The price of the 2.6 15" i7 in the refurb store looks pretty appealing right now. Any chance the 2011 entry or mid level 15" would outperform the current 2.6 i7? Because the prices would fall right in the same ballpark when using edu pricing.
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Refurb i7 now or wait for SB?
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NickZac
macrumors 68000
Buy it now as the flagship SB will probably be pricey and no refurbs may be seen for a while. From the limited data we have seen, the quad core i5 and the dual core i7 are not that different performance. With that said, the data is limited the testing already done is not completely accurate as the i5 quad core is not installed in a factory MBP. The i7 MBP is FAST now, so unless you are doing something insane, you should be good to go.
I wouldn't call my usage insane, but I do audio production in Pro Tools. So I can literally use all the CPU I can get. The 13" I have now is fine for mixing, but when tracking, it's hard to keep latency down without getting cpu buffer errors. So the higher CPU ceiling I can get, the better. That said, the less money I have to spend to get up there, the better too. 🙂
Thanks for the reply. So your take is the current 2.66 i7 will not be outshined all that much by the it's replacement, especially when considering the refurb price vs what the new SB will cost?
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NickZac
macrumors 68000
It isn't as much that as it is that quad core CPUs may not even be used in the new MBP; a lot of users in here have listed practical and situational limits with putting a quad core into a small and already hot laptop like the MBP. For all we know, the update may just be a slightly faster i5/i7; no one knows and every guess is just speculation including when it will actually come out.
The current i7 is a wickedly fast laptop and the i7 powered 15 inch MBP has won numerous awards and been constantly been a favorite of writers and consumers alike. I would imagine some of the computers it may have been compared to are quad core processors (likely Core 2 Quad), but I don't know that for a fact. I base that guess simply on the sheer number of reviews that the 15 has. All in all, the 15 inch i7 MBP does not lack power and is almost sure to please; we know what the i7 MBP can do and we know how well it is made; we don't know anything about what is coming down the pipeline, and there is no guarantee anything will be significantly faster. Finally, the MBP everyone is focusing on for the update is the 13 as it still uses the older Core 2 Duo.
Yea, but if you want another year your would get the i8 that would out preform the 2011 entry and get edu pricing at 2011 prices....umm out preform what exactly...??
I'm not really expecting them to use Quads actually. I'm just strictly thinking of the i5's and i7's people expect to see in the new 15"'s (after having seen the list of SB CPUs that was released) compared to the speed of the current 2.66 i7.
Of course, to make any sort of educated comparison, a lot of assumptions need to be made. One being that the current price points will stay where they are. Any shift up or down throws off any comparisons. The other assumption is that the CPUs people expect to see in the new lineup will actually be in the lineup.
But my gut tells me it's probably 6 or one half dozen. It's either, buy now for cheaper, get a little less, buy later for more money, get a little more. A little more CPU power that is.
NickZac
macrumors 68000
I was reading up on the SB dual cores for mobile aps and something struck me. The dual core i7 is very energy efficient surprisingly. The top dual core SB (at least announced) i7 is the 2620M at 2.7/3.4 GHz which is power hungry. Now, they are releasing i7's that run less than 20 watts and this may be where Apple goes as battery life has almost always been a Mac Essential (I wouldnt buy one if the battery wasn't long lasting).
Would a Sandy Bridge i7 dual core be dramatically more capable than the current i7? The coming SB i7's with reasonable power specs are really pretty close on paper with the current i7.
The ultra low voltage i7 and i5 come out in mid February (Only 17 watts on the i7!!!), and I honestly think those i7/i5s will find their ways into MBPs, and I am really hoping that one of the 17 watt i5's make it to the 13. That would be very capable but theoretically have spectacular battery life giving the most in portability, functionality, and operational duration. These coming processors IMO will have a HUGE impact on the market, as decreased energy, heat and size will mean that the i7 can be placed into computers that the current i7 cannot be.
Would a Sandy Bridge i7 dual core be dramatically more capable than the current i7? The coming SB i7's with reasonable power specs are really pretty close on paper with the current i7.
The ultra low voltage i7 and i5 come out in mid February (Only 17 watts on the i7!!!), and I honestly think those i7/i5s will find their ways into MBPs, and I am really hoping that one of the 17 watt i5's make it to the 13. That would be very capable but theoretically have spectacular battery life giving the most in portability, functionality, and operational duration. These coming processors IMO will have a HUGE impact on the market, as decreased energy, heat and size will mean that the i7 can be placed into computers that the current i7 cannot be.