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2010 MBP owner, why I will prolly skip 2011

P

prism

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 6, 2006
1,091
451
I got the "low end" 15" MBP in late april 2010 and have been a very happy camper. I got it with the hires AG screen which I find amazing.
When the 2011 was released, I was blown away by the specs, SB is really incredible, you get double the performance in certain tasks and the battery life is actually longer. Wow! Truly impressive.
I was tempted by the "low end" and would have probably pulled the trigger had it not been the "crippled" GPU they put in it! Don't get me wrong, I am a casual gamer, I play very occasionally but if I am going to pay north of 2k for a laptop, I do expect the GPU to be in line with the rest, after all in 2010 the GPU was identical across the line, it was the dedicated memory that was different which is something I can live with. But now???
So why not go for the high end? Well put it this way, if I am going to go for it I would want it with the hires AG screen and why not throw in an SSD for an additional $100? That brings the price tag to somewhere in the stratospheric 2.7k region. I'm sorry to say that although I agree that configured this way it is a beast of a machine, you are also paying a lot of money for that power!
So I guess I will stick to my current setup at least until Apple decides to become a little less greedy. My next purchase will be an SSD, i'm just waiting for prices to become a bit more reasonable.
 
prism said:
I got the "low end" 15" MBP in late april 2010 and have been a very happy camper. I got it with the hires AG screen which I find amazing.
When the 2011 was released, I was blown away by the specs, SB is really incredible, you get double the performance in certain tasks and the battery life is actually longer. Wow! Truly impressive.
I was tempted by the "low end" and would have probably pulled the trigger had it not been the "crippled" GPU they put in it! Don't get me wrong, I am a casual gamer, I play very occasionally but if I am going to pay north of 2k for a laptop, I do expect the GPU to be in line with the rest, after all in 2010 the GPU was identical across the line, it was the dedicated memory that was different which is something I can live with. But now???
So why not go for the high end? Well put it this way, if I am going to go for it I would want it with the hires AG screen and why not throw in an SSD for an additional $100? That brings the price tag to somewhere in the stratospheric 2.7k region. I'm sorry to say that although I agree that configured this way it is a beast of a machine, you are also paying a lot of money for that power!
So I guess I will stick to my current setup at least until Apple decides to become a little less greedy. My next purchase will be an SSD, i'm just waiting for prices to become a bit more reasonable.
Click to expand...

The 15" low end gpu is still faster than the 330M...
 
Prism,

I say your reasoning sounds very logical for your case.

The new machines are screamers but the 2010 are certainly no slouches.
 
I was thinking the same thing but got carried away in the Apple Store and ended up buying the 2011 13" MBP.
 
Not to try to convince you otherwise but my personal case is that the 2011 15" MBPro will be my first personal purchase of an Apple laptop. Work has always provided me with laptops in the past. It will be a total desktop/workstation replacement for my consulting gigs so it has to perform. The way I see it, I am paying a premium for Sandybridge and saving on not having to buy a workstation for home. SSDs are still overpriced (waiting for Intel G3 here) but I will definitely get one when the prices align more. $2.5K is a hefty sum but in the end, the user experience matters to me.

In your shoes however, I would be perfectly happy with the 2010 model and a one year upgrade cycle is ridiculous at these prices. Unless you can sell your model for a decent price. Of course Apple are greedy, aren't we all?
 
prism said:
I got the "low end" 15" MBP in late april 2010 and have been a very happy camper. I got it with the hires AG screen which I find amazing.
When the 2011 was released, I was blown away by the specs, SB is really incredible, you get double the performance in certain tasks and the battery life is actually longer. Wow! Truly impressive.
I was tempted by the "low end" and would have probably pulled the trigger had it not been the "crippled" GPU they put in it! Don't get me wrong, I am a casual gamer, I play very occasionally but if I am going to pay north of 2k for a laptop, I do expect the GPU to be in line with the rest, after all in 2010 the GPU was identical across the line, it was the dedicated memory that was different which is something I can live with. But now???
So why not go for the high end? Well put it this way, if I am going to go for it I would want it with the hires AG screen and why not throw in an SSD for an additional $100? That brings the price tag to somewhere in the stratospheric 2.7k region. I'm sorry to say that although I agree that configured this way it is a beast of a machine, you are also paying a lot of money for that power!
So I guess I will stick to my current setup at least until Apple decides to become a little less greedy. My next purchase will be an SSD, i'm just waiting for prices to become a bit more reasonable.
Click to expand...

The one you are referring to, being north of $2k, has the ati 6750 with 1gb ram. That's a pretty massive card imho. Coupled with the benchmarks showing they are significantly faster than last years model, I personally would be and was a buyer.
 
I'll be interested if a quad core mac mini ever gets released..otherwise im good for now.
 
prism said:
I got the "low end" 15" MBP in late april 2010 and have been a very happy camper. I got it with the hires AG screen which I find amazing.
When the 2011 was released, I was blown away by the specs, SB is really incredible, you get double the performance in certain tasks and the battery life is actually longer. Wow! Truly impressive.
I was tempted by the "low end" and would have probably pulled the trigger had it not been the "crippled" GPU they put in it! Don't get me wrong, I am a casual gamer, I play very occasionally but if I am going to pay north of 2k for a laptop, I do expect the GPU to be in line with the rest, after all in 2010 the GPU was identical across the line, it was the dedicated memory that was different which is something I can live with. But now???
So why not go for the high end? Well put it this way, if I am going to go for it I would want it with the hires AG screen and why not throw in an SSD for an additional $100? That brings the price tag to somewhere in the stratospheric 2.7k region. I'm sorry to say that although I agree that configured this way it is a beast of a machine, you are also paying a lot of money for that power!
So I guess I will stick to my current setup at least until Apple decides to become a little less greedy. My next purchase will be an SSD, i'm just waiting for prices to become a bit more reasonable.
Click to expand...

Ok let me re-iterate:

First off, the you call the low-end 15"'s GPU "crippled" when in reality it is about equal or a bit faster than the 330M (check some benchmarks).

Then you go on talking about how if you were to get the HIGH-END 15", which has a Video Card that blows the 330M out of the water and into orbit, that adding some extra BTO featurs (AG Screen + SSD) would make it not worth it somehow?

First off I just checked and the price of the high end 15" with a 128GB SSD + the High Res Antiglare Screen is $2,449 WITHOUT a student discount. WITH a student discount, the same build is $2,224!

It seems to me you are just trying to justify that your 2010 MBP is still good, AND IT IS - BUT you saying that it's on equal ground as the 2011 15" MBPs is a blatant lie.
 
It's not normal to buy a new laptop every year.....:rolleyes:

Having a 2010 MacBook is a good enough reason to not get a 2011 (even 2012) MacBook.
 
Benjamins said:
It's not normal to buy a new laptop every year.....:rolleyes:

Having a 2010 MacBook is a good enough reason to not get a 2011 (even 2012) MacBook.
Click to expand...

Exactly. If I had a lot of spare money I might do it just cause I could (and I like having new tech, I like toys), but there is very very few people who have a *real* reason to have a new computer every year (I mean if we are talking smart budgeting that's a silly purchase if you just have a year old computer).

On the other hand, at some point some one had a good justification for it... he pointed out that he could sell the year old one for 200 less than the new one and pretty much get a new computer for 200 (the difference he'd have to pay between the two) every year. If you think about it, that means he has apple's warranty on each computer every year (which is less than paying for applecare), a brand new computer that isn't going to start getting age issues, and really, if you update your computer ever three years you might end up losing more money than that (the 2010 was 1200, I think I could have sold my 2007 for 500, so loss of 700 dollars there, 100 more than if I tried his method).

So, if he is right that the macbooks only lose about 200 value every year, it actually might make sense to update every year if you are willing to go through selling your old one and porting all your info every year. Shoot, if you had to lose 300 dollars each year it might still be worth it (by my calculations it would cost 200 more than just updating every three years, still cheaper than applecare for those three years though).

Too bad I'm on too tight a budget to test that theory (if I get a better job I just might though).
 
Do you guys have any links to the benchmarks showing the performance of the MPB 15's 6490M vs other GPUs?
 
Benjamins said:
It's not normal to buy a new laptop every year.....:rolleyes:

Having a 2010 MacBook is a good enough reason to not get a 2011 (even 2012) MacBook.
Click to expand...
I'm glad you said it! Not only that, it seems odd (to me) that many people come on here to justify exactly why they are not getting the new model. I for one don't get it. I mean, I just got the big daddy in my sig which replaced my 4 year old Santa Rosa C2D 17" Laptop. I had it FOUR YEARS. And guess what? It still works perfectly. My point is, it is very easy to get sucked into needing to upgrade to the latest and greatest every refresh. Keeping up with the Jones' if you will. It isn't healthy at all. Once your computer starts being less useful to you or becomes a bottleneck in your work then it is time for an upgrade.

Of course, this is all just my opinion. :)
 
That 2010 laptop should last you until 2015. Think about getting a new one then. There is no reason to buy a new machine until your old one starts to lag on the things you are doing.
 
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Good choice. People seem toforget that the 2010 MBP's are still quite fast an won't certainly feel or be slow for a while longer. I did the update but only because I had a 2009. I wouldn't have made the move otherwise. I find the 15" in particular stay more relevant longer anyways.
 
If you going to buy a 2010 laptop why would you replace it for a 2011 one?

A laptop ideally should last you 3-4 years I only ever changed a laptop/pc when processors get changed!

So:pentium 4 to core2duo to I5/I7

Thats why apple are not going to do major speed bumps as "most" people keep there laptop 3-4 years all they do is aim at the people in this 3-4 year span and leave the techs heads disappointed who try sell and replace every year!
 
xlii said:
That 2010 laptop should last you until 2015. Think about getting a new one then. There is no reason to buy a new machine until your old one starts to lag on the things you are doing.
Click to expand...

+1
Seems like some people upgrade just because they want to have the latest version.
I'm planning to keep mine until 2014 at the least. (not that I'm trying to put an expiration date on my laptop ... but by then I might need a new one depending on how things go)
 
I have a 2008 MacBook Aluminum, and while I'd love to upgrade to the 13" MBP, having a perfectly functional 2008 laptop is enough incentive to not do that. If this one dies, or even begins to have significant issues, you can bet I'll be doing everything I can to justify a new one, but until then, I see no reason to buy something new if I don't need to.

jW
 
xlii said:
That 2010 laptop should last you until 2015. Think about getting a new one then. There is no reason to buy a new machine until your old one starts to lag on the things you are doing.
Click to expand...

Or longer. I know plenty of people still running 10.4.11. When you're 2 operating systems behind - or the main applications you use no longer work on them then it's time to upgrade.
 
whateverandever said:
I love these threads where the OP has to justify to himself why he/she made a decision by making a forum post.
Click to expand...

Well, people deal with buyer's remorse in many ways. Justifying why or why not a purchase was made or declined seems to make people feel better.

I think the 2009 to 2010 change was much smaller than the 2010 to 2011 given the move to Quad Core, AMD, and Thunderbolt addition.

In the end, it is up to the person to decide of their decision was the right one. Getting morale support is reenforcing their

You know, for some time I've given a great deal of thought to writing a paper on the posting habits of these type of fanatic websites. Another colleague and myself have spent time on sites like this for Apple, HP, Alienware, Toshiba, and even automotive fanatic websites.

In the end, you can generally classify the posts to about a dozen types that just repeat themselves.

As much as these websites offer technical support there is also similarities to group therapy. Which, if you think about it, isn't all that strange. People deciding on buying a new revisions, posting why or why not they did upgrade, and why their object of affection is better than a competitor.


In the end, I think we all agree that posting on MR is must cheaper than paying for group therapy, right?

-P
 
melterx12 said:
Ok let me re-iterate:

First off, the you call the low-end 15"'s GPU "crippled" when in reality it is about equal or a bit faster than the 330M (check some benchmarks).

Then you go on talking about how if you were to get the HIGH-END 15", which has a Video Card that blows the 330M out of the water and into orbit, that adding some extra BTO featurs (AG Screen + SSD) would make it not worth it somehow?

First off I just checked and the price of the high end 15" with a 128GB SSD + the High Res Antiglare Screen is $2,449 WITHOUT a student discount. WITH a student discount, the same build is $2,224!

It seems to me you are just trying to justify that your 2010 MBP is still good, AND IT IS - BUT you saying that it's on equal ground as the 2011 15" MBPs is a blatant lie.
Click to expand...

Sorry to burst your bubble but I never said it was on equal ground, I just said that I would be more than happy to fork out the equivalent amount that I did last year for the configuration without the "crippled" GPU. Also, you quote $2449, unless you are one of the lucky few that doesnt pay state taxes, its going to be more than that!
 
Pentad said:
Well, people deal with buyer's remorse in many ways. Justifying why or why not a purchase was made or declined seems to make people feel better.

I think the 2009 to 2010 change was much smaller than the 2010 to 2011 given the move to Quad Core, AMD, and Thunderbolt addition.

In the end, it is up to the person to decide of their decision was the right one. Getting morale support is reenforcing their

You know, for some time I've given a great deal of thought to writing a paper on the posting habits of these type of fanatic websites. Another colleague and myself have spent time on sites like this for Apple, HP, Alienware, Toshiba, and even automotive fanatic websites.

In the end, you can generally classify the posts to about a dozen types that just repeat themselves.

As much as these websites offer technical support there is also similarities to group therapy. Which, if you think about it, isn't all that strange. People deciding on buying a new revisions, posting why or why not they did upgrade, and why their object of affection is better than a competitor.


In the end, I think we all agree that posting on MR is must cheaper than paying for group therapy, right?

-P
Click to expand...

You forget to mention that there is a "right" price for everything in life, maybe for you, 2.6k is no big deal, in my books it is! I agree you get incredibly firepower but you also pay a serious premium for it!
 
Benjamins said:
It's not normal to buy a new laptop every year.....:rolleyes:

Having a 2010 MacBook is a good enough reason to not get a 2011 (even 2012) MacBook.
Click to expand...

this.
i read on this forum and see people thinking that their 1 year old laptop/computer is obsolete.

i have the 17" 2010 version and i really dont care/need the extra power. my days of focusing on only specs and speeds are behind me.

my 2010 mbp allows me to use indesin, photoshop, and illustrator. good enough for me. i might just max out the ram at 8gb

i know a lot of people who sold/got rid of their 2010 macbooks just for SB because they want a faster processor to....surf the internet with :rolleyes:
 
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