Is there disadvantages to buying my MBP now and getting the free update later instead of buying my MBP when Lion comes out? Will Lion take up more space/be slower than if I were to just buy it with Lion pre-installed, any suggestions?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Buy MBP now/update later or buy later/Lion pre-installed
- Thread starter Tydog07
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Bendy Walker
macrumors regular
I've just bought a MacBook Pro, and I'm gonna upgrade to Lion for free when it's available. I don't really see any disadvantage, personally, and you can always just perform a fresh install of Lion when it's released if you really want to. Apple are pushing OS X Lion as an 'upgrade', so it'd be weird if upgrading from Snow Leopard caused performance issues.
Probably not, considering Apple states that Snow Leopard must be present to upgrade to Lion, so from a life-cycle point of view, Lion is treated as sort of an update to Snow Leopard, instead of a completely standalone product.
I don't think you'll see a difference between a fresh install of Lion in a new computer, or an upgrade 🙂
I don't think you'll see a difference between a fresh install of Lion in a new computer, or an upgrade 🙂
This has been asked and answered many times recently.
Buying now will not put you at any disadvantage. It won't change the speed that Lion runs at. As for disk space usage, it should be about the same.
The disadvantage of waiting is the question of when will the systems start shipping with Lion already installed?
Buying now will not put you at any disadvantage. It won't change the speed that Lion runs at. As for disk space usage, it should be about the same.
The disadvantage of waiting is the question of when will the systems start shipping with Lion already installed?
Ok then I won't worry about it, although I fear the day I want to reinstall my OS and I'm back to Snow Leopard again and will have to download my Lion again.
Bendy Walker
macrumors regular
When Lion is installed, it created a small partition on your hard drive that can be used to perform a fresh install of OS X Lion among other things. You don't need to install Snow Leopard first. A boot disk (or flash drive) can also be created from the Lion installer.
Good to know, I now truly feel that I won't be put at a disadvantage to buy now and upgrade the OS later.
roland.g
Suspended
My iMac is still running ok, though getting a little long in the tooth. I plan to actually wait until Lion is pre-installed on shipping machines prior to upgrading. However, I have several factors influencing my decision. I am going back to school in August for an MBA and so by waiting I can officially take advantage of the educational pricing and whatever the Back to School promo is. I plan to sell my iMac after I get the new one and migrate data, and while my birthday is in early July and it would be a nice present to myself 😉 I am fine waiting a bit longer. If I decide I don't really want to wait any longer, I can always get the machine pre Lion shipping and upgrade for free, still doing a fresh install.
iMerik
macrumors 6502a
I'll be ordering an iMac with both SSD and HDD through the Back-To-School special starting tomorrow. Since all of my data will be on the HDD, it sounds like I won't have much trouble at all doing a fresh install of Lion over the top of Snow Leopard... if I ever feel the need to when the time comes. Would the Lion restore partition be installed on the SSD where the operating system is or will it give me a choice?
I would go ahead and get it now. But then again, I am impatient, so my advice is biased!!! But seriously, I don't see any problem with the upgrade. Plus, Lion will be free for you when it comes out anyway. Good luck. 😀
HelveticaNeue
macrumors 6502a
I couldn't wait. I would just be thinking about it constantly until I got it. You won't be any differences between an upgraded computer and one that shipped with Lion.