View Full Version : Buy MBP now or are major chip changes soon?
Any new chips from Intel that I should be aware of coming in the next say 6 months? I'd hate to jump in the week before they announce a new 'x' times faster and cooler chip out in the new year.
I'm looking at the 13" refurb 2.26. According to the Mac Buying Guide, it's in mid-product cycle so I'm pretty safe. I also suspect major chip changes would probably be implemented into the higher model 15" and 17" MBPs.
I'd expect the 17" to see some love before the 15 or 13. The 15" has a faster max. CPU than the 17", so it'll probably see an upgrade before the rest of them. I think the 13" is probably pretty safe for a while.
I'd expect the 17" to see some love before the 15 or 13. The 15" has a faster max. CPU than the 17"
:confused: They both go up to 3.06GHz BTO. If you can wait until January I would. You never know what Apple might spring on us.
Wikipedia (I know) is now saying that Arrandale is coming in Q4 '09 (up from Q1 '10?) so we could certainly see a whole new line around the MacBook Air's second birthday (and the 17" unibody MBP's first). But, as always, by it when you need it - there's always something a few months away.
Dorian Gray
2009-09-13, 10:03
Any new chips from Intel that I should be aware of coming in the next say 6 months? I'd hate to jump in the week before they announce a new 'x' times faster and cooler chip out in the new year.
I'm looking at the 13" refurb 2.26. According to the Mac Buying Guide, it's in mid-product cycle so I'm pretty safe. I also suspect major chip changes would probably be implemented into the higher model 15" and 17" MBPs.
I bought a 13-inch MacBook Pro a few weeks ago, but I'd recommend you don't unless you really can't wait a few months. You mention six months, and Apple's notebooks will almost certainly have Nehalem chips (specifically Arrandale) by then. Likely sooner.
Arrandale MacBook Pros may not be a massive upgrade from today's Core 2 Duo (Penryn) MBPs, especially if Apple use Arrandale's integrated graphics rather than a discrete GPU on the 13-inch model. (I don't know enough about Arrandale's GPU to know if that's likely.) On the other hand they might be brilliant. And at the very least performance-sensitive applications (like video encoders) will soon be optimised for Nehalem rather than Penyrn, so anything you buy in a few months will be better equipped for the future than today's MacBook Pro.
A MBP is not an absolute necessity as I have my trusty iMac. But certainly many times when I would love to write or surf while on the couch or in bed.
I've got this $75 off coupon from Apple which I've had the expiry date extended twice. It's coming up to expiry again at the end of this month.
Also, I don't know if new Nehalem chips based MBP's would be in my budget. I'd probably be looking at refurbs again, which would mean 9-12 months out.
When are we going to get a quad-core laptop with hyper threading? I want menu meters to track 8 "cores"!
Not for a while. The TDP of the Quad notebook chips is going to go up with the Nehalem chips, so I don't see Apple using them unless there is a major leap forward in battery technology.
Not for a while. The TDP of the Quad notebook chips is going to go up with the Nehalem chips, so I don't see Apple using them unless there is a major leap forward in battery technology.
True. We should see Clarksfield in iMacs but it'll be Arrandale in MBs. Arrandale has two cores, but four threads.
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