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All iPads Upgrade MBP or iPad Air?

T

TJ5921

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 5, 2011
238
3
I currently have a 15 in mid-2010 MBP. 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5. 500 GB SATA Disk. 8 GB ram. Antiglare screen. Runs perfectly with Mavericks installed. It's in very good shape. Gazelle is offering me $430. Would it be worth it to take this offer and upgrade to a new 13 in rMBP with these specs:

2.4GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz
8GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB PCIe-based Flash Storage

Is this upgrade worth it? Could I get more for my MBP?

I'm contemplating between doing this or sticking with my current MBP and getting an iPad Air (or rMini). I can only afford to do one or the other. Is it more important I upgrade my MBP?
 
TJ5921 said:
I currently have a 15 in mid-2010 MBP. 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5. 500 GB SATA Disk. 8 GB ram. Antiglare screen. Runs perfectly with Mavericks installed. It's in very good shape. Gazelle is offering me $430. Would it be worth it to take this offer and upgrade to a new 13 in rMBP with these specs:

2.4GHz Dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz
8GB 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB PCIe-based Flash Storage

Is this upgrade worth it? Could I get more for my MBP?

I'm contemplating between doing this or sticking with my current MBP and getting an iPad Air (or rMini). I can only afford to do one or the other. Is it more important I upgrade my MBP?
Click to expand...

I say go with the rMBP.
 
Depends.

What do you do the most?

If the answer is e-mail, internet browsing, texting, Facebook, etc etc etc. And the only "heavy duty" task you do on the macbook is writing paper, get yourself an iPad.

Your Macbook can literally last you until it breaks lol.
(you probably won't be doing much content consumption on your notebook anymore)
 
Yeah, I agree. There's a good chance if you get an ipad you won't care nearly so much about your laptop anymore. Better combination IMHO.
 
Poochi said:
Depends.

What do you do the most?

If the answer is e-mail, internet browsing, texting, Facebook, etc etc etc. And the only "heavy duty" task you do on the macbook is writing paper, get yourself an iPad.

Your Macbook can literally last you until it breaks lol.
(you probably won't be doing much content consumption on your notebook anymore)
Click to expand...

Yep. Now I almost resent that I have to use it to write programs.
 
Isn't it important to upgrade my MBP to an rMBP before it gets too outdated?
 
I have the EXACT same "dilemma" and will be going ipad Air instead of rMBP. One difference: I have an ACD connected so the retina display would be wasted on me.
 
TJ5921 said:
Isn't it important to upgrade my MBP to an rMBP before it gets too outdated?
Click to expand...

Probably not. For the vast majority of people, laptops hit a plateau about 5 years ago where there is not a vast difference in the day to day performance of a new one versus an old one. You would certainly see an improvement in the screen and in moving to a SSD, but the question is, do you need it?

What do you use the computer for? That will give us the answer as to how much benefit you'd see. At our office we run on a 3-5 year replacement plan for laptops. I'm just about on year 4 of my laptop and it's still more than fast enough for anything I need.
 
I would go for the 13" rMBP. Though I'm kind of doing what your other option is. I have a 2010 13" MBP and an iPad. Love the combo and my MBP still runs great!. Truthfully my MBP stays on my desk 95% of the time.
 
TJ5921 said:
Isn't it important to upgrade my MBP to an rMBP before it gets too outdated?
Click to expand...

Why are you asking random internet strangers this question?

Is it important to you? If so, then do it. If not, then don't. Pretty simple.
 
If you don't have an iPad and your MBP is doing everything you need it to do comfortably, i.e., no long pauses, spinning beach balls and such, then sure spring for an iPad. MBPs and iPads make great partners.

Your MBP has already depreciated to the point where future drops are going to be less severe. But likely you will want to upgrade it next year, so keep that in mind when budgeting for next year.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
If you don't have an iPad and your MBP is doing everything you need it to do comfortably, i.e., no long pauses, spinning beach balls and such, then sure spring for an iPad. MBPs and iPads make great partners.

Your MBP has already depreciated to the point where future drops are going to be less severe. But likely you will want to upgrade it next year, so keep that in mind when budgeting for next year.
Click to expand...

I also have a mid 2010 13" MBP. Mine is at the point of long pauses, spinning beach balls, etc...what is the cause/fix of this?
 
I'm in the exact same dilemma as you are. I'm currently using a 2010 15inch Macbook pro, which just got its logic board replaced not too long ago. The Macbook runs well for my everyday use. I don't feel too compelled to upgrade my laptop after upgrading my internal HDD to a hybrid drive and adding in a second internal HDD. I don't own an ipad, yet, but that might change within next month.
 
rpearlberg said:
I also have a mid 2010 13" MBP. Mine is at the point of long pauses, spinning beach balls, etc...what is the cause/fix of this?
Click to expand...

The fix for this problem is the same thing that helps Apple rake in $80 billion a year - upgrade to a newer model.
 
Shouldn't I focus on upgrading my MBP then get an ipad next year? I have an iPhone 5.
 
I bought an iPad Air, thinking I'd use it a lot around the house more, ahead of my old MacBook Air. Safari's behaviour due to so little ram drove me bananas though, so I returned it and bought a 15" rmbp instead. I'll probably buy a retina mini at some point, the ram limitation won't bother me on that nearly as much as I'll be using it exclusively on the go.

Pity they skimped on the ram though, I don't care what anyone says or believes, the Air would be an exponentially better experience for me if it wasn't constantly flushing stuff from memory ie switching between a few apps. Even lost some forum posts switching between TWO tabs unbelievably. How anyone uses an iPad as a serious productivity device I really don't know.
 
TJ5921 said:
Shouldn't I focus on upgrading my MBP then get an ipad next year? I have an iPhone 5.
Click to expand...

Do you really want advice, or do you just want people to tell you what you want to hear?

Sounds like you've already made up your mind and you're just wasting everyone's time here.
 
comatose81 said:
Do you really want advice, or do you just want people to tell you what you want to hear?

Sounds like you've already made up your mind and you're just wasting everyone's time here.
Click to expand...

I legitimately am at a loss for what to do. It helps to get some opinions of what others might do in my situation.
 
I mostly use my Macbook for everything I would be able to do with an iPad. The only exception being the occasional research paper for college. I guess what I'm asking is this is a substantial enough upgrade? If I don't upgrade to a new MBP soon will mine be outdated?
 
TJ5921 said:
I mostly use my Macbook for everything I would be able to do with an iPad. The only exception being the occasional research paper for college. I guess what I'm asking is this is a substantial enough upgrade? If I don't upgrade to a new MBP soon will mine be outdated?
Click to expand...

If you've never owned an iPad, how would you know that? There's a reason that people keep telling you that they are complementary devices.

For light usage like you are talking about I think upgrading your MBP would be largely a waste of money. Add a SSD if you want to make a real change for little money.
 
zhenya said:
If you've never owned an iPad, how would you know that? There's a reason that people keep telling you that they are complementary devices.

For light usage like you are talking about I think upgrading your MBP would be largely a waste of money. Add a SSD if you want to make a real change for little money.
Click to expand...

I was making the point I don't do anything too extensive with my MBP that I wouldn't be able to do with an iPad (besides papers). I guess I mean upgrading the longevity of my mbp by getting the new 13".
 
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