1) Santa Rosa offers very little performance improvement. Apple should wait until Santa Rosa's Robson is working well before implementing in the MacBook (Pro) lines. Plus, we'll definitely see it int he MBP before the MB.
True except for the X3100 GPU that is part of Santa Rosa and that's the one part where the MacBook really was crying out for an update.
I find it slightly -- just ever so slightly -- irksome that the 13" MacBook now has a faster optical drive than the 15" MBP.
The 15" Powerbook had a faster optical drive than the 15" Macbook Pro. They tried to make it as thin as possible which meant downgrading from a 12.7mm notebook drive to a 9.5mm drive meant for ultra portables.
I don't know, maybe because bargain basement HP got the newest tech last week, and we expect more out of a premium computer maker like Apple.
3 weeks from WWDC and a real keynote? Right.
'Sides, while it seems that the HP is shipping quickly (3 days) Apple may not have been able to secure the volume to transition the majority of their notebook lines over right away (figuring the MacBooks are half or more of the volume). HP can afford to run dry on the DV2500T since they have other models. Apple not so much.
The speed bump buys them a month or so till WWDC and enough stock for a chipset change. The GMA 3100 will be a nice improvement but the speed bump a reasonable consolation prize for anyone forced to buy a MB this month. And its not a major production change for Apple.
Many if not most folks are hopefully able to wait. I am for either an updated MB or Mini for my parents.
IMO, users would have been better off if Apple had gone with SR and keep the CPU speeds the same. The new IG procesor would probably be of more benefit than the modest bump in CPU speed this upgrade provided. I know it's far sexier to say 'hey look how fast our CPUs are' from a marketing perspective, however.
They also dropped the prices here in the UK. The three base specs are now £50 cheaper each.
They were £749 / £879 / £999.
They're now £699 / £829 / £949. Prices including our VAT at 17.5%. With the USD/GBP exchange rate hovering around $2 to the pound, that's not a brilliant drop but still welcome.
Good to see 1GB standard in the low end model too.
I'm very happy to see these price drops but no Santa Rosa and no Mini update = \.
2GHz & 2.16GHz Minis would have been very welcome. Even 1.83GHz in the low end now that the MBs aren't using them and 1GB Ram standard.
Disappointed about no Centrino Duo but it's a decent upgrade, anyway. Slightly faster, twice the RAM, larger HDs, faster SuperDrive, the new 802.11n are all very welcome. The Santa Rosa upgrade will probably happen in November for the holiday buying season and it'll ship with Leopard.
If the MBP coming out in June doesn't have SR, I'll really be bitterly disappointed and will wait for the next update.
You mean that's the part some MB users should rather get an MBP instead? We're talking about a consumer laptop, not a professional laptop.
The Intel X3100 replaces the Intel GMA950 in the current MacBook. It's still integrated graphics like the GMA950 but adds DirectX10 shader support and H.264 video acceleration. It's perfect for consumer laptops and not for pros.
If the MBP coming out in June doesn't have SR, I'll really be bitterly disappointed and will wait for the next update.
Apple will eventually update the MB Pro with Santa Rosa, but even if it does not, it will be not really a disappointment. At this moment, Santa Rosa offers only marginal performance improvements, despite the faster bus, and it would be more relevant in a Macbook update because of the new integrated graphics.
Later improvements on the new Intel platform will bring more in performance but for now it is rather marketing than anything else (in the MBP field at least, since the MB would see a substantial graphics boost). It is certain the Apple at this moment prepares the new graphics drivers for the autumn MB update. It needs time and it seems this will come with Leopard.
Comments
1) Santa Rosa offers very little performance improvement. Apple should wait until Santa Rosa's Robson is working well before implementing in the MacBook (Pro) lines. Plus, we'll definitely see it int he MBP before the MB.
True except for the X3100 GPU that is part of Santa Rosa and that's the one part where the MacBook really was crying out for an update.
The Apple Store is now back online, confirming that the MacBook bump is the only update for today!
It went up, and then down again... I wonder what they are doing.
From Apple's HotNews:
iTunes Offers Exclusive Pre-Order of New Paul McCartney Album ?Memory Almost Full?
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/05/15itunes.html
That is the big news of the day.
*Chuckle*
It went up, and then down again... I wonder what they are doing.
That's spooky. It's done the same here in the UK too.
I find it slightly -- just ever so slightly -- irksome that the 13" MacBook now has a faster optical drive than the 15" MBP.
The 15" Powerbook had a faster optical drive than the 15" Macbook Pro. They tried to make it as thin as possible which meant downgrading from a 12.7mm notebook drive to a 9.5mm drive meant for ultra portables.
I don't know, maybe because bargain basement HP got the newest tech last week, and we expect more out of a premium computer maker like Apple.
3 weeks from WWDC and a real keynote? Right.
'Sides, while it seems that the HP is shipping quickly (3 days) Apple may not have been able to secure the volume to transition the majority of their notebook lines over right away (figuring the MacBooks are half or more of the volume). HP can afford to run dry on the DV2500T since they have other models. Apple not so much.
The speed bump buys them a month or so till WWDC and enough stock for a chipset change. The GMA 3100 will be a nice improvement but the speed bump a reasonable consolation prize for anyone forced to buy a MB this month. And its not a major production change for Apple.
Many if not most folks are hopefully able to wait. I am for either an updated MB or Mini for my parents.
Vinea
If I was supposed to be ordering new kit today, I'd have to go elsewhere.
Oh, drat. No super-mini-portable with 5GHz quad processors for $399. I have had it with Apple.
The only thing worse than the whiners are these cliched responses.
They also dropped the prices here in the UK. The three base specs are now £50 cheaper each.
They were £749 / £879 / £999.
They're now £699 / £829 / £949. Prices including our VAT at 17.5%. With the USD/GBP exchange rate hovering around $2 to the pound, that's not a brilliant drop but still welcome.
Good to see 1GB standard in the low end model too.
I'm very happy to see these price drops but no Santa Rosa and no Mini update =
2GHz & 2.16GHz Minis would have been very welcome. Even 1.83GHz in the low end now that the MBs aren't using them and 1GB Ram standard.
I'm very happy to see these price drops but no Santa Rosa and no Mini update =
Mac mini=Apple's bastard child
The only thing worse than the whiners are these cliched responses.
Read your own posts.
Read your own posts.
To quote that other thread:
Ziiiing...
Edit: Sorry...that would be
zzzzzzzzzzzzing!
My bad.
The Apple Store is now back online, confirming that the MacBook bump is the only update for today!
The Apple store is still down here in USA.
Why? MB Pros don't have it yet. Santa Rosa will be rather for the autumn Macbook update.
I was referring to Pros not being updated. in due time.
True except for the X3100 GPU that is part of Santa Rosa and that's the one part where the MacBook really was crying out for an update.
You mean that's the part some MB users should rather get an MBP instead? We're talking about a consumer laptop, not a professional laptop.
If the MBP coming out in June doesn't have SR, I'll really be bitterly disappointed and will wait for the next update.
You mean that's the part some MB users should rather get an MBP instead? We're talking about a consumer laptop, not a professional laptop.
The Intel X3100 replaces the Intel GMA950 in the current MacBook. It's still integrated graphics like the GMA950 but adds DirectX10 shader support and H.264 video acceleration. It's perfect for consumer laptops and not for pros.
You can read about it at http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/GM965/index.htm
If the MBP coming out in June doesn't have SR, I'll really be bitterly disappointed and will wait for the next update.
Apple will eventually update the MB Pro with Santa Rosa, but even if it does not, it will be not really a disappointment. At this moment, Santa Rosa offers only marginal performance improvements, despite the faster bus, and it would be more relevant in a Macbook update because of the new integrated graphics.
Later improvements on the new Intel platform will bring more in performance but for now it is rather marketing than anything else (in the MBP field at least, since the MB would see a substantial graphics boost). It is certain the Apple at this moment prepares the new graphics drivers for the autumn MB update. It needs time and it seems this will come with Leopard.