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Buy MBP now or wait til the end of the year

A

asdtfdr

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 10, 2009
37
0
Hi.
So I will buy a new laptop, and this time it will be a 15' mbp. With the new battery update I am really tented to buy it now, but I do not really need it right now.
Should I wait until, say, October/November, after Snow Leopard is out, or the wait will not be worth it(no new updates in the horizon)?
 
Hellhammer said:
Buy now, you can buy Snow Leopard for 10 bucks when it's released
Click to expand...

My question is not only about SL. Is it possible that Apple will update the mbp with new cpu/graphics card/ddr3 ram until the end of the year?
 
Now is not a bad time to buy since they're new but if you want to wait, go ahead. Just know that you could potentially be waiting forever playing the game you're playing because when October/November gets here, you might ask if you should wait for the next batch.

If you like the new offerings, I say jump on it and be happy.
 
If you don't need it don't buy it? Nehalem MBPs should be out just after the New Year but the current Core 2 Duos are pretty powerful anyway.
 
If you truly need a new system, buy one. If you don't, then wait until you do.

If your current system is meeting your needs, continue to use it until it no longer does so. Apple will always have something newer, better, faster and cooler around the corner.
 
BlizzardBomb said:
If you don't need it don't buy it? Nehalem MBPs should be out just after the New Year but the current Core 2 Duos are pretty powerful anyway.
Click to expand...

My buying limit is November.
But I think I'll wait, even if there are no big changes, there will be some minor upgrades that will make the mbp a bit more time-proof.
 
You said you could wait. My advise is to wait. You can only gain from it if you don't need it right now. Apple periodically updates with speed bumps. If you wait until October/November it will probably come with SL then you don't even have to pay $10. Just set some money aside between now and then so you have a large chunk of cash to pay for it easier or to get some extras if you need them.
 
MrSmith said:
Is that going to be a big deal? Specifically, is it going to be a big deal for the average, say, iMovie user?
Click to expand...

If snow leopard does effectively use multiple cores and the graphics chip for everyday computing and use like they say it's going to, then yes, more processors and better graphics cards will make a difference.

Take the mac pros, where the quad supposedly beats the octo for everyday use; the octo only trumps its less expensive sister when it's using software specifically designed to take full advantage of multiple processing cores. 10.6 promises to change all of that.

If you need the machine now, buy it now. If you don't, wait. If your current system meets your needs, use it until it no longer does so.

OTOH, if you truly need to buy a new system, now is the time to buy so you at least get six to twelve months of use before apple updates your model line. I'd wait a couple of weeks or a month just to make sure that there's not a flaw or a design shortcoming that would lessen your enjoyment of the machine; let everyone else be the beta tester. You don't want to be a pioneer if you don't have to.
 
Thanks for your comments. While I'm aware that there will always be updates round the corner, I don't want to be caught out by a big, game-changing update. Perhaps from what you say, Nehalam could be one. My iBook G4 is a little annoying but has lots of life left yet so I can wait. Then again, there could be a year of bugs to iron out. Is that possible with a new chip design?
 
MrSmith said:
Is that going to be a big deal? Specifically, is it going to be a big deal for the average, say, iMovie user?
Click to expand...

Nope. Your average consumer would notice a difference (probably about 20 - 40% dare I put a figure against it), but it wouldn't be something to cry about (of course when it does come out, we'll get the compulsory "OMG I gots rubbish Core 2 Duo and now Apple does this!").

MrSmith said:
Thanks for your comments. While I'm aware that there will always be updates round the corner, I don't want to be caught out by a big, game-changing update. Perhaps from what you say, Nehalam could be one. My iBook G4 is a little annoying but has lots of life left yet so I can wait. Then again, there could be a year of bugs to iron out. Is that possible with a new chip design?
Click to expand...

It's a big update, but there shouldn't really be any design flaws. Intel are quite rigorous with their testing. With the first run of mobile Nehalems however, it looks a little bit of a hodge podge. Intel have had to accelerate their 32nm development for the mobile side, which I'm assuming they've had to do because Hyper-Threading increases power draw. There's also no QPI (the thing which eliminates the FSB), but instead a low-end version of it. Intel have also said the clock speeds will be virtually identical to current Penryns so draw from that what you will. Personally, I'm buying now as I know the Core 2 Duo has fully matured, but the early Nehalem's should outperform Core 2 Duos by a certain margin anyway. There's not enough known about it right now though and I'm unsure if Intel will get it to market before the New Year given the lack of information.
 
I had the BlackBook, well now an uMB 2.4 replaced by Apple, but I was originally waiting for Nehalam, I start Uni next fall so I was originally waiting for those bad-boys to come out. Its a major jump with Nehalam so like everyone else is saying, if you can wait till Next year.

I can gurantee you, Nehalam will be in the New MacBooks, they are already out but Apple is a little slow putting in stuff into its machines (i.e Firewire, SD slot ;)) so just give it a bit of a wait if you can
 
hamzab said:
I had the BlackBook, well now an uMB 2.4 replaced by Apple, but I was originally waiting for Nehalam, I start Uni next fall so I was originally waiting for those bad-boys to come out. Its a major jump with Nehalam so like everyone else is saying, if you can wait till Next year.

I can gurantee you, Nehalam will be in the New MacBooks, they are already out but Apple is a little slow putting in stuff into its machines (i.e Firewire, SD slot ;)) so just give it a bit of a wait if you can
Click to expand...

Ok, but if they are released this year, it will be the 45nm architecture, with something like 1.6, 1.73 or 2.0 GHz.
Will they have better performance (power consumption is important too) than the actual c2d?
And speaking of graphics card, is it possible that they will put a new graphic card in the next update? I will not play games on it (just star wars the old republic :D when it comes out) but with the new technologies in snow leopard, GPU will have a bigger importance.
 
in this thread you ask up to predict the future.

nobody knows what Apple is going to do. anything is possible. if you want to buy it, buy it. if not, wait until the end of the year and ask these questions again.
 
I just bought the new 13 inch MBP. It's an excellent machine at an excellent price. I'm sure you will not be disappointed. However, I needed it - badly. If you don't need it now, there is no reason to be impatient and jump.
 
There's always going to be a looming possible update no matter when you buy. Like right now, the question is when do we see the next CPU bump? Very possible this fall or just before the holidays. So buy when you need and when you have the funds.
 
You could also say you want to wait after the new processors are released, you can always wait, but you waiting means you don't have the computer you want. If you need the computer now just go ahead and buy it, if not you can wait and see what comes out this fall. Even Mac users who purchased and are using leopard (pre June 8th) only have to pay $29 for a single user for snow leopard, which isn't much to begin when compared to leopard. Again there's no guarantee that these processors will be put into the macbook pros this year, so you could end up waiting for basically nothing.
 
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