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2010 13" MBP Users: Keeping MBP or "upgrading"?

A

atrac7

macrumors regular
Original poster
Well, just as the question states. I myself have the CD2 2.4 2010 13" MBP. I put the word "upgrade" in quotes because some people are not labeling the new 2011 13" MBP as that.

Is the 320M that much more worthy of a graphics processor over the new one in the 2011? I believe it's called HD3000.

Dual core i5 sounds good in my opinion, but what type of usage would lead to the full potential of those i5s? The question I mainly want to ask is: How much WORSE is our CD2 in our 2010 MBP? Just trying to gauge a baseline here.

So how many of you are on the fence about selling your 13" for 800-900 (likely) and picking up the new 2011's?
 
The i7 is worth it. The new i5 seems to bench slightly lower than a 2.8GHz core 2 duo (Not worth it). The i7 is on par with the previous highest end chip from last years MBP 15-17"'s. You make the call.
 
atrac7 said:
Well, just as the question states. I myself have the CD2 2.4 2010 13" MBP. I put the word "upgrade" in quotes because some people are not labeling the new 2011 13" MBP as that.

Is the 320M that much more worthy of a graphics processor over the new one in the 2011? I believe it's called HD3000.

Dual core i5 sounds good in my opinion, but what type of usage would lead to the full potential of those i5s? The question I mainly want to ask is: How much WORSE is our CD2 in our 2010 MBP? Just trying to gauge a baseline here.

So how many of you are on the fence about selling your 13" for 800-900 (likely) and picking up the new 2011's?
Click to expand...

Depends on your needs? If you've got a 2010 I wouldn't bother unless you have very specific requirements. It's still a terrific notebook. I've bought the 2011 model today because I have to run alot of virtualisation software and the i5/i7 is a big benefit. If you're a gamer then the 2010 model is the obvious choice.
 
derbothaus said:
The i7 is worth it. The new i5 seems to bench slightly lower than a 2.8GHz core 2 duo (Not worth it). The i7 is on par with the previous highest end chip from last years MBP 15-17"'s. You make the call.
Click to expand...

Nah the i5 beats all the Core 2's except the QX9300 comfortably. I'd suggest you go for the i5 over the i7 given that the only difference is 0.4ghz and 1mb in cache.

Have a look here...

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

There are numerous tests comparing i5 with Core 2, heck even most of the last gen base i3's beat the higher end core 2's.
 
The problem is core 2 DUo is old processor, but it's not slow. It does everything that I need it to do including video editing.
Wait is my decision. Wait for liquid metal MBP. Apple is buying companies they make liquid metal to use it for their future products. It has to be iPad, MBP and other notebooks.
 
I sold my 2010 13" a few weeks ago and bought an i7 2.93GHz iMac. But if I hadn't, I'd definitely be upgrading to either the i7 13" or base model 15".

I'm impressed with the update.
 
Well I can't answer your tech question, but I do have a 2010 13" MBP. I could maybe even get the store do to an upgrade if I were really polite and nice.

But, I think I'll be keeping mine. At least for now. Here's why:

1) I'm really not super fond of the glossy screen, and I also don't like high-res displays on small screens, because I do a lot of writing/reading and it makes the characters really small (for me = squinting).

So I think if I went for a new computer, I wouldn't get another 13" MBP since they are all glossy screened. But what TO get??

A) The refurbished 15" MBP's look like a sweet deal right now, but as far as I can tell there is no matte/regular res option (only on the new ones do I see that). If I move to a 15" computer, I'm spending more and so am fussier: I don't want high res matte, nor do I want regular res glossy.

B) The combo I would want - regular res/matte - is now available in 15" with the refresh, but then we're talking nearly twice $$ as much as the MBP 13" I have. I would probably pay that if I new for sure that's what I wanted, but....

...then another side of me says "if staying 'small,' go with the 13" Air." Yes, it's high res, but at least it is matte. AND thin and "fun." But no backlit keyboard.... and then maybe go REALLY small and light and get the 11" and an external monitor..... 😱

So, I come around to the fact that my current, pretty much brand new MBP 13" is pretty darned good, and if I don't go spending $500-$1000 (difference) on another computer right now -- when I'm not even sure what I really want -- I can save it for the NEXT computer, when maybe I will have a better idea of my usage and desires (like, am I really going to get Aperture and start using it? Am I going to get into iMovie? FCE?? -- Would a super portable Air be better? I can probably find out by just keeping my MBP for now).

I think I will upgrade to 8g RAM, because it sounds like that is a lot of bang for the buck, and it will just come to me in the mail and I can do it myself (driving to the Apple store is a bit of a pain from my location).

Now if people come on and say that the new 13" is SO much better for Aperture, etc..... maybe I'll change my mind.

Oh, one other thing: It took my going through two+ MBP's to get one with a nice, smooth aluminum feel (not rough or extra-sharp edges). I don't know if I want to give my nice, smooth, "perfect" MBP up and go through all that again right now. Not to mention I'm not all that fond of the aluminum unibody anyway, so I'll be super keen to change if/when a new case comes out.

AND, I'm not really the early adopter type. Will the new ones run uneccesarily hot? Will there be "teething" problems? Maybe not, but perhaps I'll let others find out (knowing myself).

Miss Terri
 
I just bought the top of the line 2010 13" macbook pro on the refurb store for $1,050 and saved $500 (32%). Highest savings % I've ever seen in the refurb store so I had to buy it, the savings made it a clear cut decision for me.

If the new macbook pro's had more going for them, such as a higher resolution, or the 16gb SSD bootup drive that was rumored, then I probably would have paid the $500 extra. But since the 2010 model is really comparable I decided to just save the $500. It should arrive on Monday 😀
 
What do you guys think about the Apple SSD prices this time around for the base 13? I know their's are slower, but I wouldn't want the hassle of putting one in myself. You know, if I can sell my 2010
 
wrightc23 said:
Nah the i5 beats all the Core 2's except the QX9300 comfortably. I'd suggest you go for the i5 over the i7 given that the only difference is 0.4ghz and 1mb in cache.

Have a look here...

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

There are numerous tests comparing i5 with Core 2, heck even most of the last gen base i3's beat the higher end core 2's.
Click to expand...

Nah back at you...I think. That is where I got my initial info. the model in the 13" is I believe 2410M. The top ones are clearly listed as desktop variety.
The one we are talking about comes in at number 47.
In any even I was not advocating buying Core 2's ever again🙂
 
Interesting responses...how much faster would my work in aperture and lightroom be with the new dual core i5? Does the HD3000 have ANY advantages over the 320M? It seems clear the 320M is ideal for gaming.

My CD2 13" does what I want to relatively quick. However I've noticed my lag time on the desktop is considerably longer after bootup from when I first bought the computer. BUT, this should be understandable as I gather, considering i have been adding more programs, background apps, etc.

I guess the main thing that's tearing me inside is the impact of those new dual core processors. Everything else (like lightpeak) isn't really hitting a WOW factor with me. I also never use my webcam to video chat, so the HD camera isn't beckoning to me that much either. It's all down to the processors for me it seems AND if there are any advantages the new HD3000 card has.
 
Bought my 13" last March. I plan to get at least 3 years of use out of the machine. So by the time I plan to upgrade, the newly refreshed MBP's will be a considerable upgrade for me.
 
Keeping.
If I had the money, I'd be tempted by the i7 (do they still do the 4 virtual core thing?), but if I had the money, I'd probably stick an SSD in my current machine, and find a use for the change.

And the 320m is, by quite a long way, the best GPU/IGP in any "low end" mac laptop for quite some time, and by quite a bit. Arguably including the just released ones. Apparently it overclocks pretty good too, for that little extra poke
 
derbothaus said:
The 320M is not ideal for anything of the sort. It may be adequate and slightly faster than the new integrated HD3000. But it is quite a slow chip by any gaming standard.

For your slow boot up you may need a little bit of this:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11582/onyx
Click to expand...


Oh i know the 320m isn't ideal at gaming by itself, I meant in comparison to the HD3000, I am just wondering why Apple put the HD3000, what benefits it holds, etc.

Thanks for that link--I will look into that for sure !
 
atrac7 said:
Oh i know the 320m isn't ideal at gaming by itself, I meant in comparison to the HD3000, I am just wondering why Apple put the HD3000, what benefits it holds, etc.

Thanks for that link--I will look into that for sure !
Click to expand...

The benefit it holds is the CPU that comes along with it. The spec bump between the 2010 13" and 2011 is pretty badass.
 
I've thought about throwing my late 2010 13" on craigs list for $1,000 and seeing if I get any offers (if not I wouldn't be too concerned either), but the only upgrade I would do would be to a 15".

The extra pixels would be nice. But it's not a deal breaker and I love the battery life and portability.
 
Keeping my 2010 13" MBPro

Ill be keeping mine - mine does everything i want logic studio and wow and all other bells and whistles i use perfectly fine.

I'm hoping to get my hands on a cheap dell 23" HD screen in the next few weeks and then gonna swap out the hard drive for a 7200
henge dock order at the ready 😀
so when i do need the larger screen i will have it and also have something that is portable!

might look into extra ram but will see how it all pans out!

+1 for the 2010 13" MBpro
 
Very happy with the 2011 update, as it's not very impressive😀 It may be worth waiting for next major overhaul (2012? 2013??) at this rate. The resolution is truly pathetic, and even Apple will have to bump it come 2012. It's still up in the air which is the faster graphics card, but the 320m is awesome and can decode Flash and H264 in Plex and that's more than adequate for my needs at the moment. The battery life isn't a huge improvement, either, it seems.

Have to say the 2011 13" seems like poor value. WTF, Apple.
 
Hey what do you guys think on this one:

I have a 2010 2.4gHz 13" with OWC SSD.

The only way I can fund the new 2011 i5 13" is by selling it with ssd and just getting base model.

THerefore I would be losing SSD in favor of i5.

So what do you guys think? Are the added benefits of i5 worth losing SSD for?

Thanks!
 
I'm keeping my mid 2010 13" MacBook Pro. The new "upgrades", or downgrades are just not worth the i5 imo. Battery life is big for me, and i wouldn't trade anything for it.
 
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