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Waiting for a Quad-Core MBP

M

Michael73

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 27, 2007
1,082
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Anyone think a quad-core MBP a possibility this coming June?

My current MBP 5,1 is OK but even at 4GB of RAM it's somewhat starved when I'm running CS4, VMWare and everything else. I'm not sure I want to invest another $500 in it to bump the RAM to 8GB if in 6-8 months I may be able to get a quad-core MBP with 8GB RAM. I may also upsize to a 17" for the increased resolution and to move me closer to a more full-time desktop replacement.
 
Hard to say but even if there is a quad-core MacBook Pro, how much performance do you think it will gain vs. maxing out the RAM to 8GB? Adobe says CS4 is optimized for quad-core CPU's but how much is is the real question. Haven't really seen any benchmarks but reading a few articles, it would be more cost efficient to just upgrade the RAM. Sure C2D might be on it's way out soon with the introduction of quad-core CPU's but it's no slouch.
 
I think there's a mix of issues going on here. With respect to Adobe, I fully expect that sometime in late spring or early summer we'll see CS5 which may even make better use of Grand Central and OpenCL frameworks. One would then expect even better performance on a quad-core machine. Since many of my clients are also Omniture users, I expect with Adobe's recent acquisition of OMTR that there will be some additional integration points in CS5 which is another reason I'll get it.

For Apple's part, I expect that in the next 12-24 months not only will we see all Apple's software fully 64-bit but also OS 10.7 which will be even better optimized for multi-core, high(er) end graphics set ups.

Finally, I think having the combination of extra cores and RAM will make running virtual environments run that much more smoothly. Don't forget that when I'm running VMWare, one of my processors and 2GB of RAM are being sandboxed so everything else on the Mac side is running with a single core and 2GB of RAM. At least that's how I understand VMs to run...
 
darngooddesign said:
Apple will never put 8GB in a stock machine so you will always have to pay for that upgrade.
Click to expand...

I completely disagree. On the desktop side we're already seeing 2GB RAM stick prices below that of 1GB sticks and 4GB sticks below 2GB ones on a price per GB basis. I believe we'll see a standard config of 4 x 4GB in a MP in January.

I think it's only matter of time - like 12-18 months (either the rev in June '10 or June '11) where we'll see a high-end standard config 8GB (not BTO).
 
Michael73 said:
I think there's a mix of issues going on here. With respect to Adobe, I fully expect that sometime in late spring or early summer we'll see CS5 which may even make better use of Grand Central and OpenCL frameworks. One would then expect even better performance on a quad-core machine. Since many of my clients are also Omniture users, I expect with Adobe's recent acquisition of OMTR that there will be some additional integration points in CS5 which is another reason I'll get it.

For Apple's part, I expect that in the next 12-24 months not only will we see all Apple's software fully 64-bit but also OS 10.7 which will be even better optimized for multi-core, high(er) end graphics set ups.

Finally, I think having the combination of extra cores and RAM will make running virtual environments run that much more smoothly. Don't forget that when I'm running VMWare, one of my processors and 2GB of RAM are being sandboxed so everything else on the Mac side is running with a single core and 2GB of RAM. At least that's how I understand VMs to run...
Click to expand...

I don't think that VMware dedicates itself to one CPU. RAM yes it will take up how much you set but not CPU. You can set how many CPU's to use but it won't be dedicated to it, it will just use that one core but the whole computer can still access it.
 
Buy the RAM now. If a QC MacBook Pro comes out in six months, buy it and transfer the RAM from your current machine to it. You're gonna have to pay for the RAM upgrade anyway, why not pay for it now and get the benefit out of it in the meantime?

Even if Apple radically changes the RAM in the new machine so the stuff you buy now is not compatible, you can sell it and recover most of the difference, making the real price of upgrading to 8GB far lower than $500.
 
Michael73 said:
I completely disagree. On the desktop side we're already seeing 2GB RAM stick prices below that of 1GB sticks and 4GB sticks below 2GB ones on a price per GB basis. I believe we'll see a standard config of 4 x 4GB in a MP in January.

I think it's only matter of time - like 12-18 months (either the rev in June '10 or June '11) where we'll see a high-end standard config 8GB (not BTO).
Click to expand...

Desktop components have very little bearing on laptop components. I can get 8GB for the newest MacPros for half of what it costs the newsest uMBPs.

The first unibodies came with 2GB standard, and they only recently shipped with 4GB. What makes you think Apple will suddenly include 8GB? It will happen, but not for a couple of years. Certainly not next year as a standard config.
 
darngooddesign said:
Apple will never put 8GB in a stock machine so you will always have to pay for that upgrade.
Click to expand...

I have to say in 1981 making those decisions I felt like I was providing enough freedom for ten years, that is the move from 64k to 640k felt like something that would last a great deal of time.

-Bill Gates
 
PsyD4Me said:
how can a notebook chassis handle all that heat, i mean it'll be slimmer than the Imac
Click to expand...
Use a mobile quad core processor. iMac uses desktop class processors for their quads (first time ever).

To the OP: you could you know, close VMWare when you want to do Photoshop? Save yourself $500 by closing it out? Do you need to use Photoshop and virtualize other operating systems at the same time? Mine runs Photoshop excellently with 4GB. Like flawlessly.

Take a second to close out unnecessary apps and save yourself half a thousand dollars. Really, that's quite silly. Just close out the RAM-hungry virtualization software and you'll be good. There's no way you need both.
 
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