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Buy MBP now or wait till update?

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elbaseball212

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 3, 2011
25
0
Tampa, Florida
I currently have a White Macbook (Oct, 2009) 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB Ram, 250GB HD and it seems to be getting slower and slower. My battery shows that it needs to be serviced and I really just need more ram to do everyday things. I think its time to replace.

Here is where my question lies. Im going to spend the $1500 and get the fully loaded 13" MBP but should i wait till the next update? Will there be enough of a change to warrant me waiting.

Right now the current fully loaded 13" MBP has 2.9GHz Core i7, 8GM Ram, 750GB HD which is a huge upgrade from what i'm currently running.

Does anyone know when the next update will be? Will the chip change? Will there be a dramatic increase in processor, ram, HD?
 
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old-wiz

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2008
8,331
228
West Suburban Boston Ma
The next expected update is in Q2/Q3 2013 with the Haswell chipset. It expects 10-20% improvements in some areas.

You can go nuts waiting for the next version because when it comes out, Intel will have already roadmapped the next chipset.
 
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Penn Jennings

macrumors 6502
Apr 22, 2010
350
48
Michigan
elbaseball212 said:
I currently have a White Macbook (Oct, 2009) 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB Ram, 250GB HD and it seems to be getting slower and slower. My battery shows that it needs to be serviced and I really just need more ram to do everyday things. I think its time to replace.

Here is where my question lies. Im going to spend the $1500 and get the fully loaded 13" MBP but should i wait till the next update? Will there be enough of a change to warrant me waiting.

Right now the current fully loaded 13" MBP has 2.9GHz Core i7, 8GM Ram, 750GB HD which is a huge upgrade from what i'm currently running.

Does anyone know when the next update will be? Will the chip change? Will there be a dramatic increase in processor, ram, HD?
Click to expand...

There will always be a reason to wait. If the new releases were only a month or 2 away it might make sense. The odds are though the next MBPs will not be released for 6 months. I don't see that worth waiting for unless you really don't need a new machine.
 
CrackerJackToy

CrackerJackToy

macrumors 6502
Nov 1, 2011
392
129
Next update wont be until at least June, but do what I do, buy now, sell next May, upgrade in June. I did that this year. I just bought a 2012 MBA yesterday and plan to do the same thing with it in May. And I usually make within 85-90% of my money back.
 
Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,930
46,396
In a coffee shop.
My advice would be something along the lines of: Buy if you need, but wait if you simply want.....

If you need the computer, buy it now, irrespective of when the next update occurs (unless that update is scheduled for next week, for example); if, on the other hand, you merely want, or would like a new computer, wait and see what the future (in terms of the next six months) will bring.....
 
Spink10

Spink10

Suspended
Nov 3, 2011
4,261
1,020
Oklahoma
The different between the 2012 and 2013 MBP will not really be noticeable. If the 2012 struggles do get the job done - the 2013 wont be much better.
 
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elbaseball212

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 3, 2011
25
0
Tampa, Florida
I was able to sell my Oct. 2009 White Macbook on ebay for $600 and I am now in the market for a 13.3 MBP 750gb HD 8gb Ram (retail $1499).

anyone know where to get the best deal. Best buy is showing $1429 pick up in store, anything less then that?
 
Yebubbleman

Yebubbleman

macrumors 603
May 20, 2010
5,784
2,377
Los Angeles, CA
elbaseball212 said:
I currently have a White Macbook (Oct, 2009) 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB Ram, 250GB HD and it seems to be getting slower and slower. My battery shows that it needs to be serviced and I really just need more ram to do everyday things. I think its time to replace.

Here is where my question lies. Im going to spend the $1500 and get the fully loaded 13" MBP but should i wait till the next update? Will there be enough of a change to warrant me waiting.

Right now the current fully loaded 13" MBP has 2.9GHz Core i7, 8GM Ram, 750GB HD which is a huge upgrade from what i'm currently running.

Does anyone know when the next update will be? Will the chip change? Will there be a dramatic increase in processor, ram, HD?
Click to expand...

Why have you not bumped that thing to 4GB of RAM yet? That will make a substantial difference and will definitely give that machine at least enough life to get you well past the date of discontinuation of the current crop of MacBook Pros. Unless you want to sell that machine now, though, you'll make more money selling it with 4GB of RAM versus 2GB of RAM.

Otherwise, yes, the next rev is likely going to introduce Intel Haswell chips and they will bring a substantial increase in processor speed and integrated graphics performance. Expect the non-retina MacBook Pros to be discontinued leaving only the retina models in the MacBook Pro product line. Externally, expect little to change between this year's 13" and 15" retina and next year's. Under the hood, expect some layout changes, but nothing drastic like quad-core/discrete GPU for the 13" or dual-SSDs for the 15". RAM will still be soldered and likely 8GB and 16GB options at either the current speed of DDR3 or one faster (my guess is current 1600MHz PC3-12800 DDR3L RAM will continue on into the next rev). Prices on the SSDs ought to come down a little to make it affordable and so that it better fits the price-points left over from the non-retina models of today.

As for whether now's the right time to buy, if you didn't have a machine that had more time left in it, I'd say that now is "buy now or wait time". Wait any longer, and it makes more sense to wait for the refresh. Otherwise, buy now. But in your case, I'd slap more RAM in what you have, maybe upgrade the drive (spend no more than $150 in the process), wait a good six to eight months from now, and then re-evaluate whether to buy or wait.
 
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elbaseball212

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 3, 2011
25
0
Tampa, Florida
Yebubbleman said:
Why have you not bumped that thing to 4GB of RAM yet? That will make a substantial difference and will definitely give that machine at least enough life to get you well past the date of discontinuation of the current crop of MacBook Pros. Unless you want to sell that machine now, though, you'll make more money selling it with 4GB of RAM versus 2GB of RAM.

Otherwise, yes, the next rev is likely going to introduce Intel Haswell chips and they will bring a substantial increase in processor speed and integrated graphics performance. Expect the non-retina MacBook Pros to be discontinued leaving only the retina models in the MacBook Pro product line. Externally, expect little to change between this year's 13" and 15" retina and next year's. Under the hood, expect some layout changes, but nothing drastic like quad-core/discrete GPU for the 13" or dual-SSDs for the 15". RAM will still be soldered and likely 8GB and 16GB options at either the current speed of DDR3 or one faster (my guess is current 1600MHz PC3-12800 DDR3L RAM will continue on into the next rev). Prices on the SSDs ought to come down a little to make it affordable and so that it better fits the price-points left over from the non-retina models of today.

As for whether now's the right time to buy, if you didn't have a machine that had more time left in it, I'd say that now is "buy now or wait time". Wait any longer, and it makes more sense to wait for the refresh. Otherwise, buy now. But in your case, I'd slap more RAM in what you have, maybe upgrade the drive (spend no more than $150 in the process), wait a good six to eight months from now, and then re-evaluate whether to buy or wait.
Click to expand...

thanks for the post. i thought about it and decided to sell my macbook and upgrade now. will be purchasing tomorrow from best buy with educational pricing.

thanks
 
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