this point is almost worthless because quad cores are fast enough for 99% of the population. Better battery life and a cooler runner computer are always welcome though. This is unless you have a notebook without a discrete GPU then any processor upgrade from Intel should be welcome as they have been focusing on making their IGP a lot better. Although anyone who doesn't have a discrete GPU probably doesn't game very much.

 

Hi guys,

here speaks the OP:

According to the news that the new MBPs are already in production I think I am gonna wait. The cool thing about my start-up is that the CEO is a cool guy and sits just next to me. So I just told him that I am gonna wait a bit. And he just said: no problem, do whatever you think is best! Thats how we role at start-ups! ;-)

But thanks for your time thinking about the different ops I have.

But I think I will wait for a new MBP 15" with a better screen and better GPU!

 

great. good luck