Broadwell Or Skylake MBP

Abz Hussain · 8 Jun 2015 at 05:09

Is there any reason to wait for a skylake MBP vs picking up a new Broadwell machine?
Will be mostly a business machine running normal programs with some very light video editing and virtual machine for windows.
Currently have a 2008 17 inch MBP, getting a bit slow. I could stick an SSD in there but i need the mobility factor too now - the 2008 is a bit on the large and heavy side.
Thanks

ChrisD. · 8 Jun 2015 at 09:26

The Pro's have just been revised have they not? So just pick up one now.

Abz Hussain · 8 Jun 2015 at 14:51

S2KIP said:
The Pro's have just been revised have they not? So just pick up one now.

Yeh that's right. Was just wondering if it was worth waiting for a skylake mbp rather than pick up one of the refreshed ones.

Nymins · 8 Jun 2015 at 14:52

Skylake will probably be a more significant upgrade than Haswell to Broadwell. USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 will probably be onboard.

CPU performance won't change much, but the GPU should get a nice boost.

Minstadave · 8 Jun 2015 at 14:58

Broadwell refresh is thoroughly unexciting, I'd wait for Skylake if you can, imagine it'll be a years wait though.

Abz Hussain · 8 Jun 2015 at 15:03

Minstadave said:
Broadwell refresh is thoroughly unexciting, I'd wait for Skylake if you can, imagine it'll be a years wait though.

I can wait for a bit, not sure if a year is viable though. Was hoping end of year for a skylake mbp. Might have to stick an ssd in the 2008 and see how we go.

Minstadave · 8 Jun 2015 at 15:04

It may be sooner, but the 15" only got updated this month so it'll be a while yet.

Abz Hussain · 8 Jun 2015 at 15:15

Minstadave said:
It may be sooner, but the 15" only got updated this month so it'll be a while yet.

The 15 didn't get Broadwell though if I'm right?
My 2008 core 2 duo runs vritual machines a little slow now, would the Haswell / Broadwell i5s be OK for vm with 16gb ram or will the 4 core i7s in the 15 be better option?

Somnambulist · 8 Jun 2015 at 20:41

Mac updates are rarely game-changing compared to the model they're replacing unless it's something like going from non-Retina to Retina, especially for your uses. Current gen will still be a huge improvement over the 17" model as that's pretty old now.

The only thing with waiting would be you'll probably get a new design since Thunderbolt 3 connectors work with USB-C ports so they'll no doubt manage to cut the thickness/weight down more, although it's not like the current gen are bricks.

Kobi · 8 Jun 2015 at 21:08

Abz Hussain said:
The 15 didn't get Broadwell though if I'm right?
My 2008 core 2 duo runs vritual machines a little slow now, would the Haswell / Broadwell i5s be OK for vm with 16gb ram or will the 4 core i7s in the 15 be better option?

Yeah the 15" ones only had the gpu and possibly faster ssd. Still haswell cpu's. Deffo wait for the refresh later this year.

Roughneck · 8 Jun 2015 at 21:32

Seen a review of the New MBP 15 Ret with the AMD gpu and according to the review 15-20% improvement over the Nvidia 750 model, nowhere near the 80% apple are claiming. thats in gaming

Minstadave · 8 Jun 2015 at 21:35

Abz Hussain said:
The 15 didn't get Broadwell though if I'm right?
My 2008 core 2 duo runs vritual machines a little slow now, would the Haswell / Broadwell i5s be OK for vm with 16gb ram or will the 4 core i7s in the 15 be better option?

You are right, even less exciting then.