AppleInsider › Forums › Mac Hardware › Current Mac Hardware › Apple releases new MacBook Pros with Intel Core i7, i5 processors
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Apple releases new MacBook Pros with Intel Core i7, i5 processors - Page 5

post #161 of 335
4/13/10 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh.B. View Post

In the real world, that difference in capacity would cost almost nothing.

The best bet is to get the smaller drive and plan on putting in something bigger someday. The $200 could be used at any time to get more capacity - maybe MUCH more than 500 even.

In the meantime, 320 is really not so small, and easy external drives are plentiful (altho I'm not sure why Apple decided against incuding an eSATA port...)

I would love to read your CV. Perhaps I am missing something by not accepting your suggestions. However, without knowing just how much of an expert you are, I remain open-minded.
Reply
Reply
post #162 of 335
4/13/10 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post

Exactly..... let me pre-empt the whiners: No Blu Ray, matte, touch screen, USB3, pixie dust, 20-hour battery, user-removable battery..... moan moan.......

Get on with it, folks!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerseymac View Post

So because you don't want these things, no one else should have them? And if you do you are a whiner? How intolerant of you.

I have a feeling that what they're implying at is that you can get all of the features you want from other manufacturers. If they are so important to you, why hang around the manufacturer that clearly has a very specific vision and is never going to implement certain technologies (like blu-ray).

At least that's my guess.


-Mayes
Reply
Reply
post #163 of 335
4/13/10 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by svnipp View Post

The one question I have is concerning upgrading the memory...

Basically, can I add 4GB of RAM to the 15" MBP later, or would this be a replacement of the base 4GB RAM? Are there empty memory slots? I just don't know that I need 8GB of RAM, but it would be nice to know I can upgrade without throwing away the 4GB that it comes with.

I was wondering the same thing, so I checked ramseeker.com and the price of an 8GB RAM upgrade makes simply buying the 8GB upgrade through Apple a reasonable deal.

Tossing or trying to sell RAM is a waste and a pain, IMO. I have a RAM museum in a drawer somewhere... "leftover" RAM from I have no idea how many Macs over the years. I used to just give the leftovers to friends to see it get some use.


Macintosh: It just WORKS!
Reply


Macintosh: It just WORKS!
Reply
post #164 of 335
4/13/10 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zindako View Post

Fact: There are more stupid people in the world than there are smart ones, there is far more quantity than there is quality in the universe.

Ah, what did I tell you......

Case closed.
Reply
Reply
post #165 of 335
4/13/10 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh.B. View Post

My impression of Belkin is similar - cool stuff, too high-priced for a frugal geek like me. But it's also my impression that Belkin sells zillions of accessories at huge margins.

Having also handled the PureA/V line of Belkin products with that previously mentioned A/V integration firm, I can confirm that the margins are substantial.
Reply
Reply
post #166 of 335
4/13/10 at 9:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zindako View Post

My only complaint is on how Apple marginalizes the product refresh, I mean seriously, how many versions of a laptop do we need? They should just sell maybe two versions of their laptops and call it a day, going from 2.4GHZ to 2.53GHZ is just stupid.

Have you not looked at Dell or HP lately? They have way more laptop models. This is partially why you see Apple laptops beating all other models of laptops. You can modify a 17" MBP and it still sells as a 17" MBP. There are several versions of laptop from other companies that you can build basically the same machine, but they have different SKUs.
Reply
Reply
post #167 of 335
4/13/10 at 9:47am
So what are the differences between the various i7 processors out there? Is the one in the new macbook a quad core? Are there actual quad-core i7s?
Reply
Reply
post #168 of 335
4/13/10 at 9:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RabidRabbit View Post

So what are the differences between the various i7 processors out there? Is the one in the new macbook a quad core? Are there actual quad-core i7s?

The only quad core i7 is a Clarksfield, which is 45nm instead of 35 and 45-55W instead of 35W. Too hot for Apple to put it in the MBP. All the i5 and i7 Arrandale chips (like in the new MBP) are hyper-threading enabled, so they have 2 real and 2 virtual cores.
Reply
Reply
post #169 of 335
4/13/10 at 9:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonnyboy View Post

i need to stop reading US-based news sites, seeing as it reminds me that the US prices are TWENTY-EIGHT PER CENT lower than those in the UK

*sigh*

Yes I feel your pain, but don't forget that the UK prices are inclusive of VAT while the US ones are ex of sales tax. Even so, Apple doesn't treat us fair over the exchange rate.
Believe nothing, no matter where you heard it, not even if I have said it, if it does not agree with your own reason and your own common sense.
Buddha
Reply
Believe nothing, no matter where you heard it, not even if I have said it, if it does not agree with your own reason and your own common sense.
Buddha
Reply
post #170 of 335
4/13/10 at 9:57am
Extremeskater,

Hey no i7 in the new update, you should really stick with you day job, it is a IBM programmer, if I remember (maybe wrong) and leave the commentary to us.

Btw see your exact comment below #31 from previous day in news on shortest of MBP at retail shops

A Core i7 in a Macbook Pro. Unlikely at best. Tell me the last time Apple used the lastest chip offering by intel? They just put quad cores in their iMacs. I would doubt we will even see the Arrandle in the Macbook Pros.

P.S. I suppose your taking a break from this site
Reply
Reply
post #171 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philotech View Post

No. There is no discrete video RAM any more

That's not correct. See Apple's tech specs for the new MacBook Pros:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple

NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory on 2.4GHz and 2.53GHz configurations

So, the question remains, can you permanently switch to the discrete graphics to maximise available system memory?
it's = it is / it has, its = belonging to it.
Reply
it's = it is / it has, its = belonging to it.
Reply
post #172 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:01am
13" with 10 hour battery life? Oh yeah. I bought one this morning to replace my old MB Al. Unibody mac book.

I am going to be happy except I lost the ability to open the bottom and replace the hdd and ram very easily. The 10 hour battery life makes up for it though.
Hard-Core.
Reply
Hard-Core.
Reply
post #173 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. H View Post

So, the question remains, can you permanently switch to the discrete graphics to maximise available system memory?

Yep. See AI's latest article.


Quote:
Originally Posted by aplnub View Post

I am going to be happy except I lost the ability to open the bottom and replace the hdd and ram very easily. The 10 hour battery life makes up for it though.

You'd need a screwdriver for the RAM and HDD anyway. It's only a handful of additional screws and doesn't add anymore time if it's adding RAM and only a minute or two if it's changing the HDD. I'll take that over a previous battery duration any day. The only thing I'd hope they include are screws that stay in the case bottom after they are unscrewed, like the older MB had when the HDD and RAM access via the removed battery. That was a nice touch.
Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"
Reply
Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"
Reply
post #174 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by svnipp View Post

Thanks for the great information here. Based on this, I'm looking to save $300 by getting the base 15" rather than the top-end 15" (student discount makes the $300 rather than $400).

The one item of difference I didn't mention before is the 256MB vs 512MB of video ram. I noticed that on the 15" MBP later. The 17" MBP comes with 512MB even for the i5. Makes me lean more toward the 17" now.

Quote:
The one question I have is concerning upgrading the memory...

Basically, can I add 4GB of RAM to the 15" MBP later, or would this be a replacement of the base 4GB RAM? Are there empty memory slots? I just don't know that I need 8GB of RAM, but it would be nice to know I can upgrade without throwing away the 4GB that it comes with.

Crucial says 2 slots. You'll have to do something else with your 2GB sticks later. Upgrade when 4GB prices drop further and you need the RAM.

Wow...and the Apple prices don't suck either. The 8GB kit (2x4GB) is $499 from Crucial and $433 from NewEgg (for Crucial).
Reply
Reply
post #175 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh.B. View Post

The i7 quad core has hyperthreading too. So it has 4 real and 4 virtual cores.

In Task Manager 8 separate graphs and stats are shown.

I never said it wasn't. I was just trying to explain why they likely didn'tcall out the fact that their i5 and i7 processors are all dual core. All of them are Arrandale and all Arrandale are dual core. Clarksfield is quad
Reply
Reply
post #176 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nht View Post

The one item of difference I didn't mention before is the 256MB vs 512MB of video ram. I noticed that on the 15" MBP later. The 17" MBP comes with 512MB even for the i5. Makes me lean more toward the 17" now.



Crucial says 2 slots. You'll have to do something else with your 2GB sticks later. Upgrade when 4GB prices drop further and you need the RAM.

Wow...and the Apple prices don't suck either. The 8GB kit (2x4GB) is $499 from Crucial and $433 from NewEgg (for Crucial).

I'm really curious what the difference is between the Apple specific memory and the standard memory. The G.Skill standard is 360 for 2x4GB, the Apple specific from them is $400. Why an extra $40? Will the $360 version work fine?
Reply
Reply
post #177 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh.B. View Post

I think that you have a couple of choices: Settle for LCD performance or look at another brand of laptop. Gamers have looked elsewhere for years.

What other brand runs Mac OS X? None but Apple. And certainly none with the same elegance and build quality.


Macintosh: It just WORKS!
Reply


Macintosh: It just WORKS!
Reply
post #178 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:42am
Can anybody figure out the new part numbers? Apple's site doesn't seem to show them. Trying to make sure I order the right one.
Reply
Reply
post #179 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SSquirrel View Post

I'm really curious what the difference is between the Apple specific memory and the standard memory. The G.Skill standard is 360 for 2x4GB, the Apple specific from them is $400. Why an extra $40? Will the $360 version work fine?

Yes. The same difference between G.Skill ($359) and say Crucial ($433) and Corsair ($459). Just reputation of reliability and branding.

There are few bad reviews of G.Skill on NewEgg for their older modules. But any brand can have dead sticks and it seems like G.Skill is addressing those in a timely fashion.

Still, many folks swear by Corsair despite the extra cost. If you want a reduce chance of a RMA and rock solid RAM you go with one of the usual suspects (Corsair, Muskin, Crucial).

For someone like Apple they go with a 1st tier brand so the $400 is very reasonable. My older Macs came with crucial RAM in them if I remember right. If you want 8GB from the get go, I'd just order the Apple RAM vs the hassle of buying from NewEgg and installing yourself.
Reply
Reply
post #180 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SSquirrel View Post

I never said it wasn't. I was just trying to explain why they likely didn'tcall out the fact that their i5 and i7 processors are all dual core. All of them are Arrandale and all Arrandale are dual core. Clarksfield is quad

They did:

"New Core i5 and Core i7 processors.
The 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro feature the fastest dual-core processors available, which boost performance up to 50 percent."
Reply
Reply
post #181 of 335
4/13/10 at 10:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffharris View Post

I was wondering the same thing, so I checked ramseeker.com and the price of an 8GB RAM upgrade makes simply buying the 8GB upgrade through Apple a reasonable deal.

Tossing or trying to sell RAM is a waste and a pain, IMO. I have a RAM museum in a drawer somewhere... "leftover" RAM from I have no idea how many Macs over the years. I used to just give the leftovers to friends to see it get some use.

I agree that the price on the 8GB upgrade option is fairly reasonable, I just don't know that I actually NEED more than 4GB. Right now I get along just fine on my Mac Pro with only 6GB. However, I would love the have the best of both worlds in being able to buy the 4GB base config now and then simply add another 4GB to it down the road if I feel I need to. Plus, the lower the sticker price, the easier it is to convince the wife.
Reply
Reply
post #182 of 335
4/13/10 at 11:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffharris View Post

What other brand runs Mac OS X? None but Apple. And certainly none with the same elegance and build quality.

What's the point of saying "none with the same elegance and build quality" when you've already established that no one else runs OS X? Any property is trivially true for a null set.
Reply
Reply
post #183 of 335
4/13/10 at 11:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by aplnub View Post

13" with 10 hour battery life? Oh yeah. I bought one this morning to replace my old MB Al. Unibody mac book.

I am going to be happy except I lost the ability to open the bottom and replace the hdd and ram very easily. The 10 hour battery life makes up for it though.

Even with the unibody MacBooks/MBP that have user replaceable battery you needed to actually open the whole bottom to replace the RAM. However, I did it and it is real easy.
Reply
Reply
post #184 of 335
4/13/10 at 11:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by macbuff View Post

Anyone notice the "antiglare" option on the high res 15" display? It's not advertised at "matte" - so what is it?

Anti-glare is the actual term for the anti-reflective screen treatment.
(I have a link to that somewhere here... )

Matte finish is really a term from photo-finishing printing which has somehow gotten associated with LCD screens, even though not technically accurate. It comes from back-in-the-day when people would choose between glossy finish or matte finish picture prints.

Apple's own description only refers to matte in terms of user "experience" :
Quote:
"If you prefer a display with antiglare coating for a matte rather than glossy viewing experience, choose the antiglare widescreen display."

So anti-glare is the real deal.
And for me, always the better choice, as my eyes seem to get easily confused by the reflections on all the mainstream glossy screens.
The Universe is Intelligent and Friendly
Reply
The Universe is Intelligent and Friendly
Reply
post #185 of 335
4/13/10 at 11:20am
so even with this: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/mar/10blu-ray.html

macbook pro's have no blu-ray?
Visit http://www.vancouver2012.org: Vancouver, Canada - Proud Host City of WorldMUN 2012
Reply
Visit http://www.vancouver2012.org: Vancouver, Canada - Proud Host City of WorldMUN 2012
Reply
post #186 of 335
4/13/10 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post

They did:

"New Core i5 and Core i7 processors.
The 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro feature the fastest dual-core processors available, which boost performance up to 50 percent."

Not exactly sure how that comes into what I was saying considering I just pointed out that all the i5 and i7 chips Apple is using are dual core with hyper-threading, but ok. They are correct. They are using the fasting mobile chips Intel makes. If they were using desktop chips they would sink their battery life.
Reply
Reply
post #187 of 335
4/13/10 at 11:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by uluvbs View Post

Theories as to why the 13" didn't at least get an i3?

Intel did not license its next generation interconnect technology so only it could make chipsets for its CPUs. Probably with that is that their integrated GPU technology is beyond horrible. I'm guessing there wasn't enough room for a dedicated GPU.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh.B. View Post

In the real world, that difference in capacity would cost almost nothing.

The best bet is to get the smaller drive and plan on putting in something bigger someday. The $200 could be used at any time to get more capacity - maybe MUCH more than 500 even.

In the meantime, 320 is really not so small, and easy external drives are plentiful (altho I'm not sure why Apple decided against incuding an eSATA port...)

And intel laptop hard drives are cheap and upgrading the MBPs is easy. A 750GB 5400 9.5mm drive is only $120.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffharris View Post

What other brand runs Mac OS X? None but Apple. And certainly none with the same elegance and build quality.

Both their greatest strength and most glaring weakness. User groups can and have been left out in the cold on a whim with no place to turn.
Reply
Reply
post #188 of 335
4/13/10 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh.B. View Post

I look for quality. I care less about convenience. .

And you tout Bose as a positive example? Bose is the quintessential company that sells overpriced items to people more interested in "name", looks, and convenience and NOT sound quality.
Reply
Reply
post #189 of 335
4/13/10 at 11:45am
LOL! Geforce 330M is just renamed Geforce what 9600? Which was renamed Geforce 8600... Is that 17" actually slower than the previous MacBookPro?

EDIT: I was hoping that this refresh would bring the graphics department up to date. It didn't. I need to look elsewhere for a new laptop.

HAHAHA My old 8800GTX (sold it away ages ago) from 2006 had 128 cores. 330M (same family BTW) has 48 cores... Not buying that old tech again, sorry Steve.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_300_Series
Reply
Reply
post #190 of 335
4/13/10 at 11:53am
How do you sift through the realities of the different chips and video card memory options?

Is the i7 better to an average user than the i5? Will double the video memory mean that much to an occasional gamer?
Reply
Reply
post #191 of 335
4/13/10 at 11:57am
I was hoping for a MacBook Air refresh

Something weird - when i enter the MBA page and I click on store - it sends me to the UK store. . . are they not available on the US?

Has anyone else seen this?

C-
Dancers are the Athletes of God - Albert Einstein
http://www.iPhoneSalsa.com

Proud owner of iMac, Macbook Pro, iPhone, Time Capsule
Reply
Dancers are the Athletes of God - Albert Einstein
http://www.iPhoneSalsa.com

Proud owner of iMac, Macbook Pro, iPhone, Time Capsule
Reply
post #192 of 335
4/13/10 at 12:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rbonner View Post

How do you sift through the realities of the different chips and video card memory options?

Is the i7 better to an average user than the i5? Will double the video memory mean that much to an occasional gamer?

Yeah that is my questions too. If the i7 isn't much better than the i5 (according to the Notebookcheck.com article) does the i7 MBP perform better overall due to the doubled graphics memory?
Reply
Reply
post #193 of 335
4/13/10 at 12:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by idanceapps View Post

I was hoping for a MacBook Air refresh

Something weird - when i enter the MBA page and I click on store - it sends me to the UK store. . . are they not available on the US?

Has anyone else seen this?

C-

Just go to the bottom of the page and change your country back to the US.
Reply
Reply
post #194 of 335
4/13/10 at 12:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BenRoethig View Post

Intel did not license its next generation interconnect technology so only it could make chipsets for its CPUs. ...
User groups can and have been left out in the cold on a whim with no place to turn.

Although slightly outside the original question, I do agree and find it sad that the Mac User groups have been so spurned by Apple.

Years back the various MUGs (Mac User Groups) would even be at the MacWorld conferences, and were a great source of Mac info, help, social connection, and free publicity and evangelizing for Apple and Apple vendors. I used to belong to the BMUG wayyyyy back.

I think Apple really made a mis-step when they stopped being friendly with the MUGs.
The Universe is Intelligent and Friendly
Reply
The Universe is Intelligent and Friendly
Reply
post #195 of 335
4/13/10 at 12:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WelshDog View Post

Yeah that is my questions too. If the i7 isn't much better than the i5 (according to the Notebookcheck.com article) does the i7 MBP perform better overall due to the doubled graphics memory?

The 330M has 48 processing cores. My old desktop card 8800GTX (same family, BTW) had 128 cores. And it was launched in 2006. You do the math.
Reply
Reply
post #196 of 335
4/13/10 at 12:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WelshDog View Post

Yeah that is my questions too. If the i7 isn't much better than the i5 (according to the Notebookcheck.com article) does the i7 MBP perform better overall due to the doubled graphics memory?

There might be some benefit in the gaming department for people who dual-boot Windows. There are almost certainly benefits for scientific applications written in CUDA or OpenCL, so if you are "Folding @ Home" you'll probably see a difference. If you are manipulating huge image files it might matter. For most people there won't be any noticeable difference.

The main differences between the i7 and the i5 seems to be that the i7 hash more on-chip memory, which can make a difference (though benchmarks don't seem to be finding one), and a higher "Turbo" frequency for running single-threaded applications. Wikipedia doesn't think that the 2.4 GHz i5s have working AES units (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AES_instruction_set). I can't imaging that this matters.

I came really close to buying one of these but remembered the golden rule---don't buy any new Apple product for the first 3 months. They will undoubtably have software/driver problems for a while, and may even have other issues (yellowing plastic, etc.). I'll get one closer to "back-to-school" time when I can probably get a free iPod out of it.
Reply
Reply
post #197 of 335
4/13/10 at 12:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rbonner View Post

How do you sift through the realities of the different chips and video card memory options?

Is the i7 better to an average user than the i5? Will double the video memory mean that much to an occasional gamer?

Depends on what is meant by average user and what kind of games.

For the average user - if the definition is web browsing, email, document processing and typical multimedia of iTunes, iPhoto and movie watching, then the Core 2 Duo (C2D) is plenty of power. and certainly the lower end i-series is more than adequate. Since the real value of the i-series CPU is in the multi-core multi-threading, and most of the average user applications don't exploit multi-threading that much. Thus the two cores you get in either C2D or the i3 or i5 is sufficient for the average user.

Re. games, for the kind of games that I do, sudoku, mahjong and the like, C2D is plenty. It's even OK for the role-play type games that my daughter likes. But if you are into high video action shooter games, then the question is not as simple. (and I have no inclination in that direction, but high-end gamers seem to want high-end machines... if the articles and comments posted are followed).
The Universe is Intelligent and Friendly
Reply
The Universe is Intelligent and Friendly
Reply
post #198 of 335
4/13/10 at 12:26pm
until there are 4 physical cores in a macbook pro, these are off my list. my 8-core mac pro is just too good! maybe next year we will see 4-core macbook pro's (probably just in 17-incher). good update though, should be a nice upgrade for professionals. consumers this would make no difference for whatsoever. sounds like the graphics cards are auto-switching. huge step up from the previous versions where you'd have to log out and log back in after switching out the cards in the system preferences. wwdc this year? all about iphone and ipad it looks like. no 10.7 until 2011 assuming.

AppleGrad.com - Video training for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Final Cut Pro, Aperture, iLife, iWork, Logic Pro, and more

Reply

AppleGrad.com - Video training for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Final Cut Pro, Aperture, iLife, iWork, Logic Pro, and more

Reply
post #199 of 335
4/13/10 at 12:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WelshDog View Post

Yeah that is my questions too. If the i7 isn't much better than the i5 (according to the Notebookcheck.com article) does the i7 MBP perform better overall due to the doubled graphics memory?

We'll likely have to wait for websites to come out with their reviews for that. The extra graphic memory might make a decent difference when it comes to everyday processing thanks to OpenCL, but I'm not positive.
Reply
Reply
post #200 of 335
4/13/10 at 12:39pm
Reading this thread sure would be nice with the new inertial trackpad, pretty cool. Wish this was possible with 2009 MB Pro.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Current Mac Hardware
AppleInsider › Forums › Mac Hardware › Current Mac Hardware › Apple releases new MacBook Pros with Intel Core i7, i5 processors