The reason you should never buy anything
Just a day after the new MacBook Pro/Macbooks were announced, MacRumors is reporting that new versions of both portables will be released this June. The updates are expected to incorporate Intel’s Montevina Centrino 2 chips, as the company begins to phase out the current Santa Rosa chips that were the bee’s knees just a few months ago.
Predicting new Apple product releases has gotten a whole lot easier since Apple switched to Intel processors, as Intel makes its product roadmaps/timetables readily available. Now that Apple uses the same processors as Dell, HP, Sony and others, the company more or less has to release new products within a couple weeks of each new Intel update. This is not so much because of the need to keep up with the Joneses, but rather because once Intel has decided on the “next big thing”, they slow down production of the older chips, forcing Apple to adopt the newest offerings, or risk not having enough inventory to meet demand. This is widely believed to be the reason that the MacBook got an update yesterday in addition to the Macbook Pro when Apple had updated them only a few months prior.
Playing the technology waiting game for the “next big thing” with Apple is never fun, and you could end up waiting indefinitely to buy anything if you constantly listen to rumors. That being said, for those of us who really wanted to buy a new MacBook Pro yesterday, but would have found it a little “fiscally challenging”, this is great news, and gives us an actual goal and timeframe to save for.
Plus, you know that thing is gonna have Blu-Ray, you can just FEEL it! (kind of like the way you could feel this last one was gonna have it, only STRONGER!).
🙂
Those new Intel chips are supposed to have Wimax embedded in them. I wonder if Apple will allow that in there laptops. Or will apple make you pay some money to be able to activate the wimax chip. Or maybe apple just won’t tell you and that wimax chip will sit and do nothing, and you’ll have to buy an express card or usb to get on wimax….
Can you even imagine how pissed I am right now?
Originally I wanted to buy a MB with a heck of self-installed upgrades.
Yesterday I convinced myself, that the (entry) MBP with self-upgraded RAM is probably a better choice, since I want to keep that thing for 4 years +
I’m talking about €415,- more than my MB of choice would have cost. That’s a whole lot of money for a student.
Before my day was over, I read the rumour on aforementioned site. The Centrino 2 is said to be the “next big thing” ™ and I wanted to buy something future-proof.
DAMMIT!
(sorry for screaming)
What would you guys recommend?
That’s a sincere question.
Well, mangochutney,
As you know no technology is future proof. That being said, a chipset refresh, like the alleged June one, is more major than a processor upgrade, like the one we just had. But odds are, if you are a student, a MacBook Pro bought yesterday will get you through the next 4 years no problem (although I have no idea what you are studying, if you are doing 3D or bioscience stuff, maybe you need more power. If journalism, you can use a 20 year old word processor).
Playing the waiting game, as I said, is a losing battle. Either you need a new computer, or you don’t. If you can wait ’till June, I would, but only as an exercise in self control. Maybe you can go 10 months on your existing gear, and save some money. This is something you should try to learn young, and something I never learned, thus my poorness.
🙂
But seriously, if you think you will be upset when te new ones come out, then wait. But be aware, it could be July or even august before Apple puts out models based on them. These latest processors found in the MBP came out in January, and are only no going into the MacBooks. A June Intel release (if it happens on time) doesn’t guarantee a June MBP.
My 2 Cents.
-The Doc
If you can, wait until Summer/fall to buy a new MacBook Pro. These new MacBook Pros don’t have better specs, but zero on the innovation front. The new MacBook Pro line is really starting to show its age and is due for a major update later this year.
If Apple implemnts half of the features the PC guys are currently working on you’ll definitely have buyer’s remorse in a few months.
Thanks for the answers.
FWIW I’m studying Sinology and Economics in Germany.
I certainly don’t need the graphics power except when I play a game from time to time.
(which I do with my current laptop, a Thinkpad R52)
I think that waiting just to get the newest tech, is as you said a loosing game.
Also, I believe that the current MBP will get me through those four years, but buyers remorse is something really awful.
I wanted to buy the MB when it got bumped to SR in Sept. ’07, but I figured, that I could wait until after Macworld.
Macworld has come and gone, and as I have the money and the time to port all my data and media to the Mac in my semester holidays, after all my exams have been written, I could do the switch.
The MBP 15″ has some small but important advantages over the MB of which I think that they will come in handy in daily use:
[list]
[*] higher resolution screen
[*] bigger screen (duh!)
[*] real graphics card
[*] standard DVI-port
[/list]
and I like the metal enclosure better 🙂
I mean, some people are still productively using their 12″ Powerbooks and ye olde iBook G3, so a powerhouse that the current MBP is, should provide a pleasant computing experience till I finish my studies, shouldn’t it?
And since I’m already burdening you with my tech-buying-woes here’s what I wnat to buy:
[list]
[*] ACPP for the MBP
[*] 15″ MBP 2.4GHz Penryn based with 250GB HD (BTO)
[*] self-applied 4GB RAM upgrade
[*] MacPower or Onnto 3.5″ HD enclosure with FW800/FW400/USB2.0
[*] Samsung HD753LJF1 750GB HD with §”MB cache to put into that enclosure (for Timemachine backups)
[*] mStand for the MBP (your review was a godsend!)
[*] Logitech Wave keyboard or wired Apple keyboard (form or function?)
[*] matching Tucano SecondSkin Elements
[/list]
That should do it.
(I feel like such a n00b, I hope I don’t annoy you guys.)
Meh, just wait for Nehalem in early 2009. THAT’ll be future proof. Forget Core, Nehalem architecture is the next best thing: no more FSB, QuickPath, 3x memory speed boost, nativa quad-core, integrated GPU… the list is endless.
The switch from Santa Rosa (current Core 2 Duos) to Nehalem will be even grater than the jump form Netburst (Pentium 4s) to Santa Rosa.
Exactly, don’t buy.
Lease.
My 2001 ‘Digital Audio’ G4 Power Mac is starting to show its age, despite the upgrades, and my PCs despite being much newer, are even further gone. So I’m looking at getting a student loan to get a MacBook. As much as I’d love the Pro, it’s too expensive.
How on earth is a student supposed to lease? Or are Australian students poorer than other students? I get enough for rent and food, and maybe I can scratch enough together for electricity phone and internet. Leasing isn’t an option.