Anyone gone from late '08 to early '11?

[cambookpro]

I was just wondering if anyone has upgraded their late 2008 MBP to a 2011 one. Is it that much faster?

I'm asking as it may be the time to upgrade. I'd more than likely go for the 15-inch: 2.0 GHz quad-core i7 as the extra .2 GHz doesn't really make that much of a difference for me.

I use CS5, FCP, Motion, Compressor and Handbrake on a fairly regular basis, and I have noticed some slowdown in my late 08 MBP (specs in sig).

So do I pull the trigger?

 

[alust2013]

You would certainly notice quite a difference there, especially with rendering and Handbrake times. Likely cut in half or better.

 

[Naimfan]

Given your work, you should consider the 2.2 for the better graphics card.

Yes, you'll see a significant difference either way.

 

[axu539]

I did the upgrade (late '08 2.4 to early '11 2.2) for faster Handbrake encodes. What used to take 3-4 hours now takes about 1.5.

 

[cambookpro]

Given your work, you should consider the 2.2 for the better graphics card.

Yes, you'll see a significant difference either way.

Mmm, I was wondering that, but is the graphics card worth an extra £300?

 

[akicebear]

I upgraded from the 2008 uMBP 15" 2.53 to the 2011 17" 2.2 i7. The difference in day to day operations (surfing, word processing) isn't HUGE, but definitely a noticeable improvement. Multi-tasking is much smoother (i.e. many open spreadsheets or docs open at a time). Graphics intensive applications (games, iMovie with HD video) is incredibly better. AND the machine is consistently much cooler than my 2008, even in intensive applications. Highly satisfied.

 

[Naimfan]

Mmm, I was wondering that, but is the graphics card worth an extra £300?

"Worth" is a value question that only you can answer. From the work you describe, I would think it would be worth it.

 

[kappaknight]

I upgraded from a 2008 to a 2011 high-res. AG. Overall things feel the same though I do enjoy the extra screen real estate. Things like running photo programs and VM's seem to be much smoother.

It's also good to know that in another 2-3 years when I upgrade again, selling this one won't be as hard as trying to sell a 2008 model.

 

[Valve1138]

I did, it's like night and day!

 

[Apple 26.2]

Will be going from 2008 MB to 2011 15" MBP... I'll let you know!

 

[BJB Productions]

I've got a Late 2008... I decided to wait. The 2008 unit is dropping value so fast it's scary. At the moment I could *maybe* get $800 for my unit... I'll probably sell next year...And at that point, I might be able to get $500 for it if I'm lucky... but it works good enough for now. Yeah, it's painfully slow, but I don't exactly have the cash to shell out for a faster computer with Lightpeak I'll never even use.

 

[greytmom]

I went from mid 2007 to 2011. Definitely worth it!

 

[daneoni]

I did and i am happy. The new machine is quieter (unless the fans are at max of course) despite having a 7200 RPM drive and it is blisteringly fast. Screen quality is also night and day compared to my last one.

I jumped on this rev because i wanted a next-gen computer that could still run Snow Leopard. I don't want to deal with Lion till around 10.7.3-5. Also i don't want to deal with a redesign, which will almost likely have Rev A issues and/or a situation whereby i lose the optical drive (don't want to be held ransom to the Mac App store) or i'm stuck with a MBA style SSD storage with no real easy options for future upgrades.

All it needs now is the typical post-ship graphics driver updates and i'm set.

 

[macagain]

here're some numbers...

2011 i7 HR glossy 2.2 8Gb 256Gb Apple SSD vs. late 2008 2.53 4Gb 250Gb 7200rpm Apple (Hitachi) drive (both 15")

Geekbench (32-bit): 10089 vs. 3475

My compiles in Eclipse/Java/GWT: 40-50 sec. vs. 1m 30s-1m 50s

Parallels 6 w/ windoze7: couldn't be bothered to measure, but actually quite tolerable vs. "I want to tear my fingernails out" waiting. (I guess giving it 2GB and one more core helps)

The HR glossy is beautiful. Everything looks sooo ginormous on the 1440 screen now... Seeing iStat Pro with 8 cpu graphs is so awesome!

Interesting mental feeling: when I went from 2006 C2D 2.16 (geekbench around 2700ish) to the late 2008 unibody, I felt a lot of buyers' remorse for many days... the new unibody was nice but kinda "meh", the LED backlighting was nice but again kinda "meh", the speed increase (while about 20-25% geekbench) was not that noticeable... i got it purely because it was a new "shiny object".

But this go around... not one drip of buyer's remorse! The changes are substantial and actually make a real difference for work! (I program...) The diff is almost as much as when I went from my 1.25 Powerbook G4 to the mbp. My last 3 macs were all refurbs to save some bucks. But these changes were enough for me to not want to wait, and go for the higher end unit. I say go for it! (and buy some apple stock to offset the cost in a couple years!)

 

[T-bag]

I upgraded from a 13" '08 to a 17", mainly because I got sick of the size/lowres. I would have done the same again if I could. go for it!