iphone 4.0 on thrusday.... One can only hope theres a "One more thing, New macbook pros" ))
Hopefully Macbook and Mini too. It's probably time to drop Core 2 altogether now including the lowest iMacs. The Core i3 handles multi-thread processing better.
Can't wait to see what they do GPU-wise. If they use Optimus or the Radeon to replace the 9400M, it's a big performance boost. If they stick with the Intel IGP alone, well it's going to be pretty sad.
Apple historically does not mix and match product-line announcements when they have specific announcement invitations. Do not expect MBP coverage in the iPhone 4 OS event (unless the MBP will now be running it, which it won't). Expect new laptops to just come out the next or following Tuesday on the web site and store without any public events.
I offer this as a point of reference to those who await new MBPs.
You do know there is a good chance that they'll have Nehalem cpus, don't you?
They almost certainly will. The problem is when? These things are a third of a year over due and as of late they haven't earned the benefit of the doubt to keep waiting. Rumors have the price of the entire line going up several hundred bucks. Add to that with new interfaces coming out, I want an expansion slot. Apple isn't likely to give me one on even a 15" model now. I also want a BluRay drive, also something they aren't likely to give. Add to that (and I say this as a former Apple employee and Kool-Aid drinker) that imho, Windows 7 is finally a good enough approximation of OS X, and you have a bunch of people contemplating jumping ship.
"The Australian arm of Macworld is reporting that a source "familiar with Apple product cycles and inventory levels" is saying we'll see that long awaited MacBook Pro update on Tuesday April 13th. He/she says all lines of MacBook will receive updates with the possible exception of the MacBook Air which he/she can't confirm. Numerous reports have had Apple's Core iX lineup of MacBook Pros coming in April."
I observe all these threads on new MBPs since earlier this year. Obviously so many people (like me too) are waiting with their investment in a new computer. One should mean sales of Apple notebooks dropped dramatically over the past weeks but to my best knowledge this is not the case. Unfortunately because money normally is the only language companies understand.
Complaints about Apples deficiency in responding to their customer base won't help. Dropping sales would.
Normal people who don't come here to get information about computers. People who are just as unconcerned and uninformed about what is inside their laptop as they are about what is under the hood of their car. There are millions of them.
Only seems to be the 15" model though. While it would be good to get i5/i7 + good GPU, it would be nice to see some i3s in the lower end of the lineup with better GPUs too.
I guess due to shortages in the chips, they'll focus on the MBP first, then roll out the Mac Pro update, then it will be the Macbook, Mini and low-end iMac.
They almost certainly will. The problem is when? These things are a third of a year over due and as of late they haven't earned the benefit of the doubt to keep waiting. Rumors have the price of the entire line going up several hundred bucks. Add to that with new interfaces coming out, I want an expansion slot. Apple isn't likely to give me one on even a 15" model now. I also want a BluRay drive, also something they aren't likely to give. Add to that (and I say this as a former Apple employee and Kool-Aid drinker) that imho, Windows 7 is finally a good enough approximation of OS X, and you have a bunch of people contemplating jumping ship.
Hey I'm not defending Apple here. And I have NO idea when Apple will release new MBPs.
I'm just saying that, based on my limited experience in playing around with a Sony laptop that has components that are likely to be present in new the MBPs that the updated MBPS are probably going to be fast machines.
"Update: There is some ambiguity as to whether the MacBook Pro will actually ship in April. Even our Chinese readers are having a difficult time understanding the verbiage. As near as we can tell the release will start in April but orders may not catch up to demand until June?"
I was at my local Apple Authorized Reseller (we don't have an Apple Store here in HK yet) yesterday and I told him I was planning on getting a MacBook for my daughter this Summer. He immediately said, "Don't buy it now! All the laptops are being updated." I assured him that I was aware of the situation, but was surprised at his candidness considering the possibility of lost sales leading up to the update. Of course, I'm a "special" customer, so perhaps he was more honest to me. I asked him if they have been selling many laptops lately and he said, "Sure. People need them now."
And there it is. If you need it now, buy it. Don't waste your time waiting for a small improvement or price cut.
If it's something you "want" but don't "need", then you're better off waiting, and not complaining about it.
But switching platforms seems like a pretty stupid third alternative.
I was at my local Apple Authorized Reseller (we don't have an Apple Store here in HK yet) yesterday and I told him I was planning on getting a MacBook for my daughter this Summer. He immediately said, "Don't buy it now! All the laptops are being updated."
It would be nice if the Macbooks were updated too as it means the Mini and low-end iMac should follow. The Macbook Pros were the only ones mentioned as being out of stock but they all need a refresh.
What's interesting is that the numbers could well match up:
Core i3 = 13"
Core i5 = 15"
Core i7 = 17"
I imagine if they used the i7, they'd put it in as an option on the 15" though. Some manufacturers are sticking with the Intel HD graphics on the low end with Core i3 but others are going with the i3 + Geforce 310M (Optimus).
The 310M is better than Intel and 9400M but still sucks for computation at 73GFlops.
I'd much rather have a Radeon 5650 across the whole lineup. I don't really see why they can't use one good graphics chip in every laptop. It makes support issues less for a start as they only have one driver to deal with.
When you say computation, do you mean 3D performance or GPGPU performance? Have we seen any significant use of GPGPU yet?
GPGPU performance but it impacts 3D too because GLSL shaders are computations as is PhysX (hardware physics acceleration). This impacts modern games that use nice lighting effects as well as 3D applications that can show GLSL previews in the viewport. The biggest one that would matter to Apple users would be Motion:
"Dozens of leading developers support the FxPlug standard to offer hundreds of real-time GPU-accelerated plug-ins at 32-bit float quality."
More VRAM helps when dealing with lots of layers. The MBP really needs a big jump in the GPU performance. As I've said before, there are PC manufacturers selling the Radeon 5650 with 1GB VRAM in laptops under $1000. This chip is about 3x faster than the 9600M GT for computation.
I know Apple doesn't do the whole spec matching thing but when you are paying nearly double the amount of a PC laptop, you kind of expect the performance to come close, especially when the 5650 doesn't draw any more power than the 9600M GT.
Given that the low-end products are also more expensive than the PC laptops, they should have decent GPUs too. I fully expect the NVidia 310M on the low-end though and the NVidia 330M on the high-end. This is simply because they use NVidia Optimus tech which actually shuts the GPU off entirely and drops to the Intel HD chip inside the CPU (even the i3 has this).
The 10.6.3 update had some mentions of being able to switch graphics contexts without any glitches.
Current CPUs take about 35W in a laptop and the GPU 20-25W. The Core i mobile series does 35W with the GPU so even something like the 9400M with dynamic clocking would still draw a few watts - it only has a maximum draw of 12-13W so say 5W on low usage.
This means that on average use, you save around 12% battery life. This means Apple can change the battery life estimates from 7 hours on a MBP to 8 hours (9 hour on the 17").
Everybody is enamored with the 5650... They could easily throw in a more powerful 5750 instead, which is only slightly hotter than the 9600M GT that's in there now.
Comments
iphone 4.0 on thrusday.... One can only hope theres a "One more thing, New macbook pros"
Hopefully Macbook and Mini too. It's probably time to drop Core 2 altogether now including the lowest iMacs. The Core i3 handles multi-thread processing better.
Can't wait to see what they do GPU-wise. If they use Optimus or the Radeon to replace the 9400M, it's a big performance boost. If they stick with the Intel IGP alone, well it's going to be pretty sad.
Thursdays are the new Tuesdays!
Even if they do announce them Thursday, I'll bet they won't really ship until May.
btw, isn't it probably the SSD that makes the sony so Z fast??
Yes the SSD undoubtably helps the z series performance wise. But the i3 that I played with had a platter drive and it too was quite sappy.
Them Arrandales look mighty tasty in the time I tried them.
i doubt they will be released this month but hey as long as they say SOMETHING
P.S: it's good to see that this thread is way more civilized than the newer "taiwanese report mbp's this month" one.
Yes the SSD undoubtably helps the z series performance wise. But the i3 that I played with had a platter drive and it too was quite sappy.
Them Arrandales look mighty tasty in the time I tried them.
Why don't you guys take this to SONY Z FORUM.
Why don't you guys take this to SONY Z FORUM.
I offer this as a point of reference to those who await new MBPs.
You do know there is a good chance that they'll have Nehalem cpus, don't you?
I offer this as a point of reference to those who await new MBPs.
You do know there is a good chance that they'll have Nehalem cpus, don't you?
They almost certainly will. The problem is when? These things are a third of a year over due and as of late they haven't earned the benefit of the doubt to keep waiting. Rumors have the price of the entire line going up several hundred bucks. Add to that with new interfaces coming out, I want an expansion slot. Apple isn't likely to give me one on even a 15" model now. I also want a BluRay drive, also something they aren't likely to give. Add to that (and I say this as a former Apple employee and Kool-Aid drinker) that imho, Windows 7 is finally a good enough approximation of OS X, and you have a bunch of people contemplating jumping ship.
"The Australian arm of Macworld is reporting that a source "familiar with Apple product cycles and inventory levels" is saying we'll see that long awaited MacBook Pro update on Tuesday April 13th. He/she says all lines of MacBook will receive updates with the possible exception of the MacBook Air which he/she can't confirm. Numerous reports have had Apple's Core iX lineup of MacBook Pros coming in April."
http://9to5mac.com/macbook-pro-any-given-tuesday-2509520925
Please do not get my hopes up AGAIN
Complaints about Apples deficiency in responding to their customer base won't help. Dropping sales would.
Who bought all those MBPs over the past months?
Who bought all those MBPs over the past months?
Normal people who don't come here to get information about computers. People who are just as unconcerned and uninformed about what is inside their laptop as they are about what is under the hood of their car. There are millions of them.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/09/1...ed-refresh-re/
Only seems to be the 15" model though. While it would be good to get i5/i7 + good GPU, it would be nice to see some i3s in the lower end of the lineup with better GPUs too.
I guess due to shortages in the chips, they'll focus on the MBP first, then roll out the Mac Pro update, then it will be the Macbook, Mini and low-end iMac.
They almost certainly will. The problem is when? These things are a third of a year over due and as of late they haven't earned the benefit of the doubt to keep waiting. Rumors have the price of the entire line going up several hundred bucks. Add to that with new interfaces coming out, I want an expansion slot. Apple isn't likely to give me one on even a 15" model now. I also want a BluRay drive, also something they aren't likely to give. Add to that (and I say this as a former Apple employee and Kool-Aid drinker) that imho, Windows 7 is finally a good enough approximation of OS X, and you have a bunch of people contemplating jumping ship.
Hey I'm not defending Apple here. And I have NO idea when Apple will release new MBPs.
I'm just saying that, based on my limited experience in playing around with a Sony laptop that has components that are likely to be present in new the MBPs that the updated MBPS are probably going to be fast machines.
That's all FWIW.
"Update: There is some ambiguity as to whether the MacBook Pro will actually ship in April. Even our Chinese readers are having a difficult time understanding the verbiage. As near as we can tell the release will start in April but orders may not catch up to demand until June?"
http://9to5mac.com/new-macbook-pros-june-34589529
In other words, production != shipping. Boo hiss.
And there it is. If you need it now, buy it. Don't waste your time waiting for a small improvement or price cut.
If it's something you "want" but don't "need", then you're better off waiting, and not complaining about it.
But switching platforms seems like a pretty stupid third alternative.
I was at my local Apple Authorized Reseller (we don't have an Apple Store here in HK yet) yesterday and I told him I was planning on getting a MacBook for my daughter this Summer. He immediately said, "Don't buy it now! All the laptops are being updated."
It would be nice if the Macbooks were updated too as it means the Mini and low-end iMac should follow. The Macbook Pros were the only ones mentioned as being out of stock but they all need a refresh.
What's interesting is that the numbers could well match up:
Core i3 = 13"
Core i5 = 15"
Core i7 = 17"
I imagine if they used the i7, they'd put it in as an option on the 15" though. Some manufacturers are sticking with the Intel HD graphics on the low end with Core i3 but others are going with the i3 + Geforce 310M (Optimus).
The 310M is better than Intel and 9400M but still sucks for computation at 73GFlops.
I'd much rather have a Radeon 5650 across the whole lineup. I don't really see why they can't use one good graphics chip in every laptop. It makes support issues less for a start as they only have one driver to deal with.
The 310M is better than Intel and 9400M but still sucks for computation at 73GFlops.
When you say computation, do you mean 3D performance or GPGPU performance? Have we seen any significant use of GPGPU yet?
When you say computation, do you mean 3D performance or GPGPU performance? Have we seen any significant use of GPGPU yet?
GPGPU performance but it impacts 3D too because GLSL shaders are computations as is PhysX (hardware physics acceleration). This impacts modern games that use nice lighting effects as well as 3D applications that can show GLSL previews in the viewport. The biggest one that would matter to Apple users would be Motion:
http://http.developer.nvidia.com/GPU...chapter25.html
Even Final Cut uses the GPU:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/...ansitions.html
"Dozens of leading developers support the FxPlug standard to offer hundreds of real-time GPU-accelerated plug-ins at 32-bit float quality."
More VRAM helps when dealing with lots of layers. The MBP really needs a big jump in the GPU performance. As I've said before, there are PC manufacturers selling the Radeon 5650 with 1GB VRAM in laptops under $1000. This chip is about 3x faster than the 9600M GT for computation.
I know Apple doesn't do the whole spec matching thing but when you are paying nearly double the amount of a PC laptop, you kind of expect the performance to come close, especially when the 5650 doesn't draw any more power than the 9600M GT.
Given that the low-end products are also more expensive than the PC laptops, they should have decent GPUs too. I fully expect the NVidia 310M on the low-end though and the NVidia 330M on the high-end. This is simply because they use NVidia Optimus tech which actually shuts the GPU off entirely and drops to the Intel HD chip inside the CPU (even the i3 has this).
The 10.6.3 update had some mentions of being able to switch graphics contexts without any glitches.
Current CPUs take about 35W in a laptop and the GPU 20-25W. The Core i mobile series does 35W with the GPU so even something like the 9400M with dynamic clocking would still draw a few watts - it only has a maximum draw of 12-13W so say 5W on low usage.
This means that on average use, you save around 12% battery life. This means Apple can change the battery life estimates from 7 hours on a MBP to 8 hours (9 hour on the 17").