Apple releases updated $999 MacBook with GeForce 320M graphics - Page 2

The 13" MBP gives you an aluminium unibody, backlit keyboard, FW800 port and SD card slot and 4GB RAM w/an 8GB max instead of 2/4. I think they could have dropped the price of the Macbook by $100 given how slight the changes were, but didn't expect it really.

I see there are those still moaning about Apple prices.

Prices below calculated on todays (18/05/10) pricing and exchange rates. And the UK Macbook price including VAT is £849 not £840.

US Macbook Price $999 (no tax) = £691
UK Price £700 (excluding VAT) = $1012

So £9 difference.

If any of you want to buy any Apple hardware in the UK take a student friend along with you and you can get 12% discount on most of the Macs.

Can it? That's good to hear. I thought I had heard something about Snow Leopard allowing target disk mode through USB2, but I couldn't remember if I had imagined it.

Damn, my Santa Rosa MB Pro's video card is rather long in the tooth (which I had my 4 wisdom pulled out last week). I guess my 8600M GT is done for. Then again, I didn't buy this machine 3 years ago to play top flight games. Oh well. Maybe a new laptop in a few years.

Can someone please tell me how I can exchange the one I just purchased for the newer model??

Most likely you're right...but presently using the original intel MacBook with ~2hrs of battery life...havng 7-8 hrs would be wonderful!

Ps. Have replaced the battery twice. Apple has replace the bezel and keyboard free (top closure cracked where you lay your wrists) so the inside looks brand new!

Pss. Went to Best Buy to look at the iPad and the MacBook looks very sleek (2009) design.

Check the return policy where you bought it. If you purchased from Apple online, read through this.

Unless it is unopened, you will likely be charged a restocking fee.

Likewise - I have the original MBP, and with normal use (no flash, moderate CPU usage, screen turned down, bluetooth off) I get anywhere between 1.5-2.5 hours. I don't think I've ever had more than three.

Apple also replaced one of my batteries, and I've purchased a second. At least I can hibernate and double my time away from power, but I'd be pretty happy if I only got six hours on a new model!

Because I just bought a MBP 13" on Sunday...

Yep 'd'...same again I replaced a battery and Apple replaced one free, too.

It's been a great machine. Still serving me well. Almost wishing it would break soon so I can justify a new updated MBA with SSD (instant-on).

I would agree with a previous poster that 4gig is now the new RAM minimum.

It's responses like this that make ignoring you so enjoyable!

Just generically listed as 2011 I believe. Hopefully it will be Q1

The 13" MBP is still better value, in my opinion.

But this version is more within people's budgets, barely.

So fly to the U.S. and buy one. The savings on VAT etc. will pay a decent % of the ticket and you get a vacation out of the deal.

Except that if you're a UK resident, you're required to pay the VAT when entering the country (and possibly import duties, as well). So there's no gain for law-abiding citizens.

If, OTOH, you're advocating criminal activity, you might as well just steal one.

So why did you reply?

Its my understanding that the adapters are even newer then the ones from last year (the MBP's adapters were updated with the recent refresh as well). On my 2010 13" MBP, the adapter can also be connected with the cord either pointing backwards or forwards.

I think the white is becoming a bit dated...but always liked it because is was different from the PC world's use of the corporate colors, ie., pallbearer gray and funeral black.

Have an original intel MacBook and iMac and a white 3Gs.

I have come around though the 'aluminum' look of the iMacs and MacBookPros-very elegant!

An now with the advent of the iPad and the new 4G phone looks like I will be going with the new look!

If you bought it from an Apple Store there, you have 14 days to return it.

Some of the mail order sites have return policies also.

CGC

Edited: see correction below. Thanks

Me as well. And I think the low-end 21.5" iMac still has the 9400M that also needs the 320M.

Does anyone know if the updated white MacBook got audio out on the mini-DisplayPort connector like the refreshed MBPs got? (Not that I'm interested in that model of MacBook, I'm just curious when it will show up in the mini...)

Isn't Apple's policy for exchanges just 14 days? Or does Canada have different rules?

And what sort of people do you call those who hate Apple so much but then spend quite a bit of their time interacting and insinuating themselves in Apple-centric sites and with people who love Apple so much?

From another thread:


They're selling like hotcakes!


It must be such a rewarding vocation to devote so much time saving the "pagans". Ignorance leads to the fires of hell.

CGC

How about you climb down off that high horse.

Didn't that "leak" show the battery life was still 7 hours on the box?

Doesn't the new one say "Built-in 10-hour battery" at the Apple Store?

I think somebody knew about the upgrade, but 'shopped the "proof" from an existing retail MacBook box. That they got something like this so completely wrong is "proof" they Photoshopped that box.

14 days, not a month.

Actually, if the price is £840, and if VAT is 15%, the price pre-tax is £730, which comes out to $1,057.51. Is that so bad?

(I don't know if there are other taxes (local taxes) as well as VAT, which would make the pre-tax price even lower).

I think the 13" MBP is a no-brainer for all but the most cash-strapped. By the time you bump up the white MacBook to 4GB to get to the specs of the 13" MBP, the upgrade to the aluminum body, FW800, SD card, battery indicator, and backlit keyboard in the stock 13" MPB is only a benjamin more.

They'd sell a lot more of these if they made a throwback black MacBook again. Unfortunately, I recently sold my BlackBook (and miss it already, even if it was getting to be too slow for certain tasks)...

Not correct. There is NO TARGET mode via USB2, nor will there EVER be target mode via USB (any flavour).

There are fundamental differences between Firewire and USB that make it possible (and easy) to implement target mode on FW, and completely prevent implementation of it on USB.

Firewire is Peer-to-peer architecture, where devices intelligently negotiate communication and conflicts between themselves. All Apple had to do is build interface in the firmware of the computer that would essentially turn the whole Mac into a big Firewire external hard disk.

USB is master-slave architecture. One device is a hub, all others are child devices. You cannot daisy-chain USB devices the way you can FireWire. There is a reason why USB plugs are different on each end (and Firewire are the same): master devices have flat sockets, while slaves have square ones, so there's never confusion which one is which. Think about it: if you connect a USB cable into your MacBook (the flat end), where would you plug the other (square) end? It cannot go into any USB plug on another Mac; the only thing you can connect to it is a printer, scanner, digital camera, etc. (oh, and by the way, those cheap mini-enclosures for 2.5" hard drives that have the slotted USB socket and a slotted-to-slotted USB cable are in violation of USB standards, since the slotted socket can only be on a master USB device, and hard drives are slaves. Using those cables to connect two computers can fry either or both computers' USB interfaces).

So, if firewire ends up disappearing from the Mac line, so will the target mode.

The only feature of target mode for which there will be no equivalent is the ability to connect the Mac as an external hard disk and mount it on another mac. All other features (user/data migration, etc) are available via Ethernet or Airport.

Did it ever occur to you that Solipsism is more closely connected to Apple than you think, and was just throwing some misdirection out there?

Either that or they are just living up to their namesake.

I believe you're confusing boot capability with target disk mode. The newest (and perhaps all) Intel Macs support booting from an external drive via USB, but there's no evidence that Apple has added support for Target Disk Mode via USB -- Apple's support site still only mentions FireWire.

Even if Apple were to support that feature, it still doesn't remedy the fact that as it stands the MacBook only has two ports for external hardware, necessitating a hub if you want to connect more than two devices. If Apple wants to drop FireWire, the least it could do would be to add a third USB port.

Wow, you'd still have to pay VAT if you bought something from outside the country? That's a little nuts.

Of course, I live in Delaware, where there is NO sales tax on anything at all So, $999.00 is $999.00 to me.

How would they know you bought a computer on your trip though? Do you have to declare it on your way out of the country?

The difference is due to the huge honking Type G adapter that the British use!
The power adapter itself is 120V/240V, it's the plug end that's different.

I wonder the same thing, honestly.

I've also learned to hate the white color. Not only does it get dirty as hell, but it also means more reflected light.

I wouldn't mind seeing a polycarbonate case in a different color by default. They could basically make it the exact same color scheme as the aluminum MacBooks, just with plastic instead.

Yes, http://www.apple.com/macbook/specs.html
"HDMI output using a third-party Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter"

I do a lot of cloning onto machines via FireWire and the loss of FireWire is a bit of a bummer, to say the least. With 4 FireWire cables I could clone 1-4 machines at a time, which was a big convenience.

Now I basically need to boot the machine via USB drive and do disk imaging from there, but I am limited by the number of USB drives I have. I can use NetBoot on OSX Server and image a bunch of computers at a time via Ethernet, limited only by the size of my switched router. But that requires that I have OSX Server.

I will say that the Migration Tool via Ethernet is speedy and trouble-free. I would recommend getting a CAT6 cable to make this as fast as possible.

As I said (see above), USB target mode CANNOT be done. It is not technologically possible, due to the fact that USB is master-slave architecture, and NOT peer-to-peer.

You mean this post said in jest, mimicking the naysayers? I am amazed at people's inability to understand irony. The images and video were very clear. There was nothing blurry about them.

And since when have I ever spouted off short troll-like exclamations in a hostile Teckstudian manner without explaining my reasoning? Clearly you missed my attempt at satire. I surely don't expect you to find it funny, but you should at least be aware when an attempt is being made.



2011 is when Intel will be adding USB3.0 support to their chipsets. You can buy chips now for USB3.0. While Apple may wait for the Intel solution it's not an imperative. I hope they don't wait for Intel's solution.

From what I read, the VAT in the UK went up to 17.5% at the beginning of 2010. The price without tax in the UK would be £840/1.175=£714. £714 is about $US1050 in today's exchange rate.

So, you're paying about $US50 (which is about £34) more — I understand that is a little annoying, but it is hardly "swapping the $ sign for a £ sign". That £34 might be related to extra costs of doing business in the UK, or it might be Apple taking more profit — either way, it's not THAT much.

And the VAT doesn't account for any of the other expenses attributed to the importing such goods. It's quite reasonable which makes me think they expect the dollar to gain in strength and/or the pound to fall before the next revision.

Interestingly, that $50 is almost exactly equal to the 5% import duty in the UK. So, after subtracting VAT and import duties, the price is essentially identical.

So much for the whiners.

Other than the increased memory, what else does the 13" MacBook Pro offer over the new MacBook.

???