Retina Macbook Pro Buying Advise

[Fateh]

Hello,
I am looking to buy retina Macbook Pro base model. Should I wait till Sep 9 event to see if there is any Skylake related news?

 

[Spink10]

MacBook refresh isn't the easiest thing to guest. Its not the typical yearly announce like the iPhone. There dependent upon Intel. I can't remember them ever announcing a MacBook along with the iPhone. Other forum members could maybe chime in. However, if Skylake is coming I believe it would be later in 2015. Also if its a simple refresh of the current rMBP there won't be much of an announcement. (most likely)

At this point in cycle you really are in a position that you have no idea when Skylake will come. If you wait 2-3 months and it doesn't come its Nov-Dec and you thinking well it should be here in Feb-Mar and then if it doesn't come its Apr-July...etc.

Basically with a MacBook Pro once the latest refresh is 6 months old a refresh is imminent. Problem is it could be 1-8 months later when it actually comes.

 

[Fateh]

MacBook refresh isn't the easiest thing to guest. Its not the typical yearly announce like the iPhone. There dependent upon Intel. I can't remember them ever announcing a MacBook along with the iPhone. Other forum members could maybe chime in. However, if Skylake is coming I believe it would be later in 2015. Also if its a simple refresh of the current rMBP there won't be much of an announcement. (most likely)

At this point in cycle you really are in a position that you have no idea when Skylake will come. If you wait 2-3 months and it doesn't come its Nov-Dec and you thinking well it should be here in Feb-Mar and then if it doesn't come its Apr-July...etc.

Basically with a MacBook Pro once the latest refresh is 6 months old a refresh is imminent. Problem is it could be 1-8 months later when it actually comes.

Thanks for your reply. Now i am tilting towards iMac which probably be getting skylake before rMBP.

 

[pjfan]

If you're considering iMac, i personally would wait. We suspect that there is a 4K 21" in the works, and perhaps they'll upgrade the 27" at the same time. Be sure to go solid state drive or fusion. Skylake isn't going to be a big difference in the iMac due to the dedicated gpu-- but perhaps Apple will make some other changes that might matter.

Is your current setup holding you back? Are you not getting work done efficiently? Those things factor into my would be suggestion of waiting. If you're not getting work done, then buy now, whatever you're buying.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

In a word no, not only is it currently looking ulikely we will see skylake for the rMBP before 2016, it is also extremely unlikely that the announcement will deal with anything but phones pads and maybe an apple TV.

 

[DrSaxMan33]

Hey guys, not sure if this is the right thread for this but I could use some help. I currently have an 11inch early 2014 Macbook Air with 8gig ram. I run a lot of programs at once (word, excel, PPT, safari, mail...) and excel I use for massive databases. I also run an external monitor when at home and play video games (Bioshock and others). My Air is just not holding up to the task as it frequently lags when switching between applications and scrolling through large databases. My question is this: 13-inch Retina Pro with 2.7GHz dual core processor or 15-inch with 2.2GHz quad core processor (both with 256gig SSD and 16gig RAM). Im just wondering if the processor speed and graphics card difference is something that I would notice based on the way I plan on using the computer. Thanks for your help!

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Hey guys, not sure if this is the right thread for this but I could use some help. I currently have an 11inch early 2014 Macbook Air with 8gig ram. I run a lot of programs at once (word, excel, PPT, safari, mail...) and excel I use for massive databases. I also run an external monitor when at home and play video games (Bioshock and others). My Air is just not holding up to the task as it frequently lags when switching between applications and scrolling through large databases. My question is this: 13-inch Retina Pro with 2.7GHz dual core processor or 15-inch with 2.2GHz quad core processor (both with 256gig SSD and 16gig RAM). Im just wondering if the processor speed and graphics card difference is something that I would notice based on the way I plan on using the computer. Thanks for your help!

In a word yes. In many more words you'll notice no difference for some things and massive differences for others, the more RAM you have the more you can have open but if you are running processes on lots of things at once the quad core will be the big bonus.

As for graphics you'll notice that most in gaming on the 15 inch the 13 won't be hugely better due to having to run that retina screen.

I assume you really want portability if you chose an 11 inch air so that's your main sticking point, the 15 is just not as good for on the go, fitting on coffee tables or plane trays etc it's also a fair bit heavier and so is the power block.

If you are buying direct from apple I would try out the 13 inch for a week or so then return it if you need the 15 inch.

 

[DrSaxMan33]

In a word yes. In many more words you'll notice no difference for some things and massive differences for others, the more RAM you have the more you can have open but if you are running processes on lots of things at once the quad core will be the big bonus.

As for graphics you'll notice that most in gaming on the 15 inch the 13 won't be hugely better due to having to run that retina screen.

I assume you really want portability if you chose an 11 inch air so that's your main sticking point, the 15 is just not as good for on the go, fitting on coffee tables or plane trays etc it's also a fair bit heavier and so is the power block.

If you are buying direct from apple I would try out the 13 inch for a week or so then return it if you need the 15 inch.

Thanks for the advise! Honestly the portability factor is something that I am more then willing to give up for a capable machine. I always have a very large backpack filled with notebooks anyway so its not like I can carry a smaller bag. Plus the more i think about it having a large screen when I'm away from home to work on databases would be nice... I was already leaning towards the 15 inch retina pro, but your comments sealed the deal. Thank you again.