buy now or wait till august?

so i've decided i'm getting a 13" macbook.
i'll be using it for school starting in september, but also for my own stuff obviously
i can wait till august to order it, i have my pc right now and its fine.
but i really cant wait to get my macbook.

my question is, is there any point in waiting until august, or can i just go ahead and get it now?

 

hehe, I know how you feel.

It won't be the end of the world if you go ahead and buy one now, but as you probably know when it comes to computers things always get faster and cheaper(at least faster).

Intel is releasing a new intergrated graphics chip(gm965 I believe?) that's supposed to be a decent improvement over the 950 which comes in the MacBook's...but I don't have a clue when that's suppose to come out.

As far as the cpu, I would guess you will probably have the same choices in August. So it really doesn't matter.

 

If you can(as in stand the anticipation lol) then wait. I'm in the same boat, however I'm just going to go ahead and order mine sometime this week.

 

Well, they will become 64 bit and become Core Duo 2

 

64 bit is more of a marketing gimmick. Nothing really jaw dropping about it. But Merom will NOT be in Apples by August, i can almost guarantee that.

 

good point

 

One benefit of waiting till around August is that most resellers do special deals for students in July and August, I imagine Mac resellers do the same, and the Apple store probably does too... So you might save some $$$.

But right now they are giving away iPod nanos with new macbooks so if you want a free iPod you should buy now... it may also be possible to sell the iPod for more than the discout you would get in August (or you could send it to some poor soul on this forum who hasn't bought an iPod yet).

As far as hardware goes, like everyone else has said, there isn't going to be a major hardware update between now and August, so I wouldn't worry about that.

 

The free iPod is the student deal, until September 16.

 

i know theres not gonna be any hardware or price changes in the next two months,
the main factors im considering in waiting are perhaps the student deals (im in canada and the nano thing does not apply)
but mainly just a later revision of the macbook in which some issues and bugs are cleared up. any chance that may happen?

and cycloneguy, way to practice what you preach lol
im switching over from windows to mac and i cant wait to get it going.
my current pc is messed and due for formatting, and idont really wanna waste my time setting up all my stuff againif im ust gonna do it again on my macbook.

 

I may be wrong but isn't leapord going to be released during August and therefore it would be available on the Macbooks starting the August? Like I said I'm not sure of this but heard it some where. Feel free to correct me.

 

No, Leopard will be out around the same time as Vista.

 

If you're only waiting till August, buy now. Especially if you live in the US you also get up to $180 off an iPod. If the prospect of using 64bit apps is important to you then wait. Having a 64bit CPU is not important to me at all. I think if I stopped upgrading my computer software right now, I'd be content for the next 5+ years on the same software.

I see no reason to wait until August to get your new MacBook. I don't think anything will change that much anyways, if at all. If you really would like to wait then December is a good time because Merom will probably make it into the MacBook shortly followed a month later by Leopard. And if you can wait longer than that, then Summer 07 is even better because of Santa Rosa.

 

If you can wait, then do so, August is only a few months away. Apple is supposed to revise their designs on their current MacIntel line and make changes to the cooling system to deal with the current heat issues.

 

That might be worth waiting for, but may also not happen. There is nothing wrong with the cooling of my MacBook, but then again I can't speak for the other people on this board with heat issues.

Now if Apple could some how find a way to fit an icemaker in there it'd be a different story...

 

Where are you getting this info from? The only Mac notebook that will be updated (likely) is the MacBook Pro. I highly doubt the MacBook will be updated after only 3 months. I think its only slim that the MBP will be updated in August. But then again you really never know with Apple.

For the original question. If you are getting a MacBook get it now. This is the best deal you will see for some time.

One more quick thing. Not to flame anybody, because I am not referring to anyone in particular, but can we please stop with the heat issue stuff? I have been using my MBP for 4 hours now plugged in and unplugged doing web dev and image editing. It is warm. Not hot. Please, if you don't own one of these Mactels then you don't really know do you?

 

It might not be there for you but quite a handful of people experience this problem. I have and reviewed the MacBook and the heat is definitely apparent. It gets a lot warmer than other notebooks I have used.

 

OK, based on speculations I've seen, Apple WILL most likely update/revise their cooling system on the current MacBook and MacBook Pro lineup when they move to Merom - it's not going to be big, but I think they're going to be doing something with the thermal paste and changing the fan settings.
Oh, and I have seen both the MB and MBP in person at my local Apple store and have played around with them for a couple of hours, so I can claim that they run fairly hot. In addition, one of my friends has a MBP and constantly complains about the heat.

 

Sorry for seeming to get angry. I just get a little tired of hearing something that for the most part is speculation and hearsay. As most of you know I had to go thru 2 MacBooks before this one and none of the three have been too hot. Plus it seems that ALL CoreDuo notebooks are hot when compared to previous generations. Also, the case is metal, it will feel hotter than plastic. If there was a heat problem there would be systems failing. I still have yet to see people returning systems that failing due to heat. Too hot and the system will shutdown. I do agree that Apple should dissipate(sp?) the better. However, aside from the area above the F keys my computer never gets too hot to touch.

I know another rant. You guys get the idea. I am not saying anyone is wrong, just saying I believe most of this is more rumor and hysteria than true facts. Because the case is hot does not mean the CPU or components are too hot.

I really enjoy this forum, and I don't want to start or perpetuate flamewars or arguments. I just love my MBP and don't think alot of the info is accurate. One more thing to note, the hottest my computer case (never got the temp on AC) gets is when it is on AC power. Most display models are on AC power charging.

**EDIT** I know I can't stop! LOL! For CoreDuo Temp it said 25C for a while and now is 19C even though the case feels warmer than when I started. It has only been 15min. but I think you get the idea.

 

Sorry to burst your fanboy bubble but there is no way a core duo can even be less than 30c idle....

unless you live where it is -15c in your house...

either the temperature probe is broken or you aren't reading it correctly. 25C could possibly be 25C over ambient which is quite believable.

now the say that the heat issue is rare is quite the statement. personally i had a macbook 13.3 in white last week but returned it in 2 days because of the intense heat....i went ahead and ordered a dell 6400 after...

as for it happening to "all" core duo notebooks.....why is it that it is only apple designed notebooks being 'affected'? surely it would affect asus notebooks since MB 13's are manufacturered by asus....no?

 

buy NOW. there will be no changes by august. if you buy now, you can enjoy your precious laptop until then. if you buy in august, you will not be able to enjoy it as your school will start.

 

like others have stated, it might be a good idea to wait to see if they fix any of the heating issues. also, the prices of the macbook may drop with the next core duo price cut.

 

I was actually reffering to my belief that CoreDuo Temp, the app everyone is using to figure out the temp of their MacBooks, is not accurate and cannot be trusted.

And if you don't think other notebooks aren't getting hot, head over to the Asus section and read up on the vent for the W3J's. These proccesors are hot. Apple does not use a conventional cooling system. The case is actaully meant to be used to dissipate heat which makes it feel hot giving the user the impression that the computer itself is running hot. I have said it once and I will say it again. Find me widespread example of REAL heat problems. Where are all the MacBooks that are constantly shutting down or having kernal panics from heat? I have had my doubts, read my other thread where I consider taking it back. But, after I think about it, I realize my notebook has shown no other signs of running too hot aside from being hot when it is plugged in. Also, please do not call me a fanboy. I am just trying to show the other side. There are only a few people here who have actual experience with these notebooks. The rest are just sharing what they have heard elsewhere, which in my experience is overblown hysteria.

 

Have you installed the latest firmware update? 1.01 I think . . .

 

That's a good question. I think so. If you are referring to SMC I am up to 1.2f10. Does the firmware come in the normal software updates? If not, then no I have not. Where can I find in my system if I need and where can I get it? I am new to Mac, sorry!

 

I was going to go to the Apple Store this weekend to pick up a Macbook but I felt, well, rushed...is a good way to put it.



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