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Macbook Pro. Late 2011 vs Upcoming 2012.

lewisflude said:
The things that appeal to me about the matte screen over the glossy.

I'm a programmer, I sometimes work with bright lights behind me, although most of the time I code in the dark, and the reflections *could* bother me.

The extra pixels will make it easier to see more tracks when I'm producing music in my spare time. Although this is just a hobby for me, it's still important I consider it when buying a laptop.
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Like you, I code and spend an ungodly amount of spare time in Logic 9. I'm upgrading my 2006 MBP (matte) next week.

Taking a quick cursory glance at glossy in the Apple store etc, yes, glossy looks pretty snazzy. But if I was in terminal/cli or using a DAW, glossy would drive batsh*t in 30 seconds flat.
 
I don't want to go crazy! Matte monitor is the clear monitor from what I've read online, but I'll check out some real monitors in the wild before I make my final choice. :)
 
With Ivy Bridge being delayed until June (according to the new rumor), we may not see new MBPs until June 2012 ;o
 
lewisflude said:
Edit: The question is: Should I buy now or should I wait 90 days.
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Based on what you're saying, you have more or less an immediate need, so buy one now. If you must, sell that model once the Ivy Bridge laptops hits the streets.
 
If you need one, buy it now and have done with. Manufacturers have roadmaps, there's always the next great new thing just around the corner (ie 6 months away). It's how they maintain their business.

The current 15" MBP is immensely powerful, and Apple gear holds it's value well in case the the next great new thing really is an industry revolutionising showstopper.

I pulled the trigger after the late 2011 refresh significantly bumped the graphics capability at my price point. I've no regrets and will keep the machine for 4+ years. I admire the optimism of the Ivy Bridge and Haswell uberfans but reality has to bite at some point.
 
I think that with the whole 2012 MBP, people have got way ahead of themselves, and have not really looked at the fact of the matter.

In terms of rumours, they have all spawned off of one AppleInsider article. Nothing more. Said article speaks of leaks, but we don't have any solid information (clues in code, leaked prototype parts, etc).

As little actual evidence the article gives us, the chances are that the new models will be as the article describes.

However, retina display? Unlikely. Yes, we have hDPI icons in OS X now, but that doesn't mean that we will be seeing a retina display.
 
Good! Getting pretty excited now about my first proper MacBook. Come share the excitement people.

*virtual brofist*
 
I upgraded from a Early 2011 13'' 2.3 i5 to a late 2011 2.4 i7 15" bout a month ago for power and gaming reason. Some of the rumors Im addressing that I've heard. These are just rumors and my opinion of these rumors. I don't know if any of these are true, but if they are, these are my thought on them.


No Internal SuperDrive
If they get rid of a disc drive it's stupid. I don't want an external SuperDrive, I need my USB ports. I use discs a lot. I'm the music guru in my group of friends. And we like to go on Party buses (They don't have AUX jacks and only CDs so I burn Mixes), House Parties (Yeah fuggin right Imma leave my iPhone left in a random party spot for people to take and not be able to text/call). I don't want to have to download EVERY program to use it.


Sandy vs Ivy Bridge
Yeah Ivy uses less power, but unless you are planning on getting a 13" and wanting Quad core, wait. But there is nothing wrong with the i7 15" and 17" They are plenty powerfull and Quad Core. You can upgrade the RAM and Res if you're a photo/video editor.

HHD vs SSD
If they move to thinner MacBooks, there is going to be less space at a higher cost, SSDs are expensive and not up to higher standard of storage. 250Gb is not enough for multiple 1080p video and thousands of 8MP (iPhone 4S Standard). I don't want a external drive using a usb port.
 
Beezzy said:
No Internal SuperDrive
If they get rid of a disc drive it's stupid. I don't want an external SuperDrive, I need my USB ports. I use discs a lot. I'm the music guru in my group of friends. And we like to go on Party buses (They don't have AUX jacks and only CDs so I burn Mixes), House Parties (Yeah fuggin right Imma leave my iPhone left in a random party spot for people to take and not be able to text/call). I don't want to have to download EVERY program to use it.
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It's been rehashed many times, but Apple is known for "prematurely" killing off obsolete tech ahead of the industry. Floppy disks and Zip disks are among the more prolific.

Your opinion is completely valid, but unfortunately, your usage patterns likely are in the minority of Mac users. Not to say that no one needs a SuperDrive (I certainly use one on a regular basis), but very few will regularly need a SuperDrive when MOBILE. And that, I believe, is the key.

Will there be instances in which an integrated SuperDrive is necessary while mobile? Of course. Will those cases compose a significant percentage of usage scenarios for mobile users? Probably not.

So in this context, Apple will be sacrificing a technology they have shown to be more-than-happy to accelerate towards obsolescence (thereby strengthening its digital retail channels). All this while allowing them to trim form factors, add different components and/or improve battery life, save on manufacturing costs, and bring large margins selling a peripheral for those who need a SuperDrive.
 
strwrsfrk said:
It's been rehashed many times, but Apple is known for "prematurely" killing off obsolete tech ahead of the industry. Floppy disks and Zip disks are among the more prolific.

Your opinion is completely valid, but unfortunately, your usage patterns likely are in the minority of Mac users. Not to say that no one needs a SuperDrive (I certainly use one on a regular basis), but very few will regularly need a SuperDrive when MOBILE. And that, I believe, is the key.

Will there be instances in which an integrated SuperDrive is necessary while mobile? Of course. Will those cases compose a significant percentage of usage scenarios for mobile users? Probably not.

So in this context, Apple will be sacrificing a technology they have shown to be more-than-happy to accelerate towards obsolescence (thereby strengthening its digital retail channels). All this while allowing them to trim form factors, add different components and/or improve battery life, save on manufacturing costs, and bring large margins selling a peripheral for those who need a SuperDrive.
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I personally want an optical drive too, just for ripping music CD's if nothing else. I still prefer to buy a 'hard copy' of an album rather than downloading it as I believe that bought audio CD's are still better quality than downloads, even if they are at 320kbps. I also want my music collection on my computer and am not willing to buy the album twice.
 
snerkler said:
I personally want an optical drive too, just for ripping music CD's if nothing else. I still prefer to buy a 'hard copy' of an album rather than downloading it as I believe that bought audio CD's are still better quality than downloads, even if they are at 320kbps. I also want my music collection on my computer and am not willing to buy the album twice.
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Again, the distinction boils down to mobile needs vs workstation needs. The SuperDrive is perfect for ripping CDs, but most people can do that at home where temporarily plugging in an external drive is not so inconvenient.
 
I'm a programmer. Although speed is important, there's no reason why I couldn't work on a netbook, or a MBP without the ODD! The reason I want the Pro is because I frequently multitask. Spotify, Skype, Chrome, Terminal, Ableton Live (sometimes) and once in a blue moon the odd indie game here or there.
 
Like you, I too am a student (well according to this thread, had a quick read, you're able to get a student discount or some sort of discount)

I got the latest MBP 15" at the moment. 2.2, 4GB, 500HDD, AG etc, I managed to get a new sealed one for just under £1000. If you're able to get one at that price, (I think you were able to get one at £1100) I would snap it up straight away. That is a 500-600 pound saving!

If I do really want to upgrade come this Summer, I might get around 800-900 pounds for my MBP at the very least, therefore I could always upgrade then and still have used the best money could buy for the time being.

However, I don't think I will upgrade, Ivy Bridge doesn't represent a massive upgrade in CPU power, battery life may be extended for anouther 30-45 mins but I have never seen myself using the battery 5-6 hours straight, at University the longest I have used it is 2hours in a lecture with no plug points and the MBP still had around 70% - 75% battery remaining.

Also, these new Ivy Bridge are a Tick in Intel's roadmap. I would wait for the Tock, i.e - Haswell which is due in Q2 2013.

I hope I helped.

HamzaB
 
swartzfeger said:
Like you, I code and spend an ungodly amount of spare time in Logic 9. I'm upgrading my 2006 MBP (matte) next week.

Taking a quick cursory glance at glossy in the Apple store etc, yes, glossy looks pretty snazzy. But if I was in terminal/cli or using a DAW, glossy would drive batsh*t in 30 seconds flat.
Click to expand...

The last part of what you are saying there, about the glossy screen becoming quickly frustrating while producing, can I ask why this would be?

After a lot of debating back and forth I have decided on the current MBP. Now my main reason for getting this machine, apart from moving away for a year to the other side of the world, is to produce. So this will be my main and only machine. I was originally going to go the way of the glossy screen over the matte, for the more vibrant picture quality when watching movies etc etc. As most of my time will generally be spent in DAW how would the glossy screen become frustrating to work with, is it how it reflects you are mainly talking about here?
 
hamzab said:
Like you, I too am a student (well according to this thread, had a quick read, you're able to get a student discount or some sort of discount)

I got the latest MBP 15" at the moment. 2.2, 4GB, 500HDD, AG etc, I managed to get a new sealed one for just under £1000. If you're able to get one at that price, (I think you were able to get one at £1100) I would snap it up straight away. That is a 500-600 pound saving!

If I do really want to upgrade come this Summer, I might get around 800-900 pounds for my MBP at the very least, therefore I could always upgrade then and still have used the best money could buy for the time being.

However, I don't think I will upgrade, Ivy Bridge doesn't represent a massive upgrade in CPU power, battery life may be extended for anouther 30-45 mins but I have never seen myself using the battery 5-6 hours straight, at University the longest I have used it is 2hours in a lecture with no plug points and the MBP still had around 70% - 75% battery remaining.

Also, these new Ivy Bridge are a Tick in Intel's roadmap. I would wait for the Tock, i.e - Haswell which is due in Q2 2013.

I hope I helped.

HamzaB
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Wow that's a huge saving, I wish I was still a student :eek:
 
I haven't had major problems with the glossy screen and writing code or whatever.. you can usually angle it differently and/or turn the brightness up to get around it. I do like that i can clean it. :)


As to the possible lack of optical drive - I think i've used my optical drive maybe.... 3 times in 6 months (and maybe a total of 5 times in my Mini, since 2008)? Given the choice, i'd ditch it in a second to swap it out with either my 7200rpm drive (and upgrade the boot drive to SSD) or if apple are going to drop it in the next model - fill the bay with more batteries please.

Pro machine or not - optical media is dead, imho. Flash drives/usb hard drives can store a lot more (and aren't expensive).

I'd actually put money on the fact that the new MBP is free of the internal optical drive. Mountain Lion being download only, and internet recovery means that there's no need for apple to have one built in any more.

If you're one of the 2% of people who use one regularly, they'll give you an external option.

For the rest of us, carrying an optical drive around in the machine is dead weight and potential chassis space for battery.


edit:
and yes, apple kill things a lot earlier than others. I remember when they killed the floppy drive, in like... 1995? 1996? PCs were still often shipping with them 10 years later - to sit there, unused unless you happened to need to install windows on a drive connected to a recent SCSI controller...
 
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strwrsfrk said:
It's been rehashed many times, but Apple is known for "prematurely" killing off obsolete tech ahead of the industry. Floppy disks and Zip disks are among the more prolific.
Click to expand...


Strange the way Apple seems dedicated to keeping the obsolete USB 2.0 alive and kicking while everyone else moves on to 3.0
 
DVD9 said:
Strange the way Apple seems dedicated to keeping the obsolete USB 2.0 alive and kicking while everyone else moves on to 3.0
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Yeah, it's annoying how that's been playing out. Doesn't change the existing precedent.

However, I believe (or I want to believe) that the reason for this is the requirement for an additional controller. Ivy Bridge will integrate a native USB 3 controller into the CPU, which should eliminate the problem. If Apple refuses to support it then, well... It would be unfortunate.
 
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