When to buy MBP & iPad Mini?

[Allanmed]

I'm about to go off to college. I have a mid 09 MBP with the battery consumed, trackpad screwed, and RAM not up to par so I'm at the point where I'm looking for a new MBP.

I also want to get an iPad for textbooks and ease of use of taking notes and reading books and such.

I know the knew iPad Mini and MBP are coming out in a few months and my original plan was to wait for both. However, my current MBP only lasts 20 minutes off a charger and that can't happen in college during a lecture.

So now I'm thinking maybe get one of them now, and wait for the other'a new version this fall. With the future upgrades in the near future for both the iPad Mini and MBP, is it worth waiting? Or which one is gonna have the most minimal jump in technology?

I was thinking about getting the current MBP now, but I also remembered that the flash storage they introduced in the AIR lineup posted dramatic results in speed. Will it be that much of a difference??

I think you guys can understand my predicament, so what is the average public opinion on this situation? Thanks for the help, I appreciate it guys.

 

[sonicrobby]

Well all we can really do is guess on what the updates will have, but we wont know which one has a bigger jump until we know for sure what the specs are.

Let me ask you, why are you leaning to the current macbook pro? Upgradeability? Optical drive and more ports? If you really dont have need for them I would suggest getting the Air. SSD storage is much faster than regular HDDs, you will definitely notice the difference in speed. (it turns on in like 10 seconds!)

Unless youre looking at the retina versions, I would not suggest waiting for the cMBPs. Speculation is that they probably wont be refreshed anymore. But we dont know for sure. With the Air you wouldnt have to worry since it was just updated, and probably wont be refreshed until next summer.

So I would say take your chances and get the cMBP or Air now, and get the refreshed iPad mini when its refreshed (If you'd even need it - I feel the air is small enough and has the battery life to replace any need for a tablet, but to each their own)

 

[Allanmed]

Thank you for your response.

The reason I was leaning towards the MBPs was because I felt I'd have more power hungry tasks and need more data storage for college work. I never thought of the Air being that full featured laptop that I'd need. How long do you think the new Air would last me? Atleast 4 for during all of college would be best. Is the Air capable of keeping up with the software updates and more need for RAM power throughout the 4 years?

The ports are definitely a plus in my opinion, but the only ones I'd really have a need for I would think would be, USB, ethernet(maybe if wireless goes down at college), and AUX. I don't know off the top of my head if the Air has those?

The SSD is one of the main selling points to me honestly because of the speed and for you to reassure that it really is a difference is a factor. But I'm also a fan of that Retina display. Not that I couldn't live without because my current MBP isn't Retina.

Do you think with the data storage amount and the RAM and all that the Air would be a good choice for college? A lot of papers, music, video, documents.

Also you shared the same thoughts with me on the iPad, I think I'm going to wait on the updated version because the current is well below current tablet technological standards.

My last question would just be asking for your opinion which version and caveats of the Air should I look for/get if I do end up deciding on it? Screen size, 8gb of RAM or 16. Storage capacity would be more of a personal preference I understand. But etc..etc

 

[BroeyHov]

I'm about to go off to college. I have a mid 09 MBP with the battery consumed, trackpad screwed, and RAM not up to par so I'm at the point where I'm looking for a new MBP.

I also want to get an iPad for textbooks and ease of use of taking notes and reading books and such.

I know the knew iPad Mini and MBP are coming out in a few months and my original plan was to wait for both. However, my current MBP only lasts 20 minutes off a charger and that can't happen in college during a lecture.

So now I'm thinking maybe get one of them now, and wait for the other'a new version this fall. With the future upgrades in the near future for both the iPad Mini and MBP, is it worth waiting? Or which one is gonna have the most minimal jump in technology?

I was thinking about getting the current MBP now, but I also remembered that the flash storage they introduced in the AIR lineup posted dramatic results in speed. Will it be that much of a difference??

I think you guys can understand my predicament, so what is the average public opinion on this situation? Thanks for the help, I appreciate it guys.

I'm literally going through this same issue right now. I wanted to upgrade my 2010 15' MBP to a newer one (that doesn't weigh a ton) to the new 15' MBP but also have the same thoughts going through my head. I don't want to buy a new MBP and then have one that is far more efficient and better performing come out in a few months.

My universities bookstore (I'm sure just about every university bookstore has the same type of thing going on right now) has some great beginning of the school years "deals/incentives" going on. My school's bookstore is giving you $100 of itunes/app store credit and a free printer/scanner on top of the educational pricing which is already lower than Apple store prices. The iPad mini also gets you $50 in itunes/app store credit. I had asked them to price it out for me a few days ago and for a little under $1600 (taxes included) I could get a 13' MBA, and an iPad mini with wifi, along with $150 in itunes/app store credit, and a printer (They actually had 13' MBPs for $50 less that the MBA set up I liked).

I'm probably going to go this route in the next few days and then see what the next MBPs has to off offer and just sell the Air if need be. The losses will basically be offset by the itunes/app credit (if you use itunes/app store a lot obviously), maybe I'll have a bit of a lose, but I think its better than buying a new macbook and then regretting when the new one comes out.

Go check out your schools book store and see what they have to offer, it might play a role in helping you decide what you want to do. Good luck, its quite the annoying predicament lol.

 

[Allanmed]

I was just able to look at the comparisons between the cMBPR and MBA and the only difference I'm concerned about is the processor.

My current 09 MBP is 2.26ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.
The MBA is 1.3/1.7(optional)ghz Intel Dual-Core.
The cMBPR is 2.6/3.0ghz Intel Dual-Core.

Does this mean if I get the new MBA, the processor is actually going to be slower than my current MBP? And over 4 years, is 1.3/1.7 enough?

 

[1458279]

Will the student discounts be in effect when the new products get rolled out? I don't remember if Apple offered the discounts only during certain times of the year or not.

If it were me, I'd check the price to replace the battery in your current MB. Why? Because it's not very sellable as it is without a good battery. If you can sell it for say 1/2 the cost of the new equipment, and the battery can be replaced for say $100, then you'd be ahead of the game... Then just wait for the new product rollout and you're set.

I have an old notebook computer (non mac) that works just fine, but the battery didn't have enough guts to boot the system. I opened the battery pack and found replacement batteries on eBay. Most of the batteries are universal inside the pack and can be replaced with new batteries. This requires electronic knowledge and can be dangerous, but you can probably find someone to do the work for you.

The main reason for delaying your purchase is that the new devices usually cost the same as the old devices.

I bought an iPT for about the same $$ as the new iPT, but I couldn't wait. If you can wait or find some way to wait, you'll be rewarded...

Remember, people have been learning in college for MANY years without computers... 2 months of waiting shouldn't kill anyone.

I'm REALLY wanting to get an iPadMini right now for iOS7 development (I'm an iOS developer) but I'm waiting for the iPadMini Retina... It'll probably be the same price range as the current iPadMini, but much better.

Hard to wait, but you'll probably live thru it...

 

[4look4rd]

I was just able to look at the comparisons between the cMBPR and MBA and the only difference I'm concerned about is the processor.

My current 09 MBP is 2.26ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.
The MBA is 1.3/1.7(optional)ghz Intel Dual-Core.
The cMBPR is 2.6/3.0ghz Intel Dual-Core.

Does this mean if I get the new MBA, the processor is actually going to be slower than my current MBP? And over 4 years, is 1.3/1.7 enough?

Seriously if you are asking this question then you probably don't need the processor bump. You just can't compare two completely different architectures solely based on ghz.

Here are the benchmark results for the lazy people that seem to ask the same question in every thread:

GEEKBENCH:

MacBook Pro 2009 and 2010
http://www.primatelabs.com/blog/2010/04/macbookpro-benchmarks/

Macbook Pro 2012
http://www.primatelabs.com/blog/2012/06/13-inch-macbook-pro-benchmarks/

Macbook air
http://www.primatelabs.com/images/blog/2013/mba-june-2013.png

This only takes into account CPU, the GPU in the new air is something like 4-5 times faster than the 9400m.