Early 2011 MBP with upgrades or wait..

[Nytra420]

Ive got a $1300 budget for a macbook. I was about to buy a February 2011 MBP 13" for $850, putting in a 250gb ssd corsair drive, and a corsair 8gb upgrade of ram. But would it be better to wait for 2012. At that time maybe even get the 2012 macbook air.

What do you suggest? Id like to bootcamp windows 7 at some point as well.

 

[Liquinn]

Ive got a $1300 budget for a macbook. I was about to buy a February 2011 MBP 13" for $850, putting in a 250gb ssd corsair drive, and a corsair 8gb upgrade of ram. But would it be better to wait for 2012. At that time maybe even get the 2012 macbook air.

What do you suggest? Id like to bootcamp windows 7 at some point as well.

I would wait if I was you. Why would you spend that amount of money on something that's a year old?

I'm looking forward to buying my Macbook Pro 17" and an Apple Thunderbolt Display. But I'm waiting for the Ivy Bridge MBPs now ^_^

 

[applefanboy4739]

My opinion differs on this topic. 2 months ago, about 3 weeks before the new update, I bought a 2011 13' macbook pro. I updgraded it to 8GB of crucial RAM and put in a 256 GB Toshi a SSD. I couldn't be happier. Although they Ivy bridge CPUS are going to be great, I can tell you from experience that if the 2012 update brings a new case design, that there will probably be bugs. If not a redesign, for it. If so, wait and read some reviews on it before buying. If you decide not to wait at all, you won't regret your decision.

 

[yusukeaoki]

Just remember, you cannot edit the internals on the MBA.
This was why I chose MBP first. So I can install more memory and SSDs.

But to be honest, this is a Power vs Portability question.

Get the Air and you will not be facing back problems haha
But will be limited on CPU power when editing stuff.
If this will be your main computer, I wouldnt recommend it.

Now the Pro. You will see weight differences between these two.
BUT you will have better CPU power.
I would prefer you wait for the 2012 Pro if your going to wait for the 2012 Air.

The Ivy Bridge Technology on the brand new Pro will be astonishing.

 

[AlvinNguyen]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I think you're looking at an August update at the earliest. Apple is using the current speed bump to buy them some time for the new redesign. I don't know about you but 6-8 months is a long wait.

I bought the feb 2011 version when they came out and I was waiting for te 2012 redesign too but luckily apple recently replaced my 17" with the new one. I think I'll still get the 2012 redesign though.

 

[aoaaron]

i waited last year and was very happy with my decision.

but that was also based on the specs being able to satisfy my (basic) needs and then some for quite a long time ...

if the MBP right now will last you a few years then do it. if you need a laptop ASAP, do it. If not, chill.

 

[VMMan]

If you can wait, then wait. If you can't wait then don't. If you're not sure, then you can probably wait.

 

[mark28]

In April, Ivy Bridge hits.

So if you can wait 4 months, I'd wait for sure. It could be possible for the 13" MBP to have Quad cores because of the move to 22 nm which makes it run cooler at the same clock speeds. The GPU gets a major upgrade for sure.

 

[bdodds1985]

use the search bar and find hundreds of post with the exact same question, all have the same result.... pros vs cons which if you do enough research you can find out very easily.

i bought my macbook pro right before the refresh this year and already installed 12gb of ram, 2 120gb intel ssd's, and i couldnt be happier. in 6 months, the new ones will be outdated as well.

if you dont have the money to keep re buying new stuff when it comes out just because of a refresh (exterior or interior) id say go with your gut. it will be outdated eventually anyways, its just evolution.

 

[Jiten]

If your time and productivity with a Mac is valuable and you earn your livelihood with your machine then now is the best time to buy. If it is just a luxury purchase then waiting for the latest and greatest is a good option.

 

[Liquinn]

If your time and productivity with a Mac is valuable and you earn your livelihood with your machine then now is the best time to buy. If it is just a luxury purchase then waiting for the latest and greatest is a good option.

Does the latest and greatest mean the newest thing out?

That's what I'm doing, it's tempting to buy a 17" now... but Ivy Bridge should be out in 6 months? Probably less than that.

 

[bill-p]

I don't think we'll see new MBP any time soon. Intel has even yet to showcase how Ivy Bridge runs, and that means mass production is way too far out to even consider.

Also not to mention Apple would be too occupied with rushing the iPad 3 to market in Q1 2012. Realistically, we're looking at Q2 or even Q3 2012 for the new Pros at the earliest, and I know that's some 6 months from now... even if you want to get the new machines right as they come out.

I'd say go for a 2011 MBP now if you really need a machine, and then sell it back at a small loss and get the 2012 later.

 

[ABadSanta]

It sounds like you want to get a futureproof computer. I say get a base 13" Macbook Air. Even if it doesn't have upgradeable internals, it will stay fast for a while.