Get a 15" Retina now or wait?

[jamesjingyi]

Hey, I'm going to get a new MacBook Pro Retina 15" with 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD and the NVIDIA Discreet Graphics but I was wondering whether to hold our for the next update or not. Will the next generation of Intel Processors be amazingly good that I will regret getting it now instead of waiting?

I know this is silly but I would also like 32GB of RAM, just for future-proofing. The soldered RAM is a constant worry and I would really like 32 just so this machine could last me a very long time. Do you think you will be able to configure this in the next iteration or am I just being silly? It's a lot of money to spend and I just want to make sure that it will last.

I'm pretty set on the 15" just because it will be a great gaming rig that can also be taken around with me. I was considering the iMac 5k but I feel that I sometimes want to take my 'beast' with me wherever I am going.

In regards to the processor, I will be going with the 2.5GHz not 2.8GHz because of money and the fact that I don't think that I will use it in day to day use. I game a bit but I don't play that graphically intense games that they will actually use this power.

I can hold out since I have an 11" MacBook Air 2012 that is doing great with gaming and everything else, I am just wondering about university and the fact that I might need an upgrade. I want to buy now not when my money is tied up in living expenses and accommodation. This is also what I was wondering, do you think I will need this beefy computer for my course (Electrical Engineering with Computer Science). I think I will be doing some pretty heavy programming and 3D game design etc and when I was looking around the Unis, everybody had MBP 15" which sorta suggests that power is maybe needed. My MBA would be the one I take to lectures and the MBP the desktop replacement. If I needed a bit more power, I would take the MBP along and this is one of the reasons I want one instead of an iMac.

So basically, shall I wait or shall I go?

Thanks in advance for any replies, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Troneas]

if you can wait, then wait.


if you need it now, get it now.


there is no exception to this rule.


if you purchase now i think you will get an incredible machine for the next 3 or 4 years but it's no mystery that the next model will be better; and the one after that and so on.

The gap between software and hardware has diminished enormously over the past few years. Today, you no longer need to update a computer every year to stay relevant. Many people run modern games, operating systems and specialised software with 3 year old or older machines (without updating their internals).

 

[jamesjingyi]

if you can wait, then wait.


if you need it now, get it now.


there is no exception to this rule.


if you purchase now i think you will get an incredible machine for the next 3 or 4 years but it's no mystery that the next model will be better; and the one after that and so on.

The gap between software and hardware has diminished enormously over the past few years. Today, you no longer need to update a computer every year to stay relevant. Many people run modern games, operating systems and specialised software with 3 year old or older machines (without updating their internals).

I don't need it now, it's just I want it haha Do you think they will have 32GB of RAM available? Also are the next generation of intel processors going to create such a big leap in performance?

 

[Troneas]

Will you need 32GB of RAM?


What can you do today with 32GB of RAM that you can't do with 16?

Probably very little.


I think that by the time you really *need* 32GB of RAM you'll be thinking of buying a new computer altogether.


New processors are always advertised as "2x or 3x faster or more energy efficient" and benchmark charts are thrown around alongside new technological names to make the old ones look bad.

Again, even with the obvious improved performance and efficiency what can you do with them that you can't do with the haswell processors? in day to day usage, again probably very little...

 

[brdeveloper]

It the 2015 rMBP comes with DDR4 RAM, there's a chance that it will have a BTO option of 32GB. If this scenario comes true, it will leave 2012-2014 Retinas in the dust.

 

[blooperz]

I know this is silly but I would also like 32GB of RAM, just for future-proofing. The soldered RAM is a constant worry and I would really like 32 just so this machine could last me a very long time. Do you think you will be able to configure this in the next iteration or am I just being silly? It's a lot of money to spend and I just want to make sure that it will last.

It's not going to last long enough to reach a point where anyone needs 32 gigs of ram...16 gigs is already overkill for 90% of people. 32 is just out of the question unless your in the 1% that has that specific job, which as a student you won't.

I'm pretty set on the 15" just because it will be a great gaming rig that can also be taken around with me. I was considering the iMac 5k but I feel that I sometimes want to take my 'beast' with me wherever I am going.

It's ok for gaming, especially older games, but don't expect blazing performance on any of the latest titles...the 750m is an old card.


Most engineering departments let students run all the demanding software virtually so your computer spec's are not as important and you could probably get by with a lot less then the machine you listed

To be honest if I were in your position I would consider waiting for the rumored 12" Macbook air Retina next year...that would be ideal for school imo

 

[jamesjingyi]

It's not going to last long enough to reach a point where anyone needs 32 gigs of ram...16 gigs is already overkill for 90% of people. 32 is just out of the question unless your in the 1% that has that specific job, which as a student you won't.



It's ok for gaming, especially older games, but don't expect blazing performance on any of the latest titles...the 750m is an old card.


Most engineering departments let students run all the demanding software virtually so your computer spec's are not as important and you could probably get by with a lot less then the machine you listed

To be honest if I were in your position I would consider waiting for the rumored 12" Macbook air Retina next year...that would be ideal for school imo

I suppose you are right about the 32GB of RAM. I hope that the next iteration they may use a better card but this is kinda unlikely.

The only reason why I thought that 32GB of RAM would be necessary is because when I went on a work placement, all of their PCs had 32GB of RAM standard, even some with 64GB. They dealt with high res schematics and stuff and did simulations. I thought that I might need to do this so I was thinking about it.

About the 12" MBAr, I think my 11" MBA will be perfectly fine for what I would use the 12" for. I would rather spend my money on a much more beefy laptop.

Tbh, I can run GW2 pretty well on my MBA so I would be disappointed if the MBP had low framerates but I suppose I'll just have to use my 14 day return time carefully.

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It the 2015 rMBP comes with DDR4 RAM, there's a chance that it will have a BTO option of 32GB. If this scenario comes true, it will leave 2012-2014 Retinas in the dust.

OOH! Tell me more!

The only reason why I think the retina might get 32GB is that the iMacs can be specced to this so why not the laptop?

Do you think DDR4 is gonna be ready in time for the new rMBPs?

 

[andeify]

Its one of those situations, a new rMBP is I'd say at least 7 months away, DDR4 won't make it till Skylake (only certain Desktop Broadwell CPU's will support it) which is late next year or later depending on any delays there may be. I'd expect to see AMD used as the discreet GPU option in the next two iterations although the lower power of the nVidia GPU could sway Apple's decision

 

[iKrivetko]

The answer will solely depend on Intel's ability to not cock up with Skylake.

Broadwell will quite likely not be that much better than Haswell.

 

[poematik13]

Just keep waiting. No use in buying anything when the new one is right around the corner

 

[Woochoo]

My advice would be: if you don't need it now, wait but don't wait 4-6 months for Broadwell (which will carry 5-10% performance improvement in CPU), wait 1 year for Skylake (2015 Q4) which will be a much bigger gap. Otherwise, if you can't wait 1 year, now is also a good time to get a MBP. I don't expect to see big changes in MBP's with Broadwell, if there is a radical change in some Macbook the Air has all the numbers to be the one.
If there's an option to get 32GB RAM in the next iterations, for sure it'll be with Skylake. With Broadwell is less probable, but it's also possible.

 

[Mindinversion]

Buy now, wait a year or two, Ebay the machine for 80% what you paid for it, buy new machine.

unless you're pushing your CPU to the wall daily [we're talking running Prime95 + 3dmark benchmarking for weeks on end pushing here] you're not going to notice much of a functional difference in 98% of tasks.

Gaming, depends on what GPU they choose for next year's model. if they go with the Nvidia 900, series, I'd DEFINITELY trade up if I were using mine as a "gaming" machine, but when was the last time Apple used a current release high end mobile GPU in the macbook pro line?

 

[cjmillsnun]

It the 2015 rMBP comes with DDR4 RAM, there's a chance that it will have a BTO option of 32GB. If this scenario comes true, it will leave 2012-2014 Retinas in the dust.

In what way? For most people, there will be zero advantage with the extra RAM as they won't use all of the 16GB available today.

There will be a DDR4 speed advantage, and the broadwell CPUs will be marginally faster. What difference that will make to Joe Bloggs using his Mac remains to be seen.

 

[brdeveloper]

In what way? For most people, there will be zero advantage with the extra RAM as they won't use all of the 16GB available today.

There will be a DDR4 speed advantage, and the broadwell CPUs will be marginally faster. What difference that will make to Joe Bloggs using his Mac remains to be seen.

It will leave current Retinas in the dust in the same sense that a Retina leaves a Macbook Air in the dust. The first iteration of DDR4 memories will perform practically the same as DDR3 RAM. Actually they are currently slightly faster, but suffer from higher latency. However, you'll note a performance bump when editing 4K video or processing a batch of big RAW files.

You'll also note a more comfortable environment if you work with math and computer science. Loading and processing 1GB of data usually translates to dozens of gigabytes on RAM because of redundancy and internal representation overhead. In such applications, there is not a "comfortable" amount. But 32GB is way better than 16.

I think 16GB should be the default on 15" rMBPs - and it currently is. It's a decent amount for Photoshoppers and 1080p video producers. But there should be BTO options of 32 and 64GB. Macbook Pros must be positioned a bit ahead of the future to allow users to produce innovative products and services in advance comparing to their competitors. This should be the Macbook Pro concept: mobile computers which push innovation.

 

[Freyqq]

In what way? For most people, there will be zero advantage with the extra RAM as they won't use all of the 16GB available today.

There will be a DDR4 speed advantage, and the broadwell CPUs will be marginally faster. What difference that will make to Joe Bloggs using his Mac remains to be seen.

DDR4 vs DDR3 is just not going to cause any noticeable improvement. RAM speed is very rarely the bottleneck. You have to run very specialized tasks, usually customized benchmarks, just to see the difference. In addition, the L4 cache in the Iris Pro version of the processor means that the practical RAM speed is even faster. Honestly, an improvement in ram speed would probably have the smallest impact compared to a similar increase in any other aspect of your computer.

The main advantage of DDR4 is 1) lower power and 2) don't need matching pairs, as they're basically putting 2 dimms on 1 stick of ram, if that makes any sense (no more dual channel).

 

[cjmillsnun]

DDR4 vs DDR3 is just not going to cause any noticeable improvement. RAM speed is very rarely the bottleneck. You have to run very specialized tasks, usually customized benchmarks, just to see the difference. In addition, the L4 cache in the Iris Pro version of the processor means that the practical RAM speed is even faster. Honestly, an improvement in ram speed would probably have the smallest impact compared to a similar increase in any other aspect of your computer.

The main advantage of DDR4 is 1) lower power and 2) don't need matching pairs, as they're basically putting 2 dimms on 1 stick of ram, if that makes any sense (no more dual channel).

Thank you, you made my point for me. Someone thought it would leave the current generation in the dust, the fact is, it won't.

 

[blooperz]

My advice would be: if you don't need it now, wait but don't wait 4-6 months for Broadwell (which will carry 5-10% performance improvement in CPU), wait 1 year for Skylake (2015 Q4) which will be a much bigger gap. Otherwise, if you can't wait 1 year, now is also a good time to get a MBP. I don't expect to see big changes in MBP's with Broadwell, if there is a radical change in some Macbook the Air has all the numbers to be the one.
If there's an option to get 32GB RAM in the next iterations, for sure it'll be with Skylake. With Broadwell is less probable, but it's also possible.

I wouldn't count on skylake within a year...they won't release Broadwell and skylake variants < 12 months apart...I seriously doubt it anyways. 2 years is probably a much safer bet

 

[Woochoo]

I wouldn't count on skylake within a year...they won't release Broadwell and skylake variants < 12 months apart...I seriously doubt it anyways. 2 years is probably a much safer bet

Yeah, I was also skeptical about having Skylake on Q4 2015, but in the official Intel keynote where they revealed Skylake they said many times that Skylake would be there on time (no delays), and that if you are the kind of user that always wants to be on the edge, not to bother getting broadwell and wait 6 months (literally) to have Skylake.
Seeing what they did with Broadwell it's obvious that they have much less credibility, but who knows. I'd doubt they get on time because of their history of delays, not because releasing 2 products in same year. Why? Well, I suppose that we'd see first Skylake series (the low end) in Q4 2015, and the rest in 2016 (mid and high end) in Q1 and Q2 2016. That would mean a whole year difference between the same series of Broadwell.
Anyway, Intel is pissing off with all that delays. I doubt they were so "relaxed" about delaying a whole year their CPU's if AMD was just behind it or on par in CPU's.