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In The Hunt For A New MacBook Pro? - Is Now A Sensible Time To Jump?

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

by Charles W. Moore

The short answer to my titular query is “no.” Here’s the thing; through the late ‘90s and the entire decade of the oughts, Apple fairly predictably would make major professional laptop product announcements at MacWorld Expo in January (San Francisco), March (Tokyo), or June (the Worldwide Developers Conference), deviating only occasionally such as with the unveiling of the 15 inch aluminum PowerBook G4 in September, 2000, at MacWorld Expo Paris.

In most years, especially when there had been no major announcements at Expo, we would also have pro notebook speed bumps, updates, and feature refreshments in April or May, and/or in October or November. Apple stuck to this pattern consistently enough that one could generally factor it into personal system upgrade roadmaps and strategies.

However, with Apple having bailed out of MacWorld Expo and trade shows in general as venues for major product introductions, preferring to stage its own “special events” where it has complete creative and administrative control, that predictability has gone out the window to a considerable degree.

Of course, there is still a common sense element of chronological inevitability, that becomes a stronger factor the longer it’s been since the most recent new product announcements, which in the case of the MacBook Pro was in June, 2009. Consequently, the current specification of the entire line is getting very long in the tooth by computer standards, and there is also the reality that while PC notebook manufacturers have been offering models powered by Intel’s new generation Core “i” processors for several months now, Apple is still topping its notebook line with yesterday’s news Core 2 Duo CPU-based machines. Logic dictates this state of affairs has to be drawing to a close, and that a major refresh of Apple’s aluminum unibody machines must be imminent. While we’re at it, one of Apple’s purported reasons for switching to Intel processors was so its customers wouldn’t have to wait for the latest and greatest silicon developments, so what’s the Core “i” delay on the Mac about? It’s probably safe to speculate that it has something to do with graphics processor chipset compatibility dispute between Intel and NVIDIA, but that’s another topic Insert link name here

Therefore, if you don’t absolutely need a new MacBook Pro right now, it’s probably in your best interest to wait and see what transpires over the next few months until Apple tips its hand. That said, if you really can’t wait — say your present laptop has failed, or is no longer up to tasks that you require of it, has been lost or stolen, or you are a first time buyer, in my opinion there is never really a “wrong” time to make an Apple laptop purchase.

Determining when to upgrade your system is always a roll of the dice. Most often, the next generation of whatever machine you’re planning to buy will be faster, have an upgraded feature set, and sometimes be cheaper as well than what’s available right now. However, as with my own most recent system hardware upgrade, there can be both pros and cons.

For example, I bought the aluminum unibody MacBook I’m composing this column on in March, 2009, roughly 3 months before Apple replaced this model with the new then, and still current, 13 inch MacBook Pro. Did I have buyers remorse? Not really. I would dearly love to have the FireWire support that was restored to the 13 inch aluminum unibody with the June, 2009 upgrade, but this late 2008 introduced model is one of the best computers I’ve ever owned, has been reliable as the proverbial anvil for nearly a year now, and has plenty of power and performance for my needs. Had I waited for the 13” MacBook Pro update last June, I would also not have a swappable battery, which I much prefer to the later model’s built-in one, and a single digital audio I/O port rather than the discrete in and out ports on my MacBook, an arrangement I also like better.

Another case in point is the Lombard PowerBook purchased by one of my progeny in January, 2000, less than two months before the Lombard was replaced by the substantially superior Pismo PowerBook G3. We knew that the Pismo was coming soon, but unfortunately my offspring’s Wall Street PowerBook had been stolen during a bus trip home for Christmas, so it was impractical to wait, and that particular Lombard served reliably through four successive owners before I lost track of it in the mid-’90s. Apple laptops are so good in general, that being “stuck” with a just-superseded model is usually no serious hardship, although it may be frustrating to folks who place a high premium on having the latest and greatest, even though that status rarely last long, whenever you buy. If buying now is practically unavoidable, just forge ahead and be happy.

Core “i” Chips Almost Certainly Coming Soon

I’m not anticipating that Apple will radically overhaul the basic aluminum unibody designs, which at 19 months are still youngish by recent Apple product cycle standards, but it seems reasonable -- even urgent -- that Apple update the MacBook Pro’s CPU spec. to Core “i” series silicon, which should provide a substantial speed bump as well as better energy efficiency, and those improvements should be worth waiting for if you can.

Newer Isn’t Always Better

Here’s another example of why rushing out to buy the latest innovation isn’t always in one’s best interest. Nine years and a bit ago, when Steve Jobs unveiled the Titanium PowerBook at MacWorld Expo San Francisco, replacing the G3 Series Pismo as Apple’s top dog laptop model, while the TiBook’s pioneering metal enclosure and slim form factor were appealing (albeit fragile and paint chip prone until Apple clued in that anodized aluminum was the way to go with metal-skinned laptops), in hindsight, the Pismo was a much better computer overall -- more rugged and reliable, more connectable, more versatile, more upgradable, and even the TiBook’s original venture into widescreen display formatting was a bit oversold, having the same screen resolution and dot pitch as the Pismo’s 4:3 aspect ratio display, with just a bit of real estate added at the sides (later generations got a higher-resolution display). The TiBook had no removable device expansion bay and only one FireWire Port, and as it turned out the Pismo could quite easily be upgraded to G4 power, making it equivalent to the early generation TiBooks in power as well, and the stock G3 processors (which had the same clock speeds as the first generation G4 Tis) were no slouch either unless one was heavily into using G4 Altivec optimized software.

The point is that if Apple is making a machine that appeals to you right now, you won’t always gain by waiting for the next revision or model upgrade. Aside from the points I cited above, had I held off for the 13” MacBook Pro revision, I would have delayed my enjoyment of the advantages of the great service I’ve been getting from my MacBook by three/four months or more if I waited for the new models to hit the Apple Certified refurbished channel, which is where I prefer to buy.

However, in the current instance, with the Core “i” processor transition in the offing, I’ll reiterate that unless one is really desperate for a new notebook, it’s probably the wisest strategy to wait and see this time, perhaps, if necessary picking up a cheap PC netbook to tide one over.

CM