Need help regarding current 15" rMBP vs refreshed model

[md550]

Hi all,

I'm strongly considering the purchase of a new 15" Retina MacBook Pro (2.7/16GB/512GB).
I've been using a 2009 iMac and 2009 13" MacBook Pro, and I want to replace both of them with a single machine.

I work as a software developer (mainly J2EE) in my day job, and this usually involves running one or more VMs. Other than this, the computer will be used for financial market trading (the software for this will be run inside a Windows VM), web browsing, music, photo editing and video editing. I will not be gaming at all.

I was going to wait for the refreshed model with Haswell in a few months time, but after hearing that there is a chance it won't have a dedicated video card, I was thinking about picking up the current model instead (I don't want to purchase a refurbished unit).

Battery life isn't a huge concern for me, since 95% of the time it will be plugged in.
I should mention that 99% of the time it will be plugged into an external monitor (this is what concerns me about the possible lack of the dedicated video card).

Given that there is no real CPU performance advantage between Ivy Bridge and Haswell, would the updated PCI-E SSD in the refreshed model provide significant performance improvements over the current model?
Also, I have been hearing that Haswell chips run extremely hot. I definitely want a machine that remains relatively cool at all times. Would the current Ivy Bridge CPU run relatively cool in my use cases mentioned above?

Apologies for the long post. I'm just a bit confused about what I should do at the moment. The purchase isn't urgent, but if it the current model meets my needs better than the new model, I would rather purchase now.

Thanks very much.

 

[tillsbury]

Entirely your choice, I suggest. The current model rocks. The new one, whenever it does come out, will be better in almost all respects almost certainly (performance, SSD, wifi, battery life). But I doubt it will be an immense jump in any single area.

I also very much doubt that all dGPUs would be removed. They are likely to stick with the 13" without one, and I suppose it's possible they could introduce a base-model 15" without one too, but I don't think anyone's seriously suggesting that all rMBP's will be without a dGPU.

Personally, I'd go for a refurb if it were me, but brand new is just as good...

 

[NewishMacGuy]

PCIe will make a big difference in performance numbers, and there's really no way it doesn't feel faster too, but ultimately 802.11ac will make the biggest difference if you move large files around on your network.


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[ChaosAngel]

I (like many others I suspect) and in an identical situation. In fact, my workflow seems very similar to yours. My current Mac is struggling, with a broken trackpad and only 4GB RAM (challenging for VM work).

I see on ebay you can pickup a new 2013 rMBP 15" (2.7/16GB/512GB) for £1700 (UK). That's a lot of cash, but better than the £2299 for the same specification from Apple.

I'v been waiting for the Haswell upgrade since Intel announced the launch date and was expecting (hoping) to see it at WWDC. Now that we might be looking at late September I am on the fence again...

I appreciate that doesn't help answer your question, but wanted to share in your pain

 

[vtecintegra]

I gave up waiting and bought my 2.7/16/768 after no news from WWDC. My wireless N is already a lot faster than my ISP, so AC isn't a big deal. The only thing I wouldn't mind having is the PCI-E drive, but I get 450 read and 430 write with the SSD, so not that big of a deal there either. Everything opens a lot faster than regular hard drives. I would by now. First runs of things make me nervous anyway. It's smarter to wait a few months after a release to see if any problems show up which just adds to to the time of not being able to use a new machine.

 

[ChaosAngel]

I gave up waiting and bought my 2.7/16/768 after no news from WWDC.

I'm starting to feel the same. 802.11ac would be very nice (future proof), but not critical and a SATA-III based SSD is already fast enough for my needs. I'm also starting to sense that Apple will drop the dGPU from 15", which (probably unnecessarily) makes me a little nervous.

With that said, is £1700 (UK) a good price for a 15" Retina MacBook Pro (2.7/16GB/512GB)? It's clearly cheaper than the Apple £2299, but are there any other options? Also, do people anticipate a price drop with the Haswell version?

 

[lagisibuk]

I'm developer.
now, I'm using retina 15 with 8GB dan 256 SSD
all movie or data always backup on external hdd, so SSD just for temporary data and program files only.

I have one principe :
TODAY WILL WORTH FOR TODAY. maybe refreshed model (haswell) will be worth for future, for today?

in other perspective, haswell is new technology (first generation), I prefer to take 2nd generation, to make sure is a "mature" version

 

[fskywalker]

Agree you should go ahead and buy a 2013 refresh model rMBP, prices are good now even without getting a refurbished thanks to the fact many people are holding off for the new Haswell rMBP, so you may get a great deal.

 

[md550]

Thanks guys.

Do the current Ivy Bridge chips have any heat issues?
Also, if the new model has only integrated graphics, would I notice reduced performance considering I will almost always have an external monitor connected?

Still haven't made a firm decision. Will think about it for a few more days.

 

[jz-]

Thanks guys.

Do the current Ivy Bridge chips have any heat issues?
Also, if the new model has only integrated graphics, would I notice reduced performance considering I will almost always have an external monitor connected?

I would imagine that if they removed the dedicated graphics chip, the laptop should run cooler. Iris Pro is said to have more raw power than the 650M, but is also significantly slower in some scenarios. If you haven't already checked it out, Anandtech has an in depth review of Iris Pro, which seems to show that gaming is the main weakness.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6993/intel-iris-pro-5200-graphics-review-core-i74950hq-tested

 

[NewishMacGuy]

I'm starting to feel the same. 802.11ac would be very nice (future proof), but not critical and a SATA-III based SSD is already fast enough for my needs. I'm also starting to sense that Apple will drop the dGPU from 15", which (probably unnecessarily) makes me a little nervous.

With that said, is £1700 (UK) a good price for a 15" Retina MacBook Pro (2.7/16GB/512GB)? It's clearly cheaper than the Apple £2299, but are there any other options? Also, do people anticipate a price drop with the Haswell version?

1700 quid seems like a good price for that machine. $2500 wouldn't be all that bad even here in the US without Value Attributed Theft.

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