Do I really need Sandy Bridge?

No.

 

go for the current version it will work for your needs.

 

either one would be fast enough, you may appreciate the larger screen size of the 15" in photoshop though.

 

i5 15" would be a great deal for you

 

I'm quite surprised no one has pointed this out yet.
There is no 13" i3 MBP. The 13 inch one uses the Core 2 Duo.

 

yeah um just go with the 15" i5 but atleast wait to buy after the 20th; maybe then apple will release a 13" mbp with i3...

 

MBP will be updated with Sandy Bridge CPUs (2nd gen iCore)
~Late Jan/~Early Feb

If you will wait for three months, you won't be disappointed

But if you need it right Now, then my advice is 15" high-end (because of i7 - large 3rd level cache)

 

Sandy Bridge will be a worthwhile update but like always it will only get you around 20% more speed from Architecture and the higher clock speeds. That is something but whatever the current i5 cannot do because they are too slow those Sandy Bridge CPUs would still be too slow. They will still only ship Dual Cores in all Apple Notebooks and this won't change till maybe at the 22nm Process Node but that is post Sandy Bridge.

The only reason to wait now is the GPU upgrade. For whatever they go now it will definitely improve performance. The new Intel HD is much better and maybe Apple gets its switching tech to a more reasonable job and Nvidia 400 or AMD HD 6XXX will both be much better than a 330M which is really old now.
And because they probably will finally redesign the board we might finally get the missing VRAM that never fitted on the current one.

 

Neither will when you are transferring all those video files over the slow as snails USB 2.0

Wait for USB 3.0

If you want a crap i3 processor then buy a Sony, Dell or HP laptop at Best Buy for $650-

An i3 is unacceptable in a $1,200 laptop.
--

 

An i3 is miles better than the Core 2 Duo in the MBP 13.

Anyway, OP, I think you are a little confused. The 13" uses a completely obsolete processor. Don't buy it. The 15" and 17" use Arrandale processors, which are really good. Sandy Bridge is basically just a slightly tweaked version of Arrandale and there is little point in waiting for new 15" and 17" models.

My advice is to wait until Wednesday to see if there is a price drop on the 15" and then buy it. Just get the base model with the upgraded screen. It will be perfect and should do anything you need for years. If you want to spend more, there is nothing wrong with getting the high end 15" with the i7, but really it is just a marketing gimmick, it is only slightly faster.

 

No one can say if the design will be refreshed. What I can say though is that you shouldn't automatically assume that there will be a january/feburary refresh. It could take a while for it to come out even after Sandy Bridge is available. It might end up being march/april instead.

You don't want to use a 13" as your main system. The screen resolution is really low. I am so much more productive on a 1920x1200 display. I think the MBP 15 is a good choice, but just hope they drop the price a bit on wednesday.

 

Calling Sandy Bridge, a "slightly tweaked" version of Arrandale, is a bit of an understatement considering it's a brand new architecture.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3922/intels-sandy-bridge-architecture-exposed

 

No, I'm already working with Maya on my Core i7 CPU. All I can say is consider fast and faster than my old Core 2 Duo CPU at rendering.

Flash and etc. all time same. Adobe need to fix all the bugs in the software seriously!

I'm actually doing even more heavier tasks than you have there and I have no issue with the current Core i7. This Macbook Pro is only 1 month old just so you know. Sandy Bridge is next year, not this year. Early April 2011 = long wait.

I got mine because I needed it for work. It is good enough and I don't see why you still have to wait because if you look at other people who are also working with Maya and other heavy tasks. They are all still using the non-Core i CPU. Either Quad cores or etc Duo Core. They are still fine.

Having a MacBook Pro is a whole different thing than PC which it will seems to age much faster.

 

Forgot to mention something, please get the 15"! Not 13" you will regret if you do.

13" not worth at what you are doing. Small screen for animation... no thanks! small screen for movie? no thanks!

15" is really nice, it's way lighter than most 15" notebook out there! Seriously!

For you: 15" at HR option (glossy or anti-glare is your choice) if you do prints, get anti-glare.

Do no upgrade RAM from Apple, they are overpriced... LOL stick with 4GB and buy them in 3rd party market. $130-160 will get you 8GB DDR3 RAM kits.

HDD upgrade is not necessary, 5400RPM looks fine unless you are moving or transferring files all time. Keep the 500GB default HDD and save money for SSD in the future.

I regret mine I upgraded it to 7200RPM.. stupid me.

Stick with Core i5, if you are crazy about rendering things all time. Get Core i7. (a bit faster)... but you also get 512MB GPU VRAM. Larger VRAM memory benefits for high-res screen. The only time you needed it, is when you plug into an external monitor at 1080p res. or more.

Let me summarize all this up. Just upgrade the Screen to High-Res. Glossy or Anti-glare your choice since I dont see you are doing prints.

 

It will have higher clock speeds and significantly better integrated graphics, but thats more or less it. It is the same fundamental architecture as Nehalem (and there's nothing wrong with that). Yes, there are a few improvements here and there, but it really is basically irrelevant.

Maybe you are confusing the socket with the architecture. The pin layout is different so desktop users will need to buy new motherboards for it, but the chip itself really isn't that different. It certainly isn't something worth waiting up to 6 months for, that's for sure.