For the past 5 months, since I've bought my 2010 13" MBP, I've wrestled with a C2D insecurity -- it's like some dude with underdeveloped nether regions. Well, maybe not, but I knew keenly that the next refresh would bring with it significant CPU increases. But, honestly not quite THIS significant. My expectations were that the 13" would stop over at Arrandale for one iteration, while Apple was slow to adopt Sandy Bridge. Not the case. I'm not one who chases new technology, but I do strive to avoid buying the last generation of something before a major upgrade. I knew it was horizon but I caved at the end of last September. My Powerbook G4 was slow and incompatible with much, and I wanted to invest more in my career in graphic design and web development.
Unless I could dupe some prospective Macbook owner, who just awoke from under a rock, into buying my Macbook Pro for at most 100 dollars less than it would cost me to buy the new base 13" with a student/faculty discount, I don't know if I could swing it. Many have said that one benefits more from a HD and Memory upgrade, and I have pondered exactly how the CPU factors in my daily life, b/c most hypothetical tasks are either hard drive or memory-intensive, at least for the average user.
A greater concern, and I know this distinctly from owning a PowerPc equipped notebook, is that eventually Apple and Mac developers will drop support for the C2D. Yes, I know the MBAs (and White Macbook: I thought you were retiring?) are still be shipped with C2Ds, but that doesn't mean that Apple will continue to support them a year after they stop selling them. Instead of "Well, supporting the Core2Duos will lead to greater software sales" they may say "Well, stopping support for the Core2Duos will lead to greater computer sales." The C2D should be around longer, but it's frustrating being stuck with this aging chip architecture, which was old when I bought it, and the reason for which I had held off purchasing the 13" right away back in the Spring of '10. I guess my biggest concern is that the computer is great right now, but will it be in a year, in 2 years? That is, once developers exploit the power of multi-threading processors?
I'm probably not going to sell my computer, but any words of advice, or methods by which I could foist it on someone while taking at most a 100 dollar hit?
Unless I could dupe some prospective Macbook owner, who just awoke from under a rock, into buying my Macbook Pro for at most 100 dollars less than it would cost me to buy the new base 13" with a student/faculty discount, I don't know if I could swing it. Many have said that one benefits more from a HD and Memory upgrade, and I have pondered exactly how the CPU factors in my daily life, b/c most hypothetical tasks are either hard drive or memory-intensive, at least for the average user.
A greater concern, and I know this distinctly from owning a PowerPc equipped notebook, is that eventually Apple and Mac developers will drop support for the C2D. Yes, I know the MBAs (and White Macbook: I thought you were retiring?) are still be shipped with C2Ds, but that doesn't mean that Apple will continue to support them a year after they stop selling them. Instead of "Well, supporting the Core2Duos will lead to greater software sales" they may say "Well, stopping support for the Core2Duos will lead to greater computer sales." The C2D should be around longer, but it's frustrating being stuck with this aging chip architecture, which was old when I bought it, and the reason for which I had held off purchasing the 13" right away back in the Spring of '10. I guess my biggest concern is that the computer is great right now, but will it be in a year, in 2 years? That is, once developers exploit the power of multi-threading processors?
I'm probably not going to sell my computer, but any words of advice, or methods by which I could foist it on someone while taking at most a 100 dollar hit?
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