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cMBP now?

A

ApplePu

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 3, 2010
149
30
Switzerland
Hey folks

I'm interested in buying a cMBP. What do you think? Is it a good time to buy one? I'm particularly interested in the unibody design for its upgradeability and the Hi-Res AG screen. I'm just asking myself if we can expect some groundbreaking features with a possible update in a few weeks....at the same time I'm afraid that Apple will discontinue the cMBP-Line with the next announcements....would be possible since the current model wasn't touched for over a year......don't you think?
 
If you can wait, wait. Either they discontinue it and you can get it on the refurb section for cheaper, or you can get the new Haswell coming out whether it be retina or classic.

I myself just went for it now and haven't turned back since.
 
I thought, or read somewhere, that they may discontinue the Classic, maybe to re-release it at a later date. I'm new though, so take this info with a grain of salt.

I bought my cMBP for the same reason's as you....I just can't justify the price difference to buy a similarly spec'd rMBP, especially when the biggest "feature" would be one that doesn't matter much to me. It was a no-brainer for me.....not saying that the Retina screen isn't as beautiful as people say it is, but ask yourself, do I really need one for what I do?

So, to answer your question, if you wait for the Haswell MBP's to come out, the current generation of refurb'd and new cMBP's will drop in price. I'd recommend waiting another month. You may be able to find a great deal on a more highly spec'd one than what your budget may have originally allowed. I'm pretty certain that there won't be any ground-breaking announcements when the Haswell's are released, aside from Apple discontinuing the line of cMBP's. I personally believe Apple is shifting to making ALL of their products proprietary and non-user upgradeable/repairable.
 
zerrisk said:
If you can wait, wait. Either they discontinue it and you can get it on the refurb section for cheaper, or you can get the new Haswell coming out whether it be retina or classic.

I myself just went for it now and haven't turned back since.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm doing. Waiting. I'll see what Haswell has to offer, if they even announce an update at the event. If they don't, I'll buy then based on what's available at that point. If they do release an update, I can compare everything and possibly snag a higher spec'd one at a lower price.
 
Right now, the cMBP is still the most capable portable computer Apple has on sale. Unless your primary concern is pixel density and weight.

Personally, I value antiglare screens and the highres variant already has a decent pixel density, so no need for me to jump on the retina bandwagon.


The rMBP is a beefed up Macbook Air (which is not a bad thing at all, but not what I require). If you know how to handle a T6 screwdriver, the older cMBP offers better specs for less money.
 
cjoy said:
Right now, the cMBP is still the most capable portable computer Apple has on sale. Unless your primary concern is pixel density and weight.

Personally, I value antiglare screens and the highres variant already has a decent pixel density, so no need for me to jump on the retina bandwagon.


The rMBP is a beefed up Macbook Air (which is not a bad thing at all, but not what I require). If you know how to handle a T6 screwdriver, the older cMBP offers better specs for less money.
Click to expand...

that's pretty self contradictory- most portable (unless you're concerned with weight). lol?
 
cjoy said:
The rMBP is a beefed up Macbook Air (which is not a bad thing at all, but not what I require). If you know how to handle a T6 screwdriver, the older cMBP offers better specs for less money.
Click to expand...

If by more capable, you mean heavier, yes ;) A base rMBP with the - granted, too expensive - 16gb RAM upgrade is just around $100 more then a Hi-res cMBP with DYI samsung 256gb SSD and 16GB RAM upgrades. And these $100 get you an IPS screen, better cooling system, faster GPU and 20% reduction in weight. Seems quite reasonable to me. If you want a 512Gb SSD, the price difference is bigger. Then again, if you want a faster CPU, the 2.7Ghz+16GB RAM+512Gb SSD configuration of the retina MBP is $100 cheaper then an equivalent hi-res DYI cMBP.

P.S. Yeah, the DVD drive... I wouldn't refer to it as 'more capable' but rather like 'useless weight'. But if you need it in a daily work, then the cMBP is the way to go.
 
leman said:
If by more capable, you mean heavier, yes ;) A base rMBP with the - granted, too expensive - 16gb RAM upgrade is just around $100 more then a Hi-res cMBP with DYI samsung 256gb SSD and 16GB RAM upgrades. And these $100 get you an IPS screen, better cooling system, faster GPU and 20% reduction in weight. Seems quite reasonable to me. If you want a 512Gb SSD, the price difference is bigger. Then again, if you want a faster CPU, the 2.7Ghz+16GB RAM+512Gb SSD configuration of the retina MBP is $100 cheaper then an equivalent hi-res DYI cMBP.

P.S. Yeah, the DVD drive... I wouldn't refer to it as 'more capable' but rather like 'useless weight'. But if you need it in a daily work, then the cMBP is the way to go.
Click to expand...

What he said.

Plus, if I wanted to build my own laptop I wouldn't pay $1200 for base macbook pro (classic). That's ridiculous.

You're buying additional SSD, additional RAM... and your screen still isn't even as good as the Air, which you have no paid more for.


And FYI- there's this myth going around that more RAM= future proof. Lemme tell you this, if you can learn one thing from Intel and Apple in 2013 is that it's all about efficiency now. Same system, lighter requirements.

4GB RAM is going to be plenty for Mavericks which will have memory compression... which will free up RAM significantly.

So on the contrary, ironically, Mavericks OS means less RAM shows more productivity vs Mountain Lion... not the other way which so many believe.

OSX.10.9.MemoryCompression.2.061213.jpg


OSX.10.9.MemoryCompression.1.061213.jpg


source
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13...avericks-aims-to-free-ram-extend-battery-life

PS- That's why 2GB of RAM is the minimum requirement for Mavericks. Of course the more the better, but it's not essential.
 
AXs said:
PS- That's why 2GB of RAM is the minimum requirement for Mavericks. Of course the more the better, but it's not essential.
Click to expand...

Until you hit that limit, based on future needs. At that point, you are looking to sell your machine, versus simply upgrading it.

For some reason, there is a lot of anger directed towards the cMBP. Not sure where it comes from. Lots of people prefer to upgrade as their needs change. I happen to be one of them. And I try to inform people of this perk in the cMBP, when they come around asking questions.
 
Count Blah said:
Until you hit that limit, based on future needs. At that point, you are looking to sell your machine, versus simply upgrading it.

For some reason, there is a lot of anger directed towards the cMBP. Not sure where it comes from. Lots of people prefer to upgrade as their needs change. I happen to be one of them. And I try to inform people of this perk in the cMBP, when they come around asking questions.
Click to expand...

It's that optical drive. A lot of us want those things dead and gone forever. I haven't put an optical drive in a desktop build in 4 years, and I don't plan to ever do it again.

rMBP with upgradable RAM and SSD, great. Wasted space on old tech, not great.
 
memory compression may help you to survive on the 8gb of soldered ram, but putting the optibay on the cMBP to good use you are looking at terabytes of built-in storage further down the road - not sure how mavericks will magically compensate for that. in terms of mass storage configuration, the cMBP blows away the rMBP and it will continue to do so for you can actually go with the advances in HDD/SSD technology and upgrade. You may shrug and say you wont need that .. but I have not had a single laptop where I did not swap the drive at some point.

The cMBP has two dedicated network adapters - you may shrug and say you dont need that - however I am sometimes required to analyze network traffic and this is very useful. Also, knowing how ****** hotel wi-fi can be, and having had presentations in many environments where the only means of network connectivity was a provided ethernet cable, I am not so easily gonna accept it's removal. Buying a bunch of adapters to loose or leave behind is not something I fancy, thank you much.

The antiglare highres is a very decent display if you use it for work. I care about clarity and crispness and I would not want to ever use an ipad or iphone without retina again - I did not have the same "different league" experience on the MBP when comparing the highres to retina. In the default mode, the retina will offer less screen estate and much more environmental reflection. Not for me.

In terms of connectivity, the cMBP also trumps the rMBP.
Firewire
Ethernet (see above)
Audio line out (the headphone jack on the rMBP is crap in comparison)
Audio line in

No HDMI built in, granted, but for business purposes I have never ever required that - VGA it is usually.

If having two TB ports will be an advantage for the rMBP over the next 5 years remains to be seen, right now I do not see a use case for it personally and I assume that if need be, the single TB port with daisy chaining will suffice.

I dont mind the existence of the rMBP at all - I think it is a great system that definitely has its place. I just wish it was introduced as the Macbook Air 15" without a looming discontinuation of the cMBP class portables. :)
 
Atomic Walrus said:
It's that optical drive. A lot of us want those things dead and gone forever. I haven't put an optical drive in a desktop build in 4 years, and I don't plan to ever do it again.

rMBP with upgradable RAM and SSD, great. Wasted space on old tech, not great.
Click to expand...

Throw in an ethernet port and I'm 10000000% sold. For me, it's not so much the optical drive, it's what the optical drive represents. It represents the ability for me to put an obscene amount of storage on my cMBP, compared to what is available for the rMBP. I maxed out my machine to 16Gigs of RAM. I'm biding me time before committing to replacing the optical with some combo of SSD and HDD to maximize space. That option is simply not there on the rMBP, and the space is greatly limited on the rMBP, unless you have an unlimited budget.

I could probably get by with a usb/ethernet dongle, but its simply another thing to lose/leave behind, that is often critical to a job.
 
GSPice said:
One pathetically slow disk at a time..
Click to expand...

Or one SSD and one huge HDD for the long term storage. I know that having customers decide what they want can be scary for some of you who are already succumbing to Apple's "figure out every possible current and all possible unknown future requirement now, and buy THAT version of the MBP" mentality. But there are those of us who prefer it otherwise.
 
Count Blah said:
Or one SSD and one huge HDD for the long term storage. I know that having customers decide what they want can be scary for some of you who are already succumbing to Apple's "figure out every possible current and all possible unknown future requirement now, and buy THAT version of the MBP" mentality. But there are those of us who prefer it otherwise.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: Doesn't really change the terrible antiquated technology that is optical media, but whatever lets you sleep at night.. ;)
 
Count Blah said:
For me, it's not so much the optical drive, it's what the optical drive represents. It represents the ability for me to put an obscene amount of storage on my cMBP, compared to what is available for the rMBP.
Click to expand...

I would be a bit careful when people try to argue the value which results from the modability of the device. Its like 'you just have to flash it with the unsupported firmware, relink the swap storage and kill a puppy - otherwise its an amazing phone!' (original SGS). What I am trying to say, is that you are certainly right, but its not part of the functionality of the machine as intended y the manufacturer. Doing such mod will void you warranty. But there is certainly the option, yes.

Count Blah said:
I maxed out my machine to 16Gigs of RAM
Click to expand...

You make it sound like its not possible with the rMBP... ;)
 
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