Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

LordElysian

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 26, 2012
2
0
Hey all,
I'm currently a student in Uni right now and my current laptop (rather embarrassing) is a 6-pound HP laptop with a second-generation i3 processor and a disc drive. While it has performed surprisingly admirably over the course of the past two years, updates to modern software have become incredibly taxing on the hardware. While I'd like to stay in the Windows World (mostly for touch screens and Windows 8.x) I have to get a Mac so I can port my apps and game development projects over to iOS. My GameDev stuff isn't too processor-intensive, and neither are the games I play (Portal 2 and ports from the Wii and mobile basically) so I'm open to the idea of a MacBook Air as much as a Pro but I'm a big fan of High-resolution displays so the current generation of the Air isn't that attractive to me.

My question is, given that my current laptop can't really perform much of anything these days and I'm going to need something better by the time the fall semester starts, and given the news that Broadwell chips won't appear in MacBooks until 2015 - should I just get a MBP now, wait for Broadwell, wait for a retina MacBook Air, or is there a better solution? Perhaps maybe purchasing something in the interim, I'm not completely sure.
 
Last edited:
Hey all,
I'm currently a student in Uni right now and my current laptop (rather embarrassing) is a 6-pound HP laptop with a second-generation i3 processor and a disc drive. While it has performed surprisingly admirably over the course of the past two years, updates to modern software have become incredibly taxing on the hardware. While I'd like to stay in the Windows World (mostly for touch screens and Windows 8.x) I have to get a Mac so I can port my apps and game development projects over to iOS. My GameDev stuff isn't too processor-intensive, and neither are the games I play (Portal 2 and ports from the Wii and mobile basically) so I'm open to the idea of a MacBook Air as much as a Pro but I'm a big fan of High-resolution displays so the current generation of the Air isn't that attractive to me.

My question is, given that my current laptop can't really perform much of anything these days and I'm going to need something better by the time the fall semester starts, and given the news that Broadwell chips won't appear in MacBooks until 2015 - should I just get a MBP now, wait for Broadwell, wait for a retina MacBook Air, or is there a better solution? Perhaps maybe purchasing something in the interim, I'm not completely sure.

Especially considering the delays, get what you need. If you need a computer now, get one now. If you don't, then go ahead and wait. It will be at least half a year until Broadwell will be released. Apple has always put a premium on the 1st generation products, and they are typically the buggiest. The Skylake MBA will probably be a better purchase anyways. Might as well get a computer now that will last you 2-3 years.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.