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I'm also interested in becoming a 'first time mac buyer'. As such, I have some questions: - Do these offer a significant enough improvement over the last gener

by DanI-S 16y ago

I'm also interested in becoming a 'first time mac buyer'. As such, I have some questions: - Do these offer a significant enough improvement over the last generation to justify not buying a refurbed older model? - What's the real conceptual difference between the three models? I know it's not just screen size - how do they differ in intended use case? - I want a laptop I can lug around everywhere and curl up on the sofa with as well as sit at a desk. Is the 17" too big for that?

jseliger 16y ago
- Do these offer a significant enough improvement over the last generation to justify not buying a refurbed older model? Depends on what you do: if you do anything that's heavily CPU-bound, the answer is "yes." If you don't, the answer is "no." If you want to see all three, go to an Apple store. If it were me, I'd probably want a 13" with an aftermarket SSD and an external monitor at home.
Maro 16y ago
No, just get an older model off ebay.
- rosser 16y ago
  Or Apple refurb. That's what I did, and it saved me nearly 20% off retail.
  - wiredfool 16y ago
    I got a refurb 13" 2 weeks ago, probably as they were clearing out stock. It's a really nice machine, solid in all the ways it should be. And it was only $1k.
larrywright 16y ago
My US$.02: - Unless you need the higher processor speed or the Thunderbolt port, previous gen refurbished should be quite a deal. - The 15" high res (1920x1080) is the sweet spot for portability and desktop use. I have a 17" now, and it's really just too big. When I bought mine though (late 2007), the 15" didn't have a high res display. If I were buying one now, it would be the 15" 1080p or the 13" Air (ultraportable).
- rosser 16y ago
  Where are you seeing 1080p on the 15"? I have the last-gen 15" with the anti-glare upgrade, but was disappointed only to be able to get 1680x1050, so I was pretty excited at the prospect of that much higher a resolution. Looking at the site, though, the upgrade is still just 1680x1050. I think I'll just continue to hold out hope that the rumored refresh of the Air line, offering Sandy Bridge chips, comes in June. That said, I agree; if you don't specifically need quad-core or Thunderbolt (which does look pretty cool), the previous generation is very solid, and I'm quite happy with mine.
  - daviding 16y ago
    Really interested in your feedback of the 1440 vs the 1680 on the 15" screen. I spend lots of time in iTerm/TextMate doing web dev. My current MBP 1440 is ok for me, but thinking I should go higher this time. Will the fonts be too small? (hey, I'm not that old but concerned I'll be 'leaning in' to a screen where everything is too tiny).
    - rosser 16y ago
      Personally, I don't think they're too small. I moved to this machine from a ThinkPad x61 tablet (12.1", 1400x1050 -- just shy of 150 ppi, as opposed to 128-and-change on the MBP), so it's actually a step down in pixel pitch for me. FWIW, I tend to live in the terminal, too. (That said, part of the reason for the upgrade was that I was starting to notice some "leaning in", myself...) No direct experience with the 1440x900 screen, so I can't offer any sort of meaningful comparison, but you'd have to make a very compelling case (say, sub three pounds) for me to consider a screen with anything under a vertical kilopixel. (And even then, I'm holding onto a sliver of hope that the Air refresh will bring a higher-res display along with whatever other goodies...) EDIT: sloppy proofreading.
  - larrywright 16y ago
    Good catch, I swore I saw that they offered 1080p on the 15" but Apples site says otherwise. That said, I have the 17" with 1680x1050, and it's plenty of pixels on a laptop.
danielrhodes 16y ago
Here are where I see the use cases for the different sizes of MB Pros: 13": you do work on the laptop, but you also do a fair amount of travelling. In this particular case, the MB Air is also quite good. 15": you do quite a bit of work on the laptop, including connecting it to an external monitor, but would still like the laptop screen as a second monitor. This is definitely the best all around option, especially if you do some travelling/commuting but not all the time. 17": you need the extra screen real estate for something like video editing/graphics editing while on the move. Other than that, it's a bit bigger and heavier than most people find comfortable.

by DanI-S 16y ago

jseliger 16y ago

- Do these offer a significant enough improvement over the last generation to justify not buying a refurbed older model? Depends on what you do: if you do anything that's heavily CPU-bound, the answer is "yes." If you don't, the answer is "no." If you want to see all three, go to an Apple store. If it were me, I'd probably want a 13" with an aftermarket SSD and an external monitor at home.

Maro 16y ago

No, just get an older model off ebay.

rosser 16y ago
Or Apple refurb. That's what I did, and it saved me nearly 20% off retail.
- wiredfool 16y ago
  I got a refurb 13" 2 weeks ago, probably as they were clearing out stock. It's a really nice machine, solid in all the ways it should be. And it was only $1k.

larrywright 16y ago

My US$.02: - Unless you need the higher processor speed or the Thunderbolt port, previous gen refurbished should be quite a deal. - The 15" high res (1920x1080) is the sweet spot for portability and desktop use. I have a 17" now, and it's really just too big. When I bought mine though (late 2007), the 15" didn't have a high res display. If I were buying one now, it would be the 15" 1080p or the 13" Air (ultraportable).

rosser 16y ago
Where are you seeing 1080p on the 15"? I have the last-gen 15" with the anti-glare upgrade, but was disappointed only to be able to get 1680x1050, so I was pretty excited at the prospect of that much higher a resolution. Looking at the site, though, the upgrade is still just 1680x1050. I think I'll just continue to hold out hope that the rumored refresh of the Air line, offering Sandy Bridge chips, comes in June. That said, I agree; if you don't specifically need quad-core or Thunderbolt (which does look pretty cool), the previous generation is very solid, and I'm quite happy with mine.
- daviding 16y ago
  Really interested in your feedback of the 1440 vs the 1680 on the 15" screen. I spend lots of time in iTerm/TextMate doing web dev. My current MBP 1440 is ok for me, but thinking I should go higher this time. Will the fonts be too small? (hey, I'm not that old but concerned I'll be 'leaning in' to a screen where everything is too tiny).
  - rosser 16y ago
    Personally, I don't think they're too small. I moved to this machine from a ThinkPad x61 tablet (12.1", 1400x1050 -- just shy of 150 ppi, as opposed to 128-and-change on the MBP), so it's actually a step down in pixel pitch for me. FWIW, I tend to live in the terminal, too. (That said, part of the reason for the upgrade was that I was starting to notice some "leaning in", myself...) No direct experience with the 1440x900 screen, so I can't offer any sort of meaningful comparison, but you'd have to make a very compelling case (say, sub three pounds) for me to consider a screen with anything under a vertical kilopixel. (And even then, I'm holding onto a sliver of hope that the Air refresh will bring a higher-res display along with whatever other goodies...) EDIT: sloppy proofreading.
- larrywright 16y ago
  Good catch, I swore I saw that they offered 1080p on the 15" but Apples site says otherwise. That said, I have the 17" with 1680x1050, and it's plenty of pixels on a laptop.

danielrhodes 16y ago

Here are where I see the use cases for the different sizes of MB Pros: 13": you do work on the laptop, but you also do a fair amount of travelling. In this particular case, the MB Air is also quite good. 15": you do quite a bit of work on the laptop, including connecting it to an external monitor, but would still like the laptop screen as a second monitor. This is definitely the best all around option, especially if you do some travelling/commuting but not all the time. 17": you need the extra screen real estate for something like video editing/graphics editing while on the move. Other than that, it's a bit bigger and heavier than most people find comfortable.