Any guesses on new Apple laptops?

KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
My daughter wants an Apple laptop for college. She currently is using a Lenovo IdeaPad that is 7-8 years old. The frame is cracked and it is getting pretty rough, but it still works.
I have no problem replacing it; but explained that the longer she use this one, the newer the replacement will be and the farther it will carry her into her (independent) adulthood before she has to replace it.

Another important factor is the schedule for introduction of new model(s) by Apple. This new laptop should be viable for longer if it is a newer design.
To that end, does anyone know if when new laptops are likely to be released? Has Apple made announcements or exhibited any pattern in past releases?
I am totally clueless, so let me know if they just released new ones last month!
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/apple/apple-2016-2017-rumours-rumors-predictions-new-product-launches-iphone-6c-watch-2-ipad-air3-turi-gliimpse-3510027/#toc-5

This article seems fairly accurate. Older (but still pretty good) Macbook air models are likely to get retired. Macbook is thinner, but more expensive, limited usability and not as fast. Possibly Macbook range will be upgraded and expanded this year as well.
Macbook Pros (best of breed, but most expensive - start from $1300) are likely to get update very soon
http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro/
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
My daughter wants an Apple laptop for college. She currently is using a Lenovo IdeaPad that is 7-8 years old. The frame is cracked and it is getting pretty rough, but it still works.
...!
Why not replace it with another Lenovo Idea Pad. She is used to it.
I have a hand me down one and been looking for replacement.

Lenovo has some nice spec like a 2x2 wifi card 80 meg bandwidth on some of their laptops, SSD, etc.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Why not replace it with another Lenovo Idea Pad. She is used to it.
I have a hand me down one and been looking for replacement.
Lenovo has some nice spec like a 2x2 wifi card 80 meg bandwidth on some of their laptops, SSD, etc.
I'm letting her choose what will work best for her. She is saving me enough money in scholarships that the extra cost of Apple over Lenovo is chump change!
 
Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
Another important factor is the schedule for introduction of new model(s) by Apple. This new laptop should be viable for longer if it is a newer design.
This is true for PCs, but not for Macs. It is unlikely that your daughter will run apps that reveal the differences between Intel processors. Displays might get better, but I actually don't like the new 4K-capable laptops. The current Retina display is very good. Apple already uses SOTA PCIe SSDs, so that's unlikely to improve anytime soon. The two key factors to consider are DRAM size and SSD capacity. For someone her age I recommend a 512GB or greater SSD, because they aren't upgradeable, and 16GB of DRAM isn't a bad idea either. Apple supports OS-X releases for MACs, including drivers, for years. I'm typing this on a 2011 iMac, and it still runs like the day I bought it, on the latest OS-X release.

I use a top of the line 15" MacBook Pro for work, and it is awesome, but I wouldn't recommend spending $3K on something a college student will lug around. I'd suggest a 13" MacBook Pro, if it doesn't break your budget. A 13" model with the i5 processor, 16GB of DRAM, and 512GB SSD is only $2K. (Ha!) But I think the 13" Pro is a much better deal than the admittedly thinner MacBook or Air.
 
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TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
I'm letting her choose what will work best for her. She is saving me enough money in scholarships that the extra cost of Apple over Lenovo is chump change!
On Apple's computer store page, at the very bottom you'll find a tab for refurb. Easy was to save a couple hundred, but inventory is constantly changing.

As long as you get her a machine with an i5 or i7 processor, 16 gb RAM, and a solid state hard drive, maybe a video card (rather than the intel built in) a Mac will carry her for years! I still have my old iBook G4 that I'll be trading in this fall. They are paying big bucks for that 12 year old machine because they all still work, but the parts are no longer made!
 
Hi Ho

Hi Ho

Audioholic Samurai
It is likely that the MacBook Pro line will see upgrades in October with a new design and upgraded Intel CPUs. Will your daughter care about those things? I still use a MacBook Pro from 2011 and it shows no signs of aging. It runs better than the day I bought it since I have two SSD drives and maxed out the RAM to 16GB. Oh yeah and it still lasts 8 hours on a charge after 5 years. The crazy thing is that if I really wanted to upgrade I could sell it for $600+ which is crazy for a 5 year old machine. No PC laptop will hold value like that.
 
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KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
This is true for PCs, but not for Macs. It is unlikely that your daughter will run apps that reveal the differences between Intel processors.
I'm not sure that is a good statement about it being true for PC's becoming obsolete.
I used to teach CAD/CAM back when the difference between the latest and fastest and last years fastest was substantial (1988). Each new version of the software brought the previous year's PC hardware to a crawl! By 2002, the advances in hardware had eclipsed the requirements of CAD/CAM software. And you no longer had to have an "uber" machine just to keep up.
Hardware has simply continued to get exponentially faster and software requirements have by and large been left behind. There probably are some exceptions, but other than games, I don't know what they are.
For myself, my last laptop was a 2-3 year old off-lease PC. I no longer spec processing hardware and look instead for a high quality backlit keyboard, a trackpoint (I have a tremor and for me the trackpoint is more precise than a pad and has no concern of accidentally moving the mouse as I press the button), and a good display. I easily pay less than half of what they cost new 2-3 years ago and for my purposes, they are as fast as I could ask for (after I add RAM and swap to SDD). So, for me, it is really all about the quality of the user interface components! Since no fly-by-night companies can make Apple computers and Apple positions itself as a premium quality company they only come with quality interface components. Unfortunately, I will probably never own an Apple myself, because of no trackpoint.

In any case, the 7-8 year old Lenovo (using one of the earlier i5's) cost $450 when I bought it, spent another $250 on RAM and SSD and it is still very fast and capable. She uses it for word processing and the occasional spreadsheet. As a business major, I suspect it would do anything she will ever need. The frame is cracked around the display from where she stepped on it about 5 years ago. I am surprised that never developed into a serious failure!

But my point is that I do not believe any computers (Mac or PC) are now subject to becoming functionally obsolete in a few years as they used to. I believe the durability (and the look/touch/feel) of the hardware is now the deciding factor on how long a laptop is a viable (desirable). Nonetheless, I believe that newer models will likely add desirable features/improvements to extend that life.
 
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BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Last 5 years improvements in PC's CPU were absolutely minimal (about 25% difference performance from oldest to newest, much less in one gen to next) , mostly due to lack of pressure on Intel from AMD.
I have sandy bridge cpu in my main and I have absolutely zero need to upgrade. I also have 2012 early core i7 on mac mini and again - it's fast enough to be running a network video recorder for 6 HD Security cameras including motion detection.
 
Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
I'm not sure that is a good statement about it being true for PC's becoming obsolete.
I used to teach CAD/CAM back when the difference between the latest and fasted and last years fastest was substantial (1988). Each new version of the software brought the previous year's PC hardware to a crawl! By 2002, the advances in hardware had eclipsed the requirements of CAD/CAM software. And you no longer had to have an "uber" machine just to keep up.
Hardware has simply continued to get exponentially faster and software requirements have by and large been left behind. There probably are some exceptions, but other than games, I don't know what they are.
For myself, my last laptop was a 2-3 year old off-lease PC. I no longer spec processing hardware and look instead for a high quality backlit keyboard, a trackpoint (I have a tremor and for me the trackpoint is more precise than a pad and has no concern of accidentally moving the mouse as I press the button), and a good display. I easily pay less than half of what they cost new 2-3 years ago and for my purposes, they are as fast as I could ask for (after I add RAM and swap to SDD). So, for me, it is really all about the quality of the user interface components! Since no fly-by-night companies can make Apple computers and Apple positions itself as a premium quality company they only come with quality interface components. Unfortunately, I will probably never own an Apple myself, because of no trackpoint.

In any case, the 7-8 year old Lenovo (using one of the earlier i5's) cost $450 when I bought it, spent another $250 on RAM and SSD and it is still very fast and capable. She uses it for word processing and the occasional spreadsheet. As a business major, I suspect it would do anything she will ever need. The frame is cracked around the display from where she stepped on it about 5 years ago. I am surprised that never developed into a serious failure!

But my point is that I do not believe any computers (Mac or PC) are now subject to becoming functionally obsolete in a few years as they used to. I believe the durability (and the look/touch/feel) of the hardware is now the deciding factor on how long a laptop is a viable (desirable). Nonetheless, I believe that newer models will likely add desirable features/improvements to extend that life.
You started out sounding like you were going to disagree with me, but then quickly turned around to agreement. Not your usual clear and understandable post. ;-)

Trackpoints are one of those features some love while others hate. I know people that won't buy a notebook computer without one, but I have never liked them.

Frankly, the cost of Apple computing hardware has gotten to be a little ridiculous ($3K+ for a MacBook?), but they generally are superior in construction and feel. I say generally because my wife is very impressed with her new SurfaceBook her employer gave her, and I've seen a high-end Dell or two that were very nice too, quality-wise. But most PC hardware I see is still cheaply made and has lousy feel. I dislike junky keyboards, and I despise touch screens. I still like OS X better than Win10, by a long shot, but the new Microsoft is making progress. And her SurfaceBook is noticeably faster than my MacBook, though the CPUs are similar. The clincher is still Apple's long-term hardware support. We'll see how Microsoft does in that department.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
You started out sounding like you were going to disagree with me, but then quickly turned around to agreement. Not your usual clear and understandable post. ;-)
LOL, I guess I misunderstood your point!

It's all good!

BTW, I believe the Microsoft OS is the worst aspect of owning a PC. Ironic that the Sufacebook is the machine that has distinguished itself.

Like you, my biggest problem with Apple is the price. They charge $200 just to increase the size of the SSD from 128GB to 256GB. In the PC world, I would never even consider a 128GB SSD because the cost of a 256 is so little more, and $230-240 will get you the best rated 1TB SSD's per Tom's Hardware Guide (which is my go to for no BS evaluations)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ssds,3891-2.html
about 1/2 way down the page to get to 1TB drives

I'll get my daughter an Apple because she has shown discipline that I am proud of and want to reward.

For my next machine, I'm wondering if there is such a thing as a "high-end" Chromebook!
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
Like you, my biggest problem with Apple is the price. They charge $200 just to increase the size of the SSD from 128GB to 256GB. In the PC world, I would never even consider a 128GB SSD because the cost of a 256 is so little more, and $230-240 will get you the best rated 1TB SSD's per Tom's Hardware Guide (which is my go to for no BS evaluations)
Yeah, but I'm guessing those are old-fashioned SATA SSDs. Apple uses NVMe on PCIe. There's no comparison in performance.
 
cel4145

cel4145

Audioholic
Is your daughter already in college? Or soon to attend? Many college students don't carry around laptops any more. They carry nice tablets with a keyboard. Unless the university has a laptop requirement, a good tablet with bluetooth keyboard case and then an inexpensive desktop for her dorm room may be the way to go. Certainly very mobile friendly for a college student.

Then on the other hand, some students feel that they can't get any work done in the dorms, so a laptop is certainly better for writing papers in the library, etc.

She will likely also need a tablet anyway if she doesn't have one. Many courses require reading digital documents (e.g., PDFs and web pages) and laptops/desktops suck for reading compared to a tablet.

So if she is not yet in college, might be best to wait until after the first few weeks of the semester and see what she feels she needs. The reality of what one needs in college is often quite different from what a high school student thinks that they need.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Is your daughter already in college? Or soon to attend? Many college students don't carry around laptops any more. They carry nice tablets with a keyboard. Unless the university has a laptop requirement, a good tablet with bluetooth keyboard case and then an inexpensive desktop for her dorm room may be the way to go. Certainly very mobile friendly for a college student.

Then on the other hand, some students feel that they can't get any work done in the dorms, so a laptop is certainly better for writing papers in the library, etc.

She will likely also need a tablet anyway if she doesn't have one. Many courses require reading digital documents (e.g., PDFs and web pages) and laptops/desktops suck for reading compared to a tablet.

So if she is not yet in college, might be best to wait until after the first few weeks of the semester and see what she feels she needs. The reality of what one needs in college is often quite different from what a high school student thinks that they need.
Yes, she started this year; but those are good questions to ask just to make certain she has thought it through.
Thanks!
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Yeah, but I'm guessing those are old-fashioned SATA SSDs. Apple uses NVMe on PCIe. There's no comparison in performance.
Yes, the older SATA is what my machine would use and is what I am familiar with.
However, I still maintain the 128 should not even be an option on a current machine given the cost of 128 vs 256, and $200 to upgrade it to 256 is a slap in the face. SSD capacity is not so precious as Apple presents it.

I appreciate that Apple makes a quality product and also appreciate that they have done a lot to keep the industry (especially Microsoft) moving forward. However, invariably, when I go to their website, I am confronted with pricing/options that are offensive to my open-system background. I can't really even blame Apple for taking advantage of the fact that their market will tolerate (and, often, embrace) it. It's just not for me (at this point).

I was also happy to see that they finally put USB ports on their laptops!
 
cel4145

cel4145

Audioholic
Yes, she started this year; but those are good questions to ask just to make certain she has thought it through.
Thanks!

Definitely might ask her. Most likely it's more of a status symbol thing for her.

Unless she is a film and video major who does video editing, very doubtful she needs a powerful machine. You mentioned CAD/CAM earlier, but do architectural students and engineers even buy that software, or do they use university computers? Your standard Core i5 Toshiba or Lenovo of a couple of years ago will easily run the current versions of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator that maybe a graphic design or photography major would need. Meanwhile, the very, very large majority of students don't use anything for school but MS Word, maybe Excel in business majors and stats, make an occasional Power Point for a project, and of course use an Internet browser. Most students never need anything more than a $500 laptop, and the software doesn't over take that in upgrades during 4 years of college.
 
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