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Buy 13" MBP now or wait?

N

NeoChaser

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 15, 2009
12
0
Hi all, so my local big box store is offering a $200 discount off any laptop
with any activation of a mobile internet modem (something that I need), that
said, is it worth taking the 200 discount? or wait for the new processor?

Any advise is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Edit: Main usage is photoshop / process .raw files while on the go.
 
Buy one if you really "need" one otherwise its better to wait atleast till the 27th Jan event.
 
You tell me. Do you need the extra power? ;)

I would wait. Actually, I AM waiting. Haha. It's killing me!!
 
NeoChaser said:
Hi all, so my local big box store is offering a $200 discount off any laptop
with any activation of a mobile internet modem (something that I need), that
said, is it worth taking the 200 discount? or wait for the new processor?

Any advise is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Buy one now! They are perfect. I have the base 13" MBP 2.26 and couldn't be happier. :D
 
Well it depends what you need your computer for. Personally I dont think we will see the new processors in the 13". I think they will get a speed boost but thats it. Unless your going to be doing alot of intense video editing I dont think you will ever use the extra power.
 
Now.

OR
​

Wait.


It also depends on your use.

If it's only internet (www + email + whatever other service you might use), use of iPhoto or iMovie or any other iApplication (wow, that word is even in the spell check dictionary) or/and document editing, the current MBPs are more than fine.

But if you have to work with medical imaging, mathematical equations, physical experiments, chemical solutions, biological re-producing, astronomical ellipses and other science related stuff, or the more prominent used example of video/film editing, effects work, sound distortion or whatever, you might profit from the newer CPUs.
 
I would ask the store how long the promotion lasts... because if you could wait and get the new model for $200 less, that would be slick!
 
miles01110 said:
Since you fail to provide us with any information about what you use your computer for or your budget, who knows?
Click to expand...

wow super quick responses, thanks guys.

I am updating my travel computer which I use a lot for photographic needs, photoshop, .raw editing etc.
I m leaving for another trip in May. I can very well
wait until april, just that the $200 promo ends on the 31st of this month. BRD and
bigger standard ram would be awesome the update does incloude those new
features.
 
spinnerlys said:
But if you have to work with medical imaging, mathematical equations, physical experiments, chemical solutions, biological re-producing, astronomical ellipses and other science related stuff, or the more prominent used example of video/film editing, effects work, sound distortion or whatever, you might profit from the newer CPUs.
Click to expand...
Or AutoCADD, for that matter. AutoCADD will benefit from the added power.
 
NeoChaser said:
wow super quick responses, thanks guys.

I am updating my travel computer which I use a lot for photographic needs, photoshop, .raw editing etc.
I m leaving for another trip in May. I can very well
wait until april, just that the $200 promo ends on the 31st of this month. BRD and
bigger standard ram would be awesome the update does incloude those new
features.
Click to expand...

If the machines are updated til the 27th, you might still have a chance to take advantage of that offer.

And most probably the new MBPs will have no Blu Ray drives, especially not the 13" models.
 
thatguysmells said:
Buy one now! They are perfect. I have the base 13" MBP 2.26 and couldn't be happier. :D
Click to expand...

+1... only because i do not see the 13" getting any major spec bumps... id say save yourself the $200 and enjoy it. Just dont get upset if the base model goes up to something like 250gig hdd / 4gig ram / 2.5ghz when they roll out the next update...
 
great,

you guys are all awesome.

Thanks and enjoy the rest of your weekend (if your in NA). :D
 
If I were in the market for a MBP, I would wait until the new refresh. The current 13" and 15" MBPs may exhibit problems with communication with third party drives that you may want to install at sometime in the future -- especially solid state drives which require SATA2 speeds to perform well. Apple may address this in a newer version of the MBP. See this article from Anandtech:

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3672&p=5
 
Smoothie said:
If I were in the market for a MBP, I would wait until the new refresh. The current 13" and 15" MBPs may exhibit problems with communication with third party drives that you may want to install at sometime in the future -- especially solid state drives which require SATA2 speeds to perform well. Apple may address this in a newer version of the MBP. See this article from Anandtech:

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3672&p=5
Click to expand...

I'm running my 3rd aftermarket HDD in my 13" MBP right now. Every one of them has been trouble free and worked fine.

This is what this forum is for. To get feedback about which hardware works well and which doesn't.
 
Just wait till end of month thats what im doing, since my iMac died i been using my iPhone to browse and play music since november so as you can tell im desperate haha!! If the new updates aren t all that then you can still get a refurb of the ones about now. But if they are a big leap like the new imacs then its worth the few weeks delay
 
Gabriel GR said:
I'm running my 3rd aftermarket HDD in my 13" MBP right now. Every one of them has been trouble free and worked fine.

This is what this forum is for. To get feedback about which hardware works well and which doesn't.
Click to expand...

Obviously, not everyone has experienced a problem (report back when you install an SSD), but this topic has been the subject of a huge thread in the Apple forum since June -- so lengthy it had to be restarted by the moderator. Since the OP seems to be able to wait for a newer version of the MBP, this issue may finally be addressed by Apple so it might be worth waiting.
 
Smoothie said:
Obviously, not everyone has experienced a problem (report back when you install an SSD), but this topic has been the subject of a huge thread in the Apple forum since June -- so lengthy it had to be restarted by the moderator. Since the OP seems to be able to wait for a newer version of the MBP, this issue may finally be addressed by Apple so it might be worth waiting.
Click to expand...

if someone can wait, he should wait. But there is nothing wrong with the current MBP line. There have always been incompatibilities and flaws and there will always be. Keep in mind that out of the thousands of MBPs sold usually only people with some kind of issue search forums. Some of those issues are often related to parameters ignored by the users (eg. purchasing a drive with a sudden motion sensor that conflicts with the built in sensor of the MBP) or to faulty hardware.

As far as SSD's as concerned. They are new technology (for personal computers), their design hasn't been standardized and there are issues with many different brands of drives and computers.

Don't get me wrong I am not a fanboy or something. And as long as my computer works fine nothing said against it bothers me. I think in general, as macs haven't always been user upgradable, traditional mac users aren't as hardware savvy as those with a PC background and a lot of the issues come from the lack of troubleshooting knowledge.

I've put 4 different kits of RAM and 3 kinds of HDD's in this 13" mbp and it worked every time without the slightest issue. Didn't even need to reset PRAM etc.

I acknowledge the fact that the new MBP line will be technically superior. I am not sure when it will come, nor am I sure that it will be trouble free (for sure the new imac's aren't).
 
Gabriel,

I appreciate the thoughtful response, but did you read the Anandtech article? I think that he knows his way around computers. Apple released the current version of the 13" and 15" MBPs with SATA1 controller speed, whereas the previous version of the MBP had SATA2 speed. This was curious to say the least. When this came to light, Apple released a firmware update that enabled SATA2 speed, but it caused hard drive and SSD communication errors for some people. The problems occurred with drives from reputable manufacturers, where those drives worked perfectly with the MBP when used in a USB enclosure. So something appeared to be a problem with data communication over the SATA bus. Recently, there have been posts from people who have replaced their SATA cables or wrapped them with aluminum foil to provide better shielding, and this resolved the problem for them.

So I'm glad you've not had a problem, but the problem experienced by others can't always be attributed to user error or the hard drive itself. My MBP works fine with the stock Hitachi drive, but I don't know if it will work with an SSD that I intend to buy at some time in the future. Hopefully, it will. Had I known about this SATA issue beforehand, I would not have purchased this machine.
 
Smoothie said:
Gabriel,

I appreciate the thoughtful response, but did you read the Anandtech article? I think that he knows his way around computers. Apple released the current version of the 13" and 15" MBPs with SATA1 controller speed, whereas the previous version of the MBP had SATA2 speed. This was curious to say the least. When this came to light, Apple released a firmware update that enabled SATA2 speed, but it caused hard drive and SSD communication errors for some people. The problems occurred with drives from reputable manufacturers, where those drives worked perfectly with the MBP when used in a USB enclosure. So something appeared to be a problem with data communication over the SATA bus. Recently, there have been posts from people who have replaced their SATA cables or wrapped them with aluminum foil to provide better shielding, and this resolved the problem for them.

So I'm glad you've not had a problem, but the problem experienced by others can't always be attributed to user error or the hard drive itself. My MBP works fine with the stock Hitachi drive, but I don't know if it will work with an SSD that I intend to buy at some time in the future. Hopefully, it will. Had I known about this SATA issue beforehand, I would not have purchased this machine.
Click to expand...

It's all in a good way. :)

Even when the issue was reported, some machines worked well, others didn't. When the EFI upgrade came out the majority was fixed while others experienced stuttering and other issues. I actually waited till September myself to get mine to see the reports of the problem being fixed before ordering it. Every machine I've known that shipped after September was fine and in our office there are around 30 laptops of all sizes and trim, some with SSD's and other upgrades all working fine.

The bottom-line is that the previous generation indeed had some problems that were eventually fixed. And it seems that every new generation has some issues for the first month or so. Waiting for the upgrade might take a couple of weeks. Then waiting to make sure there are no issues might require a couple of weeks more.

So if someone trusts apple software and needs a laptop now the current generation seems to be less prone to present problems than the one coming as most have been noticed and fixed.

If I was in the market for a new 13" laptop I would probably wait for the upgrade. But mostly because I like having newest hardware even though it might be followed by a first couple of weeks of issues and errors. It's not just a new processor. Everything except for RAM, HDD the touchpad and the optical drive will have to be replaced. So it's a lot of stuff to show bugs.
 
Gabriel GR said:
Every machine I've known that shipped after September was fine and in our office there are around 30 laptops of all sizes and trim, some with SSD's and other upgrades all working fine.

The bottom-line is that the previous generation indeed had some problems that were eventually fixed.
Click to expand...

There are posts on the Apple forum from people who purchased machines shipped (and built) after September who seem to be experiencing the SATA problem. I don't believe it's been fixed. But it's certainly hit-or-miss.

Here's the second installment of one lengthy thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2267098&start=0&tstart=0

I wish the original poster well with his new purchase.
 
This question comes out all the often.

It's happened for the past 5 years.

If you need it, buy it, if you don't, just wait.

You can't wait forever, that doesn't work.


You have a nice day.
 
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