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Is now a good time to buy a MacBook Pro?

S

skuzzy

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 1, 2007
77
0
Cape Town, SA
Hi

Since this is my first post on this forum, I will try to make a good impression.

Basically I want to know if now (more like December 6th) is a good time to buy a MacBook Pro? I am looking at the 17" with the high-resolution glossy display, 2.6GHz processor and 2GB of RAM - everything else is stock. This will be my first Mac.

Now according to the buyers guide, I should only buy one if I need it. Its not incredibly urgent (but I would like to have it by the 20th January), would it be worth waiting for Mac World and the keynote to see if it is updated at all? Remember, I am only looking at the 17" because I will be doing a lot of graphic design work. I would not even consider the "ultra-portable" which is going to be announced.

Thanks
skuzz
 
I was having the same debate... and then last night I got one... and am typing this post on it. I love it. There will always be something newer or better around the corner and then what if they dont come out at MWSF? I HAD to have it around the same time you did and thought that if it doesnt come out then I wasted alot of time that I could used getting to my Mac. Anyways the speculation isn't even for that big of an ungrade as once thought.
 
YESSS!! It is defiantly a good idea to wait for the new MacBook Pros at MarWorld because there is a high chance that they will be updated with Intel's latest chip Penyn which incorporates new 45nm technologies potentially this will be a huge update to the MacBook Pro. I'm not going to say you won't like your new Mac but I think waiting is the best option.
 
If I do decide to wait and they do upgrade the processor and some other bits, how long will it be before I will be able to order that MacBook Pro off the Apple Store? Will it be the day after the conference or more like a month?
 
Apple's been getting much better about announcing things and having them for sale the same day. Shipping in like a week, turn around is pretty fast.

However, there's no guarantee that the MBP will be updated, or it will be available right away. It should be though. if I was in your position, I'd wait, just because you don't wanna go spending so much money just for it to be "outdated" in a month or two.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
Apple's been getting much better about announcing things and having them for sale the same day. Shipping in like a week, turn around is pretty fast.

However, there's no guarantee that the MBP will be updated, or it will be available right away. It should be though. if I was in your position, I'd wait, just because you don't wanna go spending so much money just for it to be "outdated" in a month or two.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I guess its just a gamble. Wait and be rewarded or wait and just waste time.
 
If you had inquired on any other month I would say BUY NOW. But the greatest possibility all year is coming on January 14. I imagine the 2.6 will no longer be a BTO option but a standard configuration in addition to a $100 price drop.

That being said. Outside of the fact you will not have the best and newest next month; it is still a fantastic machine that will take whatever you throw at it for at least a few years.
 
Wait. Considering Apple's recent history of almost immediately upgrading the MBP's after a new chip is released, then it points to it happening in January when the new Penryns are shipped. I'm not going to say the probability of it happening is 100%, but I say it's a pretty good bet if you do decide to wait.

It may not be a HUGE FANTASTIC SUPER COOL WOW!!! upgrade....but if anything, even if it's a modest speed boost and more storage, you will be getting more bang for the buck by just waiting now 45 days since the 2.5 Ghz model is likely to be the base at $1,999 as opposed to 2.2 So you are definitely getting more for your money if you wait.
 
Thanks for the responses, looks like I will be waiting for this one. As I said before, this will be my first Mac. Right now I am using a crappy HP laptop which struggles with just opening MS Word. So a MacBook Pro will be a nice upgrade.

School starts up again on the 16th January, I would have liked to have had it by then but I would also like to have something which is not outdated the week after I get it. The choice is an obvious one to me - wait.
 
I think it's worth the wait if you can afford the time. The chances of an update are good, and having something new and shiny is fun.

I'm holding off on a MacBook for a while just in case the rumoured ultra-portable is in the works.
 
Get one now

scienide09 said:
I think it's worth the wait if you can afford the time. The chances of an update are good, and having something new and shiny is fun.

I'm holding off on a MacBook for a while just in case the rumoured ultra-portable is in the works.
Click to expand...

Personally I would get one now because it gives you time to work out any kinks over the holidays so that you do not find yourself having to mail your macbook pro back to apple if anything is defective. I just got one myself a few days ago and am lucky that everything is perfect with it. Unless you are going to do some significant amount of video editing or photoshop (in which case you should not be getting a laptop but rather a mac pro) the upgrade will most likely be insignificant to you. Get one and enjoy the holidays with it.
 
gdesalvo@umail. said:
Personally I would get one now because it gives you time to work out any kinks over the holidays so that you do not find yourself having to mail your macbook pro back to apple if anything is defective. I just got one myself a few days ago and am lucky that everything is perfect with it. Unless you are going to do some significant amount of video editing or photoshop (in which case you should not be getting a laptop but rather a mac pro) the upgrade will most likely be insignificant to you. Get one and enjoy the holidays with it.
Click to expand...

You have a good point. It is also possible that the updated Macs will have issues that won't be sorted out for a month or two. I live in South Africa, which means that I am importing one. The last thing that I would want is for it to be defective in any way because it means that I would either have to send it back and forward, or fight with the local supplier which would probably take weeks.

ivan1234 said:
the right time is when you need one.
Click to expand...

:)
 
pscoble said:
YESSS!! It is defiantly a good idea to wait for the new MacBook Pros at MarWorld because there is a high chance that they will be updated with Intel's latest chip Penyn which incorporates new 45nm technologies potentially this will be a huge update to the MacBook Pro. I'm not going to say you won't like your new Mac but I think waiting is the best option.
Click to expand...

We have to remember what the Penryn chip even offers before thinking it is the greatest most super-duper update ever. According to Intel (biased, for sure), the Penryn offers about 20% speed improvement and because its smaller and uses less power, gives an increased battery life (theoretically). My guess is that it will be 10-15% faster and improve the battery life marginally (about 20 minutes maybe if they're lucky). However, I too am holding out to get one but only because I'm not in any rush. If I were I would definitely not hold my breath out for it.
 
Get it Now

gdesalvo@umail. said:
Personally I would get one now because it gives you time to work out any kinks over the holidays so that you do not find yourself having to mail your macbook pro back to apple if anything is defective. I just got one myself a few days ago and am lucky that everything is perfect with it. Unless you are going to do some significant amount of video editing or photoshop (in which case you should not be getting a laptop but rather a mac pro) the upgrade will most likely be insignificant to you. Get one and enjoy the holidays with it.
Click to expand...

I'm with gdesalvo on this one. As tantalizing as all the rumors are about January, this breathless anticipation seems to discount the chances of problems that early adopters usually face -- anywhere including with mac laptops. The devil you know is better than the one you will meet next year.

Good luck, and by I refer again to gdesalvo's sage comment that he just got his and "was lucky that everything is perfect with it." Odds were in his favor but it is still a roll of the dice.

P.S. I don't share gdesalvo's feeling that you need a MacPro for video editing. Certainly you do for really intense work but I think MBP can handle most consumer video editing nicely. I was in an Apple Store looking at both the 15's and 17's which both had Final Cut Studio 2 installed with a mixed format editing job loaded. It seemed to handle the rendering of three formats pretty smoothly. I didn't see any fancy transitions that sometimes bog things down but it was workable. The bigger concern I would have the using MBPs for video editing is to make sure that you have your resource files on an external, fast HDD and not on your system drive. If you that and make sure you get the 7200 rpm upgrade, you should be fine. IMHO
 
I've decided to wait. I doubt that if they are just doing a processor upgrade/other minor stuff there is not a lot which is new to go wrong with. I am prepared to wait, gives me time so save up more monies for stuff like a base station and a mighty mouse which normally cost twice as much as they do in the states over here.

I am not going to be doing large amounts of video editing, only Photoshop. Doing an internship at an advertising/marketing company next year and that is what I plan on doing after school, made sense to get a Mac seeing as it typically runs all that software better.
 
skuzzy said:
Now according to the buyers guide, I should only buy one if I need it.
Click to expand...

That's actually *always* the case! Why would you buy something you don't need? Naturally, "needs" change and are a matter of opinion, but clearly you should ask yourself this question:

How much do I need this thing?

It is always a good time to buy exactly what you need.
 
JFreak said:
That's actually *always* the case! Why would you buy something you don't need? Naturally, "needs" change and are a matter of opinion, but clearly you should ask yourself this question:

How much do I need this thing?

It is always a good time to buy exactly what you need.
Click to expand...

I need it, but I don't need it right now.

:rolleyes:
 
I'd say just buy it. They won't be changing the price points and it's just going to be a simple Merom to Penryn swap. That's it. No redesign, no graphics update, no faster ram/fsb. Just a CPU speed bump. The performance gains might be 5%.

Unless you're doing some CPU intensive ****, you won't even notice the difference.
 
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