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Buy MBP now or wait for Lion

Z

zain24

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 14, 2011
5
0
Hello!

I would like to know whether it is smart to buy a MBP now or wait for Lion? I am assuming the MBP will not be changing at all this year - so if I buy it now, how easy will it be to upgrade to Lion? Are prices usually over 100 dollars to upgrade? Is there a suspected date for Lion release? Summer is a long time to wait.

Thinking about i7, 13" MBP with 4GB ram.
 
It's always smart to delay buying any computer until you need it. So if you need it now, then buy it, and you can upgrade probably late this Summer. Traditionally the price has been $129 and the upgrade is easy. However if don't need a new computer now, then wait.
 
Facing the same dilemma. Thinking of picking up a new MBP but not too sure what I should do with regards to Lion. Hopefully they won't make the upgrade that expensive.
 
Always wait to buy a computer because there is always something better down the road.
 
Thanks for the helpful replies!

Wow free ipod touch? Does that mean the price for MBP will increase when Lion is out?
 
I'm pretty sure the free iPod Touch promotion only applies to students. That's assuming they even run it this year, of course.
 
I tend to be a reversion (or 5 I still have and use a P4) behind, that way any issues that arise have been ironed out or workarounds found. I'm looking at getting my first macbook and looking at getting a 2010 model. Saying that I upgraded to Windows 7 straight away and loving it. No major or even minor issues found for me.
 
Now!

Lion is no reason to wait for a purchase. You'll love it now and the software you use on a day to day basis won't change. But I would save up the extra 300 for the 15 with quad core, better graphics and larger screen. Otherwise the lower end Macbook Pro with an aftermarket SSD is a better computer than the one you're looking at as it will be noticeably faster because of the ssd.
 
I would buy the machine now. Lion is slated to be released in Summer (usually August), so you'd be waiting several months just to save around $125 dollars.
 
It's not going to be long before the new Macs come preloaded & optimized (small but valuable tweaks) for Lion, I'm sure you'd be very glad you waited.
 
i was in a similar predicament
i couldn't wait any longer...so jsut brought a MBP 17"

having only recently moving over to mac, i brought a 2010 MBP in dec as my laptop bricked it and i was without iphone/laptop so needed something

i recently sold my MBP 15" as it was untouched, but i really miss it now im back using a windows laptop borrowed from a sibling

god i miss the trackpad!

surely if you have new 2011 MBP u should be able to get lion with some sort of concession, even a small coupon...lol
 
Want:

If you need it now, buy it now.

If you really, really, want one now, then buy one now.

Be happy.

Wait:

If you can wait, then wait.

If you don't need it, and only 'kind of' want one, then wait.

If you are just kind of interested, then wait.

Wait and be happy.

:)
 
Thanks for the helpful replies. I really do need it, so I think I should buy now and hope there will be a discount for Lion

Sirmausalot said:
Lion is no reason to wait for a purchase. You'll love it now and the software you use on a day to day basis won't change. But I would save up the extra 300 for the 15 with quad core, better graphics and larger screen. Otherwise the lower end Macbook Pro with an aftermarket SSD is a better computer than the one you're looking at as it will be noticeably faster because of the ssd.
Click to expand...

Thats really good advice, thank you. I am actually worried about this as I tend to use a lot of programs at once (photoshop, illustrator, indesign, cyberduck FTP, ichat, preview, microsoft word and chrome at once).

I don't think I will get a 15" though.

These are my options with MBP 13" [Edu pricing]:

A - i5: $1,149.00 + $198 [8gb upgrade] + $225 [128GB Solid State Drive] + $219 [apple care] = $1,791

B - i7: $1,449.00 + $198 [8gb upgrade] + $180 [128GB Solid State Drive] + $219 [apple care] = $2,046

$255 difference.. I am looking for speed rather than space. I don't have any itunes or photos really. My family has a time machine that I can use for storage so don't need the SSD I think. I probably wont be using more than 200GB on internal hard drive. Right now I have a regular macbook with capacity of 111 gb and 13 gb left. It only has 1 GB of ram and is an 2.2GHz intel core 2 duo. Likely my next purchase will be kept for a while. Money is an issue thats why I am reluctant to go ahead and purchase option B. Thinking I should not get the SSD regardless of A or B unless it makes a huge impact.

Do you guys have any recommendations?
 
Last edited:
zenio said:
It's not going to be long before the new Macs come preloaded & optimized (small but valuable tweaks) for Lion, I'm sure you'd be very glad you waited.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply.

Preloaded and optimized sounds good, but if they're not changing the Macbook Pro hardware then in the end wont installing Lion myself be the same thing?
 
There will probably some bugs. Buy the MBP now and wait for 1-2 months after the software release. Hopefully the major issues will be sorted out.
 
zain24 said:
Thanks for your reply.

Preloaded and optimized sounds good, but if they're not changing the Macbook Pro hardware then in the end wont installing Lion myself be the same thing?
Click to expand...

Yes. The "tweaks" to which he's referring are virtually non-existent. There is no substantive difference between buying a MBP now and buying one after Lion is released.
 
zain24 said:
I am looking for speed rather than space. I don't have any itunes or photos really. My family has a time machine that I can use for storage so don't need the SSD I think. I probably wont be using more than 200GB on internal hard drive. Right now I have a regular macbook with capacity of 111 gb and 13 gb left. It only has 1 GB of ram and is an 2.2GHz intel core 2 duo. Likely my next purchase will be kept for a while. Money is an issue thats why I am reluctant to go ahead and purchase option B. Thinking I should not get the SSD regardless of A or B unless it makes a huge impact.
Click to expand...

If you are using 111 GB now, getting a system with only 128GB of SSD will be a problem. Also, the i7 doesn't really offer that much performance improvement over the i5 -- the i5 is considered to be the best bang-for-buck.

I'd suggest saving money by buying the RAM upgrade elsewhere. For instance Crucial.com has 8GB for <$100. You could also consider swapping out the standard hard drive for a hybrid like the Seagate Momentus XT.
 
A - i5: $1,149.00 + $198 [8gb upgrade] + $225 [128GB Solid State Drive] + $219 [apple care] = $1,791

B - i7: $1,449.00 + $198 [8gb upgrade] + $180 [128GB Solid State Drive] + $219 [apple care] = $2,046

Get the base model with 4Gb ram. Then upgrade the ram yourself for half the price then sell the old ram.

Also, you might want to consider getting a 120GB SSD from a place like OWC (which has a better SSD than Apples) for about the same price instead and then keep the original drive as your backup drive.
 
sonnyfazio said:
I would buy the machine now. Lion is slated to be released in Summer (usually August), so you'd be waiting several months just to save around $125 dollars.
Click to expand...

I've decided to wait for Lion and will buy a MBP once Lion is announced. I leave for china mid August and won't be back for a long time. Is it likely that Lion will be announced prior to release? I understand that buying once Lion is announced entitles one to a free upgrade. Anybody know if that is true?

What's the speculation about Lion release date? I know summer of 2011. Any good ideas about that?
 
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