I just think its funny the sheer amount of people who always hate apple every update that comes out because whatever got released doesn't have something they want.
I can get an insane amount of work done on only the macbook pro in my signature. Would I love a newer faster computer that I don't have to have an 8TB raid system attached to? Sure! But thats not an option for me just yet. I use Aperture, Corel Painter, Maya, ZBrush, XCode, Logic, Unity 3D, Photoshop, and do lots of video encoding daily but I don't cry about not having the latest and greatest hardware. Why? Because I have skills. I don't need the latest and greatest computer to get my work finished. If you have talent you can work within your limitations and still get the job done.
My MacBook Pro does everything I need it to. It just doesn't do it fast enough. All the skills in the world (beyond basic render optimizations which you should do anyway) won't make Mental Ray render faster on your laptop.