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Questions about buying a Macbook and Macbook Pro

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Double Fish

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 8, 2009
2
0
Hello Mac people. :D I was going to buy a Macbook for my Sister and a Macbook Pro 15 for myself this Christmas, however, recently I have discovered that the current Macbook Pro is approaching the end of its cycle. The Macbook has recently been updated so that's a no-brainer, but I'm worried about getting burned on the Pro.

I have a really nice PC that I built myself that is just a monster, and I will mainly be using the MBP for everything that doesn't need serious power or graphics performance.

So anyways, a few questions. Do you think the next model will have USB 3.0, Blu-Ray, and a good graphics card? Do you think the Arrandale CPU's will be a lot better than the C2D's? I would really like to do this for Christmas, and I don't absolutely need it then, but it would be nice. I heard that the Arrandale CPU's are new technology and the C2D is proven and at the end of its development cycle so its very solid and the new ones wont be that much better? I also heard that its best to let other people test out the new CPU's, (which is smart) instead of diving into it myself.

Any advice would be great. I may have built my own PC, but I'm not really that tech savvy when it comes to CPU technology. Thanks.
 
Arrandale will be worth the wait. Arrandales are 15-20% faster at same clock speed and they have Turbo and Hyper-threading so they'll be even faster. I can't say anything about GPUs because ATI Mobile Radeon 5xxx series would be nice but it might not be out when MBPs comes. Anyway the GPU will be more powerful than in currents of course, but the question is how much.

Definitely wait if you can
 
Double Fish said:
So anyways, a few questions. Do you think the next model will have USB 3.0, Blu-Ray, and a good graphics card? Do you think the Arrandale CPU's will be a lot better than the C2D's? I would really like to do this for Christmas, and I don't absolutely need it then, but it would be nice.

Any advice would be great. I may have built my own PC, but I'm not really that tech savvy when it comes to CPU technology. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I will vote most likely no on the blu-ray; definitely no on the USB3. The Arrandale will be faster, but you probabaly don't need it. Yes they will have a better graphics card, but if your going to use your home computer for the crazy intensive stuff, then you probably don't even need the power that the 15" puts out right now... But alas I am just one person, make sure to ask more people and research the crap out of this before you throw out $1,700+ on something that you will regret.

P.S. I'm happy with my 15" though. ;)
 
miles01110 said:
You might as well wait if you aren't in any need of a new machine at this point, but Arrandale isn't going to make a difference to 80% of the user base. Faster processors don't help people read their emails any faster.
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So true.

If you can wait, wait. If not, then dont.

This same exact question gets asked here at least 2-3 a day, answer is always the same. =)

No BR, no USB 3 (I only know of one board with it?) and its already got a good graphics card.
 
If a new more processor is introduced next year does this mean the battery will hold up for significantly less time?
 
hackum said:
If a new more processor is introduced next year does this mean the battery will hold up for significantly less time?
Click to expand...

No. The TDP is the same in Arrandale and computing technology has started to be more and more power saving because it's the word of the day
 
I feel your pain. I too would love to buy a macbook for my wife and a MBP for myself. I purchased an iMac in July and the new ones came out three months later. Although I would have like to save the money I spent on the wireless keyboard and wireless mouse, which now come included, I am happy with my purchase.

Since there is info on the new ones coming I'd say wait. Maybe you can spend the time trying out the Macbook to see if you want any upgrades on the MBP.

Good luck!!!:apple:
 
Do you guys think it will be out in January? I could hold out till January, but if its coming February or later I think I'd just go with the C2D.
 
Double Fish said:
Do you guys think it will be out in January? I could hold out till January, but if its coming February or later I think I'd just go with the C2D.
Click to expand...

I just found this, so it looks like Apple may skip Arrandale. The fastest one is only 2.4GHz which is WAY too slow to be used in whole MBP family, so maybe Arrandale in low-end and Clarksfield in high-end.
 
I'll say Get you sister the Macbook for Christmas, and wait wait on your MBP if you can. If you were planning to go for the 13" I'll probably said that there is not much benefit in waiting as I'm doubtful that Arrandale processors is going to come to it, at least not anytime soon. However the 17" and the 15" are Likely to get and benefit from a spec upgrade.

Even if you may not need the Spec Bump with the update, You'll appreciate having the spare capacity later in the life of your Machine as programs get more powerful, and require more performance.

As for you Specifics I doubt we're going to get USB 3.0 this year or at least initially with Intel having pushed back its deployment. A Blu Ray Burner is a distinct possibility, and my guess is will definitely be on the 17" and probably on the high end 15".

Graphics wise, there should definitely be a better graphics card then the 9600 but whether we will get something new from ATI or Nvidia is still in the air.
 
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