The CPU upgrade is to intel's new Santa Rosa platform which means a faster FSB in addition to other improvements, so the speed bump is going to be greater than just the clock speed would suggest.
Nice update but magnetic latches would have been nice as well as high res displays in the lower end models.
But at least you get 2GB Ram now and the option of a 7200 rpm drive in all models. AND GPU UPDATES!!!!! And we get CPU bumps and Santa Rosa and LED displays.
The 8600M GT is a nice card supporting DirectX 10 shader model 4 (Splinter Cell: Double Agent support at last). Unified shader core like the XBox 360. Hardware decoding of H264, VC-1 (don't know if the X1600 did this). 50% faster in benchmarks than the X1600.
I'd say the update was pretty good overall. Much better than the craptacular Macbook update.
I imagine we'll see these improvements in the iMac too.
Correction:
The 8600 does not offload VC-1. It's wired for h264 decoding only.
Otherwise, completely agree. It's an awesome update, but if I had bought a last-gen mbp I wouldn't be too excited.
Very solid update. The 120 HD on the entry model is dissapointing (less than the black macbook!) but very nice otherwise. I'm a little unexpectedly needing to get rid of my iMac for a laptop, so I'm pleased overall.
I call PR BULLSHIT! Nothing is one-inch thin. That's like Willard Goddamn Scott trying to tell everyone old people are 100-years young.
Blarf! Write your own ledes!
That being said. Damn. I want a LED-lit display. And a dual-layer DVD burner and a FW800 port would be nice. And n wireless.
But I still love my CDMBP
I think one inch thin is just fine because a 1 inch thick notebook computer today is pretty dang thin. Now if they were saying 6" thin, I could see your point when other notebooks are between 1" and 2.5" and how it related to Mr. Scott glossing over the obvious with the seniors that make it a century. So 1" thin is fine because it is one of the thinnest made while 1" is thin itself for this type of product.
The 15 goes from 5 to 6 hrs. battery life. Very good upgrade overall. Not good if you already have a recent C2D 'Book but fantastic if you're upgrading from a PB G4!
Nice to finally see a 7200 rpm HD option! Of course, that delays it 4 to 6 weeks.
4 to 6 weeks! Holy crap!! might as well buy stock and get yourself an HDD from where-ever and DIY...they usually use seagate momentums so its not like its an unheard of part...
cheeky f*ckers...they've wacked in two 1Gb Ram modules rather than one 2Gb module. so any upgrade to 4Gb will mean ditching those 1Gb's...great. bit of a waste huh.
Any idea why selecting a glossy display knocks down the price $150?? And it's $135 off if combined with the education price, resulting in a crazy discount:
This is a great upgrade for those of us (like myself) who are still using a PowerBook G4 1.5 (non Intel chip) version.
In fact, I placed my order at for a 2.4 15 incher at 9:02 AM (edt) this morning with expedited shipping. It is expected to ship between June 6 -8 and to be delivered between June 8-13.
Stan
Congratulations!
I'm still chugging allong with my PB G4 1
Unfortunately, it still works well enough. I guess I will have to set the plug across the room where the dog likes to run. Ooops. Damaged beyond repair. Too bad I didn't have MagSafe. I'll give the wife the Nano and we'll call it even...
but i still abhor the placement of the hard drive. this is a pro laptop, make it so it is at minimum easy to change out like 99% of the others out there. One shouldn't have to remove .everything. just to change the HD.
Very solid update. The 120 HD on the entry model is dissapointing (less than the black macbook!) but very nice otherwise. I'm a little unexpectedly needing to get rid of my iMac for a laptop, so I'm pleased overall.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shiato storm
cheeky f*ckers...they've wacked in two 1Gb Ram modules rather than one 2Gb module. so any upgrade to 4Gb will mean ditching those 1Gb's...great. bit of a waste huh.
I agree. But it should be easier to resell 2 1Gb modules rather than 2 512's.
I could not see paying $750 to Apple to upgrade to 4Gb, so I placed an order for the stock machine.
It looks like a good competitive upgrade to me, but in the same casing as previous versions.
I would have loved to see the magnetic latches like the MacBook has - my PB needs to have the 3rd latch put in. Crummy latch is the only problem I have with the design.
Looking at what I do on a notebook I'd probably be just as happy with a MB like the one my wife has. I'm getting old enough to like a smaller & lighter form.
Overall, the new MBP looks good, will be attractive to customers ready for a new notebook and it leaves room in the Keynote next week for Steve J to announce something new, like a smaller MBP.
6 hours on the 15" and 5.75 on the 17" now. What was it before?
I think the 17" was 5.5. I don't remember the 15" specifics, but I think it was 4 or 4.5, though in both cases, I think it is at least 1.5 hours more than anyone actually ever gets from it.
but i still abhor the placement of the hard drive. this is a pro laptop, make it so it is at minimum easy to change out like 99% of the others out there. One shouldn't have to remove .everything. just to change the HD.
Yep. Why not just add a quarter inch of height and a couple of ounces and voila?
Although one thing I can't figure out about this update is, do they really expect people to spend $500 extra on 200MHz of performance, 40GB of storage, and 128MB of vRAM? Heck, you can get the extra storage as a BTO for $75, so that means you are paying $425 for a marginally faster CPU and GPU. That is just silly, even for proffesional users.
I was thinking the same. Here in the UK it's a £300 difference inc VAT. The extra 40GB upgrade costs £50inc. If you're not running large dual monitors then there's little point in paying the extra £300.
I'm a little dissapointed that laptop hard disk sizes hasn't progressed as fast as it might this past year. 120GB isn't a lot these days. There's 200/250GB drives at Apple but they're 4200rpm. Hitachi/Tosh/Samsung have 5400rpm drives out now.
Any idea why selecting a glossy display knocks down the price $150?? And it's $135 off if combined with the education price, resulting in a crazy discount:
wow, thats cool, and a great way to save money; especially if you actually prefer the glossy screen.
So now we've got the MacBooks, MacBook Pros all set, and iPhone set for later this month, so what will we see at WWDC: iMacs!!! Why would they go this long without an upgrade to the iMac if it was just going to be a boring incremental bump? They would've done that now as welll... no?
Any idea why selecting a glossy display knocks down the price $150?? And it's $135 off if combined with the education price, resulting in a crazy discount:
Wow, I just saw it with my own eyes. Crazy! Must be some sort of mistake? If that's accurate though i guess I know what sort of display i'll be going with
Comments
The CPU upgrade is to intel's new Santa Rosa platform which means a faster FSB in addition to other improvements, so the speed bump is going to be greater than just the clock speed would suggest.
About 5%. Go to Anandtech.com for the details.
Nice update but magnetic latches would have been nice as well as high res displays in the lower end models.
But at least you get 2GB Ram now and the option of a 7200 rpm drive in all models. AND GPU UPDATES!!!!! And we get CPU bumps and Santa Rosa and LED displays.
The 8600M GT is a nice card supporting DirectX 10 shader model 4 (Splinter Cell: Double Agent support at last). Unified shader core like the XBox 360. Hardware decoding of H264, VC-1 (don't know if the X1600 did this). 50% faster in benchmarks than the X1600.
I'd say the update was pretty good overall. Much better than the craptacular Macbook update.
I imagine we'll see these improvements in the iMac too.
Correction:
The 8600 does not offload VC-1. It's wired for h264 decoding only.
Otherwise, completely agree. It's an awesome update, but if I had bought a last-gen mbp I wouldn't be too excited.
I call PR BULLSHIT! Nothing is one-inch thin. That's like Willard Goddamn Scott trying to tell everyone old people are 100-years young.
Blarf! Write your own ledes!
That being said. Damn. I want a LED-lit display. And a dual-layer DVD burner and a FW800 port would be nice. And n wireless.
But I still love my CDMBP
I think one inch thin is just fine because a 1 inch thick notebook computer today is pretty dang thin. Now if they were saying 6" thin, I could see your point when other notebooks are between 1" and 2.5" and how it related to Mr. Scott glossing over the obvious with the seniors that make it a century. So 1" thin is fine because it is one of the thinnest made while 1" is thin itself for this type of product.
I still love my CDMBP too.
The 15 goes from 5 to 6 hrs. battery life. Very good upgrade overall. Not good if you already have a recent C2D 'Book but fantastic if you're upgrading from a PB G4!
Nice to finally see a 7200 rpm HD option! Of course, that delays it 4 to 6 weeks.
4 to 6 weeks! Holy crap!! might as well buy stock and get yourself an HDD from where-ever and DIY...they usually use seagate momentums so its not like its an unheard of part...
2.33 GHz to 2.4 GHz
667 MHz FSB to 800 MHz
3GB RAM max to 4GB
120GB HD to 160GB (160GB 7200 rpm option!)
6x SuperDrive to 8x
Radeon X1600 to GeForce 8600M GT (great upgrade!)
CCFL backlight to LED
5.6 lbs. to 5.4 (3.2 oz. lighter!)
5 hr. max batt life to 6 hrs.
Very good upgrade!
This is a great upgrade for those of us (like myself) who are still using a PowerBook G4 1.5 (non Intel chip) version.
In fact, I placed my order at for a 2.4 15 incher at 9:02 AM (edt) this morning with expedited shipping. It is expected to ship between June 6 -8 and to be delivered between June 8-13.
Stan
Congratulations!
I'm still chugging allong with my PB G4 1
Unfortunately, it still works well enough. I guess I will have to set the plug across the room where the dog likes to run. Ooops. Damaged beyond repair. Too bad I didn't have MagSafe. I'll give the wife the Nano and we'll call it even...
but i still abhor the placement of the hard drive. this is a pro laptop, make it so it is at minimum easy to change out like 99% of the others out there. One shouldn't have to remove .everything. just to change the HD.
It's really difficult to find it mentioned anywhere.
I think this is a very good update though, and it's new 'thinness' will add even more elegance when seen in the flesh.
Very solid update. The 120 HD on the entry model is dissapointing (less than the black macbook!) but very nice otherwise. I'm a little unexpectedly needing to get rid of my iMac for a laptop, so I'm pleased overall.
cheeky f*ckers...they've wacked in two 1Gb Ram modules rather than one 2Gb module. so any upgrade to 4Gb will mean ditching those 1Gb's...great. bit of a waste huh.
I agree. But it should be easier to resell 2 1Gb modules rather than 2 512's.
I could not see paying $750 to Apple to upgrade to 4Gb, so I placed an order for the stock machine.
Stan
@ Idle - no idea why cost would go down with glossy screen - maybe uses non-LED screen?
edit: on the UK site its a 70 pence cheaper option...way. to. go. apple.
I would have loved to see the magnetic latches like the MacBook has - my PB needs to have the 3rd latch put in. Crummy latch is the only problem I have with the design.
Looking at what I do on a notebook I'd probably be just as happy with a MB like the one my wife has. I'm getting old enough to like a smaller & lighter form.
Overall, the new MBP looks good, will be attractive to customers ready for a new notebook and it leaves room in the Keynote next week for Steve J to announce something new, like a smaller MBP.
6 hours on the 15" and 5.75 on the 17" now. What was it before?
I think the 17" was 5.5. I don't remember the 15" specifics, but I think it was 4 or 4.5, though in both cases, I think it is at least 1.5 hours more than anyone actually ever gets from it.
i like the specs...
but i still abhor the placement of the hard drive. this is a pro laptop, make it so it is at minimum easy to change out like 99% of the others out there. One shouldn't have to remove .everything. just to change the HD.
Yep. Why not just add a quarter inch of height and a couple of ounces and voila?
Although one thing I can't figure out about this update is, do they really expect people to spend $500 extra on 200MHz of performance, 40GB of storage, and 128MB of vRAM? Heck, you can get the extra storage as a BTO for $75, so that means you are paying $425 for a marginally faster CPU and GPU. That is just silly, even for proffesional users.
I was thinking the same. Here in the UK it's a £300 difference inc VAT. The extra 40GB upgrade costs £50inc. If you're not running large dual monitors then there's little point in paying the extra £300.
I'm a little dissapointed that laptop hard disk sizes hasn't progressed as fast as it might this past year. 120GB isn't a lot these days. There's 200/250GB drives at Apple but they're 4200rpm. Hitachi/Tosh/Samsung have 5400rpm drives out now.
Maybe I'll put the £300 to a NAS/Mini/Drobo.
Any idea why selecting a glossy display knocks down the price $150?? And it's $135 off if combined with the education price, resulting in a crazy discount:
wow, thats cool, and a great way to save money; especially if you actually prefer the glossy screen.
Any idea why selecting a glossy display knocks down the price $150?? And it's $135 off if combined with the education price, resulting in a crazy discount:
Wow, I just saw it with my own eyes. Crazy! Must be some sort of mistake? If that's accurate though i guess I know what sort of display i'll be going with