Smartest decision regarding upgrading my macbook?

[lyons238]

i want to upgrade within a year. but im wondering what you guys think the smartest choice for me would be. right now im using a white unibody macbook 2.26ghz c2d, 4gb of ram, 500gb 7200rpm hd. it works pretty good with reason but i think i need some more processing power. i plan on buying the 15" macbook pro. im in college so a laptop is really my only choice at the moment. also i will be upgrading to 8gb of ram and a 750gb 7200rpm hd no matter what i get...

so basically im wondering...

when should i get a new macbook? i could get one by next christmas but then the new ones would probably be coming out a few months later, right?

would 2.0ghz i7 quad core be enough processing power to keep me from upgrading for a while or should i go higher?

is the high res screen worth it? like would it be better for my daw. im not sure if the high res would make everything smaller but more clear? reason already has tiny writing so...

[Prolific___]

my opinion, if you're not on logic, get a PC. You can get one with equal or greater specs for half the cost, and you could spend the extra cash on hardware, VSTs (but not for reason), etc.

[ddia]

if your using reason alone, a core 2 duo and a quad core is going to have little difference. more RAM might load the files a bit quicker, but 4gb is still quite a lot, again, might not change much

reason can get pretty cluttered and slow, try bouncing your tracks down into another DAW if you want to make your projects more lightweight

[Dub_freak]

SSD is the only reasonable option, you limited yourself in terms of upgrading by buying a laptop imo.

[lyons238]

my opinion, if you're not on logic, get a PC. You can get one with equal or greater specs for half the cost, and you could spend the extra cash on hardware, VSTs (but not for reason), etc.

well i planned on getting logic in the future possibly. and i agree it would be nice to get the same specs for much cheaper but i love the build quality of macs and i love osx. i hate windows unfortunately.

if your using reason alone, a core 2 duo and a quad core is going to have little difference. more RAM might load the files a bit quicker, but 4gb is still quite a lot, again, might not change much

reason can get pretty cluttered and slow, try bouncing your tracks down into another DAW if you want to make your projects more lightweight

well ill be using record too. doesnt record have multi core technology or whatever? so in that case the quad core would help?

SSD is the only reasonable option, you limited yourself in terms of upgrading by buying a laptop imo.

when i said upgrade my macbook, i meant a whole new macbook pro, not upgrading my current.

[Prolific___]

well i planned on getting logic in the future possibly. and i agree it would be nice to get the same specs for much cheaper but i love the build quality of macs and i love osx. i hate windows unfortunately.

Run a hackintosh. Best of both worlds

[lyons238]

well i planned on getting logic in the future possibly. and i agree it would be nice to get the same specs for much cheaper but i love the build quality of macs and i love osx. i hate windows unfortunately.

Run a hackintosh. Best of both worlds

from what iv read though its much easier to make hackintosh desktops. plus like i said i really like the build quality of macbooks so its worth it to me when im running osx natively anyway

[jrisreal]

im completely happy with my toshiba satellite a665 for production (other than the accelerometer problem causing the audio to glitch when the computer is moved). PC's cost much less and you can do more with them. but of course you can always run windows on your mac if you need to.

hackintoshs are a nightmare to set up (have yet to get one working with wifi at all) so trying to run a hackintosh may not be a good idea. just do whatever you can afford

[lyons238]

im completely happy with my toshiba satellite a665 for production (other than the accelerometer problem causing the audio to glitch when the computer is moved). PC's cost much less and you can do more with them. but of course you can always run windows on your mac if you need to.

hackintoshs are a nightmare to set up (have yet to get one working with wifi at all) so trying to run a hackintosh may not be a good idea. just do whatever you can afford

im not planning on doing a hackintosh. i would only do that if i were buying a new desktop. but as far as laptops really im only interested in the macbook pro. i really like the simplicity and solid build quality. plus i cant stand every trackpad besides apples. im just concerned about which model would be best and when i should buy it (earliest i will be able to buy it is end of summer). but im not sure if i should wait for the next mbp's to come out

[jrisreal]

im completely happy with my toshiba satellite a665 for production (other than the accelerometer problem causing the audio to glitch when the computer is moved). PC's cost much less and you can do more with them. but of course you can always run windows on your mac if you need to.

hackintoshs are a nightmare to set up (have yet to get one working with wifi at all) so trying to run a hackintosh may not be a good idea. just do whatever you can afford

im not planning on doing a hackintosh. i would only do that if i were buying a new desktop. but as far as laptops really im only interested in the macbook pro. i really like the simplicity and solid build quality. plus i cant stand every trackpad besides apples. im just concerned about which model would be best and when i should buy it (earliest i will be able to buy it is end of summer). but im not sure if i should wait for the next mbp's to come out

if you like macs, thats completely fine with anybody. just saying, get what you can afford

[lyons238]

im completely happy with my toshiba satellite a665 for production (other than the accelerometer problem causing the audio to glitch when the computer is moved). PC's cost much less and you can do more with them. but of course you can always run windows on your mac if you need to.

hackintoshs are a nightmare to set up (have yet to get one working with wifi at all) so trying to run a hackintosh may not be a good idea. just do whatever you can afford

im not planning on doing a hackintosh. i would only do that if i were buying a new desktop. but as far as laptops really im only interested in the macbook pro. i really like the simplicity and solid build quality. plus i cant stand every trackpad besides apples. im just concerned about which model would be best and when i should buy it (earliest i will be able to buy it is end of summer). but im not sure if i should wait for the next mbp's to come out

if you like macs, thats completely fine with anybody. just saying, get what you can afford

no i hear ya man. believe me i dont like forking out the extra dough for no raise in specs. but in the end im always happy i do. i watch way too much porn for a windows computer

[Ldizzy]

already posted that one but that might be my next tweak computerwise...

the cat kept his harddrive as well.. so he has best of both worlds..

[lyons238]

already posted that one but that might be my next tweak computerwise...

the cat kept his harddrive as well.. so he has best of both worlds..

yeah i already knew how to do this. but i like my cd drive and honestly i dont mind using just a normal 7200rpm hd until ssd's get way cheaper. or i might get the seagate hybrid drive. but my questions have nothing to do with hard drives lol...

[bigfootspartan]

I'm in the market for a new computer too. I'm not sure on Reasons CPU drain, but I can run Logic pretty well on my 2007 Macbook Pro 2.2 gHz Core 2 Duo. I run into trouble when I start layering atmospheres and stuff.

You mentioned you're a student. The promotion of "buy a Mac get a free iPod" is typically at the end of May. Even if you don't need an iPod, you can sell it to get $200 back on your purchase. I think that goes until September if I'm not mistaken.

If you can wait until Christmas, and you don't need the $200 or iPod, I would recommend that. I've always recommended waiting until the last possible minute to upgrade. Rumors are that the new Ivy Bridge processors will be out by then. I haven't heard any benchmarks, but the MacRumors forums seem to think that they'll be an even bigger jump in performance than the i7 to Sandy Bridge i7.

In my opinion it all depends on how urgently you need the machine. Also, when you do upgrade, remember that it's always way cheaper to simply grab the extra RAM from an online computer store. To get Apple's 8 GB of RAM on the iMac currently costs an upgrade of $220, but to order the same speed RAM online from Crucial you'll pay around $100... if you want 16 GB you can pay $200.

[bigfootspartan]

Oh yeah, check your campus store for Logic Studio. The online discount is pretty brutal, not even worth it if you can't upgrade IMO. But in my campus store I picked it up for $190. When I checked a campus 3 hours away, they were selling it for the same as the Apple store ($549 I think). So check around, you can pick up Logic for pretty cheap if you're lucky.

[lyons238]

I'm in the market for a new computer too. I'm not sure on Reasons CPU drain, but I can run Logic pretty well on my 2007 Macbook Pro 2.2 gHz Core 2 Duo. I run into trouble when I start layering atmospheres and stuff.

You mentioned you're a student. The promotion of "buy a Mac get a free iPod" is typically at the end of May. Even if you don't need an iPod, you can sell it to get $200 back on your purchase. I think that goes until September if I'm not mistaken.

If you can wait until Christmas, and you don't need the $200 or iPod, I would recommend that. I've always recommended waiting until the last possible minute to upgrade. Rumors are that the new Ivy Bridge processors will be out by then. I haven't heard any benchmarks, but the MacRumors forums seem to think that they'll be an even bigger jump in performance than the i7 to Sandy Bridge i7.

In my opinion it all depends on how urgently you need the machine. Also, when you do upgrade, remember that it's always way cheaper to simply grab the extra RAM from an online computer store. To get Apple's 8 GB of RAM on the iMac currently costs an upgrade of $220, but to order the same speed RAM online from Crucial you'll pay around $100... if you want 16 GB you can pay $200.

well apparently reason is one of the most cpu efficient daws. especially because no plug ins...

but will the ivy bridge processors be put right into the mbps when they come out or will they wait till the next mbp refresh? and yeah i would never buy ram or hd from apple i always replace my own in about 10 mins and $200 less.

i can definately wait until xmas easily. my macbook runs like a dream. i would just like to sell it while i can get good money for it and get something a bit more my speed.

i rushed out last year and got the new white macbook because it was all i could afford. but i need a 15" pro with a bit more juice in er. but i still love my lil macbook. runs great.

thanks for the reply btw

edit: yeah i will try to get logic from my bookstore. but i wont get getting that for another year or two. my next step is record. i dont want to get another daw until i get my head around production a bit better. right now reason + record will be more than enough for me.

[bigfootspartan]

I'd recommend waiting then. All depends if you can resist though

As far as I gather, people are pretty sure that Apple would wait until the Ivy Bridge comes out before doing another MBP refresh. I'm not super knowledgable at tech stuff, but I hear that processors at the moment can't really clock much faster due to heat issues. So the main changes have to be architecture changes, like Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, or adding more cores. I can't see Apple making a refresh of MBP from a Sandy Bridge 2.0 i7 to 2.2 i7 or whatever, especially if it looks like Ivy Bridge is right around the corner. Although I wouldn't put it past them, they are sneaky bastards.

For example, the iMac refresh is way overdue. But rumor has it that they aren't being released for another few weeks, since Intel has had trouble with mass producing the chips. Even though it's not within a normal period, there's no way Apple would release the iMac's now without Sandy Bridge, given that Sandy Bridge has been here for PC's for a while now. I figure it'll be the same with Ivy Bridge. End of the year or beginning of next year Ivy Bridge will roll around to make my iMac out of date haha.

[lyons238]

I'd recommend waiting then. All depends if you can resist though

As far as I gather, people are pretty sure that Apple would wait until the Ivy Bridge comes out before doing another MBP refresh. I'm not super knowledgable at tech stuff, but I hear that processors at the moment can't really clock much faster due to heat issues. So the main changes have to be architecture changes, like Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, or adding more cores. I can't see Apple making a refresh of MBP from a Sandy Bridge 2.0 i7 to 2.2 i7 or whatever, especially if it looks like Ivy Bridge is right around the corner. Although I wouldn't put it past them, they are sneaky bastards.

For example, the iMac refresh is way overdue. But rumor has it that they aren't being released for another few weeks, since Intel has had trouble with mass producing the chips. Even though it's not within a normal period, there's no way Apple would release the iMac's now without Sandy Bridge, given that Sandy Bridge has been here for PC's for a while now. I figure it'll be the same with Ivy Bridge. End of the year or beginning of next year Ivy Bridge will roll around to make my iMac out of date haha.

yeah well i think the ivy bridges are coming out before apple refreshes the macbook pros. so what i meant was, we probably wont see the ivy bridges in any mbp's until the new refresh. i believe the new mbp's just came out in march and usually they do a small refresh yearly, so im guessing beginning of march will be the next update. shall i wait till then?

oh and yeah were getting too clock speed happy and trying to cram tons of power into a tiny space without thinking of proper cooling. hopefully the ivy bridges will be designed a little better with that in mind. i dont like running my cpus hot whether it be my ps3 or laptop whatever...i remember when i used to put the ac on in my room just to keep my computer cool, meanwhile i was making tunes and gaming with a blanket wrapped all around me

[bigfootspartan]

Oh man. If I sit on the couch with my Macbook on my lap for too long I can start to feel the heat on my legs, even through my legs and long johns.

Apple won't change the processors until a new refresh. They always make a huge deal out of a refresh. Typically they'll wait until the new technology comes around, then release computers with almost the newest technology. Then there won't be any updates until the next refresh. I can only think of one exception to this, but I forget when it occurred.

I'd say in about 9 months Ivy Bridge will probably be out and you'll have some top notch processing power. Plus, by then there'll actually be peripherals for your fancy thunderbolt port!

[lyons238]

Oh man. If I sit on the couch with my Macbook on my lap for too long I can start to feel the heat on my legs, even through my legs and long johns.

Apple won't change the processors until a new refresh. They always make a huge deal out of a refresh. Typically they'll wait until the new technology comes around, then release computers with almost the newest technology. Then there won't be any updates until the next refresh. I can only think of one exception to this, but I forget when it occurred.

I'd say in about 9 months Ivy Bridge will probably be out and you'll have some top notch processing power. Plus, by then there'll actually be peripherals for your fancy thunderbolt port!

yeah thunderbolt is pretty cool. bout damn time something like that came out on macbooks. only 2 usb ports and no firewire hasent been cutting it...the fuck was apple thinking lol.

and yeah i guess ill try to hang onto this macbook for about another 10 months until hopefully the new ivy bridge mbp's come out. gonna be tough to hold out though.