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I was planning to invest in a high-end 15" but... Haswell

Y

yly3

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 9, 2011
345
4
Hi

Long story short, I wanted to buy next summer a fully loaded 15" and keep it for at least 3 and 1/2 years and still be able to work on the hard stuff honorably for this time frame. By that meaning getting even the 512 SSD and the Apple Care that leading me to almost 4000$ investment.

I KNOW that with technology there is always something better coming out very soon but Haswell seems to finally "innovate" in terms of user experience, not just power. Let's be honest, since 2005-2006 all CPU upgrades were "just" power upgrades, all laptops still have heating issues (in terms of comfort, not hardware security) and power management can vastly be improved.
I doubt about the 24h battery life but getting even 12h would be totally awesome. Add the less fan noise and I call it a revolution in laptops. Imagine charging your laptop once in 2-4 days. I wouldn't want to waste almost 4k and after 12 months be pwnd with something like this.

Question is simple, is it worth the waiting for Haswell ? Is it something finally different about it ? I am absolutely in no rush, just got a base 13 2011 which is more than fine.
Besides, maybe by that time frame, 1 TB SSD will be available at the cost of the current 512.


Discuss. And thanks !
 
yly3 said:
I doubt about the 24h battery life but getting even 12h would be totally awesome. Add the less fan noise and I call it a revolution in laptops. Imagine charging your laptop once in 2-4 days. I wouldn't want to waste almost 4k and after 12 months be pwnd with something like this.

Question is simple, is it worth the waiting for Haswell ?
Click to expand...

Not if you are earnestly expecting a 12 hour battery and less fan noise.
 
It's simple.

Need a computer now? Buy.

Don't have an urgent need for a computer and can wait a few months, possibly until next year for a new model to come out? Wait.

Typing this on my MacBook Pro 15" (Late 2008) with Intel Core 2 Duo CPU. For my work, video editing, I could definitely use a bit of extra speed, but you know, with a machine like this I can do whatever the new model will, just have to be a bit more patient.

~Yousif
 
Thanks for the quick answers to both of you.
I actually answered to both questions if I need a computer now (which I don't) and the user experience side of things.

How much powerful would it be over current Sandy Bridge ?
 
I think rather than spending $4000 for one computer to last 4 years, it is better to spend $2000 on a computer for two years, and another $2000 for another computer two years after that.

Take a $2000 top of the line computer from 4 years ago. If you bought that same model with more souped up specs for $3000, it is STILL junk compared to a $500 computer from today.

In my opinion, if you want a computer and need one, then buy one. If you don't need one, don't buy one. Price versus performance in my opinion will always be proportionate no matter what generation you are in.
 
yly3 said:
Thanks for the quick answers to both of you.
I actually answered to both questions if I need a computer now (which I don't) and the user experience side of things.

How much powerful would it be over current Sandy Bridge ?
Click to expand...

Didn't really answer the question, since you provided very little input. Perhaps you're only looking for confirmation of the overly enthusiastic expectations you have. No notebook computer will ever honestly last 12 hours, for example. As far as how fast it can and how fast it will be, it's anyone's guess. Until reviews come out with hands-on benchmarking, you'll never know for sure.

Might as well wait for quantum computing, by the way. Then maybe you have 12 hours of battery life.

~Yousif
 
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That's an interesting point. It's just that I would like to have that peace of mind and I also wouldn't want spending 2000 every 24 months. It would feel like buying a smartphobe every 6 months. Yes, the analogy is unfitting but that's how it feels lol
 
yly3 said:
Question is simple, is it worth the waiting for Haswell ? Is it something finally different about it ? I am absolutely in no rush, just got a base 13 2011 which is more than fine.
Besides, maybe by that time frame, 1 TB SSD will be available at the cost of the current 512.
Discuss. And thanks !
Click to expand...

I understand your dilemma, when I got my loaded 15" I was in the same boat. I decided however that there is no way that there will be THAT dramatic of an improvement.

Getting quad core, 512Gb SATAIII SSD and ability the stuff 16Gb RAM when prices come down makes for a long usable life. Yes I would love for the MPB not to turn into an oven every time I Skyped or played SC2, but let's face it, Apple has never been about running cool, just quiet :)

Also, look at it this way. What if Apple decides to go MBA route for their MBPs, as has been rumored? What if the next MBP is superthin, and even with the 20W TDB chipset, gets just as warm? Finally, I really like the way current MBPs look. I know unibody has been out for a while, but I'm not a big fan of the MBAs aesthetics.
 
Kendo said:
I think rather than spending $4000 for one computer to last 4 years, it is better to spend $2000 on a computer for two years, and another $2000 for another computer two years after that.

Take a $2000 top of the line computer from 4 years ago. If you bought that same model with more souped up specs for $3000, it is STILL junk compared to a $500 computer from today.

In my opinion, if you want a computer and need one, then buy one. If you don't need one, don't buy one. Price versus performance in my opinion will always be proportionate no matter what generation you are in.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more with Kendo unless we were riding in the same car together. Instead of one large purchase I would divide it up as Kendo recommended. Technology get outdated so quickly that 4 years is an awful long time between machines. I go two years max but I do all my work on my MBP so YMMV.

Cheers!
-P
 
yousifabdullah said:
No notebook computer will ever honestly last 12 hours, for example. As far as how fast it can and how fast it will be, it's anyone's guess. Until reviews come out with hands-on benchmarking, you'll never know for sure.

Might as well wait for quantum computing, by the way. Then maybe you have 12 hours of battery life.
~Yousif
Click to expand...

You must have an insight into the future that nobody else has to make bold statements like that. Laptop battery life has steadily increased, and it's not hard to see a future with laptops lasting 12 hours, as long as there is a market for it. There is also a lot of promising research that could give us batteries fully chargeable in seconds and/or ones lasting 10x as long as current ones.

Now that I think about it, I do remember having to use a Samsung Q1 UMPC at work, a horrible 7" Windows Vista tablet with a 2 hour battery life, and dreaming about 10 hours out of a tablet... iPad anyone?
 
Pentad said:
I could not agree more with Kendo unless we were riding in the same car together. Instead of one large purchase I would divide it up as Kendo recommended. Technology get outdated so quickly that 4 years is an awful long time between machines. I go two years max but I do all my work on my MBP so YMMV.

Cheers!
-P
Click to expand...

I also use Kendo's approach to upgrade frequently and cheaply. The big-bang spending can only lead to buyer's remorse, in my opinion.

More importantly, you might want to rethink your strategy if you think Haswell is going to come on schedule. Personally, I'd rather have the peace of mind and not scrounge forums for updates on mythic products that may never arrive. I did this every day with StarCraft, and StarCraft 2... and the products just kept getting delayed.
 
Pentad said:
I could not agree more with Kendo unless we were riding in the same car together. Instead of one large purchase I would divide it up as Kendo recommended. Technology get outdated so quickly that 4 years is an awful long time between machines. I go two years max but I do all my work on my MBP so YMMV.

Cheers!
-P
Click to expand...

This is fine if you consistently meet the computer's potential within that 2 year span, and some people do, but if your computer performs perfectly fine then it's a larger risk to upgrade than simply sticking with it until it isn't satisfactory anymore. You don't necessarily need to buy top of the line to do this either. My '08 Alu Macbook is still fine for everything but highly demanding gpu/cpu tasks, which I don't do frequently so it's a non-issue for me.
 
It seems like nobody hear really took in what Intel said on its presentation.
24h of a sort of active standby. It won't be completely off but can last very long in pretty much standby mode which I imagine is like some kind of smartphone level mode.
And the 10-20 W TDP will also mean less Performance it just means that Intel intends to make these new TDP classes mainstream which currently is the 35W TDP.
It won't just magically from a 35W Ivy Bridge a 20W Haswell with the same speed. If they planned that they would have to change those TDP classes already with Ivy Bridge or at least make some intermediate Step.

IMO Ivy Bridge is something worth waiting for. Haswell is rather useless maybe the GPU becomes really good with stacked memory but in general usage the Notebook won't improve that much and if I don't use it I don't need it to be held awake and if I use it, it doesn't help much if idle power is really low but medium stays the same.
 
I personally think that Ivy Bridge is the turing point here. I think it'll boil down to if you like the MBA look and possible loss of another HDD/SSD drive slot. If you need both slots buy the current gen. I'm waiting for IB. Can't wait!!
 
los318 said:
I personally think that Ivy Bridge is the turing point here. I think it'll boil down to if you like the MBA look and possible loss of another HDD/SSD drive slot. If you need both slots buy the current gen. I'm waiting for IB. Can't wait!!
Click to expand...
I know what you mean, it's not long until the end of the year now. Bring on IB. :)
 
los318 said:
I personally think that Ivy Bridge is the turing point here. I think it'll boil down to if you like the MBA look and possible loss of another HDD/SSD drive slot. If you need both slots buy the current gen. I'm waiting for IB. Can't wait!!
Click to expand...

yeah ivy bridge i believe will be great, especially for those Airs.

and then there will Knights Corner, so much good things to come, computers get updated every 6 months whatever you get will be old. If your in no hurry, just wait for the next update and get that since it will be soon and you will have the latest. As soon as one thing is released, everybody starts waiting on the next.
 
I'll admit it, I'm addicted to new hardware. Especially when it comes to Apple. I replace my MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Pro's at every single refresh because I can afford it, and I enjoy doing so.

My point? There's rarely a big jump in performance. With the occasional exception. Many here are raving about how fast SSD's are.

I don't find them that shockingly fast any longer because I have been using them in my ThinkPads since SSD's first debuted a few years ago, so they are not new to me.

To the question here: I _do_ believe that Haswell will be worth waiting for. Working in the industry I stay very close to the latest hardware developments.

It will be one of those exceptions where the performance will be substantially better in a variety of areas. Certainly enough to be worth waiting for if one has the patience to do so.
 
There is a say that the best timing for purchasing technology is just before entering your own grave.

Just buy what is out there, they are still fantastic.
 
Maybe by 2013 Apple will only use ARM chips and only MacBook Air designs... lol.
 
Are many Mac fans PC noobs aka people don't know anything about computers? "Investing" "$4000" on a computer? Both "investing"and "$4000" make me LMAO! That's a waste of a money. Maybe you are after superior performance. There's nothing wrong with it. But how the hell you plan to use it for more than 3 and 1/2 years. That's a joke. If you want monster computer with awesome speed, buy one new computer every or every other year with the lastest chip. 22 nm chip is coming out soon, and your $4000 computer will worth only $400 in 3 years.
 
$4k fully loaded 15" mbp? it's your money, but in my opinion you'll be wasting it. why not get a ~$1.5k refurbished 15" now, and a newer refurbished ~$1.5k in 2 years? you'll still have another $1k saved up for whatever upgrades or whatever else you may want to buy in the future.
 
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