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Buy a MBP Now or Wait

rick3000

rick3000

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 6, 2008
648
298
West Coast
Hi,
I am looking to get a new mac, probably the 15" MBP. I will going to college next September for Film Production and be using FCP a lot. I would prefer to wait until October for the annual updates, but I can't go to school without a computer. My concern is that with the FCP rendering I will be doing, a quad core MBP would be better than the current dual core.
Is a quad core MBP likely in 2009? Would they release one this summer?
Is the quad core going to be twice as fast or just slightly faster?
Thanks!
 
Maybe you should save your money and render on either a new 8-core MP or ...possibly a 16-core MP?
 
rick3000 said:
Hi,
I am looking to get a new mac, probably the 15" MBP. I will going to college next September for Film Production and be using FCP a lot. I would prefer to wait until October for the annual updates, but I can't go to school without a computer. My concern is that with the FCP rendering I will be doing, a quad core MBP would be better than the current dual core.
Is a quad core MBP likely in 2009? Would they release one this summer?
Is the quad core going to be twice as fast or just slightly faster?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

The MBP were just updated a couple months ago so I dont know if anyone can tell you with a guarantee that the MBP will be getting a quad core this year. It depends on when the Core i7s come out in portable form and how long it takes Apple to put them in the MBP

Though the Core i7 is supposed to be revolutionary. That said if you need a MBP wait until right before school starts and see if you hear anything about an update
 
The current Macbook Pros are very powerful for a laptop. Depending on the resolution, how many layers you are doing and filter effects it should handle everything quite well. Certainly well enough for school! Plus, you can work with Pro-res or offline, then render while you sleep.

That being said, the Macpro might be better for intensive rendering. However, you'll have that as a ball and chain instead of portability.
 
I think the whole point of Snow Leopard is taking advantage of cores and processing units. And with the economy, and Apple's need to increase stock value, I think Apple will surprise us all and update often. I think it is possible we will see a QuadCore MacBook Pro this year... so it depends. But maybe they will disappoint like they have in recent times like with the Mini.
 
I will just be glad to get a used intel MBP so I can get off this crappy leopard on PPC. If you have a PPC stay on Tiger - trust me PPC leopard is Apple's answer to Vista. Mr Student anything you buy from July on will RAWK probably beyond you ability regardless of the cores!!
 
Thanks for the input. A desktop is not an option, and I think the current MBP has plenty of power to render, etc. But with Snow Leopard coming out soon, I don't want to buy a MBP and then have then release one with a quad core to utilize grand central. I am aware that there are no rumors or facts and this mostly speculation, but educated guesses are appreciated.
Does anyone think they will update the MBP when Snow Leopard comes out? Thanks!
 
rick3000 said:
Hi,
I am looking to get a new mac, probably the 15" MBP. I will going to college next September for Film Production and be using FCP a lot. I would prefer to wait until October for the annual updates, but I can't go to school without a computer. My concern is that with the FCP rendering I will be doing, a quad core MBP would be better than the current dual core.
Is a quad core MBP likely in 2009? Would they release one this summer?
Is the quad core going to be twice as fast or just slightly faster?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

You can wait. And wait. And wait. There will always be something potentially faster around the corner. The fact is that it is unlikely you'll see much of a real-world difference in speed, since both the OS and the software you're using have to know how to properly utilize the multiple cores. My advice is to buy the best current MBP you can afford now (either new or refurbished), max out the RAM (through a third-party vendor like Crucial), and enjoy it.
 
mbleopard said:
The MBP were just updated a couple months ago so I dont know if anyone can tell you with a guarantee that the MBP will be getting a quad core this year. It depends on when the Core i7s come out in portable form and how long it takes Apple to put them in the MBP

Though the Core i7 is supposed to be revolutionary. That said if you need a MBP wait until right before school starts and see if you hear anything about an update
Click to expand...

The Core i7 is a desktop only CPU..

Anyhow, if and when this comes out, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino#Calpella_platform_.282009.29, the Quad-Core with its higher TDP might be only available on the 17"..
 
Buying for School

You should wait till May/June and likely there will be the 'Back to School Promotion and you will get a free iPod. Then Use you computer all summer and get ready for College.
 
Quadcore or not, it'll be better to wait if you can b/c there will most likely be some sort of revision to the notebook lineup by the time school starts. Snow Leopard will also probably be out by then, with a 10.6.x revision (in other words, some of the bugs will be worked out in SL by then).

And you'll get the back-to-school promos!
 
Quad Core MBP? 2011.

Core 2 Duo's --> Notebook i7's (Dual Core) --> Notebook i7's (Quad Core)

Also Water cooling needs to be developed more, theyre hot beasts the i7's.
Apples patenting notebook water cooling like crazy at the moment. Hmmm wonder why.

Is the quad core going to be twice as fast or just slightly faster?
Click to expand...
In some cases its slower. If you dont know what the difference is, you probably don't need it.
 
Once again thanks for all the input.
I may be waiting until June, but more likely I may just take the dive in the next 2-3 weeks. Mainly because my friend who works at the Apple Store is going to use his friend discount to get me one before he moves away. So we'll see, it doesn't appear that a quad core MBP is likely this year or that it would provide a significant speed boost. I'll let you all now what happens.
 
rick3000 said:
Once again thanks for all the input.
I may be waiting until June, but more likely I may just take the dive in the next 2-3 weeks. Mainly because my friend who works at the Apple Store is going to use his friend discount to get me one before he moves away. So we'll see, it doesn't appear that a quad core MBP is likely this year or that it would provide a significant speed boost. I'll let you all now what happens.
Click to expand...

I really think the Quad is possible for the MBP this year. At least wait to see what Apple does with the iMac update, which could be updated within a week or two - according to recent rumors. If Apple updates the iMac with a quad core processor it will be much more likely they will move to quad core on the MacBook Pros.

I really think the next update to the MBPs could involve a quad core, because Apple will want to empower and excite people to use the benefits of Snow Leopard. And a lot of Apple fanatics that recently updated their MBPs will have a real reason to upgrade their MacBook Pros. Apple's target buyers for the MBPs are current Mac owners.

In addition, with the MB now having an aluminum case, I think Apple will want to further differentiate the MBP from the MB. And a quad core processor would be a beneficial update when Snow Leopard is released.

So the new MBPs were released on October 14th - 3.5 months old already. Apple usually updates it within six months. In addition, the rumor is that Snow Leopard will be out late first quarter. This is nearly perfect timing to upgrade the MBP with a quad core processor and ship with Snow Leopard which would be a real reason for us Mac addicts to buy them up.
 
Scottsdale said:
I really think the Quad is possible for the MBP this year. At least wait to see what Apple does with the iMac update, which could be updated within a week or two - according to recent rumors. If Apple updates the iMac with a quad core processor it will be much more likely they will move to quad core on the MacBook Pros.

I really think the next update to the MBPs could involve a quad core, because Apple will want to empower and excite people to use the benefits of Snow Leopard. And a lot of Apple fanatics that recently updated their MBPs will have a real reason to upgrade their MacBook Pros. Apple's target buyers for the MBPs are current Mac owners.

In addition, with the MB now having an aluminum case, I think Apple will want to further differentiate the MBP from the MB. And a quad core processor would be a beneficial update when Snow Leopard is released.

So the new MBPs were released on October 14th - 3.5 months old already. Apple usually updates it within six months. In addition, the rumor is that Snow Leopard will be out late first quarter. This is nearly perfect timing to upgrade the MBP with a quad core processor and ship with Snow Leopard which would be a real reason for us Mac addicts to buy them up.
Click to expand...

I've opened thread similar to these weeks ago and came up to a conclusion to wait for the quad core/nehalem or whatever it is called. As I am currently not in a great need of the laptop, so I'd rather wait till 2010 and see what's available at that time.
 
TheRekz said:
I've opened thread similar to these weeks ago and came up to a conclusion to wait for the quad core/nehalem or whatever it is called. As I am currently not in a great need of the laptop, so I'd rather wait till 2010 and see what's available at that time.
Click to expand...

Same as above, and anybody saying heat output is higher from mobile i7's is right, but they are also wrong.

The chip set, produces 10W less heat making up the difference, so the real challenge, is dissipating more heat from the same location, not 10W more heat.

I shall be purchasing most likely at the end of this year, if they include i7's.

I think, that Apple might even not release a mac update at the end of this year, if i7's aren't ready, like what they did with the Centrino 2 platform.

(I know they won't be called i7's but I have nothing else to call them by)
 
The SpinDoctor said:
Same as above, and anybody saying heat output is higher from mobile i7's is right, but they are also wrong.

The chip set, produces 10W less heat making up the difference, so the real challenge, is dissipating more heat from the same location, not 10W more heat.

I shall be purchasing most likely at the end of this year, if they include i7's.

I think, that Apple might even not release a mac update at the end of this year, if i7's aren't ready, like what they did with the Centrino 2 platform.

(I know they won't be called i7's but I have nothing else to call them by)
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure that the only update this year will be higher clock speeds and as well as Snow Leopard, but who knows.. it's really unpredictable.
 
Even though you don't want a desktop, you should think about it. Because a MacPro will smoke a MBP any day (unless you get 8GB RAM, SSD and some magic). So unless you need to render on the go (which will kill your battery anyway) I would go for a MP + MB/MBA combo.
 
I can't do a desktop. The film school I am going to has editing rooms with MacPro's anyway, so if I ever need to do serious rendering I can use those. I just want something fast enough to do casual editing, light effects, and run handbrake at h.264 in realtime or faster.
Thanks for the the advice everyone, at this point I am going to wait for 2-3 weeks and see if anything happens, then I may just go for it. After looking at dual core vs. quad core comparisons, I don't think a quad will give me that much more speed unless I am rendering or using handbrake, but I can always just use one of the schools MP's. Or I can just replace the MBP in a year if they do actually release a quad core.
 
I think you should wait because of

-Blu-ray drive
-Quad core processor
-USB 3.0
-Better display
-Better battery
-Better graphic card with more than 128-bit which can use most of the 512MB vram.
 
Blu-ray; Probably, but not very likely
Quad-core in a MBP, extremely unlikely
USB 3.0 - yes, considering Apple were one of the first to market with USB

The next 3 point, yes as usual, they (almost) always get upgraded
 
The SpinDoctor said:
Blu-ray; Probably, but not very likely
Quad-core in a MBP, extremely unlikely
USB 3.0 - yes, considering Apple were one of the first to market with USB

The next 3 point, yes as usual, they (almost) always get upgraded
Click to expand...

Really? there is already blu-ray drive on the window laptop that cost way less, there should be a blu-ray drive if Apple wants to compete
 
Vancouvercanuck said:
I think you should wait because of

-Blu-ray drive
Click to expand...

Not going to happen
Bag of hurt people
Vancouvercanuck said:
-Quad core processor
Click to expand...

Not going to happen
so many reasons, such a waste of time to explain
Vancouvercanuck said:
-USB 3.0
Click to expand...

Not going to happen for 2 years
Next whole line update, will require new logic boards
Vancouvercanuck said:
-Better display
Click to expand...

Not going to happen for 2 years
Not until/if Blu-Ray is introduced
Vancouvercanuck said:
-Better battery
Click to expand...

Not going to happen for 2 years
Si-Ox Tech, 2 Years min.
Vancouvercanuck said:
-Better graphic card with more than 128-bit which can use most of the 512MB vram.
Click to expand...
The graphics card has its own dedicated RAM already?!?
 
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