Getting a MBP need help to decide when.

[fishmoose]

Hi,

So here's the deal, my 13" white plastic MacBook is singing its last tune several things, including the headphone jack, isn't working properly anymore. I will have enough to buy a new 15" MBP in a week. But I'm thinking maybe I ought to wait for Lion? I don't really, really need one ASAP since the 13" still works relatively fine.

I have no issues buying one now in regards to it shipping with Snow Leopard since Apple usually offers a good deal on a new OS in a situation like this. But in the back of my head, even though there has been few rumors, I wonder if they may tweak the MBP's in time for Lion?

What are your thoughts on this and what would you have done?

Thanks for reading!

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I would get it now as it in includes a stable OS now and you can get Lion for free anyway. When you get it with Lion, it will be hard to go back to Snow Leopard, and as Lion is still buggy, and will be until 10.7.3 or 10.7.4 or so, you can get a stable OS now and upgrade for free to try Lion, and even revert back to the stable OS.

 

[fishmoose]

I would get it now as it in includes a stable OS now and you can get Lion for free anyway. When you get it with Lion, it will be hard to go back to Snow Leopard, and as Lion is still buggy, and will be until 10.7.3 or 10.7.4 or so, you can get a stable OS now and upgrade for free to try Lion, and even revert back to the stable OS.

Hmm, that's true. Worth considering for sure, what's your thoughts on any spec bumps in time for the Lion release?

 

[ghsDUDE]

Buy it when you get the money. I was in the same boat as you and just bought mine Sunday. Lion is probably going to have some bugs, so SL is always good to have.

I plan on downloading Lion as late as I can for free and by then hoping some issues wil be resolved.

 

[palpatine]

Hmm, that's true. Worth considering for sure, what's your thoughts on any spec bumps in time for the Lion release?

Doubt it. What would they do? It already has the newest processor. They'd have to redesign it, and that seems rather unlikely.

Depending on your needs, though, you may want to look at the MBA when it comes out in a few days (rumored). If you have been using an MB, then you probably don't really need everything in a 15" MBP. The 13" MBA may be more than enough.

As for Lion, who cares? You can download it free later, so I don't see much point in waiting around. More importantly, I'd be considering the MBA.

 

[fishmoose]

Buy it when you get the money. I was in the same boat as you and just bought mine Sunday. Lion is probably going to have some bugs, so SL is always good to have.

I plan on downloading Lion as late as I can for free and by then hoping some issues wil be resolved.

True, would be nice to get rid of this MacBook as fast as possible too.

Doubt it. What would they do? It already has the newest processor. They'd have to redesign it, and that seems rather unlikely.

Depending on your needs, though, you may want to look at the MBA when it comes out in a few days (rumored). If you have been using an MB, then you probably don't really need everything in a 15" MBP. The 13" MBA may be more than enough.

As for Lion, who cares? You can download it free later, so I don't see much point in waiting around. More importantly, I'd be considering the MBA.

The thing is, the 13" wast he first Mac I ever got so I didn't want to spend all the money for a MBP at the time. I always felt I could use more horsepower and I'm thinking about using bootcamp on it to get back into PC gaming as well. So I think I'll go with a MBP even though I really like the idea of the Air (SSD and no optical drive).

 

[snaky69]

True, would be nice to get rid of this MacBook as fast as possible too.



The thing is, the 13" wast he first Mac I ever got so I didn't want to spend all the money for a MBP at the time. I always felt I could use more horsepower and I'm thinking about using bootcamp on it to get back into PC gaming as well. So I think I'll go with a MBP even though I really like the idea of the Air (SSD and no optical drive).

If you're thinking of gaming even remotely seriously, consider the high-end MBP with the 6750M or you'll be kicking yourself.

 

[Dark Void]

gaming on the current 13'' will be rough, so if you have gaming in mind at all then you have the right sentiment with going for the 15''. the older 13'' models have better gpus and even with the hit to processing power they usually (certainly not always) make better casual gaming machines. the current 15'' models can definitely be gamed on, and while looking solely at the base models, the difference between the actual cards themselves isn't too major, but the importance is in the vram. as snaky69 pointed out, you're going to want to get the high end 15'' with the 1gb gddr5 dedicated graphics card. it seems like you will be doing a quite a bit of gaming just by stating that you will be getting back into it via boot camp.

what I would do? personally i would just use your 13'' until it is completely unusable and get a gaming pc desktop or boot camped iMac (if you need more osx horsepower at the moment as well) if said 13'' can still handle most of your osx usage.

 

[fishmoose]

Since I tend to use my machines for a long time I will go for the high end 15".

I want to spec it like this:

High resolution matt screen.

The 500GB HDD with 7200rpm

Everything else standard, doesn't seem worth it to upgrade the CPU since I don't do a lot of video work (well none if I can avoid it).

As for gaming, I'm considering Battlefield 3 via bootcamp (Win 7) if the PC version is a lot better than the PS3 version otherwise I'll settle for the PS3 version.

I used to play a lot of strategy games so may play some old ones that I liked a lot again but those I know will run without a hitch.

 

[dlimes13]

I personally would get one now so you have the ability to fall back on Snow Leopard if Lion is not that stable at first. Apple is famous for .0 releases to be buggy/unstable (Final Cut X?).

Also, I bought a base 17 inch MBP off eBay from a reputable seller, new/sealed for $2,025 and saved over $600 from Apple directly. Something else to consider for a new Mac, try eBay.

The guy was charging originally $2,250, but I simply messaged him asking if he'll take $2,025 directly to save him eBay fees and he did it. Still secure through PayPal if anything goes wrong. Probably the route I'll go for all future MacBooks (buying, and selling).

 

[CFoss]

I would purchase the MacBook Pro now. Lion will be a free upgrade. There's essentially no chance of an improvement: We're halfway through the MacBook Pro's cycle.