Question about purchasing a MacBook Pro

I'm purchasing a new notebook for university next year, and I'm pretty confident that I'd like to purchase a MacBook pro, especially from online reviews and reviews from my friends and colleagues.

I was going to wait until the 2012 MacBook Pro was released, cause I don't need to buy this until September, however, the current 13" MacBook Pro is on clearance where I work, and with my staff discount, I could get it for 900$ CAD versus the 1200$ for the entry level.

Would this be a book bargain to go for?

 

Sounds like a good deal to me, I would get it now cause the new one might not be that much better although there will be updates.

 

Nobody can ever accurately predict what companies are going to do with new products, this is especially true for Apple. So an updated MBP might be a lot better or it could just come with new internal components. The rumor mills have been churning out constant "reports" saying that Apple is going to come out with a new design using liquid metal instead of aluminum. That is all supposed to happen this year when they switch to the Ivy Bridge platform (which will really only provide an increase in performance by about 15%).

Then again, those rumor sites might be completely wrong and Apple could just put new Ivy Bridge components in the current MBP design.

Personally, I think Apple is focusing more on the MBA than MBP. It seems like their portable line is going to consist of two products: the MBA and iPad. The MBP, while being a fine machine (and the one I purchased), seems to be on a declining trend. That holds true for full sized notebooks from other manufacturers as ultrabooks seem to be all the rage these days.

The price for the current 13" MBA is really good though. If you can use it now, I would buy it. You can always sell it in the future and Macs tend to carry high re-sale values.

 

MBA is crap with limited ports and even a non-upgradeable ram.

 

The same goes for most other ultraportables but that is where many companies (including Apple) are focusing more on design and upgrades. Hence why I made my comment. You might say it is crap (is an ethernet and firewire 800 port really considered that many extra ports?) but Apple, HP, Dell, Lenovo, Sony, and many other companies and consumers would disagree.

Either way, I made my comment to state that companies might be slowing focus on standard notebooks in favor of ultraportables. It doesn't matter what your or my opinion is regarding that. I thought I made it clear what my opinion was when I stated the notebook that I purchased (which could have been a MBA). Personal opinions don't really matter when market trends point a different direction.

 

There is only one usb port (forget it being 2.0).

 

First, no there is not. The Air has two usb 2.0 slots, not one.

And Second, this thread is not about why you do not like the Air, it is about whether it is worth it to get a Pro now vs later.

I personally would get one now, since it seems like a pretty decent deal on one. Take that extra money saved and put it towards a nice ssd.

 

Just get it now. That's a good price and they hold thier value like toyotas, you could probably sell it for that in 6 months.

 

Thanks so much for all of your input. I'm pretty confident I'm making the right decision buying it this weekend. Cheers!

 

Ivy Bridge CPU's with native USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt support. Lower power demands extending battery life. Potentially, quad core CPU? HD 4000 graphics, which are significantly improved over HD 3000 in Sandy Bridge. Hmmmm. I hate to be a contrary voice but I don't think I would pass up those improvements for a 25% discount on current models.

 

You think there is going to be a significant improvement over the current setup? Right now, all signs are pointing to maybe 15% on a GHz to GHz comparison for the CPU's while using slightly less power (maybe enough to add another 20 minutes on a single charge).

Additionally, support of native USB 3.0 doesn't mean that Apple is actually going to implement it. Right now, the initial release of Ivy Bridge CPUs aren't going to be that much more over what Sandy Bridge can do. The next advancement won't come until second generation Ivy Bridge. Until then, all performance increases are going to be small and likely not noticeable by the end user in day to day activities.

 

MBP's entry level model has low. res display
So, first of all get the 1920*1080 display
But, you have mentioned that you want to buy after sept.
So, why you are discussing now because things would change in sept.(definitely Ivy Bridge High res. display and all that .....)
So, better if you are purchasing a product right now talk about that otherwise wait for the launch and then make some questions..... then you will get a better answer

 

So the introduction of Ivy Bridge is going to happen in September along with an increase in resolution of MBP display panels? How is that "definitely" going to happen. Yes, I think that September is a long period away and there really is no point in thinking about anything now except that they can use it now all while purchasing a model for a reduced price. It has already happened, the OP picked up a MBP. There is no harm in buying it now even if they don't technically need it until September. I did the same thing with my (now sold) 13" MBP. I purchased it at the end of February when the early 2011 models launched and I didn't need it until July of that year.

 

Apple does not sell any notebooks with a 1920x1080 screen. Available resolutions break down as follows:

MBA 11 - 1366x768
MBA 13 - 1440x900

MBP 13 - 1280x800
MBP 15 - 1440x900 or 1680x1050
MBP 17 - 1920x1200

It's possible an Ivy Bridge MBP could offer 1920x1080 but the only way we will know is when Apple announces it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

i never understood this argument about usb ports, when Im not at a power source, and I think this is true for all average users, I rarely use the USB port at all. So one is more than I would need. However at home I need like 20, thats why I bought a $15 dollar powered hub. Problem solved, and actually prefer it as opposed to sticking more usb cable into the actual laptop.

macbook air will be discontinued. the line will be called all macbook pros or somthing new. 11, 13, 15, 17, and possibly a 19" model. all as paper thin as the air, perhaps a bit more so with more ports. to stay competitive there going to have to raise some of the resolutions though.

 

I agree with what you said when it comes to USB ports. On-the-go, I will mainly use only one USB port. There are rare occasions where I will use two but I will also be plugged into a power source when that happens. Otherwise I am transferring data to a thumb drive or external hard drive and then unplugging it from my USB port. I don't have 8 different devices all plugged in at once.

I go home and now I need 6 USB ports in total. Three for external hard drives, one for an external optical drive, one for my iPod, and one for my iPad (though I have been syncing that through wi-fi lately). I will never have all of those plugged in while I am traveling. At most I will have my external hard drive housing my iTunes library and my iPod.

I think the main argument in bringing up USB ports is that people are thinking Apple will finally embrace USB 3.0 since it is supposed to be integrated into Ivy Bridge. That may or may not be the case as Apple doesn't have to adopt technologies that are part of Intel's chipset and CPUs. They could easily forgo USB 3.0 and still stick with USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt. Or they could upgrade every USB port on portable Macs to 3.0. Apple is an extremely hard company to predict when it comes to stuff like this as they will do whatever they want. They could even use custom CPUs from Intel in the next Air/Pro/whatever updates just as they did when the original MBA launched in 2008.

 

I generally only use USB ports at work. I have a gigabit-ethernet usb adapter (gigabit over usb2? why not...), audio adapter, keyboard, and at least one micro-usb cable plugged into either my Air or the external screen/usb hub. Besides that, I rarely use usb for anything.

 

Apple would have no need to upgrade to a 1080p display, reason being it's too high a resolution to view text/various other elements of the UI comfortably.
My girlfriend has a Sony vaio she upgraded to 1080p display [which is great if you're going to buy the Bluray player upgrade too, which she didn't (nor does she watch/use much HD content)] and often complains that the text on her browser is too small to read. I use her as an example of a general user, one that expects the Laptop to "just work", (which anyone buying an apple product would expect) and assumed 1080p was "the best" resolution.
900 seems about right.


Rambling aside, I think Apple did a great job with the Retina display on the iPhone and maybe they could work with something there, but that's just my opinion, hoping that intel 4000 makes that possible.


Keeping this post relevant, go for the discount! There doesn't tend to be much difference from year to year with Apple anyways, chances are you'd be waiting to spend an extra $2/300 or so on something you may not use.


Edit: I meant to include PO82's comment in that quote "So, first of all get the 1920*1080 display" which was in question here.

 

Only real advantage mbp13 over air for me was firewire. Its gone now i think , kinda not sure what to do i do my fkin $2000 audio card *banging head against the wall*

There will always be people who need good gpu, so i dont think mbp will be declined any time soon.

 

The 13" MBP still has FireWire 800. My main point was that Apple seems to be focusing more R&D towards the MBA. The MBP's design hasn't been updated in 3 years. Granted, it is still a nice looking design but Apple hasn't done anything with it. It took them 2 years to update the MBA's design and we still have that one 1.5 years later. It has gone through one overhaul and one drastic upgrade almost in the same timeframe as the MBP's current design life. I wouldn't be surprised if they update it again (either a major refresh or complete overhaul) later this year or maybe next year just to keep things fresh.