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.
I know and I see your point. My point might have been not very clear. Therefore I will state it more precisely here: If you want decent graphics get a MacBook Pro.
I know and I see your point. My point might have been not very clear. Therefore I will state it more precisely here: If you want decent graphics get a MacBook Pro.
Or get a HP laptop for $999 which contains the X3100 graphics. Apologize all you want but the current Macbook "update" is selling obsolete hardware. I feel for the people that held out for a new Macbook only to get a slight refresh.
I know and I see your point. My point might have been not very clear. Therefore I will state it more precisely here: If you want decent graphics get a MacBook Pro.
Riiiiiiight... Pay $1000 more than an HP consumer laptop or any of the other Santa Rosa based consumer laptops launched in the last few weeks just for last year's discrete graphics. I see how your thinking goes.
Or get a HP laptop for $999 which contains the X3100 graphics. Apologize all you want but the current Macbook "update" is selling obsolete hardware. I feel for the people that held out for a new Macbook only to get a slight refresh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aegisdesign
Riiiiiiight... Pay $1000 more than an HP consumer laptop or any of the other Santa Rosa based consumer laptops launched in the last few weeks just for last year's discrete graphics. I see how your thinking goes.
It's clear that Doemel is referring to machines with OS X. If you want the best graphics card at a lower price then you aren't even getting a notebook.
Santa Rosa was released just under a week ago. There is nothing impressive about the platform that warrants an immediate jump just to say "I win, I have the latest hardware available."
The GMA950 is a perfectly fine chip for a consumer machine like the MacBook. Not being the latest tech on the block does not make it obsolete.
Is there any other fanbase where people get upset because their are updates at the same price point? Would you all rather just wait another 5 months before updating the MacBooks?
People are already bitching that the MBs have a 2x faster speed over the 15" MBP, imagine the uproar if Santa Rosa made its way into the low-end first. Expect Santa Rosa MBPs in 3 weeks. Can we wait that long?
i smell something coming up in WWDC, there is no reason to update this, i guess this is just a stop gap update, new design in WWDC???
i thought macbook Pro is waiting for new design NOT mac books.
1GB RAM, thats good, where is the DVD writer in the base model?
MacBooks will sell more!.
Nope, this is the latest Macbook for the next several months, probably until October or November at least.
The Macbook Pro will see an update either before WWDC or at WWDC, probably before if Apple actually plans to unveil a new iMac at WWDC. It's not really confirmed whether the LED Displays will be put into the Macbook Pro or the iMac first.... but one thing it does confirm is that Apple will probably end up replacing the current line of Cinema Displays sometime before the end of 2008 (if they plan to do a fast transition and move everything over before the end of next year anyways) meaning the Macbook will likely see it's first LED Display a year from now.
As far as Santa Rosa goes... it's really not all that exciting since they delayed WiMax till Montevina. Considering Santa Rosa just came out, we'll probably only see the X3100 in the Macbook in the Fall update, and Robson will probably end up debuting in either the Macbook Pro or the rumored Ultra Portable, leaving the remaining technologies in Santa Rosa as just a speed boost because Apple was already using 802.11n and EFI.
On a better note, I love this speed bump for one reason: Since it's only a speed bump it means that my Macbook is still as good as new, if only a bit slower than the current ones.
I'll bet most of those that complain about the graphics never use any programs that even come close to using what's in there now. They just want to complain The macbook does fine video editing and many other things but if you want a gaming maching don't get one.
And does anyone really think Apple would release SR in the macbook before they released it in the MBP. If you do your living in some other dimension.
It's clear that Doemel is referring to machines with OS X. If you want the best graphics card at a lower price then you aren't even getting a notebook.
Santa Rosa was released just under a week ago. There is nothing impressive about the platform that warrants an immediate jump just to say "I win, I have the latest hardware available."
The GMA950 is a perfectly fine chip for a consumer machine like the MacBook. Not being the latest tech on the block does not make it obsolete.
True it is perfectly fine. But the X3100 is significantly better and available now in Apple's competition's consumer laptops. It was the one thing people complained about in the original design, especially in a $1099 laptop. It'll be months before the next MacBook update.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
Is there any other fanbase where people get upset because their are updates at the same price point? Would you all rather just wait another 5 months before updating the MacBooks?
The point was that they should really have been updated now. Most of the other top manufacturers have updated theirs. And we probably WILL be waiting 5 months before they're updated in any way that actually matters.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
People are already bitching that the MBs have a 2x faster speed over the 15" MBP, imagine the uproar if Santa Rosa made its way into the low-end first. Expect Santa Rosa MBPs in 3 weeks. Can we wait that long?
As I said earlier, the only bit of Santa Rosa that actually makes much difference is the improved integrated graphics hardware so updating the MacBook first makes the MOST sense. If they wanted they could have even kept the bus at 667 on the MacBook and gone 800Mhz on the Pro. Or they could have released both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro update at the same time - both need an update.
I'll bet most of those that complain about the graphics never use any programs that even come close to using what's in there now. They just want to complain The macbook does fine video editing and many other things but if you want a gaming maching don't get one.
No, get a cheaper HP.
The X3100 isn't exactly hot stuff for gaming either but it does do H.264 decoding in hardware and so would do more than fine video editing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Timon
And does anyone really think Apple would release SR in the macbook before they released it in the MBP. If you do your living in some other dimension.
Apple update low end computers all the time ahead of the high end. The first Intel boxes were iMacs not MacPros. The MacBooks got a new case ahead of the MacBook Pro. The last iBook G4s were faster than the PowerBook 12" and had more memory capacity. And today the MacBooks have faster superdrives than the MacBook Pros. Welcome to the other dimension.
Oh, drat. No super-mini-portable with 5GHz quad processors for $399. I have had it with Apple.
Speed bumps. WWDC is next month...
I see no reason to suggest that expecting Santa Rosa in an update after it's already in production is in any way an unrealistic expectation. It may not be noticibly faster, but it does have better graphics and better power consumption. I don't think that the MB will be updated again only three weeks from now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aegisdesign
The X3100 isn't exactly hot stuff for gaming either but it does do H.264 decoding in hardware and so would do more than fine video editing.
How? One shouldn't want to natively edit H.264, it should be converted to an all-i-frame codec that's not so tough to encode or decode. The H.264 decoding feature mainly improves playback.
Or get a HP laptop for $999 which contains the X3100 graphics. Apologize all you want but the current Macbook "update" is selling obsolete hardware. I feel for the people that held out for a new Macbook only to get a slight refresh.
Thanks for the sympathy.
My first reaction was this: "Motherf*&%(*&^%*&^$#&^*%^$(*&%(&^%)*&@(*&^%!)*&@% *^!%$%*&!_(*&@_(*&%^#@*&^%@*&@%*&^@%$%*!&^(!&^$%(@ *&^@!)(*^%)@*&^@%(&*^@%()*@&^)*!&^%(@&;^)^!(*&%!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I have been telling my wife that we should hold onto our limping G4 for 5 months now, in the expectation that MacBooks would get the new X3100, and graphics would be much better. Since we were holding off, we decided that we could probably afford 2 MacBooks (and I could probably get away with getting one low one and one high one). Since these "speed bumps" (actually, they should probably be called "potholes") mean that an SR update is probably not due for the MBs now until something like Sept or Oct, and I won't buy outdated gear (I've done tests at our local Apple store on video clips similar to what I do at home, and because of the gma950, the MB was not significantly faster than our 6 year old G4 tower...while the MBP was 2-3 times faster), and our computer will probably not last until the fall, we'll have to buy a MBP. Just one. And not a high end one either.
I'm pretty sure in the grand scheme of things, Apple would have rather had us purchase two MBs than one MBP.
Pisses me off. I try to be a very conscientious consumer. With two kids and our decision to have jobs that are meaningful rather than lucrative, our money is far from limitless.
This sucks...I had gotten used to the idea that my wife and I wouldn't have to share computers any more. Maybe in another 5 or 6 years...
True it is perfectly fine. But the X3100 is significantly better and available now in Apple's competition's consumer laptops. It was the one thing people complained about in the original design, especially in a $1099 laptop. It'll be months before the next MacBook update.
The point was that they should really have been updated now. Most of the other top manufacturers have updated theirs. And we probably WILL be waiting 5 months before they're updated in any way that actually matters.
As I said earlier, the only bit of Santa Rosa that actually makes much difference is the improved integrated graphics hardware so updating the MacBook first makes the MOST sense. If they wanted they could have even kept the bus at 667 on the MacBook and gone 800Mhz on the Pro. Or they could have released both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro update at the same time - both need an update.
Does the base 1G come as 2 x 512MB, filling both slots? Or as one 1G chip? I know that 2G is offered as a BTO, but Apple's RAM is the most expensive. If there are 2 512s then upgrading later to a full 2G becomes even more costly.
Comments
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
I know and I see your point. My point might have been not very clear. Therefore I will state it more precisely here: If you want decent graphics get a MacBook Pro.
I know and I see your point. My point might have been not very clear. Therefore I will state it more precisely here: If you want decent graphics get a MacBook Pro.
Or get a HP laptop for $999 which contains the X3100 graphics. Apologize all you want but the current Macbook "update" is selling obsolete hardware. I feel for the people that held out for a new Macbook only to get a slight refresh.
I know and I see your point. My point might have been not very clear. Therefore I will state it more precisely here: If you want decent graphics get a MacBook Pro.
Riiiiiiight... Pay $1000 more than an HP consumer laptop or any of the other Santa Rosa based consumer laptops launched in the last few weeks just for last year's discrete graphics. I see how your thinking goes.
i thought macbook Pro is waiting for new design NOT mac books.
1GB RAM, thats good, where is the DVD writer in the base model?
MacBooks will sell more!.
Or get a HP laptop for $999 which contains the X3100 graphics. Apologize all you want but the current Macbook "update" is selling obsolete hardware. I feel for the people that held out for a new Macbook only to get a slight refresh.
Riiiiiiight... Pay $1000 more than an HP consumer laptop or any of the other Santa Rosa based consumer laptops launched in the last few weeks just for last year's discrete graphics. I see how your thinking goes.
It's clear that Doemel is referring to machines with OS X. If you want the best graphics card at a lower price then you aren't even getting a notebook.
Santa Rosa was released just under a week ago. There is nothing impressive about the platform that warrants an immediate jump just to say "I win, I have the latest hardware available."
The GMA950 is a perfectly fine chip for a consumer machine like the MacBook. Not being the latest tech on the block does not make it obsolete.
Is there any other fanbase where people get upset because their are updates at the same price point? Would you all rather just wait another 5 months before updating the MacBooks?
People are already bitching that the MBs have a 2x faster speed over the 15" MBP, imagine the uproar if Santa Rosa made its way into the low-end first. Expect Santa Rosa MBPs in 3 weeks. Can we wait that long?
i smell something coming up in WWDC, there is no reason to update this, i guess this is just a stop gap update, new design in WWDC???
i thought macbook Pro is waiting for new design NOT mac books.
1GB RAM, thats good, where is the DVD writer in the base model?
MacBooks will sell more!.
Nope, this is the latest Macbook for the next several months, probably until October or November at least.
The Macbook Pro will see an update either before WWDC or at WWDC, probably before if Apple actually plans to unveil a new iMac at WWDC. It's not really confirmed whether the LED Displays will be put into the Macbook Pro or the iMac first.... but one thing it does confirm is that Apple will probably end up replacing the current line of Cinema Displays sometime before the end of 2008 (if they plan to do a fast transition and move everything over before the end of next year anyways) meaning the Macbook will likely see it's first LED Display a year from now.
As far as Santa Rosa goes... it's really not all that exciting since they delayed WiMax till Montevina. Considering Santa Rosa just came out, we'll probably only see the X3100 in the Macbook in the Fall update, and Robson will probably end up debuting in either the Macbook Pro or the rumored Ultra Portable, leaving the remaining technologies in Santa Rosa as just a speed boost because Apple was already using 802.11n and EFI.
On a better note, I love this speed bump for one reason: Since it's only a speed bump it means that my Macbook is still as good as new, if only a bit slower than the current ones.
Sebastian
And does anyone really think Apple would release SR in the macbook before they released it in the MBP. If you do your living in some other dimension.
It's clear that Doemel is referring to machines with OS X. If you want the best graphics card at a lower price then you aren't even getting a notebook.
Santa Rosa was released just under a week ago. There is nothing impressive about the platform that warrants an immediate jump just to say "I win, I have the latest hardware available."
The GMA950 is a perfectly fine chip for a consumer machine like the MacBook. Not being the latest tech on the block does not make it obsolete.
True it is perfectly fine. But the X3100 is significantly better and available now in Apple's competition's consumer laptops. It was the one thing people complained about in the original design, especially in a $1099 laptop. It'll be months before the next MacBook update.
Is there any other fanbase where people get upset because their are updates at the same price point? Would you all rather just wait another 5 months before updating the MacBooks?
The point was that they should really have been updated now. Most of the other top manufacturers have updated theirs. And we probably WILL be waiting 5 months before they're updated in any way that actually matters.
People are already bitching that the MBs have a 2x faster speed over the 15" MBP, imagine the uproar if Santa Rosa made its way into the low-end first. Expect Santa Rosa MBPs in 3 weeks. Can we wait that long?
As I said earlier, the only bit of Santa Rosa that actually makes much difference is the improved integrated graphics hardware so updating the MacBook first makes the MOST sense. If they wanted they could have even kept the bus at 667 on the MacBook and gone 800Mhz on the Pro. Or they could have released both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro update at the same time - both need an update.
I'll bet most of those that complain about the graphics never use any programs that even come close to using what's in there now. They just want to complain
No, get a cheaper HP.
The X3100 isn't exactly hot stuff for gaming either but it does do H.264 decoding in hardware and so would do more than fine video editing.
And does anyone really think Apple would release SR in the macbook before they released it in the MBP. If you do your living in some other dimension.
Apple update low end computers all the time ahead of the high end. The first Intel boxes were iMacs not MacPros. The MacBooks got a new case ahead of the MacBook Pro. The last iBook G4s were faster than the PowerBook 12" and had more memory capacity. And today the MacBooks have faster superdrives than the MacBook Pros. Welcome to the other dimension.
That's good!
Oh, drat. No super-mini-portable with 5GHz quad processors for $399. I have had it with Apple.
Speed bumps. WWDC is next month...
I see no reason to suggest that expecting Santa Rosa in an update after it's already in production is in any way an unrealistic expectation. It may not be noticibly faster, but it does have better graphics and better power consumption. I don't think that the MB will be updated again only three weeks from now.
The X3100 isn't exactly hot stuff for gaming either but it does do H.264 decoding in hardware and so would do more than fine video editing.
How? One shouldn't want to natively edit H.264, it should be converted to an all-i-frame codec that's not so tough to encode or decode. The H.264 decoding feature mainly improves playback.
Or get a HP laptop for $999 which contains the X3100 graphics. Apologize all you want but the current Macbook "update" is selling obsolete hardware. I feel for the people that held out for a new Macbook only to get a slight refresh.
Thanks for the sympathy.
My first reaction was this: "Motherf*&%(*&^%*&^$#&^*%^$(*&%(&^%)*&@(*&^%!)*&@% *^!%$%*&!_(*&@_(*&%^#@*&^%@*&@%*&^@%$%*!&^(!&^$%(@ *&^@!)(*^%)@*&^@%(&*^@%()*@&^)*!&^%(@&;^)^!(*&%!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I have been telling my wife that we should hold onto our limping G4 for 5 months now, in the expectation that MacBooks would get the new X3100, and graphics would be much better. Since we were holding off, we decided that we could probably afford 2 MacBooks (and I could probably get away with getting one low one and one high one). Since these "speed bumps" (actually, they should probably be called "potholes") mean that an SR update is probably not due for the MBs now until something like Sept or Oct, and I won't buy outdated gear (I've done tests at our local Apple store on video clips similar to what I do at home, and because of the gma950, the MB was not significantly faster than our 6 year old G4 tower...while the MBP was 2-3 times faster), and our computer will probably not last until the fall, we'll have to buy a MBP. Just one. And not a high end one either.
I'm pretty sure in the grand scheme of things, Apple would have rather had us purchase two MBs than one MBP.
Pisses me off. I try to be a very conscientious consumer. With two kids and our decision to have jobs that are meaningful rather than lucrative, our money is far from limitless.
This sucks...I had gotten used to the idea that my wife and I wouldn't have to share computers any more. Maybe in another 5 or 6 years...
ugh!
True it is perfectly fine. But the X3100 is significantly better and available now in Apple's competition's consumer laptops. It was the one thing people complained about in the original design, especially in a $1099 laptop. It'll be months before the next MacBook update.
The point was that they should really have been updated now. Most of the other top manufacturers have updated theirs. And we probably WILL be waiting 5 months before they're updated in any way that actually matters.
As I said earlier, the only bit of Santa Rosa that actually makes much difference is the improved integrated graphics hardware so updating the MacBook first makes the MOST sense. If they wanted they could have even kept the bus at 667 on the MacBook and gone 800Mhz on the Pro. Or they could have released both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro update at the same time - both need an update.
Right on all points.
I wonder how much money they lose taking the store offline like this. It's 2.30pm here now in the UK and it's been offline most of the working day.
If I was supposed to be ordering new kit today, I'd have to go elsewhere.
Why, wherelse do you go, you want a Mac, you get it from Apple. Me, I would wait then order. Patience.
This reminds me of the PPC upgrade days.
Ha, I was just thinking the same thing.
Blah.