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Need a Macbook FAST, but I've heard the rumours...

T

TERM

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 22, 2012
12
0
Hey everyone,

I'm starting an internship with a very successful music producer in about three weeks and he told me that I need to get a Macbook Pro if I want to do the internship. A friend of mine told me that there's a new model coming out which I've now researched online, but I'm not sure if I can wait that long.

I suppose these are my questions:

1. Will the price go up when the new model comes out? I have a very low budget so any increase in price would basically make it impossible to buy.

2. Will it really be greatly improved? A friend of mine who's doing an internship with an editor said he's not going to wait because the MBPs are good enough as of now.

3. Apple doesn't have any trade in policy I'm assuming, but if I ordered the MBP in two weeks or so, could I return it and order the new one if it came out right after?

I really can't wait too long to order the computer because I need to make sure everything's set up and working well before the internship (and learn how to use Pro Tools), but it seems like a terrible idea to buy a computer that will be obsolete in a few weeks.

Thoughts?
 
TERM said:
Hey everyone,

I'm starting an internship with a very successful music producer in about three weeks and he told me that I need to get a Macbook Pro if I want to do the internship. A friend of mine told me that there's a new model coming out which I've now researched online, but I'm not sure if I can wait that long.

I suppose these are my questions:

1. Will the price go up when the new model comes out? I have a very low budget so any increase in price would basically make it impossible to buy.

2. Will it really be greatly improved? A friend of mine who's doing an internship with an editor said he's not going to wait because the MBPs are good enough as of now.

3. Apple doesn't have any trade in policy I'm assuming, but if I ordered the MBP in two weeks or so, could I return it and order the new one if it came out right after?

I really can't wait too long to order the computer because I need to make sure everything's set up and working well before the internship (and learn how to use Pro Tools), but it seems like a terrible idea to buy a computer that will be obsolete in a few weeks.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

1. I think (I'm pretty 99% sure) they never goes up.
2. Ivy bridge processor maybe. Search what difference they have on google or here.
3. If you will buy it, and new MBPs comes out in two weeks (14 days), then you can return it back to Apple, but you will have to wait for 5-7 days to money get back to you., because I presume they will not allow trade in. Just return for reason (I have iPad and I don't use it blablabla) and then buy a new one.
 
1. Nobody knows what prices will be, but in general they remain the same or very similar.

2. Apple don't give us anything to go by, so the least we can safely assume is that they will harbour new Ivy Bridge processors and Intel 4000 integrated graphics which aren't going to be wildly different to the current. Perhaps a realistic 10% speed increase, but that's all subjective on what task it's doing.

3. I believe the normal return period is 2 weeks?

I would wait as long as possible before making the decision, but if you do purchase a current-gen model, I suggest going for the refurbished models which can be 20%+ cheaper and the only difference is they don't come in the normal packaging. Your laptop certainly won't be obsolete just because a new one is released. These things are commonly used for many years before buying a new one, and retain a great resale value way down the line.
 
I've looked up the difference on Google, but I suppose I'm more interested in knowing whether the speed increase is something that users really feel is needed. I don't know anyone else who's using a MBP for music as of now, so I'd like to know if anyone here feels that the speed of their current MBPs is too slow and is really looking forward to the upgrade.

EDIT:

DangerousTheory,

Yeah I was thinking about getting a refurbished model. Just have to make sure they have a good one in stock.

By the way, is RAM upgradeable on MBPs?
 
TERM said:
I've looked up the difference on Google, but I suppose I'm more interested in knowing whether the speed increase is something that users really feel is needed. I don't know anyone else who's using a MBP for music as of now, so I'd like to know if anyone here feels that the speed of their current MBPs is too slow and is really looking forward to the upgrade.

EDIT:

DangerousTheory,

Yeah I was thinking about getting a refurbished model. Just have to make sure they have a good one in stock.

By the way, is RAM upgradeable on MBPs?
Click to expand...

Yep, its a 2 minute job. It supports up to 16GB. Buy the 4GB stock from Apple and buy your own and upgrade yourself from Amazon. It's much cheaper and so easy a 5 yr old can do it. (just dont lose the screws).
 
1: Not likely to hike prices.

2: It'll be an improvement yes. Will it be soooo much that everything else is rendered useless? No. Its going to be incremental amounts ( 10's of % rather than double )

3: dunno.

a new MBP tomorrow does not make yesterdays MBP obsolete. Its still a powerful laptop, it is what you tutor will be using, and having newer laptop than him will not make you better than him.

If you need it now, and the current one will do the job, and will do it for the length of the internship, then get what you can afford now and worry about learning producing music.
 
Ok thanks for the help! I think I may just buy a refurb within the next few days in order to save money.

Last question:

1. Is the hard drive upgradeable?
 
It depends. If you're getting the 13 inch, the HD3000 --> HD4000 upgrade will be huge for you since you don't have discrete graphics. Anandtech reports ~50%+ increases in that category. Processor speed is about a 20% increase. If you're getting a 15 then I wouldn't worry about the update, if it's a 13, it could be a really big deal.
 
psykick5 said:
It depends. If you're getting the 13 inch, the HD3000 --> HD4000 upgrade will be huge for you since you don't have discrete graphics. Anandtech reports ~50%+ increases in that category. Processor speed is about a 20% increase. If you're getting a 15 then I wouldn't worry about the update, if it's a 13, it could be a really big deal.
Click to expand...

This

except for 'If you're getting a 15 then I wouldn't worry about the update'
 
If you only have 3 weeks to learn the software needed for the internship you better just order now. You can't afford to wait around, from the sounds of it.
 
drewsof07 said:
So you NEED a Mbp now but WANT the upgraded model that is coming out this summer.

Need > Want :)
Click to expand...

Well, my friend told me that the upgrade may come out in two weeks which would be ok. Doesn't look like that's true though.

Either way, I think the refurbs may be better overall for me because I really have a small budget.

I think I'll order either a 2.2GHz 2.4GHz refurb 15 inch model.
 
psykick5 said:
It depends. If you're getting the 13 inch, the HD3000 --> HD4000 upgrade will be huge for you since you don't have discrete graphics.
Click to expand...

For music production there is generally not much of a high end 3D graphics component. In recreational context (games) , yes. For audio work, probably not so much. If the new MBP 13" had built in SSD and HDD (loosing the ODD) that would probably be a bigger impact on audio work than the 3D graphics 'horsepower'.
 
deconstruct60 said:
For music production there is generally not much of a high end 3D graphics component. In recreational context (games) , yes. For audio work, probably not so much. If the new MBP 13" had built in SSD and HDD (loosing the ODD) that would probably be a bigger impact on audio work than the 3D graphics 'horsepower'.
Click to expand...

Do you think the 2.2 GHz vs 2.4 GHz would impact audio work much?
 
I'm kind of in the same dilemma. Just sold my old laptop so I could afford a new Mac, as I'm hoping it's going to come out this week.
I need it for school, and I just don't know how long I can hold out. It's really crucial for me to have something to do my assignments etc. on.
 
TERM said:
Well, my friend told me that the upgrade may come out in two weeks which would be ok. Doesn't look like that's true though.

Either way, I think the refurbs may be better overall for me because I really have a small budget.

I think I'll order either a 2.2GHz 2.4GHz refurb 15 inch model.
Click to expand...

Why not wait two weeks and see if you can afford to wait?

Refurbs are good for the cheaper price, but remember that they become even cheaper once the new models come out.
 
You could always leave it to the last minute, if there is still no macbook pro update, buy the old one. Unless it's changed you have 14 days to get a full refund. Assuming the new Pro is released, you could return it and just buy a new pro.
 
TERM said:
Do you think the 2.2 GHz vs 2.4 GHz would impact audio work much?
Click to expand...

Quad core 2.2 versus Quad 2.4 ? No. Better RAM and storage (the 'disks' ) with a 2.2 is likely better and sinking more money into a 2.4 over a 2.2.

You already have 4 cores with either at more than reasonable speeds. Having to get data on/off the disks is 100-1000 times slower than the speed differences between those two processors.
 
TERM said:
Well, my friend told me that the upgrade may come out in two weeks which would be ok. Doesn't look like that's true though.
Click to expand...

Let's see here - you need a computer in the next 3 weeks, including ProTools. You want a computer that may or may not be announced in two weeks. Even if the latter were to occur, there's also the shipping delay, which would likely take your delivery past your timeline requirement.

Either way, I think the refurbs may be better overall for me because I really have a small budget.
Click to expand...

Excellent choice. Many people - myself included - go with the refurb option.
 
Actually, in his case, and with such a low budget, his money would be better spent on RAM rather than on a SSD.

CPU differences are likely to be minor between this version and the next one. GPU is where the bulk of the bump will be at. Since you'll be producing music, I doubt the GPU will be too important for you.

You might, however, want to spend some money on 8 (or even 16) GBs of RAM. It's quite cheap nowadays (100$ for 16GB, GO POSTMARKET), and once you have multiple tracks going on, you'll enjoy it.

I'm holding to my Intel Pentium Dual Core (which is hanging to life by a thread) until the new MBP line comes out, simply because I expect it to be released within a month. But if you *absolutely need* a MBP right now, go get a refurbished model and be done with it. (Perhaps you could buy it near the start of the internship and return it later for a newer model, if it comes out)
 
actually

I think actually the average overall pricing on the MBP lines, at least the 15" or 17" WILL go up since they are most likely to move to SSD for many of the stock configurations and that will jack the pricing between about 100-150/200$ ish per unit.

There will most likely still be an entry 15" with a 500GB drive (again, possibly a slight bump of 50$ due to a larger standard size drive on the lowest model.
 
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