Apple unveils 17-inch MacBook Pro with 8-hour battery

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  • Reply 81 of 236
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by winterspan View Post




    - built-in battery is a bad idea, although the new battery tech is welcome. I doubt that most people will see anywhere near 8 hours on a charge unless you have the screen brightness down, and are not doing anything that is taxing the processor or GPU.



    It is all about ratios. if theoretical 4 hours battery life gives you 3 hours actual then the 8 hours will probably gives you 6 hours, which is still twice the battery life. So if they are saying in tests they are getting 50% more battery life then in theory you should get 50% more over other batteries in term of rel usage.



    Quote:

    - Glossy display only I'm sure



    There is a matte option.. for $50 more.



    Quote:

    - Even if the battery has a greater lifetime, $200 for a new battery???? JESUS!



    Again it is about ratio. The battery has twice the life of a regular MBP battery ($129). So you are actually saving $60.
  • Reply 82 of 236
    scottibscottib Posts: 381member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post


    Looking up archives, it looks like that one updated the imacs and the mac towers. Looks like it was 866 and dual 800 g4s.



    You're right. I thought the G4 was updated in August. Here's a blow by blow:



    http://www.macintouch.com/ny2001.html



    The droning of the lecture by Rubenstein was awful. AND...ZDTV was broadcasting live (expecting the G4 iMac) dissecting and discounting the MHZ myth.



    The one more thing? iDVD 2.0
  • Reply 83 of 236
    "We've developed new battery technology that is better for the user and better for the environment," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.



    Um... 'Apple chief executive Steve Jobs' said no such thing. He wasn't THERE. After all the fuss over this, didn't you even notice??
  • Reply 84 of 236
    Wow - What a bloody let down. Although Apple may have learned from the past not clutter up a single event with too many products,,, let's not forget that this was supposedly Apple's LAST MACWORLD EVENT ! So if in fact Emperor Steve won't let Apple reappear at MacWorld in 2010 than they missed a big platform from which to announce the new iMac. It all smacks of "last-minute-organizing" (like Google circa 1997). As much as I am a big fan of Apple products, there is no doubt in my mind that they are obviously in very big trouble in the release schedule for their hardware products in 2008 and in 2009. From related reports and industry comments out of Silicon Valley they are about 6 months behind on their iMac and Mac-Mini hardware roll-outs, about 12 months behind on their iTablet roll-out, and about 3 months behind on their iPhone Nano roll-out. All this while they are juggling the truth about Steve's health. Hmmm...it's time to start talking succession plans not just to satisfy the Wizards of Wall Street but to help Apple product buyers understand the future roadmap of their product relaeases. I have toooo many friends and work associates that are considering major purchases in 2009 that I would like to see buy iMacs, MacPros, etc. Just the fact that they delayed the MacBook 17 inch until late January 2009 is absolutely laughable. Lack of planning is a dead give away to Apple going through some sort of internal confusion. I'll pray for their health...err...His health.
  • Reply 85 of 236
    Although disappointing to many a little bit, the releases made perfect sense to me.



    Why release new hardware when people just bought computers for the holidays? That will get people mad like dropping 200 dollars of the iPhone. I think Apple realized that mistake by now.



    So, instead, they released an upgrade of software to put on your brand new shiny all enclosed machine. Pull a little more money out of you now that you have your gift cards and such, right?



    (And yes, I do realize the 17in MBP was released today too. I see that as a "Well, it didn't meet the deadline the first time around, we'll do it today to keep some of the fanbois happy.")







    As for me, I'm happy on my Netbook running Mandriva. Ciao!
  • Reply 86 of 236
    Just bought the new 17" MBP. Delivery estimate the first week of February, 2009. I guess it takes a slow boat from China to deliver these.



    Finally, I can retire my B&W G3 Version A. It was assembled on January 19, 1999. It still works, plays Call of Duty 2 and Halo, but can't do Skype.



    Thank you Apple for being there for the last 10 years.



    Paul
  • Reply 87 of 236
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post


    There's no way you can say that updates to iLife and iWork are remotely comparable to the last major demo of OSX before release (and I believe the first time the aqua look was showed off).



    On that note, I think this keynote could have been remarkable if they had demoed SL. This makes me wonder if they are waiting until WWDC (or another Mac-based special event coming in a month or two), that SL isn't ready now to fully demo at this point, and/or that SL will be pushed back due to unforeseen issues with complex things like GC and OpenCL.
  • Reply 88 of 236
    [QUOTE=bdkennedy1;1358550]I just realized that I can't remember the last keynote that did anything for me.



    I aggree completely !
  • Reply 89 of 236
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2 View Post


    The new iWork seems to add most everything that was "missing" making it a serious competitor to Office now.



    Except that it still doesn't import WordPerfect documents, spreadsheets, or presentations. Office does. I guess I still need Office for converting my legacy files.
  • Reply 90 of 236
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by johnqh View Post


    Mac Pro will be updated at WWDC.



    June? They sure as hell better not wait that long, especially since new chips will be out long before that.



    People don't buy one kind of machine once a year.



    Updating once a year is not good enough, period. Apple needs to update specs as faster chips become available. Particularly since they also refuse to drop prices when chip prices drop (and PC prices with those same chips drop).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TenoBell View Post


    Most applications cannot make any real use of 4 cores.



    Yes, MOST. Meaning not ALL.



    Believe it or not some of us are using the apps that CAN use more cores, and we do benefit from them.



    So the answer to your original question is still YES there are performance gains. And there will likely be more when 10.6 ships with additional multicore optimizations.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    (1 year, 9 months for 10.1, which was the first really usable version).



    Still, the beta was released within the quarter, which was certainly exciting.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    Which is also why there is no earthly reason to expect them as part of a keynote.



    My comment was in response to one saying that all dell does to upgrade is slap in faster chips. And you can bet that if apple had a speedbump ready, they'd be desperate enough for announcements that they would have included it in the keynote.
  • Reply 91 of 236
    [QUOTE=saarek;1358558]What a crap keynote, no new iMacs, WTF is up with that, no new mini's no new Apple TV.





    ...WTF exactly ...? hat to sound conspiratorial - but there really are problems in Cupertino !
  • Reply 92 of 236
    bregaladbregalad Posts: 816member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by backtomac View Post


    Oh I don't know. Maybe its the Mac mini which hasn't been updated since... I'm not even sure. It's been maybe two years?



    What about no quad core machines unless you get a Mac Pro? And no Nehalem machines?



    I'm sure that Apple will have some 'special' event in 60-90 days. But really, the wait is getting ridiculous for next generation (quad core cpus, Nehalem, cutting edge graphics chips) hardware in Macs.



    NEXT generation?!? Apart from Nehalem, which Intel has intentionally delayed, you're talking about LAST generation stuff. Intel has been offering consumer priced quad core processors for two years already.



    Cutting edge graphics chips in a Mac? Hahahahahaha. Apple has never been less than a full generation behind the PC world in that department. Currently their desktops are two full generations behind on the hardware side and further on the driver side.



    It's now rather obvious that Apple wanted to make their last Macworld one to forget.



    Maybe they'll actually do something to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Mac on January 24th. I won't be getting my hopes up though. All that's likely is a desktop refresh that would have been underwhelming back in November. Apple seems proud of the fact that they can sell ancient hardware at premium prices.
  • Reply 93 of 236
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mister Snitch View Post


    "We've developed new battery technology that is better for the user and better for the environment," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.



    Um... 'Apple chief executive Steve Jobs' said no such thing. He wasn't THERE. After all the fuss over this, didn't you even notice??



    Sorry, Appleinsider is right, it's the apple press release.



    http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/01/06mbp.html
  • Reply 94 of 236
    Question: is it a single 256GB SSD, or two 128GBs?



    Also, do we know if the "anti-glare" display is glass-less, or rather a glare-reducing coat? Theres a difference.
  • Reply 95 of 236
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by camroidv27 View Post


    Why release new hardware when people just bought computers for the holidays?



    Because many of us didn't buy machines for the holidays because they haven't been updated in months and are woefully outdated?
  • Reply 96 of 236
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    They hardly ever do more than 2 hardware updates in one show, and nevertheless, people somehow expect 4 or 5 updates.



    Wacky expectations are part of the reason apple isn't doing MacWorld anymore.



    Just as they do every year, the products in need of an update that didn't see them today will most likely happen between the last half of January and the first half of March.



    I don't really understand why people are so disappointed. I think the iWork and iLife updates look very nice indeed. I've never owned iWork and I may finally be convinced to plunk down the cash for it.





    With all due respect Flounder - when consumer oriented hardware ages this much normal people (around the world) flush with cash for big ticket items like the one family PC will jump on the first Quad-Core i7 chip based PC that hits the market. News clips exist of DELL, HP, and my mother lining up and waiting for Intel to sell them the next chip innards fr use in their PCs which will come in Feb-2009. It don't matter if you like iWork and iLife and iUnderwear....its sexy hardware that will entice people to buy it and then find what they can use it for. Apple as usual have it ass-backwards.
  • Reply 97 of 236
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Their can be performance gains under certain circumstances. But their is no gain for most software.



    Their is no reason for Apple to rush out quad core machines at this point for the extremely few who would do use them. Apple likely wants you to buy a Mac Pro.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post


    Yes, MOST. Meaning not ALL.



    Believe it or not some of us are using the apps that CAN use more cores, and we do benefit from them.



    So the answer to your original question is still YES there are performance gains. And there will likely be more when 10.6 ships with additional multicore optimizations.



  • Reply 98 of 236
    What a bloody let down. I have an image of Steve Jobs sitting in his oxygen tent with his circle of cronies laughing as they discuss MacWord, the next Pixar cartoon, and if they should invest in the Tesla Electric Sports Car. Shame on you Steve !
  • Reply 99 of 236
    rainrain Posts: 538member
    Garbage



    lol... another failure. It's nothing more then a larger version of the Air with a crappy disc drive and a few more ports.



    Fails on graphics big time.

    - No full color

    - Old graphics card

    - Glare (unless you pay more)

    - DRM built into it

    - $100 video adapter



    No firewire 400

    No Blueray



    The internal battery is going to be a big failure. Guarantee that it lasts 2 years, then it will cost $400 to replace. 1000 charges is bullshit. People leave their laptops plugged in for days or weeks sometimes if they are using it as a desktop periodically . That is going to murder the resiliency of the battery.

    8 hours = 5 hours in real time

    1000 charges probably = 600 charges



    Looks hot thou.

    How many people want to pay $3000+ for "looks hot".



    This will not sell well as it is not a consumer product. It's another fringe product. The Air is selling poorly and at least that had mobility going for it.
  • Reply 100 of 236
    tlyxtlyx Posts: 1member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post


    Sorry, Appleinsider is right, it's the apple press release.



    http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/01/06mbp.html



    Wouldn't it be better to quote what Phil Schiller said at the presentation than use a press release? It is bit confusing to see Steve Jobs' name everywhere. And poor Phil that did the hard work and isn't recognised for it.
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