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Early 2011 vs Winter 2011 Macbook Pro

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T

tzread

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Aug 15, 2011
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So i bought a high end 15 inch Macbook pro at the beginning of September. I also added the extra 8Gb of ram. I chose this because i am doing an engineering course at university so i thought that during my course i will need to do a bit of CAD. I also wanted to "future proof" it so i went for a high spec. My question is what is the difference between the one i bought and the new macbook pro 15 inch, i know it has an extra .2 Ghz, a different graphic card 6770M instead of 6750M. How much of a difference does this make? Also how much of a difference would the 7200 rpm make instead of the 5400 rpm. I ask this because a friend of mine is interested in buying it off me and i don't mind making a bit of a loss to upgrade, but wanted to know if it was worth it?
Thank you
 
The .2 GHz you will not notice a difference, trust me. The video card is maybe an extra 2-3 FPS in games, but again, not noticeable. You could just overclock the 6750M to perform like a 6770M. But 7200RPM vs. 5400RPM is VERY noticeable. But I'd buy the hard drive from like Newegg or something and replace it yourself. Don't upgrade and if you feel sluggish, get an SSD.

I have an early-2011 15" as well, top 2.3GHz (so it's like a mid-range now) and I don't want to upgrade. Wait to upgrade until June for Ivy Bridge.
 
Considering all the complaining on here about the updates, I doubt it's much faster. If you're going to buy a new one already, I'd wait for next year's update, since it'll have the new Intel chipset that supports Thunderbolt and USB 3 (and therefore people will be very unhappy if Apple doesn't support USB 3).
 
the extra rpm does that just mean the laptop and apps will start quicker?
 
They are such minor differences that it isn't worth trading up. You won't see any noticeable improvements. A few years from now when everything computer is more powerful, that extra 0.2GHz won't do a thing for you.
 
Kendo said:
They are such minor differences that it isn't worth trading up. You won't see any noticeable improvements. A few years from now when everything computer is more powerful, that extra 0.2GHz won't do a thing for you.
Click to expand...
I agree, but the people who bought the early 2011 MBPs no longer have the latest and greatest.
 
Kendo said:
They are such minor differences that it isn't worth trading up. You won't see any noticeable improvements. A few years from now when everything computer is more powerful, that extra 0.2GHz won't do a thing for you.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm one who likes the latest-and-greatest, but since the 2.2GHz is around and I have a 2.3GHz, at least I'm "mid-range" now.
 
dlimes13 said:
Yes, I'm one who likes the latest-and-greatest, but since the 2.2GHz is around and I have a 2.3GHz, at least I'm "mid-range" now.
Click to expand...

it's not exactly like the 2.2 is "lower-range." Maybe it is for the MBP line, but if you expand out to the market in general it's still a beast.
 
for what you do, I wouldn't sweat it. There won't even be a noticeable difference as in, you could literally have the 2 laptops side by side, and you won't be able to tell which is the newer one.

I say, keep your current one, don't spend unnecessary money. That is what I would do if I were in your position anyway.
 
Hold on to what you have now and wait for the Ivy Bridge refresh before you even consider updating.
 
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