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Should I buy a new MBP Now

teknikal90

teknikal90

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 28, 2008
3,436
2,204
Vancouver, BC
Hey all,

I'm almost graduating college and so I want to make use of my education discount before it expires end of this month.
Right now im on an early 2008 MBP 15", 2.4 GHz 4GB ram (right before the unibody models).
im just wondering if its worth getting a new one now? I'm eyeing the 15" i7 with the 7200rpm HDD upgrade.
I will use it primarily for Logic Pro. Often times i do get CPU and HDD bottlenecks when using alot of plugins/tracks. Do you think the speed bump up will be noticeable for me? night/day?
I'm just trying to weigh up whether or not it's worth it to upgrade.

Also, according to your buyer's guide the MBP is due for an update...which I doubt since they just bumped the specs on Oct 20?
is anyone familiar with the Intel roadmap to be able to infer what will come next and when? Should I skip this update and just let my academic discount lapse? I don't mind doing that if what's coming is a real big upgrade...

thanks all for the help,


Phil :)
 
My standard answer that applies in every case: "If you need a computer right now, buy one right now. I you don't, then don't buy a computer"

So, always buy a computer exactly when you need it, never before or after. It you wait for a better, newer model you will wait forever. Likewise if you have a computer that works for your needs there will never be a better bargain than not buying a computer
 
wow this has to be the most hostile forum ive ever been in. and i thought apple folks are friendly
sorry

well im not really a power user per say so i dont really know if i need a new one or not - as i said i do encounter some CPU and HDD bottlenecks when running alot of plugins, but i dont know whether the new tech (i7s and i5s) are sufficient upgrades to my core 2 duo to alleviate that problem. hence my asking the question - is the i7 a significant update to the core 2 duo? what performance increase would I typically see?

i also know that intel does release a road map, i was wondering if anyone is familiar with the roadmap, enough to make an educated guess as to what will come next. i remember buying a Pentium D PC 2 weeks before core 2 duo came out, and that sucked since apparently, if i had known the roadmap I wouldve known that the core2 duo was a massive jump and was coming soon. i do not want a repeat of that mistake.
i thought that was reasonable enough, and i browsed through the forum page, and no currently active topics are on this matter.

so if anyone can help, i would really appreciate it :)
 
teknikal90 said:
wow this has to be the most hostile forum ive ever been in. and i thought apple folks are friendly
sorry

well im not really a power user per say so i dont really know if i need a new one or not - as i said i do encounter some CPU and HDD bottlenecks when running alot of plugins, but i dont know whether the new tech (i7s and i5s) are sufficient upgrades to my core 2 duo to alleviate that problem. hence my asking the question - is the i7 a significant update to the core 2 duo? what performance increase would I typically see?

i also know that intel does release a road map, i was wondering if anyone is familiar with the roadmap, enough to make an educated guess as to what will come next. i remember buying a Pentium D PC 2 weeks before core 2 duo came out, and that sucked since apparently, if i had known the roadmap I wouldve known that the core2 duo was a massive jump and was coming soon. i do not want a repeat of that mistake.
i thought that was reasonable enough, and i browsed through the forum page, and no currently active topics are on this matter.

so if anyone can help, i would really appreciate it :)
Click to expand...

not familiar with hte road maps.. but its going to be the new SandyBridge processors. the reason being is C2D is outta production, so apple HAS TO update the processors :p
and thats all i know. if you look at the facts, the 15" inch MBP has the i5 but the battery life sucks.. sure the chances are that apple will tweak something to "get" better battery life, but who knows..
 
well.. theres a sale on right now but i hear armani is launching a line in a few weeks and apparently it has the fashion world in awe...is that true?
 
teknikal90 said:
well.. theres a sale on right now but i hear armani is launching a line in a few weeks and apparently it has the fashion world in awe...is that true?
Click to expand...

Armani? I wouldn't be caught dead in Armani. Thanks for your quick reply. Any color suggestions?
 
black is classic and boring, light grey gets dirty too easily.
so dark grey it is.
problem is, you already have a dark grey coat but youre wondering whether or not its starting to get old fashioned.
maybe you should consider what's coming in that upcoming launch to see if your old one can still fit in with the fashion? or at least if the ones on that pretty attractive sale right now are
 
iVeBeenDrinkin' said:
Armani? I wouldn't be caught dead in Armani. Thanks for your quick reply. Any color suggestions?
Click to expand...

Can't go wrong with black.




And OT @OP man you're in a bit of a predicament. I think you should use your edu discount now, and if (when) a new one comes out in the next couple months, sell your current one and buy the new one. You should be maybe able to do the whole thing for the price of a new one w/o edu discount...
 
LocoStrange said:
Dunno... maybe you should have read these threads which were created within 24 hours.. which is also on the first page.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1043676/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1043281/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1043386/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1043591/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1042632/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1043492/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1043170/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1042762/
Click to expand...

ok did u actually read through what i said and what was actually in those threads? cause i did and theyre all irrelevant. im looking at the 15" and those threads are about the 13" upgrade, apart from 1 (which is still quite different to what im asking - is the current i7 a big enough step up from my 2.4ghz core 2 duo or should i wait - is there something big in store for the 15"?)

and hmm yeah i am considering the buy now and sell later. but is it easy to resell stuff like that? i live in vancouver.
but again if the current i7 isnt that big of a step up form my core 2 duo i might just skip it, forget the discount altogether and go for the next one (if the next one is a big update)
 
Step 1) Just go to the online apple store and refresh, if it does not show that the store is down for updates. You just need to survive today.

Step 2) Sleep.

Repeat step 1 when you wake up.

That is what I am doing now, and yes I have done all the research I need for the mid 2010 MBP to my needs. =)

Though on a softer note, if you are just bumping up to 7200rpm, you wont be able to enjoy a significant enough boost than to go for SSD. I can safely say that.

An i7 would be lovely, I be getting that too, if not for that... nvm if you have read my thread. Gotta stop my whining. ;)

EDIT: C2D 2.4GHz >>> i7 2.8GHz would be an increase in speed alright, but for the money's worth, I would wait for Sandy.
 
thank you :)

do you know what significant features the next update may have?
i looked up 'macbook pro sandy' and it lead me to a wikipedia article on intel sandy bridge?
it says that the upcoming mobile i7 will be 2.7ghz...and still be dual core with the same 4mb l3 cache. doesnt sound like a big upgrade? now im leaning towards settling for the current gen's 2.66ghz and snapping the education discount..unless im missing something?

EDIT:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge_(microarchitecture)

and also, SSD is bloody expensive :O
 
teknikal90 said:
do you know what significant features the next update may have?
Click to expand...

This question has been on my mind since I joined this forums, at least of Sandy Bridges class MBPs. And I think only a handful of people at Apple would know the answers. =(

I would guess, Apple will try and utilise everything that Sandy can offer.

Looking at this I am really hoping that the Core i7-2720QM would be priced around SGD$3k-ish. That is the optimal machine I am looking at, to last me to 2015.

teknikal90 said:
and also, SSD is bloody expensive :O
Click to expand...

Watch out for Intel G3 SSDs, just PRAY hard that there is a price drop. NAND flash is a really, really, really great improvement in memory technology since the creation of disk drives. Persoanlly, I am looking @ the X25-M 300GB Postville Refresh. But I will be getting my SSD from other sources other than Apple, I really don't recommend their "exponential" increase in price SSDs. Since replacing them be a piece of cake now, just some screws and a tape. Link Lovely.
 
teknikal90 said:
wow this has to be the most hostile forum ive ever been in.
Click to expand...
It's not just this forum. Every Apple forum I've visited is the same. It's Apples pompous attitude & culture of entitlement and arrogance. Just ignore it.

I'm on my 23rd Apple laptop in a decade. Mines a 2010 15" i7 MacBook Pro. This one is well sorted out, stable, fast & reliable. I highly endorse it. I say buy now. The entire MBP line is good.

Waiting is pointless, you will just have a new untested set of issues typical of new computer regardless of brand.

Good Luck.... :)
 
wirelessmacuser said:
It's not just this forum. Every Apple forum I've visited is the same. It's Apples pompous attitude & culture of entitlement and arrogance. Just ignore it.

I'm on my 23rd Apple laptop in a decade. Mines a 2010 15" i7 MacBook Pro. This one is well sorted out, stable, fast & reliable. I highly endorse it. I say buy now. The entire MBP line is good.

Waiting is pointless, you will just have a new untested set of issues typical of new computer regardless of brand.

Good Luck.... :)
Click to expand...
Whaaat?
Not searching before posting isn't liked in many many forums, doesn't matter if they are apple or not :rolleyes:
 
wirelessmacuser said:
It's not just this forum. Every Apple forum I've visited is the same. It's Apples pompous attitude & culture of entitlement and arrogance. Just ignore it.

I'm on my 23rd Apple laptop in a decade. Mines a 2010 15" i7 MacBook Pro. This one is well sorted out, stable, fast & reliable. I highly endorse it. I say buy now. The entire MBP line is good.

Waiting is pointless, you will just have a new untested set of issues typical of new computer regardless of brand.

Good Luck.... :)
Click to expand...

Really? I'm not even a super fan of apple. They have a good product and that's all I need. But it does not change the fact that this topic comes up 20 times a day and their were a few threads on the first page on this very issue. But people just keep making them. Also the OP is not new to the board so I'm sure he has seen a few of them.
 
ChrisA said:
My standard answer that applies in every case: "If you need a computer right now, buy one right now. I you don't, then don't buy a computer"

So, always buy a computer exactly when you need it, never before or after. It you wait for a better, newer model you will wait forever. Likewise if you have a computer that works for your needs there will never be a better bargain than not buying a computer
Click to expand...


true, however no one wants to buy a computer and 5 weeks later the newer and faster model comes out that is the same price as the old one you just bought.

I see what you are saying however.
 
devilstrider said:
this topic comes up 20 times a day and their were a few threads on the first page on this very issue. But people just keep making them. Also the OP is not new to the board so I'm sure he has seen a few of them.
Click to expand...

really? find a previous topic which asks whether or not i will get substantial performance boost in Logic Studio 9 if i upgrade my early 2008 MacBook Pro to a current i7 MBP - with regards to multiple tracks effect plug-ins and HDD seek, or if not, will the new Sandy Bridge offer that significant bump (significant enough to warrant me passing off my education discount). Pretty specific I thought.
And I couldnt find it. But if you could, please, by all means; link me.
and please dont be like the chap above who linked me a bunch of random irrelevant links just to be dramatic.

wow. but to the few people above who were actually helpful, thank you, i really do appreciate it. I'm getting the impression the next update isnt substantial. and according to wirelessmacuser, and Julpride the current one is fast enough already. so I think I will just get the current one...unless someone else comes and contradicts lol...
 
Last edited:
teknikal90 said:
really? find a previous topic which asks whether or not i will get substantial performance boost in Logic Studio 9 if i upgrade my early 2008 MacBook Pro to a current i7 MBP - with regards to multiple tracks effect plug-ins and HDD seek, or if not, will the new Sandy Bridge offer that significant bump (significant enough to warrant me passing off my education discount). Pretty specific I thought.
And I couldnt find it. But if you could, please, by all means; link me.
and please dont be like the chap above who linked me a bunch of random irrelevant links just to be dramatic.

wow. but to the few people above who were actually helpful, thank you, i really do appreciate it. I'm getting the impression the next update isnt substantial. and according to wirelessmacuser, and Julpride the current one is fast enough already. so I think I will just get the current one...unless someone else comes and contradicts lol...
Click to expand...

All this sandy bridge stuff is speculation and if you need it now just buy it. If you don't then wait. Fuuny thing is then if this so called update is not what you are expecting are you going to wait for the next update?
 
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