Will there be another update to MacBook Pro line this year?

[kna]

I have a mid-2009 15" MacBook Pro. I've upgraded the RAM to 8GB and the hard drive to a Western Digital Scorpio Black 750GB drive, and just this week replaced the battery for the first time.

I'm quite proud of how well it's been chugging along, considering I am a graphic designer and put a fairly heavy amount of use on this thing. But it's definitely time for a new laptop and so my options are:

1. 1) Buy the recently updated Retina MacBook Pro 13" now.
   
2. 2) Wait to buy later this year when/if the MacBook Pros get another refresh.

My decision is really dependent on whether the MacBook Pro line will be updated again in 2015.

• What's the likelihood of the MacBook Pros being updated this year?
  
• Is it likely the 13" RMBP will be updated again seeing as how a new model was just released? And if so, what features will likely be updated from the current new model?
  
• If the 15" is updated, is it likely that to be thinner/lighter than the current model?

(I know there's some Skylake thing supposedly happening in the near future but I don't think I can wait til 2016.)

Appreciate any input. Thanks!

 

[chaoscarrot]

If I were a betting man, I would say that the 15 inch will be updated the same way the 13 inch just was (newer SSDs, force touch, broadwell) in the Summer. The 13 inch will not be updated until Skylake. I would also bet that the updated 15 inch will not be a redesign.

Both the 13 and 15 will be redesigned for Skylake most likely

 

[dmccloud]

Whether or not the 15" rMBPs get updated this year will depend on availability of quad-core Broadwell parts. The current lack of availability for those parts is why only the 13" models got a spec bump this week. They are still slated for late 2015 release, but if Skylake will be ready shortly afterwards Apple could just skip Broadwell for the 15" models and jump straight to Skylake.

 

[jaythejet]

I'm somewhat in the same boat as you. I have a 15" mbp mid 2010 and I want to upgrade to the 13" that just released. But I feel that the skylake revamp of the mbp will be glorious so I may be forced to wait another year. Should I wait or is everyone overhyping Skylake and the mbp revamp that will come along with it?

 

[polbit]

Whether or not the 15" rMBPs get updated this year will depend on availability of quad-core Broadwell parts. The current lack of availability for those parts is why only the 13" models got a spec bump this week. They are still slated for late 2015 release, but if Skylake will be ready shortly afterwards Apple could just skip Broadwell for the 15" models and jump straight to Skylake.

Somehow I don't see Intel releasing quad Skylake same year as the quad Broadwell. I will make a grand prediction of the rMBP having a minor speed bump and Force Touch touchpad this year. We finally live in an age when you don't have to replace your computer once a year to stay current. Love it!

 

[kna]

Thanks, everyone! I'm leaning towards just going ahead and buying the 13" now but on the other hand, since I've waited so long as is (AUGUST 2009 I'm running on!), why not wait a little longer and see what June/July brings?

Would the alleged 15" updated Broadwell MBP be significantly better in terms of performance than the newly released 13"?

I'm a graphic designer so while I don't work in heavy video or anything, I do use Adobe CS suite heavily and raw image processing, etc. I recall hearing negative things about the Iris graphics card on the 13" MBP.

 

[steveyo]

There's always going to be something around the corner...

If you need something now then buy it now

Overall I would argue hardware innovation has surpassed software innovation a lot compared to the early 2000 years, basically no real need to upgrade for average joe. Heck just putting a SSD into a older rig makes a world of difference.

 

[LudwigZildjian]

Honestly, I'd wait for June, only a full 2 months away till an announcement, but we won't see anything till July in this case. I personally shall wait, but I am not in serious need for a new machine, I just want an upgrade. I have a 2011 15"....

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Your work sounds

Thanks, everyone! I'm leaning towards just going ahead and buying the 13" now but on the other hand, since I've waited so long as is (AUGUST 2009 I'm running on!), why not wait a little longer and see what June/July brings?

Would the alleged 15" updated Broadwell MBP be significantly better in terms of performance than the newly released 13"?

I'm a graphic designer so while I don't work in heavy video or anything, I do use Adobe CS suite heavily and raw image processing, etc. I recall hearing negative things about the Iris graphics card on the 13" MBP.

More CPU than GPU bound anyway. But the quad core in the 15 inch is twice as powerful as the dual cores in the 13 inch. And the GPU is much better even than the new one.

 

[FuNGi]

-snip- why not wait a little longer and see what June/July brings?

Would the alleged 15" updated Broadwell MBP be significantly better in terms of performance than the newly released 13"?

I'm a graphic designer so while I don't work in heavy video or anything, I do use Adobe CS suite heavily and raw image processing, etc. I recall hearing negative things about the Iris graphics card on the 13" MBP.

Sounds like you should wait. You've upgraded your system, just replaced the battery, and are used to 15". Sit tight and get the newest you can later this summer. If needed straightaway consider a 15" refurb, as others have said the CPU in the 15" is allot faster than the 13". Besides, once you see that retina screen you're going to want as much of it as you can get.

 

[mtneer]

I'm somewhat in the same boat as you. I have a 15" mbp mid 2010 and I want to upgrade to the 13" that just released. But I feel that the skylake revamp of the mbp will be glorious so I may be forced to wait another year. Should I wait or is everyone overhyping Skylake and the mbp revamp that will come along with it?

I would discount that. Hyping happens all the time; just go back into the forums and look at the dreamy eyed predictions about Ivy Bridge/ Haswell and even Broadwell. Once Skylake comes out; the dreamers will be out drooling over whatever comes after Skylake. As others have said, just get the machine when you really need one.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Yep

I would discount that. Hyping happens all the time; just go back into the forums and look at the dreamy eyed predictions about Ivy Bridge/ Haswell and even Broadwell. Once Skylake comes out; the dreamers will be out drooling over whatever comes after Skylake. As others have said, just get the machine when you really need one.

That about sums it up, get your bib on it's canonlake soon

 

[mcarling]

It's almost certain that the 15" MBP will be updated with Broadwell and the Force Touch trackpad this summer. It is also very likely that there will not be any other MBP updates until Skylake, probably in February or March 2016.

The chances of an updated 13" MBP this year seem very slim. At best, there might be a 100MHz speed bump at the time of the 15" Broadwell MBP introduction, but I don't expect it.

I do not expect the 15" Broadwell MBP to be any thinner or lighter than the current 15" Haswell MBP. There is a chance that the 2016 Skylake MBPs might be thinner and lighter, but don't count on it.

 

[Simplicated]

More CPU than GPU bound anyway. But the quad core in the 15 inch is twice as powerful as the dual cores in the 13 inch. And the GPU is much better even than the new one.

If you meant quad core = 2x the performance of dual core, you're terribly misinformed.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Well it benchmarks 3x

If you meant quad core = 2x the performance of dual core, you're terribly misinformed.

Well it benchmarks nearly 2x as powerful (geekbench around 6500 for the 13inch and 13000 for the 15 inch) in multi core 64 bit tests (8 threads vs 4) but of course that is all dependent on how your software works and wether it can leverage all those cores.

http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks

If your software just uses 1 core of course then clock speed and turbo boost are more important.

I of course understand that it is more complicated than this at every level with GPU and eDRAM in the IRIS Pro muddling the mix just for starters. (for example rendering a short video might be 2 minutes on the 13 but 40 secs on the 15 )
But 2x as powerful seems a fair generalisation to me without going into specifics...

 

[thekev]

Thanks, everyone! I'm leaning towards just going ahead and buying the 13" now but on the other hand, since I've waited so long as is (AUGUST 2009 I'm running on!), why not wait a little longer and see what June/July brings?

Would the alleged 15" updated Broadwell MBP be significantly better in terms of performance than the newly released 13"?

I'm a graphic designer so while I don't work in heavy video or anything, I do use Adobe CS suite heavily and raw image processing, etc. I recall hearing negative things about the Iris graphics card on the 13" MBP.

Of course it would, assuming you can leverage it. GPU differences are meaningless for what you're doing, as long as they aren't inhibited by bugs. Every complaint I've seen so far with Adobe has related to bugs, not raw processing power. It takes very little, and raw image processing doesn't use the gpu in any way at all under any circumstances. Lightroom also doesn't use it in any way. Illustrator and InDesign don't use it. Photoshop leverages it in some minor ways, but again it's a matter of whether drivers are stable for the current release.