Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Macbook Pro

abeld61014 said:
Thanks guys, you are correct, any mac, even past macs would be enough for what i require, however i am looking to build up a machine which i wont need to change for a while (i know ivybridge might change my mind later :D)

But going for the base model which i have decided to do will give me some money to play with, i have been advised that getting an SSD will improve my performance significantly in comparison to doubling the amount of RAM, would you agree ?
Click to expand...

Yep... absolutely, the SSD will make a more noticeable difference than doubling the RAM. Keep in mind though, you'll be perfectly happy with the machine out of the box. I'd recommend waiting until you feel the laptop is getting a bit slow and then buy an SSD, RAM, etc. By that time, SSD prices will have gone down with higher capacity and better read/write speeds.

If you do choose to buy and install an SSD now, do some research... not all SSDs/chipsets are made equal and there are significant differences in quality, speed, etc. Don't just compare the price/GB. I'd recommend going on newegg and having a look at the reviews, once you find a drive you think is suitable, google reviews from reputable tech sites for that drive.
 
Thank you erickg i really appreciate the info and i think you are right to be honest, im very excited to join the revolution, the problem is an optical disk might be important as my line of business sometimes still uses them to transfer data (draconian i know), so im going to give it a while. Will probably fob the laptop off to my little bro when the complete refurbs come out anyway :D
 
so they've dropped the base 15" (2GHz model) and upgraded the spec of the top 15" and the 17" to 2.4GHz and a Radeon HD 6770M instead of the 6750M it had before.
 
abeld61014 said:
Thank you erickg i really appreciate the info and i think you are right to be honest, im very excited to join the revolution, the problem is an optical disk might be important as my line of business sometimes still uses them to transfer data (draconian i know), so im going to give it a while. Will probably fob the laptop off to my little bro when the complete refurbs come out anyway :D
Click to expand...

Haha... yeah, I know what you mean. If you only rarely need the optical drive, another option is Optibay, they're slightly more expensive at 99 bucks, but they give you an external USB 2.0 enclosure for the DVD burner.

I think I'll be doing that on my next upgrade. I need to burn DVDs for clients on a weekly basis, but when I'm out and about I really don't need it. The problem for me with SSD is the larger drives cost an arm and a leg, so this is a good compromise between storage space and speed.
 
abeld61014 said:
Thanks guys, you are correct, any mac, even past macs would be enough for what i require, however i am looking to build up a machine which i wont need to change for a while (i know ivybridge might change my mind later :D)

But going for the base model which i have decided to do will give me some money to play with, i have been advised that getting an SSD will improve my performance significantly in comparison to doubling the amount of RAM, would you agree ?
Click to expand...

Yes, SSD beats extra RAM. But considering how cheap it is to double up the RAM, there is no point in choosing between an SSD or extra RAM. Double the RAM and get an SSD if you want/can afford it.
 
wow i just bought my mbp a few hours ago and now see it's "refreshed".

i paid 1699$ for an open box 2.2 which was a substantial discount from $2199 but now see the same processor on the base model for the same price (minus the storage and 512).

first mbp here :confused:
 
pr0 said:
wow i just bought my mbp a few hours ago and now see it's "refreshed".

i paid 1699$ for an open box 2.2 which was a substantial discount from $2199 but now see the same processor on the base model for the same price (minus the storage and 512).

first mbp here :confused:
Click to expand...

Just go back to the store and see if you can exchange it. The graphics card is going to make quite a difference from the last gen...
 
erickg said:
Just go back to the store and see if you can exchange it. The graphics card is going to make quite a difference from the last gen...
Click to expand...

The one I bought has a 6750M (1GB) and 750 GB

So same price just less memory on the card and less storage but same price as the base model.

Is the increase in video memory and additional storage worth ditching for a newer + non-open box model? (same price factor)
 
pr0 said:
The one I bought has a 6750M (1GB) and 750 GB

So same price just less memory on the card and less storage but same price as the base model.

Is the increase in video memory and additional storage worth ditching for a newer + non-open box model? (same price factor)
Click to expand...

Nope... definitely stick with the one you got! :) As long as it's in good shape (no dings, stuck/dead pixels, etc.) and you get the same warranty, I'd say enjoy it!
 
fat jez said:
Unless you plan on gaming on it, you won't see the difference. Certainly Starcraft 2 plays fine on my 6750 and you definitely won't notice the difference on the CPU speeds.
Click to expand...

yeah no hardcore gaming here sc2 is about my max.

i just now noticed they changed the actual GPU on the higher end mbp 15, and took that gpu decreased memory and put it in the base model.

only difference really was the increase on cpu and lil up on the card (can't really justify 500$ more ) thanks for the input
 
New MacBook Range Specs Official

These might Interest a few people...

MD313 MacBook Pro 13" Dual-Core i5 2.4GHz/4GB/500GB/HD Graphics/SD
MD314 MacBook Pro 13" Dual-Core i7 2.8GHz/4GB/750GB/HD Graphics/SD
MD318 MacBook Pro 15" Quad-Core i7 2.2GHz/4GB/500GB/HD Graphics/Radeon HD 6750M/SD
MD322 MacBook Pro 15" Quad-Core i7 2.4GHz/4GB/750GB/HD Graphics/Radeon HD 6770M/SD
MD311 MacBook Pro 17" Quad-Core i7 2.4GHz/4GB/750GB/HD Graphics/Radeon HD 6770M/SD

We are announcing today an update to the iPad Smart Cover range.
*
New
MD306 iPad Smart Cover - Polyurethane - Dark Grey
MD307 iPad Smart Cover - Polyurethane - Light Grey
MD308 iPad Smart Cover - Polyurethane - Pink
MD309 iPad Smart Cover - Polyurethane - Green
MD310 iPad Smart Cover - Polyurethane - Blue
MD301 iPad Smart Cover - Leather - Black
MD302 iPad Smart Cover - Leather - Tan
MD303 iPad Smart Cover - Leather - Navy
MD304 iPad Smart Cover - Leather - (PRODUCT) RED
MD305 iPad Smart Cover - Leather - Cream
 
Macbook Pro's Have been Updated!

I dont know how this news hasn't broken on macrumors before now but check it out new macbook pros. Minor but not bad bumps all around.
 

Attachments

  • New MacBook Pros.pdf
    136 KB · Views: 180
Which one to get

I've been waiting for this speed bump before buying my MBP, but the graphics card update has got me re-evaluating which MBP to get and I could do with some advice.

I had planned on getting the top end 15" as the difference in graphics cards seemed worth the price difference. But now I'm not sure what the relative difference is, (that and the sterling price has gone up a bit as well)

Which ever machine I'd get 8GB RAM, and the 7200 rpm hdds

So the options are down to
  • AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB GDDR5 (Which is the card in the old top end with half the VRAM if i'm not mistaken)

    Versus
  • AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5
Is the 6770 worth the price difference of approx £220 (Yes I know, some of that is for the faster processor)

I'm planning to use this laptop as my main computer, and in addition to the usual (web surfing, word processing, spreadsheets, programming etc) I'm also planning on doing a fair amount of RAW image processing with some quite large files, mostly using Apeture. I'd also be using Photoshop (Which I think doesn't rely that heavily on the GPU and is more CPU/RAM dependent)

I'll also be playing some games, though nothing more intensive than Civilisation 5 / Sim City

Given that, is the 6770 with the 200mhz faster i7 worth it for my needs? Or would I be shelling out 200 quid for something that I'd never see the benefit of?

Thanks guys
 
cooljoe349 said:
so they did update the gpu...I wonder how much a of difference via games?
Click to expand...

The 6490 --> 6750 is a big improvement in the "base" 15" model. Now many games are playable and can run with a few settings turned up. I've had a lot of time with the 6750 and it is extremely overclockable and great GPU for a notebook of 15". The 6770 is just a step up but only just a tad better than a 6750. The 6750 OC's to a 6770 so a 6770 should be able to OC a step higher. Now it makes getting the base model 15" a smarter choice IMO if you want to save a few bucks HOWEVER 512MB will be a limiting factor if you plan to go external higher res monitor as many games now adays are utilizing a lot of vram --> BF3. But I guess not using AA etc won't matter much to the vram.

@zaid - before the original early 2011 release MANY people including myself paid the extra not for the CPU but for the significant GPU differences. Now aside from vram the GPU difference is not that large. The sandy bridge CPUs are so powerful that in terms of gaming (and a lot of other tasks) the CPU will not be a huge factor in that cost. Gaming will be limited by the GPU and the 6750 is very close to the 6770 as I stated above. The factor will come in if you want to play on an external high res monitor 1080p + where the vram might take a hit at 512mb. Just don't turn up Anti-Aliasing and ultra textures and to be honest 512 might be fine.
 
Zaid said:
I've been waiting for this speed bump before buying my MBP, but the graphics card update has got me re-evaluating which MBP to get and I could do with some advice.

I had planned on getting the top end 15" as the difference in graphics cards seemed worth the price difference. But now I'm not sure what the relative difference is, (that and the sterling price has gone up a bit as well)

Which ever machine I'd get 8GB RAM, and the 7200 rpm hdds

So the options are down to
  • AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512MB GDDR5 (Which is the card in the old top end with half the VRAM if i'm not mistaken)

    Versus
  • AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB GDDR5
Is the 6770 worth the price difference of approx £220 (Yes I know, some of that is for the faster processor)

I'm planning to use this laptop as my main computer, and in addition to the usual (web surfing, word processing, spreadsheets, programming etc) I'm also planning on doing a fair amount of RAW image processing with some quite large files, mostly using Apeture. I'd also be using Photoshop (Which I think doesn't rely that heavily on the GPU and is more CPU/RAM dependent)

I'll also be playing some games, though nothing more intensive than Civilisation 5 / Sim City

Given that, is the 6770 with the 200mhz faster i7 worth it for my needs? Or would I be shelling out 200 quid for something that I'd never see the benefit of?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

Before this refresh, I would have definitely paid more to get the high-end model due to the drastic difference in GPUs. Now that the low-end model includes an HD 6750, I would easily stick with the low-end model and save hundreds. The CPU is the same as the last high-end model so it is still a screamer!
 
I suppose these things happen but only having had my base 2.0 for a couple of months I am slightly peeved especially as the resale value is probably a lot lower because of this...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back