MBP now or April 2012

[katorga]

My MBP 15 is hitting its 5 year anniversary, and I'm trying to decide between buying now or waiting for Ivy Bridge. I have some concerns with rumors I have heard about the new MBPs, and wonder if I should buy now.

How much trouble does the crowd think Retina Display will cause for older apps, full screen games, or BootCamped Windows?

If the native resolution is 2880x1800, that would be unusable for things that cannot use the software API to simulate lower resolutions.

 

[skier777]

My MBP 15 is hitting its 5 year anniversary, and I'm trying to decide between buying now or waiting for Ivy Bridge. I have some concerns with rumors I have heard about the new MBPs, and wonder if I should buy now.

How much trouble does the crowd think Retina Display will cause for older apps, full screen games, or BootCamped Windows?

If the native resolution is 2880x1800, that would be unusable for things that cannot use the software API to simulate lower resolutions.

You imply that you can wait, so I would. Ivy bridge is going to be a big improvement in power consumption because it jumps from a 32nm to 22nm architecture.
The Retina thing is a huge rumor, so id say like a 10% chance of them actually changing the screen, and if they change I will almost guarantee that they make it an option at this point Retina displays at that size would cost them so much that if they don't change the price the margin on MBP's would be going way down.
A more credible rumor is that the DVD drive will be removed. If you can't live without that, you should buy one now.

 

[katorga]

Can wait

Yep. I can wait. Usually if there is a major redesign, I don't want to be the first and wait until the kinks are worked out. If the April/May releases aren't major then no reason not to wait.

I can live without a DVD, depending on what they replace it with. If they go SSD+HD or additional battery, I'm all for it.

 

[Liquinn]

I would wait if I was you. Not long to go now.

I'm not sure what I'm more excited about owning, my Mac Mini (2011) or MBP (2012). That's a tough one.

I hope the wait will pay off for us

 

[that1guyy]

I'm waiting for the 2012 MBPs.

They're rumored to be:
-Slightly thinner and lighter
-Have USB 3.0 ports (Ivy Bridge natively supports them)
-Ivy Bridge (faster and less power consumption)
-Faster graphics card
-Possible retina display
-Possible 8 GB base RAM
- SSD + HDD combo.

Sounds fantastic to me, and if its true, it will make the current model relatively obsolete.

 

[thundersteele]

Yep. I can wait. Usually if there is a major redesign, I don't want to be the first and wait until the kinks are worked out. If the April/May releases aren't major then no reason not to wait.

Well, it's a major redesign at least internally... new CPU architecture, built in USB support, probably a new GPU.

The first batch of Sandy Bridge CPUs shipped with faulty SATA controllers. The MBPs were not affected because the problematic ports are not used.


edit: Correction, see squeakers post below. The MBP was never affected by the SATA controller problem.

 

[Liquinn]

I'm waiting for the 2012 MBPs.

They're rumored to be:
-Slightly thinner and lighter
-Have USB 3.0 ports (Ivy Bridge natively supports them)
-Ivy Bridge (faster and less power consumption)
-Faster graphics card
-Possible retina display
-Possible 8 GB base RAM
- SSD + HDD combo.

Sounds fantastic to me, and if its true, it will make the current model relatively obsolete.

With the 500 pounds or so I've spent on my Mac Mini, I coulda got a nice 512GB SSD for my MBP I'm getting in a few months.

Damnit

 

[theSeb]

What are these retina rumours based on? People build up these expectations and then they get angry when all the fantastical features they had hoped for do not materialise.

 

[Liquinn]

What are these retina rumours based on? People build up these expectations and then they get angry when all the fantastical features they had hoped for do not materialise.

Hm, I only bought a Mac Mini so if Ivy Bridge gets delayed and we don't see the MBPs until late May, I still have a Mac to work on.

Anyways. And god knows, I could make a website and write some features that the new MBP may have or something. XD

 

[squeakr]

The first batch of Sandy Bridge CPUs shipped with faulty SATA controllers. The MBPs were not affected because the problematic ports are not used.

The MBPs were not affected because they were the first of the second batch, so the use of the port or not is a moot point.

 

[thundersteele]

What are these retina rumours based on? People build up these expectations and then they get angry when all the fantastical features they had hoped for do not materialise.

Digitimes started all of them I think. If you throw out enough rumors then some will be right, and the others are forgotten.

The only thing that is relatively solid is Ivy Bridge. This is announced and scheduled by Intel, and it is very unlikely that Apple will skip a CPU upgrade for their machines.

All the other stuff is very speculative, including the no ODD theory. In particular what is messing things up is the "15'' Air" rumor where it is unclear whether this is a new Air or just the next generation MBP or whatever else...