Buy now or wait?

As you can see from my sig, I am definitley not the sort of person who is interested in macbooks They are great products just not what I am looking for. But for my mother a macbook pro 17 inch is perfect. Now I don't follow macbook news that much, I am more of an iDevice fanatic lol. When are the new MBP's expected to launch? would it be bad if we buy one now? I mean if the ones with ivy are coming out within a month or 2 max were fine with waiting but anything more than that and my mother would go crazy so what do you guys think?

 

Probably a few months after IB comes out. I'd guess end of summer, but that's just a guess.

If you need a laptop, buy now. They're very nice laptops as is.

 

Thanks for the reply, yeah her sony isn't cutting it right now so I guess I will just pick one up for her tomorrow.

 

I would wait.

 

kinda in the middle of the cycle, doesn't really matter if you wait or not. pretty marginal choice.

 

The MBP's were updated in October with some spec bumps and, as pointed out, it is kind of the middle of their current life cycle. Ivy Bridge is supposed to be released Q2 of this year. There is no indication of when Ivy Bridge notebooks (particularly Macs) will hit the market but, if Sandy Bridge was any indication, Apple will be one of the first to offer them.

Seeing as how you want a MBP 17", I don't really see the point in waiting. It is already a capable machine and any performance increases from Ivy Bridge will be relatively small compared to what is already in that Mac (I highly doubt she would notice a ~15% bump in speed).

Additionally, since this is for your Mom (who I imagine is using this for productivity and won't be gaming on it), she likely doesn't need the latest and greatest hardware anyway. Might as well just buy now so that she can have a system to use since the Ivy Bridge models are still likely more than a few months away.

Now, some of the rumor mills are saying that the top-of-the-line quad-core Core i7 Ivy Bridge processors are coming out in April. That still doesn't mean that we will see notebooks with that processor actually in there. The lower end, more mainstream quad-core Core i7 Ivy Bridge processors still have a TBD release date with the dual-core ones coming out in June. So things are really mixed up at this point and there is absolutely no way to predict what Apple (or anyone else) will do with Ivy Bridge when the first batch of really high end Core i7 chips come out this April (if we actually see them this April).

 

There's also the rumor that the 17-inch MBP will be on the chopping block for the next round of updates. Not that they will simply disappear the day Apple announces it, but it's something to keep in mind as well.

 

You can even get her the early 2011 models that would be cheaper now on the apple site. I would recommend ebay as well as long as the unit is under warranty, but the apple site or microcenter etc are a sure bet. Sandy or ivy really doesn't matter since you can't really utilize the full power of the processor with a slower hard disk.

 

Seeing as how it is their most expensive portable product, I am not surprised. I think the majority of people who buy a Mac notebook still with the 13"-15" MBP or the 13" MBA. I see very little 11" MBA's when I am out and about and even less 17" MBP's. Not everyone wants to spend $2500+ on a notebook yet the other portable Macs seem to hit the sweet spot (between $1000-$1800).

I have a feeling that, unless a company is making a gaming notebook, we won't see Ivy Bridge products until much later as I think the only IB processors coming out in April (at least that is when they are supposed to hit) are the highest end Core i7 models. It appears that the more mainstream Core i7 IB CPU's are still TBD and the even more mainstream dual-core Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3 CPU's aren't coming out for a while.

 

I think apple will pull them out faster than the others, possible within 1-2 months, just like they did with sandy bridge. Q2 for sure.

I say if any gaming or video work is going to go on wait. If not, don't.

 

Apple didn't really get SB all that early. They were one of the first ones to get the platform but Dell had it shortly after, the same with HP. Looking at Intel's roadmap, they have announced the release date for only the high end Core i7 IB CPU's, not the more mainstream lower Core i7 and i5 models. Unless Intel is going to surprise everyone, it may not be until Q3 when we actually see mainstream IB processors from Intel in notebooks instead of just the extremely high end ones. It doesn't matter who the manufacturer is if Intel hasn't even announced a release quarter for their more mainstream IB processors.

 

I was thinking there was a leaked slide that suggests some i5's are launching with the i7's.. Here is one link. Maximum PC | Leaked Slide Offers Clarity on Intel's Ivy Bridge Launch

 

Those are desktop CPUs. For mobile CPUs, quad cores will be released first, followed by dual cores later on.

 

ah... I missed that... but even still, they are expecting mobile quads in Q2 with dual in Q3 aren't they?

 

Most likely but I'm not sure if Apple will refresh only the 15/17 MBP and wait on the others or wait on all until they can do a full refresh. If the latter, then don't expect new macs until the end of the year Q3/Q4.

 

This might be a stupid idea but let me ask you:

I started working at a start up and they promised me a good MBP.
Actually I really, really would like to wait for the new MBP but I am working on a T60 right now and I am not sure if I can wait till June (where after the product cycle the new MBP should come out).

So I was thinking of the following:

Get the best 15"MBP that I can get now (from the company) and then sell it when the new one comes out and add some private extra cash and buy the new MBP.

Question is: How much money would I approx. loose if I bought a 3k$ MBP?

Why I want the new MBP: I am hoping for a better screen, better GPU and I hope that they solve the heat issue as well.

Performance wise, I dont think that the new IB is much faster if I am taking the best current SB CPU. Ram is gonna be the same.

Thx.

 

Not as much as if you bought a cheaper MBP and did some of the upgrades yourself. Get the CPU and screen upgrades from Apple, but add a hard drive/SSD and RAM yourself. Just hold on to the original parts in case you need service.

 

both are serviceable parts. no need for it. the thing is if go and swap the ODD, that is a non serviceable part

 

Hi there,


So, first a bit to myself:

I am a recend graduate and just started my first job at a cool start-up in San Francisco, CA.

I am currently working with a Lenovo T60, which sees his limits pretty often the last days ( I am working with lots of open Windows, like Excel, PPT, Debugger Programs, IE, Chrome, FF, PS, InDesign, etc. at the same time).

My company told me that they would buy me a good MBP.

So, of course I followed the rumors about the new MBP too. And I would buy one right away if they were out!
But they are not and to be honest, I dont think that they will before July.

So that is really a bumer! Thats why I kinda came up with a crazy idea:

I am thinking of getting a super MBP for around 3k USD. I would probably have to pay a 1000USD out of this myself.

And then when the new MBP come out I sell it and use the money to buy a new one.
What do you think how much I would get for the 3k MBP in summer when the new ones come out? What do you think in general about this idea?

Why am I doing this?

Well, I really would like to have a MBP right now (my T60 could still make the job- no doubt, so I could wait, if necessary).

I am hoping for the new 15" MBP to have:

- higher resolution than the old ones
- hope for better GPUs (I love to game from time to time)
- and that they might get rid of the heat issue.


And finally three questions regarding the config:

-What would you choose in general?
- Does it make sense to get the SSD from Apple? (I was thinking of getting the standard 500GB 7200rpm and then get a faster SSD and then swap the HDD to the hard drive area and the SSD to its normal place. Does the 15" MBP allow that and does it use SATA III?)


Would it be better if I sold the MBP then over craigslist or something similar or back to Apple directly? Should I get Applecare?

Ok, I know a lot of (stupid) questions. But it would be great if you helped me answer them.

This would be my first Mac (was never able to afford me one on my own), so I would like to make a good decision.

Thank you very much guys!

Best,

Ben

 

If they put a quad in the 13" Pro they could launch all pros in Q2. Are we sure they will not do that? They may keep the thickness similar and use the smaller die to go quad instead of going thinner?

Then do a 15" air for people that want thin...

 

You could always check out Macrumors, as they rate all Apple products potential refresh via past release windows. Never failed me but sometimes they can be off.

 

If they did a quad MBP 13, I'd definitely stick with MBP for the next round. If not, then I hope the MBA 13 gets 8GB of RAM.

 

I think they will...

 

Yeah, I checked mac rumors already. and they say it is in the middle of the production cycle. Which means that I would have to wait at least 3 more months...

This sucks soo bad!!!

 

They are not accurate to the month.

 

I think the air will stay 13", and the pro will get thinner like the air and have 13, 15, and 17.

Not so thin that they would solder things like ram in... But I do think we will lose the disc drive, but not go to memmory sticks...

 

If you would like to add more comments to something you've already written, please use the edit button rather than creating a whole new post.

 

Lose the super drive and then gain what? It has to be a pro or what makes it so different from an air?

 

A few ports, a bigger battery, quieter cooling system (takes up more space).

Any leftover room after that gets invested into a redesigned body that is smaller.

 

And dont forget the ability to have non soldiered ram.. Thats pretty big...

And if they can fit a standard size ssd in, platter hard drives could be an option so it would be more flexible and allow users to grab data off a machine with a dead motherboard also.