Wednesday, May 26, 2010

NOT Upgrading my MacBook

As you know by now, Apple has released a new line of MacBook Pros (or is it MacBooks Pro?).

I'm not upgrading. Here's why:

  • I want the smallest form factor (13.3")
  • The 13" MBP still has a Core 2 Duo process
  • That is all


Why do I care so much? Well, the thing is that I do intensive data processing, and the Nehalem-based Core i5 (and i3 and i7) is just that much faster. It really does make a difference.

The reason Apple is giving is, well, reasonable. The Core i5 basically doesn't fit, physically or power-wise or heat-wise. Intel is in some kind of dispute with NVidia (and others) about making a proprietary northbridge or some such dispute. Apple has publicly said that, for most users, the much faster video will show a more significant speed improvement.

My current first-gen MB has a Core Duo, which is a) not x86-64, and b) getting slow. I think I'll wait, though, another few months, before I upgrade. If you are reading this, you know I now have a sometimes-zippy little Asus Eee netbook. I think that's sufficient computing options for on-the-go. If I didn't have money constraints...