Should I take the plunge and buy a 2015 MBP?

[boozeboozebooze]

I watched the Spring Forward event live, and when they brought up laptops, I became momentarily excited, however once I had calmed down, it became clear that the new Macbook is too lightweight specs wise for my needs.

I have been putting off replacing my 2010 13" MPB for over a year, but I wanted to wait for a significant redesign/specs boost before making the leap. I continually read that the MBP is due a new design (a la the new Macbook) so I'm cautious about buying one of the current ones just in case it turns out to be the last batch of the old design.

I'm surviving at the moment because I'm still at university, so I can use the iMacs they have on campus for things like video editing and Photoshop. However I graduate in the summer, at which point I'll be stuck with my 2010 MBP, which can only really manage internet browsing nowadays.

So basically my question is, should I give up on Apple redesigning the MBP in the foreseeable future and just buy one of the current models? Or do people think it would be worth waiting out a little longer on the off chance they bring out a new MBP in the mould of the new Macbook?

Also, hello, this is my first post.

 

[maflynn]

Why not wait until Broadwell is released this summer to see what apple does. We're getting to the point where Broadwell will be rolled out in a few more months.

Since you don't need one right now, wait and see.

 

[Rhcpcjg]

Buy one of the current models with the right specs for your usage, you seen like you keep your computer for years, so you'll be happy with the current MacBook.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

If you need it you need it...

I watched the Spring Forward event live, and when they brought up laptops, I became momentarily excited, however once I had calmed down, it became clear that the new Macbook is too lightweight specs wise for my needs.

I have been putting off replacing my 2010 13" MPB for over a year, but I wanted to wait for a significant redesign/specs boost before making the leap. I continually read that the MBP is due a new design (a la the new Macbook) so I'm cautious about buying one of the current ones just in case it turns out to be the last batch of the old design.

I'm surviving at the moment because I'm still at university, so I can use the iMacs they have on campus for things like video editing and Photoshop. However I graduate in the summer, at which point I'll be stuck with my 2010 MBP, which can only really manage internet browsing nowadays.

So basically my question is, should I give up on Apple redesigning the MBP in the foreseeable future and just buy one of the current models? Or do people think it would be worth waiting out a little longer on the off chance they bring out a new MBP in the mould of the new Macbook?

Also, hello, this is my first post.

Welcome to Mac rumours...

I can't see any redesign until skylake and not until about a year from now.

I moved from a 2010 Macbook pro to a 2013 Haswell rMBP a year ago and it is a brilliant little laptop fast fluid greta screen fast connectivity the whole package. The new broadwell ones released this week look even better spec wise and have the new force touch trackpad.

However if 4K video editing and heavy phoyoshop is your thing then you will want a 15 inch version for the quadcore and better graphics and you won't get the broadwell version of that until the chips are released, June maybe...

 

[duervo]

Go for it.

Using the Macbook as an example of how Apple tends to try out new design ideas on one product, and then propagate those ideas to the rest of their lineup ... in their next design, Apple is going to be reducing the number of USB ports on everything. So, if you would rather avoid having to carry multiple dongles around in addition to your external devices (increased cost for those dongles, too), then I would just get one now.

Right now, the TB port is the thickest one. So that's definitely going to go away (will probably be replaced with TB3, but who knows? Apple could very well decide to do away with TB altogether in favor of USB-C ... doubtful though. 40Gb/s is nothing to laugh at.)

USB3 ports will be gone, to be replaced with one or more USB-C ports (don't forget to buy those dongles.)

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I wouldn't take to much notice of this

Go for it.

Using the Macbook as an example of how Apple tends to try out new design ideas on one product, and then propagate those ideas to the rest of their lineup ... Apple is going to be reducing the number of USB ports on everything. So, if you would rather avoid having to carry multiple dongles around in addition to your external devices (increased cost for those dongles, too), then I would just get one now.

There is literally no evidence that this will be the case, it would be stupid beyond belief for apple to do this in the next couple of years, by the time they are ready to go to USB C completely this will not be the issue it would be today.

 

[duervo]

There is literally no evidence that this will be the case, it would be stupid beyond belief for apple to do this in the next couple of years, by the time they are ready to go to USB C completely this will not be the issue it would be today.

Don't kid yourself ... they are ready today to go USB-C. It wouldn't be the first time they did something like that either. Backward compatibility would be taken care of through the use of dongles.

There is more evidence that they will do this, than there is that they won't, using their history of how they introduce new design into their existing products. TB, Retina display, removing optical drive, removing ethernet port, soldered RAM, etc. Those weren't all done on all their products at the same time. They were moved out to the rest of their lineup over time.

 

[chaoscarrot]

Why not wait until Broadwell is released this summer to see what apple does. We're getting to the point where Broadwell will be rolled out in a few more months.

Since you don't need one right now, wait and see.

Broadwell is in the latest rMBP 13'' though. OP - if you are staying with another 13'' I say go for it. The redesign will probably not be until the end of the year and will most likely just be different ports/a little thinner. Obviously skylake will be a nice improvement too, but IMO the current design is plenty thin and the 13'' does have the new trackpad which will be something the company will continue to implement within OSX. The ports that will be replaced won't be phased out any time soon.

I just got the 2015 rMBP and I came from a 2010 as well, btw.

 

[vbedia]

Short answer is no. Not only is the tech outdated but they keep the same price tag when launched it. If you say that you have a bargain $400 or $500 off the regular price I may suggest otherwise.

Given the current situation I recommend waiting a few more months.

 

[Tiwwaa]

So basically my question is, should I give up on Apple redesigning the MBP in the foreseeable future and just buy one of the current models? Or do people think it would be worth waiting out a little longer on the off chance they bring out a new MBP in the mould of the new Macbook?

What did you decide on doing?

Given the current situation I recommend waiting a few more months.

What would really change in a few months?

 

[vbedia]

What would really change in a few months?

Broadwell-H, that would mean the rMBP 15" update. Some people say Apple might decide to skip these processors in favour of the Skylake version for the rMBP 15".

Personally I think Apple will update the rMBP 15" with Broadwell this year, and launch the new design with Skylake inside next year. Whatever happens one thing is for sure Apple has to update the 15" this year with either Broadwell or Skylake

 

[Groovemaster17]

I got one...

Just my .02,

I've used a 15 rMBP since it's release in 2012. Loved it, but wanted something more portable. The 13 has never quite got to where I wanted it to be performance wise (for me, it's VMs and coding).

Now that the 13 has been updated, I decided to grab a maxed out version (well, almost...went 512 flash storage).

This thing is great! Battery life is 10+ hours, speed is amazing, and best of all, it supports 4K @ 60hz. While the Iris 6100 might not do the job that some need the dGPU for, I find that for most things, this Mac is the perfect blend of power and portability... not to mention port selection!

 

[DiCaprioAngel]

I say if you need the laptop now, get it now. If you constantly wait for the "new laptop" to come out, you'll never get one because Apple constantly updates something on their laptops almost every year. I have no doubt that the new rMBP will be exactly the laptop you'll want and enjoy. In the end, it's all up to you and what you want to do.

 

[scaredpoet]

I'm surviving at the moment because I'm still at university, so I can use the iMacs they have on campus for things like video editing and Photoshop. However I graduate in the summer, at which point I'll be stuck with my 2010 MBP, which can only really manage internet browsing nowadays.

ProTip on this: The biggest bottleneck on that 2010 MBP is the hard drive. Chuck it, and replace it with an SSD. For under $100, you can get a 256GB SSD that will let you boot that Mac almost as quickly as a current model MacBook Air, and it will seem like a new system. For about $80 more, you can double that to 512GB.

And if the RAM is 2GB or less, consider upgrading to 4GB or even 8GB.

I know because I did it myself on a 2010 MBP, and for less than a quarter of the cost of a new system, you're going to get a huge improvement. If you want to wait, you can do the above and get at least another year out of your current laptop.

That said, if you like the current USB ports and don't want to buy a lot of adapters, sell your current MBP and get the 2015 model now. I don't fully believe all the ports are going to go away, but I'm pretty sure that at least one of the USB ports (if not both) will go USB-C.

And frankly, even the 2010 MBP is hard to distingusih from a current model MBPr from a distance, and it still looks like a modern design.