i5: Early Adoption Risk?

[jodr]

Just wanted to consolidate a response to a point that's been scattered across the flurry of Arrandale anticipation threads...

Some have claimed that the new i5 processors expected to land in MBPs next month, while obviously a step forward from the Core 2 Duo, come with some kind of early adopter risk.

Is it generally accepted that the first iteration of a new processor is significantly less reliable than the final generation of the previous chip? Or is this ridiculous.

 

[smc333]

Just wanted to consolidate a response to a point that's been scattered across the flurry of Arrandale anticipation threads...

Some have claimed that the new i5 processors expected to land in MBPs next month, while obviously a step forward from the Core 2 Duo, come with some kind of early adopter risk.

Is it generally accepted that the first iteration of a new processor is significantly less reliable than the final generation of the previous chip? Or is this ridiculous.

It's not a matter of the chip itself being reliable, its a matter of whether the design to accommodate that chip will result in a less reliable system.

Yes, this is indeed the case. Though it is not a huge risk, and PCs with i5s are seeming to do well, there's always the chance that a new redesign to include a quad core in a laptop may have a higher failure.

 

[clb8888]

I say, "Go for it."

Regardless of the risk, I say purchase Applecare and go for it. If in the off chance something is wrong with the machine it will show itself in less than three years and Apple support has been amazing to me thus far.

Backup early and often and enjoy the machine, when they come out of course.

 

[Melodeath]

I'm a bit worried about this as well, but I don't want to wait for TWO refreshes

Also, i refuse to buy a current C2D version of the MBP.

Do MBPs have any standard coverage if you don't buy AppleCare or is it just 90 days of support?

 

[clb8888]

Applecare

All macs come with a full year of warranty. Without Applecare only 90 days of that year includes telephone support. The telephone support is awesome. I have used/owned 6 macs for work, home and my small business. Only one of my macs have ever had a problem. It was a 24" iMac and over the two years I owned it needed two new logic boards and a new hard drive. When it was about to get slated for it's third logic board replacement I asked about replacement. Apple upgraded my 24" to a 27" three days after the announcement for free. I spent no more than 30 minutes on the phone for all four repair instances combined and never paid a penny. I will always buy the Applecare. They do service right.

In another words buy the i5/7 with confidence knowing that Apple will take care of you if anything goes wrong.

 

[Dwalls90]

Sorry, but this is a poor excuse. Apple has always thrown Intel's newest chips into their Macs since they started using Intel CPU's, usually within a month of their release, if not BEFORE officially released. Plus, Core i5/7 is already in the iMacs ...

Apple is waiting to release Arrandale Notebooks for two reasons:

- They're going to whine/moan/***** about Intel placing the 'GPU' on die with the CPU, which apparently they are against, and are waiting for a design that has a die without the 'GPU'

- They don't want to steal the iPad's limelight, and will release the updated MBP within a month

 

[maflynn]

I'd be cautious and concerned.

Apple's revision A track record is such that while you can be on the bleeding edge, you may get cut.

Yeah, apple will fix your machines, having applecare will mitigate the issues, but that doesn't help you when you need to ship your machine to apple for 2+ weeks.

There may be wisdom in waiting for a later revision so the bugs are shaken out.

 

[kasakka]

If they don't change the design of the laptops in other ways, then possible hardware and software problems are really the only issue. I wouldn't be surprised if it took an OSX update or two to get them running as they're supposed to.

 

[clb8888]

Yeah, apple will fix your machines, having applecare will mitigate the issues, but that doesn't help you when you need to ship your machine to apple for 2+ weeks.

They sent a guy to my house for two repairs a local dealer did the third in 2 hours and the swap took place at the nearest Apple store. Does Apple typically require you to ship them in?

 

[Nein01]

They sent a guy to my house for two repairs a local dealer did the third in 2 hours and the swap took place at the nearest Apple store. Does Apple typically require you to ship them in?

not in my experience, but i live about 15-20 minutes away from an apple store so shipping never crossed my mind. i didn't know they did house calls though!

 

[clb8888]

i didn't know they did house calls though!

I live 2.5 hours from the nearest Apple Store. That probably is the difference... It wasn't an Apple guy either it was a company they contracted to do the work.

 

[mark28]

Sorry, but this is a poor excuse. Apple has always thrown Intel's newest chips into their Macs since they started using Intel CPU's, usually within a month of their release, if not BEFORE officially released. Plus, Core i5/7 is already in the iMacs ...

Apple is waiting to release Arrandale Notebooks for two reasons:

- They're going to whine/moan/***** about Intel placing the 'GPU' on die with the CPU, which apparently they are against, and are waiting for a design that has a die without the 'GPU'

- They don't want to steal the iPad's limelight, and will release the updated MBP within a month

The IGP from intel looks to be nice if they allow it to automatically switch between the IPG and the dedicated GPU depending on how much power is needed to safe battery life. I believe Intel allows for this.

 

[Alvi]

Well, if they will release i5 MacBook Pro's before Valentine's day (nothing special, just the max time i will wait)
If the i5 Macs turn out to be crappy i will just Apple care Apple's a**es till it works , since i really think that it can't be that bad, even the 27" iMac had lots of issues but i doubt it's a 1% of all of them, I'll take the risk because i don't see a big one

 

[nikhsub1]

Or is this ridiculous.

Ridiculous. When have you EVER seen an Intel CPU be a problem? You haven't so why would i5 be any different?

I'd be cautious and concerned.

Apple's revision A track record is such that while you can be on the bleeding edge, you may get cut.

Yeah, apple will fix your machines, having applecare will mitigate the issues, but that doesn't help you when you need to ship your machine to apple for 2+ weeks.

There may be wisdom in waiting for a later revision so the bugs are shaken out.

A revision A Apple product and the Intel i5 are separate issues. I manage over 1000 computers, all running Intel CPU's. Guess how often one of the CPU's goes bad? Never. A complete new design by Apple may have some growing pains, but I don't think they will redo the whole machine, just tweak it a bit perhaps and change the guts to better and newer internals.