To buy a 15" Macbook Pro, or to wait?

[Zakzilla]

Hi all, I could use your input. I have the 2010 Macbook Pro 13" model (with the good ol' Nvidia 320M and I upgraded it to a 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM!), but I have a big animation project I'm working on and this laptop is really struggling with it. It's been a great computer for me, but it's time to upgrade.

I'd like retina and 16GB of RAM for After Effects usage. I also think the bigger screen would be nice (15"). My question for you:

1) Should I get the 15" instead of 13"? I'm very tempted by the 13" because it already has Broadwell and Force Touch, and I can get one this week from my Apple Store. But does anyone here care to comment on the portability/performance of the 15"? I love how portable the 13" is, but the larger screen might be easier on my eyes, and from what I understand the Iris Pro is significantly more powerful. I'd even consider maxing out and getting the dGPU as well, but it's a tough decision.
2) Is it worth just borrowing a PC for 3 weeks and waiting for WWDC lol? The 15" with Broadwell (or Skylake possibly?) and Force Touch with a dGPU seems like a video editors dream.

Thanks!

 

[Kal-037]

I love my 15" MBP, but if you can wait for WWDC... see if they will update the MBP 15-inch. If they don't, then I would suggest getting the 2014 model, as a Skylake won't be out most likely until the Fall/Winter. I could be dead wrong though. It all depends on when Intel will release their darn Quad Core Mobile H chips. lol


Kal.

 

[Zakzilla]

I love my 15" MBP, but if you can wait for WWDC... see if they will update the MBP 15-inch. If they don't, then I would suggest getting the 2014 model, as a Skylake won't be out most likely until the Fall/Winter. I could be dead wrong though. It all depends on when Intel will release their darn Quad Core Mobile H chips. lol


Kal.

Yeah for sure, so hard to tell. Do you have a 15" MBP with dGPU as well, or Iris Pro? Some of the benchmarks I've read show Iris Pro beating the 750m, so I'm curious if I should spend the extra $500

 

[Kal-037]

Yeah for sure, so hard to tell. Do you have a 15" MBP with dGPU as well, or Iris Pro? Some of the benchmarks I've read show Iris Pro beating the 750m, so I'm curious if I should spend the extra $500

I'm not sure where you saw those benchmarks... while the 750M isn't the best thats out there these days, it still is far superior to Iris Pro. I have the Mid-2014 2.5GHz 15" with the GT 750M and it's a beast.

https://youtu.be/s4rgL9dW7mw

 

[MBHockey]

I'm not sure where you saw those benchmarks... while the 750M isn't the best thats out there these days, it still is far superior to Iris Pro. I have the Mid-2014 2.5GHz 15" with the GT 750M and it's a beast.

https://youtu.be/s4rgL9dW7mw

I hope the 15" MBP gets a GPU upgrade at WWDC. It's long overdue.

 

[Kal-037]

I hope the 15" MBP gets a GPU upgrade at WWDC. It's long overdue.

I'm hoping for that too, but I believe the only way they'll update it is if Intel has Broadwell QuadCore chips ready (or improbable but possible maybe a Skylake chip) lol
But WWDC might just showcase software and maybe an update to Apple TV. (I hope i'm wrong)



Kal.

 

[Zakzilla]

I'm hoping for that too, but I believe the only way they'll update it is if Intel has Broadwell QuadCore chips ready (or improbable but possible maybe a Skylake chip) lol
But WWDC might just showcase software and maybe an update to Apple TV. (I hope i'm wrong)



Kal.

Well, assuming they don't update to Skylake this time (wouldn't it be a first for Apple to skip right to the front of the hardware line? They usually wait a while), couldn't they give it a Broadwell + Force Touch refresh and update the dGPU to something like the NVidia 800 series? That would make me pretty happy

 

[Kal-037]

Well, assuming they don't update to Skylake this time (wouldn't it be a first for Apple to skip right to the front of the hardware line? They usually wait a while), couldn't they give it a Broadwell + Force Touch refresh and update the dGPU to something like the NVidia 800 series? That would make me pretty happy

I wouldn't mind that, but I'm kind of uneasy when it comes to Intel's "tick" processors or any new kind of processor as there are often times more kinks to work out I feel. Though I may change my mind if they do indeed give it a Broadwell and newer dGPU upgrade, lol.


K.

 

[Kal-037]

Thinking about it, I think i'm going to sell my MBP, I know we don't know for sure what Apple is going to do at WWDC or whenever. But I really am wanting to actually have a *NEW computer, not a 2 year old one (essentially that is what the 2014 is.) Now just hoping Apple delivers next month and that I can get some good re-sell on the one I bought, ha ha.
Back to the OP... Yeah I say wait for sure until WWDC, (hopefully the rumors will be true that they'll update it then... like they have in the past.)



Kal.

 

[dusk007]

I don't think the 2014 one is a thing. A 200Mhz CPU bump does not count. People never used to count those as updates before, I don't get why now. It hasn't seen any update since 2013.
And since the 750M and 650M are equal, it is fair to say there has not been an update since the rMBP release period.

It is really not the time to buy a 15". Maybe the one with Iris Pro only because Broadwell won't be earth shattering but the 750M is just really really outdated.

Get the 13" or wait but don't get a 15" now. My 2c.

 

[Kal-037]

Me again... So after thinking about it... Again, lol. I'm keeping this guy, I think you're right dusk007, Broadwell doesn't look too much better than what is out now.
Here are the main features I kind of care about...

Faster SSDs: The faster SSD would be cool (but in all reality my MBP boots up under 7 seconds from cold boot already, so just how much faster can it get?) even though in Blackmagic Speed tests the scores are way fast I think I'm good with the SSD I have in my MB now. I doubt I would be able to tell the difference.

dGPU: yeah the GT750 is not the latest and greatest, but doing some searching I found many people are able to use this GPU to power two 4k displays and also game on it with games like GTA 5 on max settings with 60fps. (That's pretty impressive IMO)

CPU: Broadwell test have shown a 5% increase over Crystalwell... That kind of sucks, if we were talking 15% or more then yeah that would be better, but Intel apparently cares about tiny processors and iGPUs more.

iGPUs: the Iris Pro 5200 is pretty great, so I'm not too anxious to get a 6200 as the performance will be minimal with the work I do on my computer.

Force Touch Trackpad: so I've used these at BB and a Mac store and they are cool, (I like being able to "click" anywhere on them,) but I still like my current one that relies on hardware a bit more and not 98% software. I feel if one of the new FT Trackpads break they will be more expensive to replace vs. a traditional Trackpad.

So yeah, I've been making a pros and cons of selling my MBP and getting a Broadwell when it comes out. And really it would be nice to have a brand new MacBook (the newest tech) but I think it actually shows how great this MBP is... The technology is still amazing 2 years later and will be for probably 5 more. (And I just bought this machine so I think I'm good for the time being.)
I mean, I will still wait and see what WWDC brings or whatnot, but until then I'm sticking with this guy.

Sorry I like to think out loud a lot. Thanks for the help dusk007... (Even though I don't believe your post was aimed at me, thanks either way, lol.)

*note* also my apologies to the OP for taking over your thread, and to everyone for my constant and annoying posts.

**note 2** to the OP, my suggestion is listen to dusk007, (wait for Skylake)... or find a good deal on a current MBP if WWDC doesn't have anything good to show.


Kal.