MacBook-new or old?

October 14, 2008 8:10 PM

New MacBook or old MacBook Pro?

After awaiting announcement of new Apples notebooks, thinking that would make the decision to buy easier, I am confronted with another question:

A new MacBook?
Or a previous generation MacBook Pro?

The price is almost the same for either.

Is there a good reason to go for the old Pro other than a larger display?

Thoughts?

posted by nickthetourist to computers & internet (24 comments total)

Firewire. New MacBook doesn't have it. If you need it, or think you might, then the Pro is the way to go.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 8:17 PM on October 14, 2008

Get a refurb Macbook Pro. It'll be the same quality, be the same equipment and have the same warranty as the MBP you linked to, but is cheaper than the other options.

I'm not impressed by the new Macbooks -- Apple seems to be taking more than they're giving. No firewire? No mouse button? No thanks.
posted by eschatfische at 8:19 PM on October 14, 2008

It would help if we knew what you were going to use it for.

I would still go with the Pro, because I can't stand glossy screens (they're terrible for graphic design,) and I'd want the larger screen real estate. I have a 3rd gen 15" MBP, and I can't ever use my friend's MB, the screen is just way too tiny. Go to an Apple store if you can and see how much of a difference the size makes to you, but to me, it's honestly a deal-breaker.
posted by InsanePenguin at 8:20 PM on October 14, 2008

New things are nice, but there's always the Just-Released Apple Products Have Horrible Flaws buzzkill. I personally think the smaller screens are impossible to use if you're actually trying to get stuff done.
posted by soma lkzx at 8:22 PM on October 14, 2008

No firewire? No mouse button? No thanks.

Ah, minimalism. Hopefully with the next release there won't be any actual computer at all.

I would go with eschatfische's recommendation.
posted by turgid dahlia at 8:25 PM on October 14, 2008

note that the previous generation MacBook Pro still has better graphics than the new MacBook. (there was a slide in the presentation. the 9400 is a lot better than Intel GMA, but not as good as the 8600.) plus, the matte screen is still better if you need color accuracy.

if you'd rather the portability, the prev-gen black MacBook is $1299. glossy is kind-of a pain in the ass but you can get an anti-glare film from Power Support.
posted by mrg at 8:37 PM on October 14, 2008

I'm in the same boat. Not too big into games, so I think the only graphically intense stuff I'll do is maybe fool around in Final Cut Studio and work with Adobe CS3/CS4. I think the 13" should do me, specs wise, but I'm not too sure if I'll miss the extra pixels on the mbp or not.
posted by backwards guitar at 8:52 PM on October 14, 2008

I haven't held one yet, but one would assume the new Macbook is a lot sturdier than the old MBP. And a lot lighter.

As for the lack of mouse button, again I haven't used it but in actuality the entire touchpad responds to presses, allegedly eliminating the need for a separate mouse button, so I would think this might actually prove to be superior to the MBP's lame-ass mouse button.

All in all I think the new MB much better value, unless you run apps that need the dedicated nVIDIA graphics card.

Lack of FW is something of an issue (I have a firewire cf-card reader), but a USB cf reader is like $20.
posted by troy at 8:52 PM on October 14, 2008

If you're speaking about the lower-end new MacBook, the $1299 one, then the old MacBook Pro has the advantage of a backlit keyboard, FireWire 800, an ExpressCard slot, larger screen, and better speakers.

Apple refurbished computers are just as good as brand new except you might not get the original box. If you're getting a significant discount, it's worth going refurb.
posted by joshrholloway at 9:02 PM on October 14, 2008

2 points:
The $1599 new MacBook does indeed have a backlit keyboard. (But not the $1299 one. Apple's website isn't clear on this, but my research shows that to be the case.)

Re: glossy screen. I have a white MacBook with a glossy screen. I thought I would hate it, but I love it. It really has caused me no problems whatsoever. Occasionally I have to slightly tilt it or pivot the computer, but not often enough to consider it an issue. It depends on the environment you will be using it in, of course, but to me the glossy screen seems very sharp and contrasty. FWIW
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 9:31 PM on October 14, 2008

I prefer the older Pro model to the new "metal" regular MacBook.

I agree this latest iteration isn't much of a step up, though I think they're fine enough. Just not enough to make me want one. My old MBP will be fine for another year.

You hear that, Apple? I am un-wowed.
posted by rokusan at 9:47 PM on October 14, 2008

And nthing great experiences with that Apple refurb page. Golden treasure.
posted by rokusan at 9:47 PM on October 14, 2008

I own an older MPB and I love it. However, I would not recommend refurb quite as much as others. I have purchased two refurbished aluminum case Mac laptops (I also have a very old Al Powerbook). While both have run like champs, they also both have serious bends in the lower portion of the cases. It's not a functional problem but reselling them might be an issue later on.

I don't think the refurbs are worth the money you save anymore, at least not in models that are likely to experience "repairable" case damage.
posted by chairface at 10:05 PM on October 14, 2008

well, thank you all for your input.
I've decided to go for the MacBook Pro.
as neat as the new features are, they simply that at this point in time.
tried and true, I feel, is the better option.
posted by nickthetourist at 10:09 PM on October 14, 2008

Wait, all of the Macbooks/Pros in the new lineup have glossy screens? Gah.
posted by barnone at 10:15 PM on October 14, 2008

I have the 15" MBP and love it. I run a Cintiq off mine so I need the standard monitor port. The new MB has a smaller screen, newer RAM (more expensive to increase?) and it's video card is only 1/2 as good as the MBP.

I don't know what the cases are like exactly, but I saw an HP tablet with a cast aluminum body fall onto the floor and it smashed like a teacup. I'd be worried that these new machined housings are brittle, whereas my MBP seems dent-able but not smash-able.
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:20 PM on October 14, 2008

I'm not impressed by the new Macbooks -- Apple seems to be taking more than they're giving. No firewire? No mouse button? No thanks.
posted by eschatfische

I agree this latest iteration isn't much of a step up, though I think they're fine enough. Just not enough to make me want one. My old MBP will be fine for another year.

You hear that, Apple? I am un-wowed.
posted by rokusan

I'll be the lone dissenter. I run my macs into the ground before replacing them, so that may color my opinion. The macbooks are a huge upgrade from the previous version. They're basically a macbookpro lite; far closer to the pro than the previous model.

The pro is a lesser upgrade, but I'll agree with kottke on this when today he said:

Apple announced new MacBooks and MacBooks Pro today and as Apple's new releases always seem to do, the new models make the old ones look like a pile of puke. (My year-old MacBook Pro suddenly looks like an antique.)

For me fire wire is the only missing feature that hurts. The missing mouse button sounds like it works great. Not sure if the comment lamenting it's fate was intended to be comedy.

As I said before, I keep my macs for a long time, so I'd be seriously disappointed with using the previous models considering I'd be using it for a while. I know you've made up your mind, but just for the record...

Actually, I'm in the camp of never buying a new apple product before the second version, but it's not enough to keep me with yesterdays if I had to buy one now.
posted by justgary at 11:06 PM on October 14, 2008

Good choice. There's nothing about the new MBPs that excite me, and quite a few things that don't: black/silver combo is straight up ugly, no firewire, no matte option.

They're putting so much hype behind this manufacturing process that no consumer will give two shits about... maybe if they'd come out with the mythical 899 laptop their share price wouldn't have gone DOWN after introducing new products...

disclaimer: mac user since 1992.
posted by tremspeed at 11:10 PM on October 14, 2008

Firewire. New MacBook doesn't have it.
whaaaa? what the hell is going on? firewire rules!

damn, I have six external firewire drives. what am I gonna do?
posted by krautland at 1:22 AM on October 15, 2008

Krautland: the MBP still has a FW800 port, and you can use FW400 in that with an adaptor.
posted by Magnakai at 4:17 AM on October 15, 2008

And, the lowest-end $999 white MacBook still has Firewire.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:25 AM on October 15, 2008

FWIW, the old Macbook Pros have an NVidia graphics chip that is possibly faulty. The chip has been used in Dell and HP laptops for the past year, and they're having to fix them now for free. Apple just came out last Friday to admit that they have the same problem, so be wary. These were on MBPs that were produced up through last month.
posted by nushustu at 8:00 AM on October 15, 2008

oh, I meant that on a larger scale. it's already obvious that firewire is on the way out when you try to buy an external harddrive at best buy's and the likes (I only have usb 1), where usb 2.0 drives outnumber FW400 drives by 10:1, but that apple is actively abandoning the ports means the day I will walk into an office and not be able to connect a drive will come much quicker.

I just bought my latest 1TB drive last week. at least that one takes usb2.0 as well.
posted by krautland at 8:46 AM on October 15, 2008

Yeah, I missed that on the first pass, but they retained the older white plastic MacBook as the odd-looking low end model. They killed the far-more-attractive black plastic one, though.

I don't mind the "missing" click button. Once you start tapping the trackpad to click (as you've been able to do on Macs for about 15 years now) and two-finger scrolling, you never use it anymore anyway. It was just a little sharp edge that I used for worrying blisters.
posted by rokusan at 2:40 PM on October 15, 2008