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October 2011 Refresh

A

appleater

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 16, 2010
81
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The new MBP looks pretty impressive, the GPU is a little bit weak IMO, and I am wondering if it would be worth waiting until Fall Q4 when 28 nm GPUs are available?

If the mac does refresh with a newer sandy bridge and a Radeon 7000 (probably to the 7750M) than I would feel like I'd be getting a little more bang for my buck. I have being saving nearly two years now to upgrade from my macbook to a 15" MBP, the reason being that I am starting college this fall and need to run CAD & other demanding software. I know the 6750 is sufficient, but at the current price, it seems like I can be getting a whole lot more.

But than again, if I am going to wait until the years end for the MBP to update the GPU (which is just a guess), I might as well go the extra mile until February 2012 for the "true update" when they finally drop the optical drive to add some real 'bang' for my buck.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/..._AMD_s_28nm_Mobile_Graphics_Chips_Emerge.html

Summary of the article is 30% performance increase from the 6000 series chips to the 7000 series chips.
 
It's a bit early to start the rumors for the next gen MBP considering the 2011's were just released.

If you need a Mac for college, just buy now. The 2011 models can handle those tasks I'd think. I'd probably go w/ the 15 or 17 inch though.
 
smallnshort247 said:
It's a bit early to start the rumors for the next gen MBP considering the 2011's were just released.

If you need a Mac for college, just buy now. The 2011 models can handle those tasks I'd think. I'd probably go w/ the 15 or 17 inch though.
Click to expand...

I get your point, but still, for $2500 I was expecting a little bit more under the hood. When it comes to the 15's and 17's they could be giving us a little more bang for our buck here, I was hoping they would drop the optical and revamp the chasis to do so. But there is no certainty they will do that for the 2012 refresh either. I would be enraged if I bought the 2011 refresh to see the "next-gen" MBPs this time next year.
 
in 2009 the refresh was in June, in 2010 it was April, then this year it's February. I think they won't refresh in December 2011, so October is possible after Intel reveals Ivy Bridge CPUs.:D wild guess.
 
There will always be better technology if you wait, thus if you are always waiting, you will never feel it is the right time to buy.

Best day to buy is when stuff comes out because you'll get the longest time for it to be top of the mountain. As for talking about "new" refreshes, keep in mind that Apple has of late been waiting a year between refreshes, opting to be more in sync with Intel new chips each year. Unless you've got something reasonable you can use right now, I'd say pull out the CC and buy. Feel sorry for the guy who bought a Mac 3 weeks ago but can't return it!
 
dagamer34 said:
There will always be better technology if you wait, thus if you are always waiting, you will never feel it is the right time to buy.

Best day to buy is when stuff comes out because you'll get the longest time for it to be top of the mountain. As for talking about "new" refreshes, keep in mind that Apple has of late been waiting a year between refreshes, opting to be more in sync with Intel new chips each year. Unless you've got something reasonable you can use right now, I'd say pull out the CC and buy. Feel sorry for the guy who bought a Mac 3 weeks ago but can't return it!
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong, its not about having the latest and greatest, its really just that damn optical drive that I am never going to use, that space could be used to make my $2500 notebook feel more like a $2500 notebook (under the hood.) If I were to go out and buy the equivalent notebook in terms of specs, I'd be paying $1000-$1500 depending on the vendor. Ofcoarse it would not be on par with mac hardware, or be able to run OSX.
 
appleater said:
I get your point, but still, for $2500 I was expecting a little bit more under the hood. When it comes to the 15's and 17's they could be giving us a little more bang for our buck here, I was hoping they would drop the optical and revamp the chasis to do so. But there is no certainty they will do that for the 2012 refresh either. I would be enraged if I bought the 2011 refresh to see the "next-gen" MBPs this time next year.
Click to expand...

See, as you wait, your expectations get higher and higher until it's impossible to meet them and you'll surely be disappointed. What people fail to realize is this $2200 15 inch refresh was substantial. It is relatively bigger than the Q1 2010 refresh as well as the mid 2009 refresh. If you need one over the course of this year, buy one now. If not wait till 2012 not because the refresh will be bigger then, but just because you don't need it.

Or you could be like me and trade up a mid 2009 2.93 MBP 15 for a new 2.2 2011 MBP via ebay just because it only a net 600 dollar difference.
 
This is the old same story don't buy now then wait till the end.....but of what. Just see if this machine is encountering your expectations if not, don't buy. To me they don't. I'm speaking at least of the 13". Have you seen any quantum leap? I did not! Think of buying a good second hand one from a geek who cannot survive without a new Mac and has just bought the last Mbp.
Does the thunderbolt really worth paying that much? Not to me guys.
A darn good separate videocard, that would has been soo good for me. I'd had love a matte screen, I hate that glossy finished that reflect everything behind you, I'm not using my mac ad rear mirror of my car, nor I use it deep in the dark. Jesus I remember one S.J. build really good machines, now apart from the state of the art design I don't see any great difference between a Mac and a pc. I mean the heart of the machine: processor, videocard logic board......
What's really still worth the change is the OS but now the difference seems to become smaller.
You could say, hey man why don't you go trolling somewhere else. No guys I'm still Mac addicted. I won't buy a pc but believe me I've been tempted especially for the price difference.
 
Hmm. Have you considered buying a new MBP now and then if you keep in touch w/ the rumors, sell it maybe 1 month before the rumored next refresh. While you have the Mac, upgrade whatever you can since that will increase the sales value. In the end, the difference may only be 200 or so bucks if you take care of the Mac while you have it. Then you'd be able to get the 2012 model w/ out waiting all the way till then to get a higher spec Mac for college.
 
I really don't see the point of this thread.

Op has absolutely idea when the MBP will be released. No one does. Saying october is based on pure hope.

Apple might not refresh MBP this year at all.

Feb 2012 is also another pure speculation and hope.

Finally, optical drive is most likely stay in MBP for both 15 inch and 17 inch. It is not going to lose it anytime soon.

Are people still renting movies from red box and netflix with Dvds?

As long as dvd are popular, apple has no choice, but to put super drive inside MBP.

15 and 17 inch MBP are considered as desktop replacement. You will not see MBP without a super drive anytime soon. You have a better chance of seeing SSD in MBP instead of HDD.

You say you don't use optical drive, but that's just you. People still watch movies on DVD. People still burn music and movies on DVD.

That's not going to change anytime within a year. Apple said one day. That's more like years away.
 
What CAD software are you going to use? Most aren't OSX compatible and as long as it's CAD you'd probably be better off with a Windows machine and a Quadro. Also, Apple kept the 9600m and 330m for a year so don't hold your breath for a 6750 replacement before this time 2012.
 
Davichi said:
I really don't see the point of this thread.

Op has absolutely idea when the MBP will be released. No one does. Saying october is based on pure hope.

Apple might not refresh MBP this year at all.

Feb 2012 is also another pure speculation and hope.

Finally, optical drive is most likely stay in MBP for both 15 inch and 17 inch. It is not going to lose it anytime soon.

Are people still renting movies from red box and netflix with Dvds?

As long as dvd are popular, apple has no choice, but to put super drive inside MBP.

15 and 17 inch MBP are considered as desktop replacement. You will not see MBP without a super drive anytime soon. You have a better chance of seeing SSD in MBP instead of HDD.

You say you don't use optical drive, but that's just you. People still watch movies on DVD. People still burn music and movies on DVD.

That's not going to change anytime within a year. Apple said one day. That's more like years away.
Click to expand...

Thats a good point, but I think we will see them drop the optical sooner than later. Even looking ahead to the 8th generation consoles, its being widely speculated there will be digital download as the primary source of distribution. Anyway I'm looking to put my money towards an iMac and hold off on the MBP until I think its actually worth the $2500. Hopefully the iMac gets updated soon.
 
If you don't plan to use the optical drive, you might hold out for the next MacBook Air. There is a very good chance it will get the Sandy Bridge chips later this year.
 
KPOM said:
If you don't plan to use the optical drive, you might hold out for the next MacBook Air. There is a very good chance it will get the Sandy Bridge chips later this year.
Click to expand...

I was thinking that too, but I have a feeling they are going to do the same thing they did with the 13" MBP and drop the 330M. Even though the Intel graphics is equivalent, neither of them is really reliable for running CAD. And its unlikely they are going to up the MBA to support 8GBs of RAM either.

IMO they should have two 13" MBA models instead of the two 15". One base 13" and one powerful 13" with a discrete video card. Because no one in their right mind is going to buy the crappy 15". That is a whole other argument though.

If the MBA does boast a discrete and support more memory than I would be on it like white on rice, but that is unlikely to happen, as that design would probably be the next-gen MBP.
 
appleater said:
Don't get me wrong, its not about having the latest and greatest, its really just that damn optical drive that I am never going to use, that space could be used to make my $2500 notebook feel more like a $2500 notebook (under the hood.) If I were to go out and buy the equivalent notebook in terms of specs, I'd be paying $1000-$1500 depending on the vendor. Ofcoarse it would not be on par with mac hardware, or be able to run OSX.
Click to expand...

I feel the same way, and opting out to wait for the complete chassis overhaul myself. I have a 3rd old 15" mbp right now, and I used the optical drive maybe 10 times, its a complete waste of space. I think the next update coinciding with the latest drop of DVD software from apple store and the latest apple patent application regarding the new chassis definitely points that the overhaul is near. I would also feel incredibly upset to get one now just to see a complete overhaul for the next update.
 
Davichi said:
I really don't see the point of this thread.

Op has absolutely idea when the MBP will be released. No one does. Saying october is based on pure hope.

Apple might not refresh MBP this year at all.

Feb 2012 is also another pure speculation and hope.

Finally, optical drive is most likely stay in MBP for both 15 inch and 17 inch. It is not going to lose it anytime soon.

Are people still renting movies from red box and netflix with Dvds?

As long as dvd are popular, apple has no choice, but to put super drive inside MBP.

15 and 17 inch MBP are considered as desktop replacement. You will not see MBP without a super drive anytime soon. You have a better chance of seeing SSD in MBP instead of HDD.

You say you don't use optical drive, but that's just you. People still watch movies on DVD. People still burn music and movies on DVD.

That's not going to change anytime within a year. Apple said one day. That's more like years away.
Click to expand...


so you posted anyway...but it was good stuff...
 
A refresh won't happen until Ivy Bridge is released (the successor to Sandy Bridge).

That is when the next refresh will happen, not before, not after.
 
I'd be really angry if the newly designed MBP comes out this October 2011!!
Apple better not pull a 2008 again where re-designs of the MBP happened on the same year! (read on wikipedia i think)
But too bad Apple refreshes their products 8-10 months and never more than that, so unfortunately an October-September refresh is immanent :mad:

Please prove me wrong i really don't want this to happen since i also just got a 15inch MBP :p
 
Ivy Bridge was slated for sometime between late 2011 and late 2012. With the delays in Sandy Bridge, crap with NVIDIA, and the economy, I would expect IB to take longer. With that said, IB CPUs are finished being developed. Furthermore, a lot of people are buying quad core Sandy Bridge laptops, which obviously commend a premium price and so Intel may not make major revisions on the 'tock'.

From what I have read, Ivy Bridge will be revolutionary in regards to power efficiency with good improvements in graphics and performance, plus USB3 native support. The IB will not be revealed to the public until at least September of 2011, and Apple is not known for adopting newer technologies as quickly as other companies.

If Apple uses a 'high end' GPU I would be surprised. The one now is a mid-high end with good performance for its class and a reasonable wholesale price. The ones to replace the current gen will probably be in a similar class. I'd like to see an extreme GPU offered, but that has not been the case for a while.

Point being, your October refresh may not be in October and with Apple, you always pay more. There is no 'bang for your buck'...This time two months ago you were still finding the Core 2 Duo in the MBP, which is two full generations ago, and you were still talking about $1,100-$2,300.
 
Good luck waiting. I love my 2011 MBP. It's already tons faster and runs cooler than my previous ones. Besides for the beach balling SSD's, my productivity has gone way up.

Waiting for specs is stupid. If it will run the software you need it to run and do the work you need it to do, it should suffice.
 
Digital downloads are not practical for many people; they do not have a fast enough internet connection and they may be facing more usage caps. ISPs seem to be moving more in the direction of usage caps, and this does not bode well for anything like a Netflix download.
 
Sort of a pointless thread...

Regardless, I will say again I truly don't think that they are going to dump the drive in the MBP line. The VAST majority of users still use CD's and DVD's for Apple to drop it. I know a huge number of students on my campus who HATE the MBA SIMPLY because it has no optical drive.

I see it FAR more likely that Apple will make the switch to blu-ray in the MBP line, and hopefully update the Air again. My 2 cents.
 
Some of you buyers are never satisfied. The Feb 2011 MBP release came with one of the most significant speed increases we've seen in these laptops yet some still aren't sure it's good enough... These aren't gaming machines, the graphics card in the high end models is more than capable of doing some heavy lifting in pro software and performs admirably in gaming as well. When has a MBP ever come with the latest and greatest GPU? There will not be a refresh mid-year, you won't see a new MBP until Ivy Bridge and if the next refresh truly is the full redesign then I'd expect it to be even later than Feb 2012 and more like May or June. Either you need a new machine or you don't, but resting on these excuses will mean you're never going to buy one but always be waiting for that next mythical refresh.

And if you're even the least bit tech savvy you'll be able remove the optical drive and install your own whatever into the optical bay without much trouble.
 
Blipp said:
Some of you buyers are never satisfied. The Feb 2011 MBP release came with one of the most significant speed increases we've seen in these laptops yet some still aren't sure it's good enough... These aren't gaming machines, the graphics card in the high end models is more than capable of doing some heavy lifting in pro software and performs admirably in gaming as well. When has a MBP ever come with the latest and greatest GPU? There will not be a refresh mid-year, you won't see a new MBP until Ivy Bridge and if the next refresh truly is the full redesign then I'd expect it to be even later than Feb 2012 and more like May or June. Either you need a new machine or you don't, but resting on these excuses will mean you're never going to buy one but always be waiting for that next mythical refresh.

And if you're even the least bit tech savvy you'll be able remove the optical drive and install your own whatever into the optical bay without much trouble.
Click to expand...

There's always something better around the corner. This release is actually a significant bump and I would say that with a little overclocking these really are very good as gaming machines, running demanding recent games like Crysis 2 on high settings at a smooth framerate.
 
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