Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacBook Pro Advice HELP

L

lukeowen

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 1, 2006
30
0
Hey All
For the past year I've been saving up to buy a MacBook Pro and a few weeks ago I finally saved up enough but I waited till Steves Keynote at WWDC to see if he was going to update the Macbook Pros with Core 2 Duo. sadly he didn't and now I'm left wondering weather I should buy a MacBook Pro now or wait a bit longer. What do you guys think I should do, and how long do you think it will take for the MacBook Pros to be upgraded to Core 2 Duo chips. Any help will be great, I really don't know what to do.

Luke O
 
Do you need one right now or within the very near future (a week or so)? If that's the case, then buy one, otherwise wait and see.
 
I'm in the same situation. Is there any chance of them rolling out some new MBP's even after the keynote hasn't said anything about them, or is there no chance of that?
 
btgordon said:
I'm in the same situation. Is there any chance of them rolling out some new MBP's even after the keynote hasn't said anything about them, or is there no chance of that?
Click to expand...

It's hard to say.
 
I was in the same boat about a month ago. I was tired of having my slow mac and I wanted that ipod rebate so I said screw it and bought my macbook pro 17" 2.16. It's great and I love it. Merom will be out before the holiday season but when, no one is for sure. Maybe the 17th (when the major in mac offer goes away) or maybe sometime in october before christmas season. Something better is going to come after merom, so playing the "wait until the best thing comes out" game is going to get old very fast. If you need one now, go for it. There's probably going to be a few bugs anyway and by the time apple and other software developers get leopard, and other apps running perfect with intel 64-bit processors it might be time for a new computer. :) good luck!
 
generik said:
I am in the same position and right now I am seriously considering getting a Macbook instead.
Click to expand...


generik - ditto here. My current portable Macs are a 366 Clam and a 400 TiPB. Neither of those can handle my needs on the road. I hate to buy a MBP anytime soon because 16 days after my purchase the Merom MBP will be released :mad:

So - like you - I may just go for a MB to get me over the next several months and then ebay it when the Merom / MBP sorts itself out. The MB still has the whine issue and no new mlb yet - so more unknown there. The Yonah MBP appears to be getting sorted out, therefore........ I will delay my decision for another two weeks or so but have to buy something after that. I simply HATE to go through all of the buy - setup - ebay work - grrrrrr :mad:
 
I was going to wait till Nov. or so, but I'm just going to buy a MBP Sept. 14 or 15, regardless of whether or not it's Core 2 Duo. I'm hoping that they'll be updated in Paris (Sept. 12-16).

Do you need it right now? Will Merom actually make a difference in performance for you? The MBP is a pretty solid machine as it is. If you don't have any other computers/laptops tiding you over (.. I have two laptops so I guess I can wait for awhile), buy it. You (hopefully) won't regret it!
 
Patients doctor, patients...

Just be patient a little longer. If you wait for Merom, you'll be happy with your purchase from when you get your computer until you ditch it. If you rush impatiently to the Apple store and get it now (unless you truly need it for work or your current computer dies), you'll be kicking yourself for not waiting the entire life of the computer.

Or you'll be justifying and rationalizing your purchase for the next few years thinking...

just wait.

I'd rather wait 2 months for Ludivine Sagnier than take my girlfriend out on a date a week from now. (I hope she doesn't see this post) :rolleyes:
 
i was in the same situation. i feel your pain. but guess what? i ordered my macbook pro yesterday.

1. i can't wait anymore. i would like to start enjoying and stop agonising.
2. i really don't need a 64 bit machine. i can still upgrade to the leopard os with the current core duo machine.
3. NEVER get the first batch of anything which equals more waiting which equals no thank you.
4. you can always upgrade your machine later. even if you wait for the first batch of meroms to come out, a better one will come along 6 months later anyway.
 
kevinliu4 said:
4. you can always upgrade your machine later. even if you wait for the first batch of meroms to come out, a better one will come along 6 months later anyway.
Click to expand...

The trouble with this argument here is:

1) It is coming any day now, literally any day.
2) Unlike other incremental improvements, those didn't result in you not having the ability to run certain instruction sets, 32 bit -> 64 bits is huge. We are not talking Merom -> Merom + Santa Rosa here, we are talking about an improvement like Merom -> 128 bit laptop processor.
3) The current MBP is not much better than the MB anyway.
4) The rumors for a new case redesign seem rather strong.
5) I hate the current case anyway.

And lastly, I am rather sore there is no small MBP model :mad:

I'd switch back to my PC for the next month or so, a new Conroe box!
 
generik said:
The trouble with this argument here is:

1) It is coming any day now, literally any day.
2) Unlike other incremental improvements, those didn't result in you not having the ability to run certain instruction sets, 32 bit -> 64 bits is huge. We are not talking Merom -> Merom + Santa Rosa here, we are talking about an improvement like Merom -> 128 bit laptop processor.
3) The current MBP is not much better than the MB anyway.
4) The rumors for a new case redesign seem rather strong.
5) I hate the current case anyway.

And lastly, I am rather sore there is no small MBP model :mad:

I'd switch back to my PC for the next month or so, a new Conroe box!
Click to expand...

I just wonder how big of a performance boost 64 bit will have over 32 bit in regular applications in Leopard. For example, will ilife be 64 bit?
 
Apple Corps said:
I hate to buy a MBP anytime soon because 16 days after my purchase the Merom MBP will be released :mad:
Click to expand...

That`d be really great. Please for the sake of us all who are waiting for the merom MBP, please go ahead and buy your self a MBP rite now. So that we can have the Merom MBP launched 16 days later. :p :D
 
I'm in the same boat as well. My dad wants to buy my 1.67ghz 15" PBG4, and I'm probably going to hold out until new MBPs come out. The MBP is the first Apple product to go to the Intel chipset, and while they may have made some minor adjustments since its release, I'd like to wait for their next version.
 
I got my MBP an hour after the [boring] keynote. It flies, and I don't really care about Merom because it's not out yet.

If you want it, you might as well get it now IMO. Unless you are going to use it for some heavy video/graphics apps, Merom will make little to no difference in every-day performance.
 
The Yonah > Merom performance improvements appear well documented on several sites: reasonable 8% - 15% gains, equal battery life, does not produce much more heat, and costs the same. To get there the Merom uses almost DOUBLE the transistors - thus the larger die than Yonah as both are fabricated at 65 nm. Yonah gets high marks as it stands today.

32 vs 64 bit is nice but not that critical for me - so why do I wait for Merom?

Merom has a slightly higher TDP specified by Intel (35 or so compared to 31 or so for Yonah). My thinking is that will require Apple (to protect its warranty coverage with Intel) to redesign the cooling system. Given the current heat that Apple is getting for the heat ;) they will probably go the extra mile and finally sort it out correctly. That could include more minor mlb tweaks, different heat pipes, tighter heatsink machining tolerances, etc.

OR.............we could all be wasting too much time on the Merom transition and just go out and buy Yonah, or, or, or.............:confused:
 
Ok - a public confession. I have had a crush on Christie Brinkley for many years - my wife is sick of hearing about it. With her husbands recent DUMB moves I thought old dreams had returned. Last night my wife shook me awake and I was afraid that I had been calling Christie's name out in my sleep. I asked her why she shook me awake?

She asks: WHO IS THIS MEROM person:eek:

More coffee - back to work :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back