2010 MacBook Pro with Core i3 - When?
Discussion
Got a bit of spare cash not doing anything and I'd have had my current MacBook for a year come March, so I'm starting to think about getting a new one.
This time I'll be going for the Pro rather than the White MacBook as the alluminium finish is so much nicer.
Does anyone here know when Apple are likely to be doing the next round of updates to the MacBook Pro? I've heard rumors that they should get the forthcoming intel i3 CPU. I'd rather wait for one of those than buy the current Core 2 Duo model which would hardly be a upgrade from what I have.
Thanks
This time I'll be going for the Pro rather than the White MacBook as the alluminium finish is so much nicer.
Does anyone here know when Apple are likely to be doing the next round of updates to the MacBook Pro? I've heard rumors that they should get the forthcoming intel i3 CPU. I'd rather wait for one of those than buy the current Core 2 Duo model which would hardly be a upgrade from what I have.
Thanks
The current model will take 8 GB of RAM. Bung in an 160 GB Intel G2 X25 SSD, and it'll be a phenomenally fast laptop.
I've got a 13" model with this exact configuration (the RAM and hard drive cost more than the laptop...) and it's as quick as my 8-core Xeon Mac Pro on most tasks. The only thing the Mac Pro wipes the floor with the MBP with is if I need to run more than 2 VMware virtual machines - the extra CPU cores can be dedicated to each VM and that makes a big difference.
Seriously - I run some pretty demanding financial analytics software and the current Core 2 Duo CPUs, when padded with loads of RAM and a stupidly quick SSD, are more than adequate for me. You'd have to be doing something pretty awesome to need a lot more CPU horsepower.
Alternatively, if you already have a Core 2 Duo MBP of some flavour, and the new ones aren't enough of a step up (even though the ability to use 8 GB of RAM is a big deal in Snow Leopard - earlier MBPs were limited to 4 GB, and then 6 GB IIRC), then just buy an Intel SSD and sling it in your current machine - it'll make a massive difference and you can take it onwards to the next MBP when the new CPUs are introduced.
For most of what I do, memory and I/O are the limiting factors, not CPU performance. If you're doing a lot of video encoding etc. then fair enough, but few jobs suited to laptops are CPU-bound these days...
I've got a 13" model with this exact configuration (the RAM and hard drive cost more than the laptop...) and it's as quick as my 8-core Xeon Mac Pro on most tasks. The only thing the Mac Pro wipes the floor with the MBP with is if I need to run more than 2 VMware virtual machines - the extra CPU cores can be dedicated to each VM and that makes a big difference.
Seriously - I run some pretty demanding financial analytics software and the current Core 2 Duo CPUs, when padded with loads of RAM and a stupidly quick SSD, are more than adequate for me. You'd have to be doing something pretty awesome to need a lot more CPU horsepower.
Alternatively, if you already have a Core 2 Duo MBP of some flavour, and the new ones aren't enough of a step up (even though the ability to use 8 GB of RAM is a big deal in Snow Leopard - earlier MBPs were limited to 4 GB, and then 6 GB IIRC), then just buy an Intel SSD and sling it in your current machine - it'll make a massive difference and you can take it onwards to the next MBP when the new CPUs are introduced.
For most of what I do, memory and I/O are the limiting factors, not CPU performance. If you're doing a lot of video encoding etc. then fair enough, but few jobs suited to laptops are CPU-bound these days...
S6PNJ said:
Cyberface, I know you are an avid supporter of the Intel SSD's (and I've read many of your threads on them) but who do you use for a supplier?
After being stitched up by loads of suppliers who claimed they had stock when they didn't...CCL Online - brilliant customer service and they had the drive I needed (G2 160 GB).
They're not cheap but if you want your MBP to perform like a desktop workstation, they work.
Sorry to hijack the thread slightly, but if I wanted to do a quick trial, would I see much of a speed difference using a CF card in a 2.5" IDE adaptor? Clearly the speeds are no where near comparable with an Intel X25, but would they be faster than a PATA IDE by any margin? I don't have a Mac, just a 'doze laptop.
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