Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

When to buy Apple Laptop

M

maplestar

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 16, 2008
73
0
I understand that there are many threads very similar to the one I am posting right now. However, after browsing through a few of them, all of them seem to somewhat answer my specific situation, but not completely. Therefore, I am left in doubt and despair :p

Basically, I am a second year High School Student who is interested in getting either a Macbook or a Macbook Pro (I'm leaning toward a Pro atm) for developing on the iPhone, gaming (not extremely intense but I will be playing StarCraft2 or Crysis 2 or anything new coming out), all around schoolwork, photoshopping (quite a lot), and basic internet browsing/chatting...

This will be my first Apple purchase, and I intend to use it past High School into College.

At first, my plan was to wait for a Nehalem upgrade of Apple's laptops along with Snow Leopard before making the move. However, as I follow the forums and the news, it seems that Nehalem might not make it into laptops until next year or so. Snow leopard seems pretty set to come out this year however. All in all, if I waited for the ideal, I might wait for quite a while.

On the other hand, Nehalem should be a powerful boost in Apple's computers, which might justify the wait. I'm not sure.

Overall, my question is: for my situation, what computer should I buy and when should I buy it? Time is slightly a concern because I'm hoping to be able to develop some applications before college, so waiting until next year might cut it a little close. I want durability and power, and I'm trying to buy at a point where Apple won't release a new graphics card or a new sensor or something the next month. Is there any advice that you can give me?
 
maplestar said:
Is there any advantages for waiting into November? The obvious loss would be of time, but do you suppose there will be some update worth this loss?
Click to expand...

From what I've heard the next update won't be too significant, prolly just a refresh. Plus, that will be too late for the "back to school" ipod special. Even if you don't want the ipod you could sell it for at least $100.

I didn't know a macbook pro could play crysis...
 
Depends which you are looking to get.

The 15" MacBook Pro will probably get the new battery design. Which i would wait for cause I don't really care about removing the battery.

The 17" is pretty new therefore good to buy.
 
The back to school special is apple's way of clearing out existing stock out of its back channels before it issues new models just in time for the holidays.

If you truly need it now, buy it now. If you don't, then wait 'til you do. If you can wait until you think 10.6 snow leopard will be released, you probably don't really need it now.

If you buy a laptop now and 10.6 is released, in all likelihood you will be able to buy it for $129.00. If you're going to be developing for the iPod/iPhone, you might as well start now, and have the summer to work on your new craft.
 
how much photoshopping are you likely to be doing, as you'd be better of buying a macbook and ps3/xbox 360 than a mbp if you aren't going to be doing that much.
 
Well...

Crysis 1 can play on a Macbook Pro at a decent framerate at OK settings. I'm not a person who requires ultra high settings in games, especially since on laptops I'm fine just playing the game. (I'll play high settings on my desktop).

For photoshopping, I'll definitely be using it somewhat. I'll also use many of Adobe's other products as well as movie making.

Overall, I'm a pretty techy user. I don't use computers the "standard" high school way, I really like to fiddle with things, do things on computers...

As for time. That's the problem. I "can" wait until Snow Leopard comes out. However, the longer I wait, the more inconvenient it becomes to be able to learn to program on the iPhone and to get used to the Mac before High School ends. I'm wondering if there will be any significant advantages to waiting that will outweigh some of the inconveniency. (Not a word, I know).

I'm looking at either a high end Macbook or a low end Macbook Pro 15". Some significant advantages that I might like would be the eight hour battery for the Pro (I could wait for that, but is this possible), or a Graphics card upgrade. Is waiting for this not realistic (in which case it would be useless to wait, because getting these might take until next year, or more) or is it possible? Or does noone know, which doesn't really help as well.

Any opinions?
 
maplestar said:
Crysis 1 can play on a Macbook Pro at a decent framerate at OK settings. I'm not a person who requires ultra high settings in games, especially since on laptops I'm fine just playing the game. (I'll play high settings on my desktop).

For photoshopping, I'll definitely be using it somewhat. I'll also use many of Adobe's other products as well as movie making.

Overall, I'm a pretty techy user. I don't use computers the "standard" high school way, I really like to fiddle with things, do things on computers...

As for time. That's the problem. I "can" wait until Snow Leopard comes out. However, the longer I wait, the more inconvenient it becomes to be able to learn to program on the iPhone and to get used to the Mac before High School ends. I'm wondering if there will be any significant advantages to waiting that will outweigh some of the inconveniency. (Not a word, I know).

I'm looking at either a high end Macbook or a low end Macbook Pro 15". Some significant advantages that I might like would be the eight hour battery for the Pro (I could wait for that, but is this possible), or a Graphics card upgrade. Is waiting for this not realistic (in which case it would be useless to wait, because getting these might take until next year, or more) or is it possible? Or does noone know, which doesn't really help as well.

Any opinions?
Click to expand...


if you are likely to be doing lots of photoshopping there is lots imo to be wary about across the entire apple laptop range, particularly the screens (especially on the macbook)

If battery life is that important you can carry a spare with you and still have less mass when compared to a 17" mbp.

it's a given that specs will improve over time, however the idea of playing top spec games on a macbook or macbook pro is a pretty tall one, even my mac pro can't handle Crysis too well (there are benchmarks in the mac pro forum).

If i were you, i'd buy when you need it, and not wait for something that is slightly better, because there is always something slightly better around the corner. Furthermore, if you look at the price/upgrade ratio of apple's recent product updates, you'll find that you're getting a lot less value now than you were a year ago, and with this in mind buying now may be the wiser move if this is to become a trend through the current economic climate.
 
Hmmm...

The problem is, I'm not sure when I need it. I'm not a professional photoshopper, so the saturated colors in Macs doesn't impact me too much. My point is just that I'm more techy than normal people, so I don't do just basic web browsing and document editing like others I see posting questions like mine. And I'm pretty sure Crysis runs fine on a Macbook Pro. I don't need High settings and anti-aliasing. I'm fine with low settings. (It still looks pretty good).

This being said, "when I need it" could be now, if there are no significant benefits soon. On the other hand, it could be November, if something significant will occur to offset the time I lose.

However, it seems that most of you don't believe that anything amazing will be occurring in the next few months. So I guess buying it now will not cause me any regret?
 
If you are a senior in high school and saying "into college" then a MacBook would suffice.

If you are a freshman in high school, and saying "into college" then a MacBook Pro, so basically, how much time are we talking about here? MacBook Pros tend to hold their resale value longer.

The reason I say this is, I see 2006 MacBooks going for only $400-$600 now.
 
kindablue09 said:
From what I've heard the next update won't be too significant, prolly just a refresh. Plus, that will be too late for the "back to school" ipod special. Even if you don't want the ipod you could sell it for at least $100.

I didn't know a macbook pro could play crysis...
Click to expand...

When I bought my iMac, since I already had an iPhone, I didn't feel the need for an iPod, apple just took the price of the iPod off of the price of the computer instead.
 
I see...

Well, I did say I'm in the second year in high school. So I have 2 more years. I'm just wondering if there could possibly be some significant upgrade (more significant than usual, especially since we're all waiting for Nehalem, Snow Leopard...). However, seems like the possibility is pretty low, so I shouldn't worry.

By the way, does anyone know if the Dynamic switching in Graphic cards depends on software or hardware (so it can be fixed in Snow Leopard or later). Same with the possibility of using both graphic cards at the same time right?
 
New Information?

Seems like Snow Leopard is wrapping up! Should I wait to save the $129 I'll need to spend to upgrade?
 
maplestar said:
Seems like Snow Leopard is wrapping up! Should I wait to save the $129 I'll need to spend to upgrade?
Click to expand...

what rumors or info are you referring to? If it's the one on the front page it's talking about 10.5.7 which is not 10.6(Snow Leopard), 10.5.7 is free, 10.6 will probably not be and I'd suggest not waiting for it.
 
Well...

On another forum, some people advised me to wait until June/July because Snow Leopard might be released then. Any comments?
 
maplestar said:
On another forum, some people advised me to wait until June/July because Snow Leopard might be released then. Any comments?
Click to expand...

Your choice,since it's software a machine sold recently will be perfectly compatible with it, you can jus buy now or in a month and upgrade to 10.6 when it's out, possibly in Fall.
 
there are new mac desktop released now.. wow they're great.. i prefer the desktop since i don't really want to bring computers on the bed like how people do it with their laptops...
 
Both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro line that is available right now is really strong. Apart from Crysis (just forget about it) all the serious software you can throw at them will fly. For professional apps any inch of screen you add will make the software easier to operate - that's the main reason why I would go for the Pro line. (Hint: Upgrading to 4GB of RAM is worth every penny, imho).

I would buy right now - or wait a couple of months until SL is released.

For whatever you think it's worh: I use two MacBook Pros every day for professional as well as personal use. I work as a senior creative using software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, FinalCut, AfterEffects, Cinema 4D, Keynote, MS Office etc. etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back