As far as i know, the currently used batteries have matched or exceeded the expected lifetime of the machine for six or seven years now. I know mine is still doing fine after five and a half years, while the book itself is slowly but surely dying. I could get it replaced at a dealer of my choice for under 150€, though. Not necessarily with a BRAND of my choice, but having worked in computer retail for a bit of my life, I can tell you that limited-but-high-quality options in this particular regard are a Very Good Thing.
Your wish to replace RAM is understandable and not particularly outlandish, it's merely completely outdated by technology. There is no socketed RAM available that Apple could use, and in fact, soldering it removes a common point of failure. Your complaint sounds a bit like thalo and his cohorts back on MacFixit in the early day of OS X, complaining that they could no longer manually reserve RAM for individual applications as they could under OS 9. If you're going to max out anyway, max out right away. You're a pro. Budget for it.
As for SSDs: the new ones appear to be socketed, not soldered. It's worth noting that the previous generation weren't slow at all, but al available replacement options were about half the speed of the original.
The SSDs in the new MBP appear to be the fastest stock SSDs in the industry, and priced very competitively, from what I've read.
'As far as I know'. That is a pretty vague reference. What are you basing your comments on? How many charge cycles has your laptop been through and how long does a charge last now, five and a half years later. If your laptop is five and a half years old I suppose the battery isn't sealed in. Correct? If so, you don't need to have it changed, you can source a battery and do it yourself for far less cost. I suppose you've also swapped in an SSD and upped the RAM. Which Mac Book is it?
As far as i know, the currently used batteries have matched or exceeded the expected lifetime of the machine for six or seven years now. I know mine is still doing fine after five and a half years, while the book itself is slowly but surely dying. I could get it replaced at a dealer of my choice for under 150€, though. Not necessarily with a BRAND of my choice, but having worked in computer retail for a bit of my life, I can tell you that limited-but-high-quality options in this particular regard are a Very Good Thing.
Your wish to replace RAM is understandable and not particularly outlandish, it's merely completely outdated by technology. There is no socketed RAM available that Apple could use, and in fact, soldering it removes a common point of failure. Your complaint sounds a bit like thalo and his cohorts back on MacFixit in the early day of OS X, complaining that they could no longer manually reserve RAM for individual applications as they could under OS 9. If you're going to max out anyway, max out right away. You're a pro. Budget for it.
As for SSDs: the new ones appear to be socketed, not soldered. It's worth noting that the previous generation weren't slow at all, but al available replacement options were about half the speed of the original.
The SSDs in the new MBP appear to be the fastest stock SSDs in the industry, and priced very competitively, from what I've read.
'As far as I know'. That is a pretty vague reference. What are you basing your comments on? How many charge cycles has your laptop been through and how long does a charge last now, five and a half years later. If your laptop is five and a half years old I suppose the battery isn't sealed in. Correct? If so, you don't need to have it changed, you can source a battery and do it yourself for far less cost. I suppose you've also swapped in an SSD and upped the RAM. Which Mac Book is it?
It is not user-replaceable (though not glued in AFAIK), has about 350 cycles, and lasts fairly long. Never measured it; it's never lasted long enough to not be annoying.
Early 2011 13".
I did swap in an SSD (which I presumably won't need to do in the new machine, since it already has one that saturates the bus), and if it weren't already maxed out by default, I would've upgraded the RAM on the new machine as well. In advance.
As far as i know, the currently used batteries have matched or exceeded the expected lifetime of the machine for six or seven years now. I know mine is still doing fine after five and a half years, while the book itself is slowly but surely dying. I could get it replaced at a dealer of my choice for under 150€, though. Not necessarily with a BRAND of my choice, but having worked in computer retail for a bit of my life, I can tell you that limited-but-high-quality options in this particular regard are a Very Good Thing.
Your wish to replace RAM is understandable and not particularly outlandish, it's merely completely outdated by technology. There is no socketed RAM available that Apple could use, and in fact, soldering it removes a common point of failure. Your complaint sounds a bit like thalo and his cohorts back on MacFixit in the early day of OS X, complaining that they could no longer manually reserve RAM for individual applications as they could under OS 9. If you're going to max out anyway, max out right away. You're a pro. Budget for it.
As for SSDs: the new ones appear to be socketed, not soldered. It's worth noting that the previous generation weren't slow at all, but al available replacement options were about half the speed of the original.
The SSDs in the new MBP appear to be the fastest stock SSDs in the industry, and priced very competitively, from what I've read.
'As far as I know'. That is a pretty vague reference. What are you basing your comments on? How many charge cycles has your laptop been through and how long does a charge last now, five and a half years later. If your laptop is five and a half years old I suppose the battery isn't sealed in. Correct? If so, you don't need to have it changed, you can source a battery and do it yourself for far less cost. I suppose you've also swapped in an SSD and upped the RAM. Which Mac Book is it?
It is not user-replaceable (though not glued in AFAIK), has about 350 cycles, and lasts fairly long. Never measured it; it's never lasted long enough to not be annoying.
Early 2011 13".
I did swap in an SSD (which I presumably won't need to do in the new machine, since it already has one that saturates the bus), and if it weren't already maxed out by default, I would've upgraded the RAM on the new machine as well. In advance.
Congrats on the battery! it's EOL but performing well. My wife has a late 2011 MBP but wasn't so lucky. The battery swelled up, almost destroyed the trackpad but didn't leak. I got it out just in time. Apple doesn't make these batteries any more so I got a Fleuron and upgraded the RAM and put in an SSD. It flies now. It was reborn.
OT: I have Time Machine backups of my Macs but have never restored from one.
When my new MacBook Pro arrives, can I just use the TM backup from the machine it's replacing to get it set up the same way as I have now rather than having to reinstall all my software and reset all the various preferences to where I like them? Will the new machine even "see" backups associated with another computer?
Sorry for the OT post, but with so much collected knowledge all in one place it's too easy and tempting not to stretch the rules...
OT: I have Time Machine backups of my Macs but have never restored from one.
When my new MacBook Pro arrives, can I just use the TM backup from the machine it's replacing to get it set up the same way as I have now rather than having to reinstall all my software and reset all the various preferences to where I like them? Will the new machine even "see" backups associated with another computer?
Sorry for the OT post, but with so much collected knowledge all in one place it's too easy and tempting not to stretch the rules…
Yes. Once you get it, do a final backup and then on your new MBP hold down the Option-R keys when it starts up and then restore from Time Machine. Or, you can create a new account on your new MBP and open the Migration Assistance app, but that will lock down both Macs during this long process. I don't recommend it.
Are there any facts? So far, MCK and commenters offer none.
I would imagine Kuo has feelers in the supply chain, contact with institutional buyers, and confidential informants within Apple sharing anecdotal observations, but none of those would provide definitive numbers.
My own "anecdotal observations" conflict with his assessment. I had to call Apple the day after the announcement. My wait on hold was the longest I've ever experienced with Apple by ten times. When I asked what was up, the answer was "Everybody wants the new MacBook Pro." Not very scientific, but it's one data point.
Another thing that makes me wonder if Kuo's right is the increasing wait times for purchases. I suppose maybe the initial supply was really small and/or the machines take a long time to assemble, but the fact that wait times went from 2-3 weeks to 4-5 weeks within 12 hours of going on sale suggests that there was enough demand to suck up everything they had ready at launch. Whether or not that number is significant is something we don't have enough information to evaluate.
It's possible that Kuo is right, and those of us who've bought one are just the ones bringing the temperature of demand up to "tepid." One has to expect the sentiment to be largely positive among those who frequent a site like this so it's hard to get a sense of how the wider market is reacting just from what one reads here.
I bought one for me and hope to get one for my wife early in the new year. I'd get hers now, but that 2TB of storage we want comes at a handsome price and will require some after-Christmas saving up.
OT: I have Time Machine backups of my Macs but have never restored from one.
When my new MacBook Pro arrives, can I just use the TM backup from the machine it's replacing to get it set up the same way as I have now rather than having to reinstall all my software and reset all the various preferences to where I like them? Will the new machine even "see" backups associated with another computer?
Sorry for the OT post, but with so much collected knowledge all in one place it's too easy and tempting not to stretch the rules…
Yes. Once you get it, do a final backup and then on your new MBP hold down the Option-R keys when it starts up and then restore from Time Machine. Or, you can create a new account on your new MBP and open the Migration Assistance app, but that will lock down both Macs during this long process. I don't recommend it.
Thanks Soli! I appreciate you taking the time to respond. The "old" machine (a six-week-old Air) will be gone before the new one arrives, so I gotta get it right the first time!
I don't know how I'm going to survive two weeks (longer if the new machine is delayed) without a computer! The iPhone is gonna get a workout!
OT: I have Time Machine backups of my Macs but have never restored from one.
When my new MacBook Pro arrives, can I just use the TM backup from the machine it's replacing to get it set up the same way as I have now rather than having to reinstall all my software and reset all the various preferences to where I like them? Will the new machine even "see" backups associated with another computer?
Sorry for the OT post, but with so much collected knowledge all in one place it's too easy and tempting not to stretch the rules…
Yes. Once you get it, do a final backup and then on your new MBP hold down the Option-R keys when it starts up and then restore from Time Machine. Or, you can create a new account on your new MBP and open the Migration Assistance app, but that will lock down both Macs during this long process. I don't recommend it.
Thanks Soli! I appreciate you taking the time to respond. The "old" machine (a six-week-old Air) will be gone before the new one arrives, so I gotta get it right the first time!
I don't know how I'm going to survive two weeks (longer if the new machine is delayed) without a computer! The iPhone is gonna get a workout!
That's gonna be rough. I'm using my 2013 15" MBP and I still can't wait for mine. It's been a long time waiting for a new MBP and Apple has added so many great new or upgraded innovations that I can't wait to step into the future of computing.
OT: I have Time Machine backups of my Macs but have never restored from one.
When my new MacBook Pro arrives, can I just use the TM backup from the machine it's replacing to get it set up the same way as I have now rather than having to reinstall all my software and reset all the various preferences to where I like them? Will the new machine even "see" backups associated with another computer?
Sorry for the OT post, but with so much collected knowledge all in one place it's too easy and tempting not to stretch the rules…
Yes. Once you get it, do a final backup and then on your new MBP hold down the Option-R keys when it starts up and then restore from Time Machine. Or, you can create a new account on your new MBP and open the Migration Assistance app, but that will lock down both Macs during this long process. I don't recommend it.
Thanks Soli! I appreciate you taking the time to respond. The "old" machine (a six-week-old Air) will be gone before the new one arrives, so I gotta get it right the first time!
I don't know how I'm going to survive two weeks (longer if the new machine is delayed) without a computer! The iPhone is gonna get a workout!
That's gonna be rough. I'm using my 2013 15" MBP and I still can't wait for mine. It's been a long time waiting for a new MBP and Apple has added so many great new or upgraded innovations that I can't wait to step into the future of computing.
If you wait longer between upgrades, the giddy factor is even higher! As I mentioned before, I went from a 2009 17" MacBook Pro to a 2016 MacBook Air. The old machine had been upgraded with an SSD, had the same amount of RAM as the Air, and had a 3.0GHz C2D CPU. The Air has a "slower" 2.2GHz dual-core i7, yet it transcodes video at least twice as fast as my old MBPro! I can't wait to see how a newer quad-core i7 with twice as much RAM is going to perform! Whee!
Apparently there are differences from one generation to another that don't measure in GHz or Mb, or at least aren't commonly discussed by speccies.
Comments
Early 2011 13".
I did swap in an SSD (which I presumably won't need to do in the new machine, since it already has one that saturates the bus), and if it weren't already maxed out by default, I would've upgraded the RAM on the new machine as well. In advance.
When my new MacBook Pro arrives, can I just use the TM backup from the machine it's replacing to get it set up the same way as I have now rather than having to reinstall all my software and reset all the various preferences to where I like them? Will the new machine even "see" backups associated with another computer?
Sorry for the OT post, but with so much collected knowledge all in one place it's too easy and tempting not to stretch the rules...
I would imagine Kuo has feelers in the supply chain, contact with institutional buyers, and confidential informants within Apple sharing anecdotal observations, but none of those would provide definitive numbers.
My own "anecdotal observations" conflict with his assessment. I had to call Apple the day after the announcement. My wait on hold was the longest I've ever experienced with Apple by ten times. When I asked what was up, the answer was "Everybody wants the new MacBook Pro." Not very scientific, but it's one data point.
Another thing that makes me wonder if Kuo's right is the increasing wait times for purchases. I suppose maybe the initial supply was really small and/or the machines take a long time to assemble, but the fact that wait times went from 2-3 weeks to 4-5 weeks within 12 hours of going on sale suggests that there was enough demand to suck up everything they had ready at launch. Whether or not that number is significant is something we don't have enough information to evaluate.
It's possible that Kuo is right, and those of us who've bought one are just the ones bringing the temperature of demand up to "tepid." One has to expect the sentiment to be largely positive among those who frequent a site like this so it's hard to get a sense of how the wider market is reacting just from what one reads here.
I bought one for me and hope to get one for my wife early in the new year. I'd get hers now, but that 2TB of storage we want comes at a handsome price and will require some after-Christmas saving up.
I don't know how I'm going to survive two weeks (longer if the new machine is delayed) without a computer! The iPhone is gonna get a workout!
Hmm, .gif don't seem to work...
If you wait longer between upgrades, the giddy factor is even higher! As I mentioned before, I went from a 2009 17" MacBook Pro to a 2016 MacBook Air. The old machine had been upgraded with an SSD, had the same amount of RAM as the Air, and had a 3.0GHz C2D CPU. The Air has a "slower" 2.2GHz dual-core i7, yet it transcodes video at least twice as fast as my old MBPro! I can't wait to see how a newer quad-core i7 with twice as much RAM is going to perform! Whee!
Apparently there are differences from one generation to another that don't measure in GHz or Mb, or at least aren't commonly discussed by speccies.