Late 2011 update? (13" Macbook Pro)

[Vaatiel]

What's up guys

I am currently in the market for a 13" MBP, or possibly a 15" if that is a better purchase.

I obviously want to buy it just after it has an update, and i hear the MBP class is approaching the end of a cycle.

So 3 simple questions! I trust your opinions:

1. Is there any information on whether this update will occur in late 2011 or early 2012?

2. What are the upgrades and will they affect the 13" or the 15" more?

3. Tell me what you would do in this situation! I need a MBP for university work and browsing the web with maybe a bit of gaming thrown in. It's not that urgent, but im not keen on waiting more than a few months. What would you buy and when would you buy it?

I understand that i cant hope for much fact and am happy with opinions and rumour. Cheers

 

[AmbiguousNinja]

1. Is there any information on whether this update will occur in late 2011 or early 2012?
No, but there are a few rumours floating around that guess at a silent update to the Macbook Pro line. Nothing too major, you won't be missing much, trust me.

2. What are the upgrades and will they affect the 13" or the 15" more?
IF there is an update, it would most likely affect all 3 models equally. There's no point in updating one model partially and fully for another.

3. Tell me what you would do in this situation! I need a MBP for university work and browsing the web with maybe a bit of gaming thrown in. It's not that urgent, but im not keen on waiting more than a few months. What would you buy and when would you buy it?
I'd buy a 13" now. You will not be missing much and the 13"s are already powerful enough to game. It's the perfect size to carry around campus!

 

[alust2013]

Based on your use, I'd just buy a 13" now. The base model is great for word/web/light gaming, and even heavier tasks. The latest components will be fast for quite a while to come, so I wouldn't worry about being out of date, since it's bound to happen eventually anyhow. I got my aluminum MacBook less than a month before the first 13" pro was released, and it still works great for me.

 

[hcho3]

I would consider 13 MBA as another option. It's just as powerful as MBP now with Sandy Bridge processor.

Unless you need optical drive...

 

[Vaatiel]

Appreciate the input guys. Keep it coming. So there is an update coming soon, but not a major one (most likely)?

 

[Naimfan]

I would consider 13 MBA as another option. It's just as powerful as MBP now with Sandy Bridge processor.

Unless you need optical drive...

No it isn't.

To approach the base MBP, you have to upgrade to the 1.8 processor, give up optical drive, lose the ability to upgrade RAM and storage, sacrifice color gamut and accuracy for slightly better resolution, etc.

Just get the base i5 now.

 

[hcho3]

No it isn't.

To approach the base MBP, you have to upgrade to the 1.8 processor, give up optical drive, lose the ability to upgrade RAM and storage, sacrifice color gamut and accuracy for slightly better resolution, etc.

Just get the base i5 now.

Right... I did mention optical drive.

You get a higher resolution to make up for color gamut. The choice is entirely up to the person.

Upgrading the processor is not always necessary for everyone.

It's a lot lighter. 3.0 pound vs 4.5 pound

Just suggesting that 13 MBA might be better for university work.

 

[ZZ Bottom]

You should wait a few weeks at least. The rumors point to sometime in October for a silent update. As others have stated it will most likely be a processor spec bump, but then again wouldn't you be kicking yourself if it were something more like a much deserved resolution increase on the 13"?

Although the current machines are good, when your so close to a likely refresh and not in urgent need why not wait.

Wish I had useful info though; I too am in the market for a 13" since I sold my core duo mb over the summer.

 

[Naimfan]

Right... I did mention optical drive.

You get a higher resolution to make up for color gamut. The choice is entirely up to the person.

Upgrading the processor is not always necessary for everyone.

It's a lot lighter. 3.0 pound vs 4.5 pound

Just suggesting that 13 MBA might be better for university work.

Right--never mind never being able to upgrade RAM, or the hard drive. And never mind the price difference--a 1.8 GHz i7 13" Air is $1699 vs 1199 for the MBP, and that's if you can't take advantage of Microcenter's $999 MBP.

That, in my view, is a huge premium for something that STILL doesn't equal the performance or expandability of the MBP.

If someone prefers the Air for its look, fine. And as someone who has owned both, I find the Air to be a toy - the weight difference is nominal.

 

[thunng8]

Right--never mind never being able to upgrade RAM, or the hard drive. And never mind the price difference--a 1.8 GHz i7 13" Air is $1699 vs 1199 for the MBP, and that's if you can't take advantage of Microcenter's $999 MBP.

Why would you need to upgrade to the i7 Air compared to the i5? The base model is only marginally slower and costs $1299. The Air would actually feel much faster for most things compared to the Pro because of the Solid state storage. BTW - you can upgrade the Air's storage - it does take Blade SSDs which OWC are selling (up to 480GB).

 

[Vaatiel]

could i get some more answers to my questions? (bump) thanks

 

[Kasalic]

1. Is there any information on whether this update will occur in late 2011 or early 2012?

Nope, Apple are incredibly good at keeping these updates quiet. The clever money for the next major update would be next March/April/May time when the new Ivy Bridge processors are released. It is widely believed that the MBP's are due for a case redesign at this point too, and given Apples recent directions I would imagine we'll see something more like the MBA's. As others have said, there may be a minor update, which traditionally is a small increase to processor speed and/or Ram and/or HDD, and this may be incoming over the next month or two.

2. What are the upgrades and will they affect the 13" or the 15" more?

See answer to question 1 - many will speculate but no firm details are available at present.

3. Tell me what you would do in this situation! I need a MBP for university work and browsing the web with maybe a bit of gaming thrown in. It's not that urgent, but im not keen on waiting more than a few months. What would you buy and when would you buy it?

Sorry but this question always annoys me slightly, but then I am a grumpy old git Only you can really answer this, given what you have said, any MBP will be fine for Uni work, the base 15" MBP would be better for gaming than the 13", but the top end 15" would be best for gaming. As to when to buy, buy it when you need it. Once had a friend who spent 18 months waiting to buy a PC because there was always something better 'just around the corner', he was quite smug about the fact his PC was better than mine, but I still whooped his ass on Doom because I'd had 18 months practice

 

[Vaatiel]

1. Is there any information on whether this update will occur in late 2011 or early 2012?

Nope, Apple are incredibly good at keeping these updates quiet. The clever money for the next major update would be next March/April/May time when the new Ivy Bridge processors are released. It is widely believed that the MBP's are due for a case redesign at this point too, and given Apples recent directions I would imagine we'll see something more like the MBA's. As others have said, there may be a minor update, which traditionally is a small increase to processor speed and/or Ram and/or HDD, and this may be incoming over the next month or two.

2. What are the upgrades and will they affect the 13" or the 15" more?

See answer to question 1 - many will speculate but no firm details are available at present.

3. Tell me what you would do in this situation! I need a MBP for university work and browsing the web with maybe a bit of gaming thrown in. It's not that urgent, but im not keen on waiting more than a few months. What would you buy and when would you buy it?

Sorry but this question always annoys me slightly, but then I am a grumpy old git Only you can really answer this, given what you have said, any MBP will be fine for Uni work, the base 15" MBP would be better for gaming than the 13", but the top end 15" would be best for gaming. As to when to buy, buy it when you need it. Once had a friend who spent 18 months waiting to buy a PC because there was always something better 'just around the corner', he was quite smug about the fact his PC was better than mine, but I still whooped his ass on Doom because I'd had 18 months practice

haha some great advice there. And i understand that theres a point where waiting for the next update thats always "just around the corner" can become an obsession...one question - will apple up the price of their pc's after this "minor update?"

 

[yly3]

I have the base 13 early 2011 right now. If they add higher res and a light discrete graphic (preferably the one in the current base 15) card I'm getting the new one.

 

[Kasalic]

haha some great advice there. And i understand that theres a point where waiting for the next update thats always "just around the corner" can become an obsession...one question - will apple up the price of their pc's after this "minor update?"

Simple answer is for the minor updates it's unlikely that the price will change. If the next major update is a more thorough redesign then the prices may alter slightly. However Apple tend to have pretty set price bands, for example the current unibody entry level MacBook Pro has always been around the £999 (UK price) mark IIRC.

 

[gtgrad95]

I would wait at least a few more weeks. As others have said, there is a rumor of a small update, most likely a processor speed bump. While it's true it may not make that much of a difference, it will at least drop the price of the current models. Why pay the full price now when you can get them discounted in a few weeks?

 

[hinkamp]

I would wait at least a few more weeks. As others have said, there is a rumor of a small update, most likely a processor speed bump. While it's true it may not make that much of a difference, it will at least drop the price of the current models. Why pay the full price now when you can get them discounted in a few weeks?

I agree. I'm in the market for a macbook pro, and I'm going to wait until at least the Oct 4th event to buy one. Seems like a reasonable time for them to quietly upgrade the processors. It may be worth plugging away with my ol' powerbook for another week or so.

 

[Liquinn]

I agree. I'm in the market for a macbook pro, and I'm going to wait until at least the Oct 4th event to buy one. Seems like a reasonable time for them to quietly upgrade the processors. It may be worth plugging away with my ol' powerbook for another week or so.

The buyers guide says not to buy a Macbook Pro now, I don't need one now. But I've always said I'll hold out until Ivy Bridge is around. xD

 

[Vaatiel]

Is there somewhere i can check for when the silent upgrade will occur? Or does "silent" imply that it will be hard to detect..?

 

[Naimfan]

Is there somewhere i can check for when the silent upgrade will occur? Or does "silent" imply that it will be hard to detect..?

No.

IF anything happens, Apple will not announce it ahead of time, and may not even announce it at all--they could simply bump things and update their website.

That said, it's unlikely to happen. Apple hasn't done it in a long time--and adding a BTO 2.8 GHz option to the prior generation does not, as pointed out elsewhere, constitute a "silent bump."

The bottom line is that if you need or want one now, just buy it now. I don't mean to pick on you specifically, but it's not like this is a critical, life changing decision.

 

[Vaatiel]

I THINK i will just wait a couple of weeks, and hope that this minor update comes. If it does come, i'd rather not miss it.

 

[TheRdungeon]

Could be a good idea to wait until after their iPhone media event, sometimes they slip some things in quietly at the same time online. But I really doubt there will be this "silent" update to be honest

 

[phillytim]

I think I would be going nuts right now, had I belabored this point about a late-2011 "silent update" MBPro and not bought mine in early August.

I would have not had all the enjoyment of my MBPro that I've had, and not moved on with other things in my life.

I worried about having the latest and greatest, but then I started thinking that the "silent update" wouldn't be worth much, since it appears only to be a slight speed bump in CPU. A more worthwhile update will be next summer, when the MBPros with the new Intel Ivy Bridge chips come with USB 3.0. Now that's worth waiting for--not a small .xx bump in processor speed.

If Intel had a hot new chip like Ivy Bridge coming out within a couple months, yeah, I'd wait and get the MBPro then. But IF Apple silent updates the MBPro now (which we don't even know IF Apple will do at all, and have no reason to believe they would!), the difference would be minimal (and there will be NO USB 3.0 ports this year) and not worth belaboring about it for months putting my life on hold obsessing about it. That's just plain ridiculous.

Realistically, best case for any late-2011 MBP upgrade will be a CPU speed bump -- something 98% of people will not even notice. That's it. Finito. We have no solid conjecture that Apple will even release a silent update of the MBP this fall, none whatsoever. Energy-draining obsession.

There will be no monumental change that is worth obsessing about until at least the middle of 2012, when MBPros with Ivy Bridge & USB3 ports come out.

Heck, I'd say that Haswell, in 2013, will be far more exciting than Ivy Bridge is gonna be--Haswell will have a 20x reduction in power usage, all day battery and 10 day standby time.

Plus, Haswell will have the kinks knocked out of it that Ivy Bridge WILL come with, as IB is a major architecture change with tri-gate transistors. Haswell is the one to keep an eye on, for sure.

Get the MBPro now if you want it and enjoy it. You are waiting on something that's probably not even gonna be noticeable. Move on with your life, for cryin' out loud!