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Let the wait for the i5 13" MacBook Pros continue...

A

Airboy98

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 27, 2010
38
0
Texas
First off, I would like to say that I've been lurking here on MR for a while now, with this being my first thread.

Like so many others on this forum, I was anxiously awaiting this anticipated MacBook Pro update to feature the core iX series processors. This was going to be my first Mac purchase as I wanted to get one right after an update to get the most bang for my buck. Unfortunately, users looking to go for or upgrade to the 13" were let down by this update.

I already know that MBP are quite expensive for their specs, but releasing new 15" and 17" models with the iX series but failing to include them in the 13" model is unacceptable, ESPECIALLY for the (basically) same price. The updates to the 15" and 17" models overall seem to be fairly decent (new processors, above-average graphics, 15" got HD) while the 13" got shafted. Also note that other companies such as Sony and HP have already come out with 13" notebooks that include core i5 processors.

For those that don't know, the 13" MBP includes the following improvements over last year's refresh (specifically 13"):

-Minor processor speed bump up to 2.4GHZ or 2.66GHZ
-Default 4GB RAM up from 2GB
-INTEGRATED NVIDIA GeForce 320M (256MB shared memory)
-Default HDD size up to 250GB from 160GB (credit to kny3twalker)
-Up to 10 Hour battery life

If you haven't read up on the news yet head over here to compare the MBP models:

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs-compare.html

Because of expected responses such as how the speed-bumped Core 2 Duo processors would be good enough, I will say up front that I don't want to pay that much for outdated technology that was obsolete at the beginning of 2010. For a notebook that I expect to be using 3-5 years down the road, I do not want to be stuck with old tech, especially with new software expected to take advantage of these new iX processors.

As a PC user prepared to take the switch for 6 months now, I will unfortunately continue to wait for the next refresh :(. Thinking optimistically, the 13" MBP could receive another refresh at WWDC or whenever Apple decides to update the MB and MBA.
 
Yeah I'm with you on this one. I have saved up just over £1000 to buy a 13" MBP and a few accessories. I've got a good few years out of my PowerBook and I wanted to make sure that in 5 years time I could still run the most up to date software, being that I'm now using an unsupported system and am missing out on some cool software.

The 13"MBP has increased £82 in price and has only a minor bump in spec. I won't be buying now, just to find in 6 months time its updated with a new family of processor. I wish I could afford to go for the 15" version, but I don't have the extra cash.

I was really looking forward to buying a new laptop today. The GPU on this one is fried.

Besides the processor, the rest of the update looks decent. Battery life is amazing and I bet the GPU can run some decent games too.
 
matthemercyless said:
Yeah I'm with you on this one. I have saved up just over £1000 to buy a 13" MBP and a few accessories. I've got a good few years out of my PowerBook and I wanted to make sure that in 5 years time I could still run the most up to date software, being that I'm now using an unsupported system and am missing out on some cool software.

The 13"MBP has increased £82 in price and has only a minor bump in spec. I won't be buying now, just to find in 6 months time its updated with a new family of processor. I wish I could afford to go for the 15" version, but I don't have the extra cash.

I was really looking forward to buying a new laptop today. The GPU on this one is fried.

Besides the processor, the rest of the update looks decent. Battery life is amazing and I bet the GPU can run some decent games too.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm in the same situation as you are. I currently have a 15" Dell piece of crap and would easily trade off 2" for more portability (as someone once put it here on MR, 13" is 2" more portable than 15"). Plus the 15" is not in my budget at all, with the 13" on the edge of it. The 10 battery life seems to be a huge plus but I think I would have taken an 8 hour batter with discrete and i5 processor over what we got.
 
Airboy98 said:
Yeah, I'm in the same situation as you are. I currently have a 15" Dell piece of crap and would easily trade off 2" for more portability (as someone once put it here on MR, 13" is 2" more portable than 15"). Plus the 15" is not in my budget at all, with the 13" on the edge of it. The 10 battery life seems to be a huge plus but I think I would have taken an 8 hour batter with discrete and i5 processor over what we got.
Click to expand...

Well the problem with your logic is then Apple would charge $2000 for it just like the current 15". If you wanted an i5 or i3, it would have more than likely had only intel graphics, not just because of the price either, but because Apple only implements integrated graphics thus far in the 13".
 
Same issue here...
I was so anxious to get a 13inch i5 or even an i3. I am afraid that we are going to have to wait until christmas.
I don't know what I am going to do in the meanwhile... I guess that I will just have to stick to this ugly then until then.
 
not going to happen.. unless intel comes with a core ix with no integrated graphics..

nvidia made the 320m just for apple and the 13mbp.. they'll be in there for a while..

apple will not go with intel integrated graphics alone.. and they can't fit discrete graphics in the 13inch..
 
I see the problem now. Core ix system has to have Intel graphics? But they suck so vendors put discrete gpu in as well. No space for 2 gpu's in a 13" mbp. Is that correct?

I just want to get the most for my money and get a laptop that is going to last me several years, I just don't think that I can justify paying out for a laptop with such an old processor. I was playing the waiting game for updates before buying.

Now my options are;

Suck it up dumbass and just buy the damn laptop, but feel like I am buying and outdated machine.

Wait for the next update (in hopefully 6-8 months time) to see if Apple can squeeze and i5 in there, around which time the new Sandybridge platform will be heading into production.

I wish I had real problems and not just silly nerd problems. :rolleyes:
 
silversx said:
not going to happen.. unless intel comes with a core ix with no integrated graphics..
Click to expand...
With Sandy Bridge they are moving to on-die integrated GPU for both dual-core (Clarkdale/Arrandale successor) and quad-core (Lynnfield/Clarksfield successor) variants.
 
I can't believe you guys are going to wait...the next refresh mightn't be for ages! AND might offer similarly outdated tech when it comes around..If getting up to date specs for a good price is your main concern, there's plenty of companies doing it better than apple ....Apple's computer business seems to be losing momentum anyway..I was 'waiting for arrandale' for about 2 months though soon I'll be the proud owner of a Sony E series 15.6" i5 2.26, 4gb, 500gb, blu ray player, 1080p screen, ATI graphics, instant on for web access...and its RRP is £799..I couldn't care less about the weight/ form factor/ battery life...sorry I'll stop rambling..
 
Eventually Apple will either suck it up (and so will we) and put an iX with the intel GMA or whatever- or they'll use a dedicated graphics chip. With Sandy Bridge (and all the Bridges) including integrated graphics, that's the only solution I see.

Of course, we might have to wait quite a while for that.
 
Same here....

I'm disappointed with apple, C2D is old technology, no matter how SJ wants to put it (other vendors have 13" i5 laptops and I could live with 7 or 8hr battery)
For me the 15" is too big and heavy to carry around, and too expensive.
Well, at least I can stop reading the waiting for arrandale thread every day.
 
Anyone have any info on the (recent) rumor of the Core 2 Duo processors eol'ing sometime this summer or will Intel continue to produce them throughout 2010? Once/if this happens, Apple will be forced to do the upgrade we were expecting and waiting for :D.
 
GLDFSH said:
I can't believe you guys are going to wait...the next refresh mightn't be for ages! AND might offer similarly outdated tech when it comes around..If getting up to date specs for a good price is your main concern, there's plenty of companies doing it better than apple ....Apple's computer business seems to be losing momentum anyway..I was 'waiting for arrandale' for about 2 months though soon I'll be the proud owner of a Sony E series 15.6" i5 2.26, 4gb, 500gb, blu ray player, 1080p screen, ATI graphics, instant on for web access...and its RRP is £799..I couldn't care less about the weight/ form factor/ battery life...sorry I'll stop rambling..
Click to expand...

Your going to wish you had a nice big multi-touch trackpad after using that for a while. Although if you haven't owned a MB before then you won't know what your missing.
 
tallguy said:
Your going to wish you had a nice big multi-touch trackpad after using that for a while. Although if you haven't owned a MB before then you won't know what your missing.
Click to expand...

I'd rather have the nice 1080p screen rather than the trackpad.
 
Still looking for info on C2D processors eol'ing this summer... anyone have any new info on that?
 
OP.
If you require 'bang for your buck', why are you looking at Macs at all?

A mac is a mac irrespective of what lives under it's bonnet. If spec porn is your bag I believe you are in the wrong place.

I didn't buy my MBP for numbers (only 8 days ago I bought a new MBP, despite knowing new ones were coming in days). CPU, and etc speed is much less than half the mac equation.

doris
 
gagaliya said:
they already updated 13" mbp, so you will be waiting another 12 months...
Click to expand...

12 months of this thread...................... Where's the bridge?

Actually, Apple will likely do a silent update on the 13" in about 6-8 months. :p

For all the i5 13" MBP whiners: suck it up and buy something else! :eek: I don't think :apple: will miss your $'s.
 
doktordoris said:
OP.
If you require 'bang for your buck', why are you looking at Macs at all?

A mac is a mac irrespective of what lives under it's bonnet. If spec porn is your bag I believe you are in the wrong place.

I didn't buy my MBP for numbers (only 8 days ago I bought a new MBP, despite knowing new ones were coming in days). CPU, and etc speed is much less than half the mac equation.

doris
Click to expand...

In this economy, it really isn't too much to ask to get a 13" notebook with current specs in it. There is no way I am paying that much for last year's outdated processors in a new notebook. I am looking at and willing to pay the "apple tax" to buy a macbook because I know that it will last me 5 years down the road (with current specs in it at least). That logic seems completely reasonable to me so I will continue to wait.
 
I bought my 13" in January because my HP died (just over a year old) and love it. After reading several reviews I bought the 13" over the 15" due to portability etc. It has been great and I cannot believe Apple did not update to the i5. I hope they keep the 13" up to date as the size appeals to me more than the 15".
 
Why I will wait.

I too am disappointed. My 2.4GHz Al. uMacbook, a pro in every way but name, has a Geekbench score just as good as this weeks "update". Which makes this latest update laughable considering I bought mine in the fall of 2008. Granted, Geekbench may not be the only way to benchmark this puter, but it is one data point suggesting that there is no reason for those of us who have a 13" Macbook (Pro) to upgrade any time soon.
Now to be honest, I can be a "spec junkie", and if :apple: had gone for an i5, or MAYBE an i3, I might have been tempted. But not now.
The other side of the equation is that I wont go for a Dell, or Sony Viao, or any of the others mentioned in this forum. Why not? They don't run OSX. Period.

We must all face the truth, we stay with :apple: more because of the OS, not so much because of the mechanicals of the laptops.

JMHO
 
Martyimac said:
I too am disappointed. My 2.4GHz Al. uMacbook, a pro in every way but name, has a Geekbench score just as good as this weeks "update". Which makes this latest update laughable considering I bought mine in the fall of 2008. Granted, Geekbench may not be the only way to benchmark this puter, but it is one data point suggesting that there is no reason for those of us who have a 13" Macbook (Pro) to upgrade any time soon.
Now to be honest, I can be a "spec junkie", and if :apple: had gone for an i5, or MAYBE an i3, I might have been tempted. But not now.
The other side of the equation is that I wont go for a Dell, or Sony Viao, or any of the others mentioned in this forum. Why not? They don't run OSX. Period.

We must all face the truth, we stay with :apple: more because of the OS, not so much because of the mechanicals of the laptops.

JMHO
Click to expand...

Upgraded stuff for the same price:
bumped processor speed
faster graphics chip
larger HD
larger battery
newer display (? ... posted by someone else)
minor ergo change to the trackpad

May not be a big change but it isn't the end of the world either. This is a good update and will probably get another redo sometime in the Fall. I think everyone should just chill and enjoy what we have. If not ................ move on already!
 
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