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Are new Pro's really coming?

A

Ames

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 31, 2008
57
0
I have an older 17" Pro. I'm really wanting a new uni-body with SSD. With Snow Leopard coming out and some announcement next month my head tells me to wait. I'm new to the Mac world so I don't have a good feel for product cycles. The searches I've done look like October or Feb would be the next update possibility.

Any advice? Anyone else thinking the same thing?

I get that with tech everything is always moving forward, but I'd really like to have at least 6 months with this thing before it gets passed by.
 
Well your head is telling wrong if the notion of new Macbook Pro's are in the wild next month, because they are not. Don't expect anything new until either January or Feb. Dude, a whole new set of MBP's were just released in June, Apple has never upgraded the line in under 6 months.
 
I think you should wait. You've got a functional macbook pro right now so get some more value out it.

Is it that you're just bored and want something new?
 
barkomatic said:
I think you should wait. You've got a functional macbook pro right now so get some more value out it.

Is it that you're just bored and want something new?
Click to expand...

I hate the keyboard on the older 17's. Other than that it's just wanting the SSD and unibody. If I had really good reasons for upgrading I'd be all over it:)
 
Ames said:
I have an older 17" Pro. I'm really wanting a new uni-body with SSD. With Snow Leopard coming out and some announcement next month my head tells me to wait. I'm new to the Mac world so I don't have a good feel for product cycles. The searches I've done look like October or Feb would be the next update possibility.

Any advice? Anyone else thinking the same thing?

I get that with tech everything is always moving forward, but I'd really like to have at least 6 months with this thing before it gets passed by.
Click to expand...

Did you look at the Buyer's Guide on this site? It's one of the tabs on the upper right part of the screen.
 
jamesryanbell said:
Did you look at the Buyer's Guide on this site? It's one of the tabs on the upper right part of the screen.
Click to expand...

The buyer's guide isn't always right though, I got my first mac a few months or so ago, and it said it's good to buy (mid cycle), a month later the updated macbook pros were released.
 
jamesryanbell said:
Did you look at the Buyer's Guide on this site? It's one of the tabs on the upper right part of the screen.
Click to expand...

I did. I wanted to get a feel from people more familiar with the product cycle as to if they thought (guess) that now would be a really dumb time or an ok time.
 
lunari said:
The buyer's guide isn't always right though, I got my first mac a few months or so ago, and it said it's good to buy (mid cycle), a month later the updated macbook pros were released.
Click to expand...

I think that surprised everyone. The fact remains nobody here knows anything concrete.
 
Well your head is telling right if the notion of new Macbook Pro's are in the wild next month, because they most certainly will be. Expect anything new tomorrow until either January or Feb. Dude, a whole new set of MBP's were just released in June but they intentionally missed out key components like blu-ray and the new chip arandale. Despite what other try to tell you Apple have upgraded lines in under 6 months.
 
lunari said:
The buyer's guide isn't always right though, I got my first mac a few months or so ago, and it said it's good to buy (mid cycle), a month later the updated macbook pros were released.
Click to expand...

Remember that the 17" MBP are on a different upgrade cycle to the 15". Typically a new 15" will be announced before the 17" so that's why it probably said mid cycle. (it was for the 15" but not the 17", always check the attached news links)
 
I'm in a similar position: I've got a 1st gen 15" MBP and would love to get a unibody with SSD.

New MBP's probably are not coming for a while -- probably early next year... but I'm waiting anyway:

1. SSD's will be coming down in price, up in capacity and speeds will be improving. I feel like if I get an SSD now, I'll have paid $$$$ for something I'll desperately want to replace in less than a year (and when I do, my old one will be practically worthless). I'm waiting until I can get something equivalent to an Intel X25 with ~320GB for ~$400 (hopefully not dreaming on the price). That should last me long enough that I won't feel too bad about it when it's worthless in a few years.

2. I want to get a really significant processor boost. There have been a lot of improvements since my ol' 2.16Ghz core duo came out, but it's all been incremental stuff. The latest are *maybe* twice as powerful? I'm looking for a bigger jump. Not sure what... baybe 4 cores... I'll probably be able to convince myself that Arrandale processors are enough -- those are probably coming out... well, I'm not sure, but maybe late this year or early next year.

But, hey, if you've got the $$$ and don't like your keyboard, then go for it.
 
If you can wait then wait buddy. The laptop version of the core i7 should be out soon and it SHOULD give a VERY big performance increase, I would imagine Macs with these will be out by what mid next year at the latest? Add and SSD and you'll have one damn fast machine.
There may even be a quad core CPU option as well :)
 
shambo said:
Well your head is telling right if the notion of new Macbook Pro's are in the wild next month, because they most certainly will be. Expect anything new tomorrow until either January or Feb. Dude, a whole new set of MBP's were just released in June but they intentionally missed out key components like blu-ray and the new chip arandale. Despite what other try to tell you Apple have upgraded lines in under 6 months.
Click to expand...
I could have sworn that nehalem processors weren't quite ready for notebook prime time, and that's why they didn't exist.

Blu-ray isn't here because of licensing issues.

We're not 100% sure of when these items will be released. Nehalem processors not coming until at least Q4 2009, but most likely not introduced until 2010.

Blu-ray is up in the air because of the licensing issues that follow it. Who knows, maybe Apple will just rip out optical drives altogether just to mess with our heads.

To the OP:

If you keep playing the waiting game, you'll never enjoy your notebook. If the one you want now has enough power to get what you need done, then just get it.

Just because it's not the latest and greatest, it doesn't mean it's suddenly becomes so slow it's unbearable. You can't necessarily predict updates all the time, the current MBP updates were rather surprising to everyone.

You just need to get what makes you happy. I have a uMB, it makes me happy, it does what I need, so what if it doesn't have "pro" on the end, it gets what I need done. That's that.
 
I think there are multiple reasons to wait. BluRay is a serious possibility, although will probably be an upgrade. Snow Leopard's focus is to utilize multiple cores, so Apple could finally make the quad-core jump. It could be a high end or even Core i7 mobile CPU. The 17" is Apple's true "professional" MBP, and it is likely to get the best updates first... things like USB 3.0 and faster FireWire are just around the corner and Apple could adopt eSata also. The SSDs are getting faster and better quickly, in a few months, Apple may be offering better selections.

I think with the investment required of a 17" MBP purchase, it's better to wait for the optimal time... I think the optimal time will be the next update. I think if you stick with your MBP for four months, you will probably see a real value boost for your wait.
 
The 17" may be upgrade, as it hasn't been touched since early 2009. In fact, I would almost count on it being upgraded - the 17" has been on a different "promotion" schedule than the 13" and 15" laptops.
 
I really want new video cards. I don't think that the 9600's are significantly better than the 8600gt m that's in my two year old mbp.
 
Shevlock said:
I really want new video cards. I don't think that the 9600's are significantly better than the 8600gt m that's in my two year old mbp.
Click to expand...

Thats because they technically are the same card :D

9600GT is really a rebatched version of the 8600GT. There are slight improvements, but it is the same card.
 
Scottsdale said:
I think there are multiple reasons to wait. BluRay is a serious possibility, although will probably be an upgrade.
Click to expand...


I am guessing Apple would charge around $200 for BluRay, and thats at the bare minimum, they will probably charge a lot more. For $90 you can get a slim, external USB powered bluray drive. You decide.

I say buy when you need it. Buy a system that fits your needs. If you get a 17" MBP and it does what you need it to, the release of a updated model takes nothing away from your current system.
 
Dwalls90 said:
The 17" may be upgrade, as it hasn't been touched since early 2009. In fact, I would almost count on it being upgraded - the 17" has been on a different "promotion" schedule than the 13" and 15" laptops.
Click to expand...
It got a CPU and HDD upgrade in June.

I do think the speculation of the 17" being somewhat separate from the others is reasonable.
 
uberamd said:
For $90 you can get a slim, external USB powered bluray drive. You decide.
Click to expand...

Where can I find one of these for $90? I just had to rebuy an external DVD for my MBA after original broke. I specifically tried to find a Blu Ray thinking Apple may soon adopt it, and the DVD compatibility would work in mean time. I couldn't find an external Blu Ray for less than $300, and that wasn't "slim" either.
 
HLdan said:
Well your head is telling wrong if the notion of new Macbook Pro's are in the wild next month, because they are not. Don't expect anything new until either January or Feb. Dude, a whole new set of MBP's were just released in June, Apple has never upgraded the line in under 6 months.
Click to expand...

If Apple doesn't upgrade this quarter what do you think their sales are going to look like in Q4. "Apple posts worst quarter EVER!" will not be looked upon lightly by investors ...

Either upgrades or something radically brand new will come this year, just makes sense for business.
 
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