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Good time to buy a new MBP? (speed bumps soon?)

N

NewSc2

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 4, 2005
1,044
2
New York, NY
I haven't been checking around here lately and I'm itching to buy a new MBP. The Macbook I currently have is my work's so I'm really not supposed to take it home (my boss kindly reminds me that every now and then).

I was holding out for MWSF for any updates (higher-res screen, speed bumps) but nothing happened. Is anything like that forseeable around the corner? I recall CD MBP's had a speed bump halfway through their life.

It's been a couple months since MBP C2D's release -- have all the bugs been worked out since CD? Whine/buzz, temps, etc.? My Macbook has a kind of annoying whine here and there.

I'm kind of eager for Santa Rosa, but it's doubtful that I could hold out for a MBP for that long.
 
NewSc2 said:
I was holding out for MWSF for any updates (higher-res screen, speed bumps) but nothing happened. Is anything like that forseeable around the corner? I recall CD MBP's had a speed bump halfway through their life.

It's been a couple months since MBP C2D's release

I'm kind of eager for Santa Rosa, but it's doubtful that I could hold out for a MBP for that long.
Click to expand...

Why were you holding out for updates of laptops @MWSF, when there were no rumors to that?

It's not only the Santa Rosa chipset platform that will be on the next MBP upgrade, but possibly a slew of higher performance hardware upgrades; faster CPU, more energy efficient DDR2 memory & potentially slightly faster @800Mhz, Blu-Ray drive at least as an option, either 200GB 5.4k or 160GB 7.2k HD's which are supposed to ship this spring. Higher res screen, we can only hope for that in at least the 17in MBP, backlit LED too?

Apple was almost 2 months late in delivering the MBP C2D (apparently because of limited supplies of the higher Ghz Merom), and so now you've waited a good 4months. Who's to say you can't wait another 4mo? or 6mo? Almost a certainty (unless again, Apple gets the short end on limited supplies of faster Meroms, and doesn't ship any upgrade at all until the fastest CPU is available in quantity) that in the 3-6mo range Santa Rosa PC laptops will be shipping. Assuming Apple doesn't wait for all the parts to the puzzle to materialize, something will be released from Apple in that time period.

I would wait, seeing as how you have a 9800 GPU, and 20in higher res. screen in the desktop (which is better than any current C2D MBP)---your sig line; you'll get something nearly equivalent to that capability when the new 17in MBP ships...again, hopefully with upgraded, faster, lower power consuming latest gen GPU, faster hard drive, faster this and that; along with higher res. better color accuracy screen, which could make for a noticeable difference btw. the current MBP C2D models. Note, both Nivida & ATI where shipping slightly higher performing mobile GPU's at the time of the delayed C2D annoucments. But since Apple had apparently already contracted and had available the good 'ol X1600, with heat/fan issues worked out, they did not put those newer slighly higher performance GPU's in the C2D's. Since that time, and this spring, even more powerful GPU's will become available...and Leopard can use a faster GPU if it's available, the more responsive the system the happier you will be, IMO. Wait if you can, otherwise buy now :)
 
Butthead said:
Why were you holding out for updates of laptops @MWSF, when there were no rumors to that?

It's not only the Santa Rosa chipset platform that will be on the next MBP upgrade, but possibly a slew of higher performance hardware upgrades; faster CPU, more energy efficient DDR2 memory & potentially slightly faster @800Mhz, Blu-Ray drive at least as an option, either 200GB 5.4k or 160GB 7.2k HD's which are supposed to ship this spring. Higher res screen, we can only hope for that in at least the 17in MBP, backlit LED too?

Apple was almost 2 months late in delivering the MBP C2D (apparently because of limited supplies of the higher Ghz Merom), and so now you've waited a good 4months. Who's to say you can't wait another 4mo? or 6mo? Almost a certainty (unless again, Apple gets the short end on limited supplies of faster Meroms, and doesn't ship any upgrade at all until the fastest CPU is available in quantity) that in the 3-6mo range Santa Rosa PC laptops will be shipping. Assuming Apple doesn't wait for all the parts to the puzzle to materialize, something will be released from Apple in that time period.

I would wait, seeing as how you have a 9800 GPU, and 20in higher res. screen in the desktop (which is better than any current C2D MBP)---your sig line; you'll get something nearly equivalent to that capability when the new 17in MBP ships...again, hopefully with upgraded, faster, lower power consuming latest gen GPU, faster hard drive, faster this and that; along with higher res. better color accuracy screen, which could make for a noticeable difference btw. the current MBP C2D models. Note, both Nivida & ATI where shipping slightly higher performing mobile GPU's at the time of the delayed C2D annoucments. But since Apple had apparently already contracted and had available the good 'ol X1600, with heat/fan issues worked out, they did not put those newer slighly higher performance GPU's in the C2D's. Since that time, and this spring, even more powerful GPU's will become available...and Leopard can use a faster GPU if it's available, the more responsive the system the happier you will be, IMO. Wait if you can, otherwise buy now :)
Click to expand...

Very informative post. i've been keeping tabs here and there on Santa Rosa but it's nice to see it all drawn out like that again.

Basically I have until May to buy a new laptop. My student developer status runs out then. If upgrades come out in April-May (with a Leopard release?), then yes, I can wait that long, but if May comes around and it's looking like June is the big day for Santa Rosa, then I will go back in time and kick myself now for not buying the MBP now.

I'm mainly buying the MBP for the larger screen... I came down from a 17" PB to a 13" Macbook and while the Macbook is superior in almost every way, the screen size is too cramped. Also with the developer discount the 15" C2D 2.16 is $1599 and the 17" is $2279. The Macbooks don't have a high enough discount.

4-6 mo. is a long time. I'm 90% sure I'll purchase my MBP next week, most likely the lowest end one. I'm still up for any discussions... tomorrow I'll research why Apple bumped the CD MBP speeds and how long it took them to and figure into my plan now. My main concern was the big heat issues and whine and all that and it looks like Apple's been taking care of that. My friend's CD MBP can fry eggs =).
 
You should just buy it now.

Apple always takes a while to integrate Intel's newest and greatest into their products, just take a look at those "official C2D MBP waiting threads" we have in the archives. The wait was just so painful.

It probably won't be 3 months or so before Intel "announces" new chips, then a couple months before production ramps up, and THEN after every PC manufacturer got them, another 2 months or so before they show up in Macs.

Take a look at the Mac Pro, you can buy a Quad core Xeon workstation from Dell last month, Apple's "flagship" is still running on 2006's "dual core" technology. Not beating on that sweet machine, but pfft.
 
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