Am I crazy to get a loaded 13" rMBP at this time

[katmeef]

Hey MR,

I know Haswell is just around the corner but hear me out please and let me know your thoughts.

Last year I fell for the Apple Marketing and bought a fully loaded 15" rMBP for an inordinate amount of money, planning to keep it for years to come. This year life situations changed and I needed to get some money together so I sold it. Now I need another laptop ASAP

Fortunately my employer has a purchase plan where they will pay for the computer and take deductions over a few years interest free. Last year I couldn't use the program as my iMac was still being paid off but I'm eligible now.

While there were certainly some smoothness issues with the UI on the 15" retina I sold, it didn't bother me all that much and I'd much rather have jerky retina then smooth animations on a pixelated screen of a macbook air staring me in the face. Went to the Apple store today and just couldn't get past how aged the air display looks after a year of using the retina... (sorry to anyone rocking the airs, its just my opinion)

Anyways, I lived with the jerkyness of the 15" and most the time had the IGP forced to save battery. I am a network admin so I'm not doing anything really processor or graphics intensive, typically I have a windows XP virtual machine at all times with a bunch of SSH windows and some java stuff, safari, excel, iTunes and mail running.

I think I'm going to be happy with a loaded 13" retina, its more portable than the 15" I gave up and I can't imagine waiting until Sept or longer without a laptop. Sure the redic battery of the Air would be awesome, but not if it means staring at that screen all day!

Should I pull the trigger?

 

[Lunfai]

Hey! I'd advise you to wait unless you need it now. The new Haswell rMBP should be able to match the MBA's battery performance (give or take 1-2 hours). It'll be worth the wait and you can always get the current model cheaper when the newer model is released -L

 

[katmeef]

Hey! I'd advise you to wait unless you need it now. The new Haswell rMBP should be able to match the MBA's battery performance (give or take 1-2 hours). It'll be worth the wait and you can always get the current model cheaper when the newer model is released -L

Thing is I need to get a laptop now. Well need is a strong word. I do have an iMac, but being tethered to this beast with it's platter HDD is making me insane. I don't know if I can wait.

Another thing to consider is, when the Haswell Retina's are pre'd, will there be a 4-6 week wait for delivery like we went through last year when the 15" rMBP came out? That could take a Sept launch and drag it out to November?

And buying a model that was refreshed 6 months ago should insulate me from the early adopter issues? Maybe?...

 

[Lunfai]

Thing is I need to get a laptop now. Well need is a strong word. I do have an iMac, but being tethered to this beast with it's platter HDD is making me insane. I don't know if I can wait.

Another thing to consider is, when the Haswell Retina's are pre'd, will there be a 4-6 week wait for delivery like we went through last year when the 15" rMBP came out? That could take a Sept launch and drag it out to November?

And buying a model that was refreshed 6 months ago should insulate me from the early adopter issues? Maybe?...

Depends what gets refreshed in new model, some could argue ghosting still exists. I'm pretty much in the same position, I sold my Air and now I'm only using my iMac and PC. I miss having a laptop but I've decided to wait. As soon as it's up online, just make sure you'll preorder and you should get it. If you can resist the urge then go for it my friend

(You could always sell it off again and make up w.e lost for new model).

 

[Ifti]

I would also wait if you can.
Battery life isnt the only update remember - the 802.11ac is also a biggie for me.....

 

[Kendo]

Thing is I need to get a laptop now. Well need is a strong word. I do have an iMac, but being tethered to this beast with it's platter HDD is making me insane. I don't know if I can wait.

I think you can wait...

Think logically man. It will come out in a few months and will have insane battery life and updated processors. Use the iMac for now.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Wait. Apple likes to update their products after the back-to-school season, so around August/September.

Or buy now and take a $400 hit, but if you buy now, don't buy the maxed out one. The maxed out versions don't sell as well on the 2nd hand market.

 

[nexusrule]

The most important addiction to 13'' rMB in my opinion wil be the iris 5100. That's the gpu that should come inside it (it's the only intel haswell igp with enough performancse and the right TPD) and will boost a lot graphic performance (that in the 13'' are worst than in the 15''). The new Iris gpu really are the best improvement that haswell bring to the table (battery life too but this will vary depending on the TPD, the Air has all that autonomy not only because it uses Haswell but because it uses ULV Haswell) and double the HD4000 performance. I would wait for it.

 

[Silencio]

I'm in the same boat. I've waited this long, I might as well keep waiting. I expect the GPU improvements alone will make it worth my while, though the 802.11ac and any size / weight improvements will also be welcomed.

My black MacBook is getting very long in the tooth here. It's done its duty, time to move on.

 

[KylePowers]

I think you'd be crazy to buy now if you don't desperately need it this second, for seven reasons:

1. Much improved graphics
2. 802.11ac
3. Slightly improved battery life (perhaps much more improved if it launches with Mavericks)
4. Slightly improved CPU performance
5. Probably Thunderbolt 2.0
6. Possibly 1080p FaceTime camera
7. Possibly thinner profile

I don't even really care about the last 2 or 3 possibilities. The first 4 are enough to get me to wait

 

[whodatrr]

There will always be something faster and better on the horizon. No use losing sleep over a couple speeds & feeds. The performance delta between a spinning disk and SSD is huge. The convenience & productivity delta between being tethered and being mobile is even bigger.

Having said that, from an investment perspective, it's always better to be in the middle of the bell curve. Frankly, most computers made in the last 3-4yrs can meet my performance needs. But I'd never go back to spinning disk, after using an SSD.

802.11ac is the only thing that peaks my interest. Then again, most of my real productivity is done while plugged into a 27" display & ethernet. There's not much of a chance of encountering 802.11ac, when I'm mobile.... at least not for the next few years.

 

[eloplayspolo]

i would wait - i made the decision yesterday - we have a similar career and I will be using mine for school as well.

I would recommend getting a cheap laptop for now if you really need something.
Something refurbished, sell it on CList or ebay when you get your new rMBP.

 

[smiddlehurst]

Thing is I need to get a laptop now. Well need is a strong word. I do have an iMac, but being tethered to this beast with it's platter HDD is making me insane. I don't know if I can wait.

Another thing to consider is, when the Haswell Retina's are pre'd, will there be a 4-6 week wait for delivery like we went through last year when the 15" rMBP came out? That could take a Sept launch and drag it out to November?

And buying a model that was refreshed 6 months ago should insulate me from the early adopter issues? Maybe?...

I don't think you'll see a huge backlog but yes, expect at least a couple of weeks wait as the initial rush for the latest shiny thing hits.

As for whether or not you're crazy... I'd say no. The existing 13" machine is a known quantity by now and most of the bugs are worked out. You can pretty much predict what we'll see in the revised model (802.11ac, Haswell CPU & GPU, more battery life, maybe slightly thinner & lighter) and can therefore make a rational decision as to whether the current model would meet your needs.

There's something else though, I know a lot of people think Haswell will be a magic fix for the stuttering problems with the rMBP but I'm not so sure. Everything I've seen points to that largely being an issue of unoptimised code in OSX running on the CPU rather than GPU. At this point I don't see how Haswell can really help with that as there's no obvious parts that'd give a big bump in CPU power (a quad core CPU at a suitable TDP f'instance). Instead I'd expect Mavericks to be the fix for that problem regardless of whether or not you have an Ivy Bridge or Haswell CPU.

 

[katmeef]

I pulled the trigger today, got the i7/512 13" retina and loving it so far! Thanks MR for the thoughts and advice.