When to Buy MacBook Pro

[svoloch]

Since Apple released the new Mac Pro last month - I was expecting a new macbook pro about 2-3 weeks later as is their custom. Nothing has arrived. I checked this website's guide and it recommends waiting for the new release.
When will it be? Any idea? How long should I wait - or should I just go ahead and by one right now?

This question might have been answered already - but I'm a newbie to mac - so I don't even know what to look for. So please don't judge harshly.

 

[Poopface Morty]

HARSH JUDGEMENT AWAITS!!!


j/k, I'm relatively new too, I'm on an outdated Toshiba Satellite and am looking to go to a 17" Macbook Pro, 3GB of RAM but would prefer more down the road as the current max out is 3GB.

I've heard most people saying around here that around June-August we should expect a new one. I can't wait, I'm sick of Windows.

 

[svoloch]

HARSH JUDGEMENT AWAITS!!!


j/k, I'm relatively new too, I'm on an outdated Toshiba Satellite and am looking to go to a 17" Macbook Pro, 3GB of RAM but would prefer more down the road as the current max out is 3GB.

I've heard most people saying around here that around June-August we should expect a new one. I can't wait, I'm sick of Windows.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
I cant' wait that long - I will go crazy. Well I guess I'll wait till June at least to see what Mr. Turtleneck will say at the conference...

 

[Tadros]

Most of us. . .

Since Apple released the new Mac Pro last month - I was expecting a new macbook pro about 2-3 weeks later as is their custom. Nothing has arrived. I checked this website's guide and it recommends waiting for the new release.
When will it be? Any idea? How long should I wait - or should I just go ahead and by one right now?

This question might have been answered already - but I'm a newbie to mac - so I don't even know what to look for. So please don't judge harshly.

Most of us believe that Steve will announce the new Macbook Pros at WWDC, I believe when he announce new items they become available that week or the following week. Macbooks Probably mid summer just in time for the new school year.

 

[svoloch]

ok, cranking up my belt then - and waiting till summer.

 

[djkny]

MBP's probably at the paris expos, in sept. just in time for the beginning of the new school year.

I'd assume that Apple, as they normally do, would milk the summer by clearing out their already overpriced/old models with a "free nano" promo, making a potential 4-5 month wait more torturous.

 

[jon4lakers]

MBP's probably at the paris expos, in sept. just in time for the beginning of the new school year.

I'd assume that Apple, as they normally do, would milk the summer by clearing out their already overpriced/old models with a "free nano" promo, making a potential 4-5 month wait more torturous.

I hope you're wrong!

 

[Poopface Morty]

Yeah, I really hope it's not September. I'll have an academic discount through August.

 

[ironring2006]

I'd say it's more likely that they'll use the promotion to clear out all the old iPods and you'll see new high end iPods with the iPhone interface sometime in late September or October, which will then fly off the shelves and be on everybody's list for Christmas again.

I can't see them waiting 4 months to put out a SR platform notebook, but I can see why they don't want to put out a iPod with iPhone interface too close to the iPhone release. Santa Rosa is available within the next few weeks. I would say MBP's at WWDC, and the MB's will follow about 2-3 weeks later.

 

[SHowHawk]

When to Buy MacBook Pro

I'm new to this forum... and will be to Macs (as an owner, not so much a user) once I get a new MacBook or MacBook Pro in the next month or so.

So I have been following developments on the rumor sites and forums closely. And I have seen a lot of folks predicting new MB Pros at WWDC and then MBs a few weeks or month later. Other than what seems to be the usual pattern of updating the Pro line first (at least since the MB Pro came out in Jan. 06), I was wondering why most seem to think the new Pros will precede the consumer MBs?

I actually think that the MacBooks might see an update in mid-to-late May, before updated MacBook Pros are announced at WWDC in June.

And here is my humble reasoning (or wishful thinking, as the case may be):

1) Intel's Santa Rosa is supposed to hit the streets in May, and leaks are already coming in on Santa Rosa -based offerings from HP, Sony, Lenovo, etc. So I expect that Apple will want to be up-to-date on processor/chipsets in its own notebooks and remain as competitive and "cutting-edge" as possible.

2) The MacBook, rather than the MacBook Pro, would seem to get more immediate benefit from Santa Rosa, particularly in the new Intel GM965 (X3100) integrated graphics chipset. The MB Pro uses discrete graphics (the AMD/ATI Radeon X1600), and so would likely see smaller benefit from Santa Rosa... until Leopard hits that is. To my view, that would seem to indicate that the MacBook might get a basic Santa Rosa refresh just a bit quicker.

3) Leopard. Leopard and the rollout of the iPhone are likely to be the big focus of WWDC (probably to the exclusion of much else... I don't expect any iPods, do you?). So hardware like the MB Pro, that might make better use of some of the fancier features of Leopard and Santa Rosa (like the FLASH-enabled drives and such), might better be unveiled with the announcement of such features for Leopard. And generally Steve Jobs seems to like to focus his keynotes on cool new features of hardware as opposed to just simpler speed/capacity bumps.

4) Crowding of releases. Apple hasn't updated either notebook line since the fall. Nary a speed bump or or other upgrade since then. And these are now their bread-and-butter Macs, selling more than the "desktop" Macs. Getting a MacBook out at the beginning of the Summer rather than in the midst of the iPhone rollout, might be a better move supply-wise in order to position themselves for the back-to-school season.

You never really know with Apple, they could do just about anything. But I for one am really hoping for and even expecting some sort of Mac hardware release announcement before WWDC to at least space all their expected product releases out a bit. That, and I would really like a MacBook with GMA965 in it rather than the current anemic MacBook graphics. I need something that can handle Civ IV well.

 

[iW00t]

You never really know with Apple, they could do just about anything. But I for one am really hoping for and even expecting some sort of Mac hardware release announcement before WWDC to at least space all their expected product releases out a bit. That, and I would really like a MacBook with GMA965 in it rather than the current anemic MacBook graphics. I need something that can handle Civ IV well.

You'd probably need a Mac Pro. I've ran Civ on a MBP and a machine with a 7600GT and it is still slow like molasses towards the middle of the game.

Since Macs have very few graphics card options, that really leaves you little choice.

Anyway thinking that the GMA965 will do wonders for a game as intense as Civ is just... naive.

 

[FF_productions]

May-June seems like the timeframe for a MacBook Pro.

Remember Santa Rosa is being introduced from Intel, it will find its way into the pro laptops.

 

[iJawn108]

Never. *bows* "thank you thank you I bid you peace"

 

[diehldun]

I pray that Apple will release refreshed MBPs sometime before August, when colleges start. I would rather not bring this old PB to school for a few weeks, then have to start new all over again, when I already have so much to worry about.

That, and the iPhone, of course!



...might as well add Leopard

 

[SHowHawk]

You'd probably need a Mac Pro. I've ran Civ on a MBP and a machine with a 7600GT and it is still slow like molasses towards the middle of the game.

Since Macs have very few graphics card options, that really leaves you little choice.

Anyway thinking that the GMA965 will do wonders for a game as intense as Civ is just... naive.

Thanks for the info on running Civ IV. I don't expect GMA965 to "work wonders", but to at least make it more playable than on the current MacBook. GMA965 at least has hardware T&L, which GMA950 does not. I'm not looking for a "serious" gaming laptop (and, unfortunately, there are no such Mac gaming laptops... and may not be for some time), just something that can handle some light, casual gaming from time to time. And for me running Civ IV is important as a benchmark.

Heck, even my Windows (yes, I have a Windows machine for gaming, etc.) PC with an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ and Radeon X1800 bogs down in the late game on Civ 4.

 

[svoloch]

Thanks for the info on running Civ IV. I don't expect GMA965 to "work wonders", but to at least make it more playable than on the current MacBook. GMA965 at least has hardware T&L, which GMA950 does not. I'm not looking for a "serious" gaming laptop (and, unfortunately, there are no such Mac gaming laptops... and may not be for some time), just something that can handle some light, casual gaming from time to time. And for me running Civ IV is important as a benchmark.

Heck, even my Windows (yes, I have a Windows machine for gaming, etc.) PC with an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ and Radeon X1800 bogs down in the late game on Civ 4.

To be honest I wonder what the hell were they thinking when they wrote that game in python - not the best choice for this game.

ALso I have a similar system - with 3 gigs of ram - and it's still bogs down - even if I kill of the extra window processes. I wonder what systems they tested it on when they were developing it?? I mean My system was only int he works - when they released Civ 4 - so what they hell they were testign it on? A mainframe?