Silly to buy a MBP now?

Hi all,

Would now be a daft time to buy a Macbook pro? Is there an refresh lingering? I've never owned a mac before and I don't want to part with cash only to have the line to be updated with quad-cores. I know I'm asking a question that no one has a definite answer to, but what are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance

 

You can always check the Mac Buyers Guide:

http://guides.macrumors.com/Buyer's_Guide

Right now their recommendation is 'neutral.'
Neutral - Mid product cycle
Last Release June 08, 2009
Days Since Update 140 (Avg = 200)

 

Also, I don't think will be seeing quad-cores in laptops any time soon.

 

Evidence points to new MacBook Pros on horizon...

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/25/evidence_points_to_new_macbook_pros_on_horizon.html


Thanks to Seshan for the find and post.

 

I would wait a couple of weeks to be safe. No matter what you do there is always a better version just over the horizon.

 

It can't be far away, but I'd way at least three months after release of any such machine to at least give Apple the chance to beta test the hardware.

 

Apple VP says no more new products this year.

 

You think that is true or just something to keep the current sales going?

 

Based on past Apple product releases I'd wager good money there are no new releases this year.

That being said, Apple gave up on Macworld in January in favor of a larger presence at CES. And considering the new unibody Macbooks are essentially now equal to the 13" MBP, I'd also wager good money all the MBPs will get spec improvements in the January/February time frame. ie: Core i5/7 and whatever current GPUs.

So I'd agree with Macrumors "neutral" upgrade stand, the current MBPs are fine where they're at for most people, but new stuff should be coming soon after the holidays FWIW. The question for today: is it worth your waiting a solid 2-3 months or just take the plunge now and be happy with what you got?

 

Well, I'm just an average user really; movies, music, surfing, essays/reports and I game now and then. The games I only really intend to play are valve games and command and conquer, which i'm hopeful a 9600m gt 512 gddr3 will run?

I've always liked Macbook pro's and now I have enough money to purchase the 2.8Ghz model. The only thing which is holding me back is the fact i7's are out in Dell's and the HP Envy 15. Dell only ships with a 9 cell battery for the i7 models which makes me assume the battery life on the thinner, more portable battery is shockingly bad. The HP Envy only has a 13xx by 7xx screen...rubbish.

I'd like to have the latest parts in a new laptop, but I don't know if an i7 is overkill me for as I don't do anything that really will use all the CPU power.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: I'm from the UK and the HP lists the screen resolution as mentioned, I understand you guys from the US get the "1080p" screens.

 

I'm looking at a 15" MacBook Pro - 3.06GHz Intel Core Duo - 4GB Ram 1066MHz - 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm - GT with 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512MB (LED screen)

And that for "only" $2649
I'd say it's a good investment if you're serious about what you do. It's good for any kinds of media, me - I'm a rapper and music producer so you know what I'm going to use it for.

And eventho there are newer versions coming (There will ALWAYS come new versions!) - This is way more than just good, for music production, and I don't think that will change, it's not like you will require more RAM to record in 1-2 years then you do now, and 4GB is more than enough!

 

I accept that there always be updates, but is the jump from c2d to i5/i7 a REAL big jump worth waiting for? I mean I'm a student atm so I'll have word docs open, internet for browsing, itunes for music. So nothing really "heavy"

 

Well man if you are looking that close at worrying about the i7 and whatnot then look at the Envy 15 inch. Has a gooooooood graphics card, and a 1920x1080 resolution. Plus the i7 will really make it worth it. That and it looks great and is about the same price. Just be warned, no CD drive installed.

 

I would not be surprised if Apple updates with i7 Quad Cores on the Macbook Pro to take advantage of the holiday season.

Then again, with the Economy and heat properties of Macbook Pros, they may wait until next year.

 

i would say they will put core i5 and new gfx cards in the mbps jan-feb but thats just my prediction

 

IMO Apple's next refresh will be after Intel has released the new processors in Q1 2010 (Arrandale is the name, 32nm is the game). The only thing they would logically do until then is a slight speed bump.

Arrandale will crush the current penryn in the macbooks.

I been hearing a rumor that Arrandale mobile will be tied to Intel graphics, which would suck for macs and any laptop

 

The next MBP refresh is early 2010, if you can wait that long I would as you would get a brand new processor for the same price.

If you can't wait, then get the HP Envy 15. It has a quad i7, which is considerably faster than any current C2D.

Remember that i7 is a brand new architecture, not some refresh.

 

Lets be realistic here - One model refresh isn't going to change the computing universe... The C2D MacBook Pros out now are pretty powerful, and based on the OPs comments on expected uses, they will be more than enough for the next 2-3 years of software to handle those tasks.

If you have the means, pick one up today. They're fine machines and they certainly get the job done. One of the big advantages to the current lineup is the nVidia GPU combo in the 15-17 models, and even the basic 9400m in the 13 are extremely powerful and power efficient. Rumor has it that the next lineup of MBPs will use less powerful ATI graphics cards, so even with a faster Intel chip (hardly a bottleneck on today's PCs) its going to feel the same or worse with anything graphically intensive, or on anything that takes advantage of OpenCL in Snow Leopard.

Just my opinion - Buy when you need/want one - Keep it for 2-3 years (or less if you're made of money and want the latest all the time) and it will serve you well enough, then grab a deal on whats new when the time comes to upgrade again. Waiting to buy for the next release is a forever waiting game.

 

I too am on the fence, not sure if I should wait or just go for it now.

My big Gateway works perfectly fine but it isn't a Mac, and I think I want to give it a try. Still not sure if I want a 13" or 15".

 

I agree with mikeyharm, if you're planning to keep the computer for 2-3 years, which you probably will. You'll end up seeing multiple revisions during thet time, that's just how technology is. The current macbook pros will serve you well, the 9600gt is plenty powerful for any gaming you want to do, and I say that based on experience.

Buy now, enjoy using it, and don't worry bout the new stuff that will come out in the future, you'll be doing that the rest of your life.

 

Thank you all ever so much for your replies

I'm still waiting on an ENVY review...I can't understand why HP are listing UK models with a different screen resolution to the US models. Makes no sense.

The games I may play are the valve games; mainly Team Fortress 2 and maybe Left for Dead 2. Any insight to how they run? Oh and Red Alert 3. Yes I will be boot campin' it

Thanks again guys.

 

Those are relatively simple games to run. The 9400m may choke on Left 4 Dead slightly, I've seen it run but there seems to be slow downs. The 9600GT will be able to eat it for breakfast if ran in bootcamp.

(P.S. I play the same games too!) xD

 

Do you play red alert 3 too?

 

How old are some of you people here??? Honestly, when I see threads created looking to buy a new Mac and the concerns are about the next models coming out, and should they buy now or wait, I'm thinking they have very special needs and are hoping for a special feature to be intro'd. Instead it always boils down to gaming. I think some of you need to find better and more constructive uses with all of this money you are throwing away on computers mainly used for gaming.

 

the person with the sig "Windows 7 is NOT Windows Vista.....BUT it's more like Windows 95, a step in the wrong direction", is commenting about peoples maturity.

good job bro.

 

I never said it was used mainly for gaming, kudos for reading my posts.

Secondly, I'd like to know how well things actually run before i "throw all my money away."

Thirdly, I'm pretty sure 4 cores will run better than 2 cores, and in some peoples cases it may be worth waiting for, but for me 2 cores may be enough. I was simply asking for advice.

Cheers

EDIT: lol, just read the above post. I was going to comment on that

 

This is true as technology moves pretty quick.

But there are a billion threads out there pertaining to Intel's roadmap, but yet no one even cares or even mentions of it.

You can see Intel's roadmap and their release dates, I say pick and choose what processor you're willing to wait for, a revision or a new architecture. I think people fail to realize that Core i7 is not just a revision or adding two more cores, its a complete new architecture.

A new architecture isn't going to be coming around for quite some time, (late 2010 Sandybridge). Core i7 has been dominating the desktop market for quite some time now and now its available for laptops, which IMO is a bigger deal than some posters are leading on.

It may not be the big Conroe jump that we saw many years ago in laptops, but you won't see this jump again until Sandybridge. If you don't need a laptop this year, I would wait. Or get the HP Envy.

 

I offered my son a new MacBook Pro to replace his current MBP and he declined. He has a hardware problem with the Superdrive and it's a bit of a pain. I got him an external drive but he doesn't like to carry it around. If Apple does come out with a Nehalem model in January, then I might just buy one for him and give his old one to my wife who could use her own laptop. Not a good time to switch in the middle of the semester as he is heavily dependent on his Mac for schoolwork.

 

At the end of the day its a desktop CPU shoehorned into laptops that have enough trouble dealing with laptop CPUS. And even the first coming laptop versions of it will still be hotter and more power hungry than what we use today.

So what the rush. Let them bed this thing down and really it will be next summer or fall before they have it sorted out and you arent being used as a guinea pig.

In any case all this also depends heavily on what you actually do with your laptop. If what you do with a laptop is surf the net, watch videos, write documents and so on, in 2 years time even the current low end Macbook Pro is NOT going to be a drag, let alone the higher models with faster CPU and dedicated GPUs.

 

Excellent and well spoken from a koolaid drinking Windows fanboy with a Stinkpad.

My sig speaks from experience. This is a Mac forum, I'm not here to promote how wonderful my experience with Windows has been. If you can't handle it, tuff stuff.

 

i think the next gen macbooks will probably use the 32nm dual cores with hyperthreading when they come out that will likely use similiar power to the sp9300 that is currently used but will be much faster.
the problem is that the new chipsets will not come with integrated graphics like the 9400m, so discrete graphics will probly be used, either a 4330 or its next gen replacement, or a gt210m. A performance increase here, but power usage is increased as well.

 

Arrandale has a built in GPU. So I'm thinking they'll be doing switchable graphics.

So there shouldn't be a power problem.

 

yea, but snow leopard uses hardware acceleration for alot of things right?
If the new macbooks switch to intel igp on battery, won't it run the OS worse than the old macbooks on battery?

 

Arrandale GPU is better than integrated but its still not as powerful as 9400m.

Snow Leopard does use GPU acceleration, but its so miniscule that you won't even notice it. You probably wouldn't even notice it even with integrated graphics.

 

Indeed, lots of things claim to use GPU acceleration - Photoshop, Acrobat, and many video players, just to name a few. I've never noticed a difference and most of the time I don't even know it's using GPU acceleration until I read about it on the web.

 

The difference only shows when you are doing compute intensive stuff.
Companies like to use new terminology to get people to buy crap especially Apple.
Grand Central Dispatch? Threading Management has already existed in other OS before this...

 

There is setup and teardown costs for these acceleration techniques and the engineer has to determine whether the benefit outweighs the costs. I do vector programming (another form of hardware acceleration) and setup/teardown costs are always a consideration. This kind of programming also adds higher maintenance costs for the software.

 

Threading Management already existed in Mac OS X too... thats not all the GCD does.

 

<style class='Hidden'>Buy a Mac or I will ban you</style>

 

LOL, that's a first.

 

GPU-acceleration is overhyped.

the only thing i can see that REALLY uses GPU acceleration is CUDA and its menagerie of apps.

 

Hey everyone,

Im in the same boat as you I need to get a new Macbook Pro also, I was talking to a local shop here in AUS.

They had all the current macbook pros discounted. I asked why are you guys discounting them when no other shop is??? he said "Cause there are new models coming out and that are on order now" but thats all he would tell me

So maybe there is something new coming now im just back to being as as ever so now im going to wait and see cause I would kick my self if the updated in a few weeks.

Cheers

 

It's amazing how people can make up scenarios, lie through their teeth on this forum and expect people to fall for it. I see this behavior a lot from noobs. This isn't Macrumors.

 

I say wait. Itll only take a few months man, and the specs will be way better and itll be same price!

 

I am always amazed at how a some folks get a few post under their belt then jump into threads with no meaningful information on the topic, just raging at other people post.

ON the topic, I think based on what the OP wants to do I'd buy now. There is really no reason to wait, the next processor will certainly be more than he needs if the current ones will already do the job.

You sometimes just have to jump in and know there will always be the next model coming out! There have already been several scenarios and all this is just speculation. You could wait 4 months or heck 6 months, no one knows Apples plans either. Everyone just tries to guess based on past history.

 

Its not actually that hard to predict desktop/laptop updates. Intel's road map has been available for years, but yet people are still confused on processor release dates?

Tick Tock

Be happy with a shrink or a new architecture. Its not that hard.

 

i would wait at least until january as the gpu needs a good update. the current one has been out since at least 1.5 years.

 

Will the specs be way better though (as some put it) or more likely just a bit better on the next update of the MBP?

NVIDIA seems to be sulking about it's bleaker future and has suspended all future chipsets pending a legal outcome. I'm not sure what that means for the next update in the spec of the MBP?

The MBP currently uses the 9400M, so presumably the next update would be ION? Are they so powerful that it is worth holding off on buying a MBP now?
I don't know the answer because I don't keep up to date, and I only started reading again when I thought I might need a new laptop (currently I have a Fujitsu P7010 that has been good to me for 4 years).

 

ION is actually the 9400 chipset matched with an atom processor it is a platform not a chipset alone. Pretty much designed for netbooks so they arent stuck with the terrible current IGA.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/picoatom_specifications.html

and yes the 9400 tech is OLD I dont know why they keep recycling it like the G80's etc

 

Ah, I see. I should have been thinking in terms of one of the offerings in the GeForce M Series http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_m_series.html

I noticed the other day that the Dell Studio XPS 13 had moved to the GeForce 210M http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/laptop-studio-xps-13/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-studio-xps-13&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1.

Is the 210M the sort of update people are expecting/hoping for the MBP soon?