Far Future notebook hardware
Myself and a couple of the people I work with were talking about our computers and our planned next purchases, two of us are due for new computers (1 laptop, 1 laptop or desktop) and one has just recently brough a standard macbook.
As usual the debate turned to the old question, should we just bite the bullet and buy now, wait a few months and buy the next generation macbooks coming out latter on this year, or buy a really cheap laptop now and wait for the really amazing technology due t come out in the next few years.
My plan is just to put up with my current shitty laptop for a few months and buy the next gen latter this year, but one of the others is planning on buying the cheap one and waiting for certain update. So I was hoping you all could help with the list of possible tech, pro and cons of it, and when it will show up, if ever.
I'm no expert but here are the things that came up in our talk:
USB 3.0 (Worth the wait, I was of the opinion that even if it does come out there wont be many devices for it for years, and even then only high end stuff)
BluRay (Is it ever going to show up? I though no and still think no, but again, my friend is sure its coming to mac...)
Quadcore (Obviously it will show up one day, but when could we expect to see a quadcore chip in macbooks/pros? I have to admit this would be cool and if I knew is was going to be out sometime in the next 12 months I might wait since the processor is one of the things you cant upgrade)
New trackpad based on iPhone iTouch screen (Would be cool but not ever going to be essential to anything, no bet on it ever happening)
Graphics card (I really know nothing about this, any cool technology just around the corner? Will Mac finally get comething thats above average?)
Solid state (Already here, just have to wait for it to get cheap, no big deal IMO since you can upgrade later)
Anything else I might no be thinking of?
Thanks for your help.
As usual the debate turned to the old question, should we just bite the bullet and buy now, wait a few months and buy the next generation macbooks coming out latter on this year, or buy a really cheap laptop now and wait for the really amazing technology due t come out in the next few years.
My plan is just to put up with my current shitty laptop for a few months and buy the next gen latter this year, but one of the others is planning on buying the cheap one and waiting for certain update. So I was hoping you all could help with the list of possible tech, pro and cons of it, and when it will show up, if ever.
I'm no expert but here are the things that came up in our talk:
USB 3.0 (Worth the wait, I was of the opinion that even if it does come out there wont be many devices for it for years, and even then only high end stuff)
BluRay (Is it ever going to show up? I though no and still think no, but again, my friend is sure its coming to mac...)
Quadcore (Obviously it will show up one day, but when could we expect to see a quadcore chip in macbooks/pros? I have to admit this would be cool and if I knew is was going to be out sometime in the next 12 months I might wait since the processor is one of the things you cant upgrade)
New trackpad based on iPhone iTouch screen (Would be cool but not ever going to be essential to anything, no bet on it ever happening)
Graphics card (I really know nothing about this, any cool technology just around the corner? Will Mac finally get comething thats above average?)
Solid state (Already here, just have to wait for it to get cheap, no big deal IMO since you can upgrade later)
Anything else I might no be thinking of?
Thanks for your help.
Comments
USB3, not worth the wait, in my opinion. by the time it is ubiquitous you will probably be almost ready for another new laptop. if (for some reason) you need something faster than USB2 or FW800, get an eSATA express card.
Blu-Ray. Someone correct me if i am wrong, but architecturally macs are HDCP compliant now aren't they? We're just waiting for the OS.
Personally, I'm not fussed about an internal blu-ray drive, and would be happy if they moved away from internal optical drives altogether. External drives are cheaper to upgrade and faster.
Quadcore, next year at the earliest is what i seem to recall ppl on here saying in recent threads. It may well be longer coming to the macbook pro, given apple is pretty conservative when it comes to power usage and heat specs of the hardware it selects.
There was an article here in the last month or so showing Snow Leopard would make the trackpad usable in a similar fashion to an iPhone/iPod Touch screen. The example it showed was with input of chinese characters - ie drawn on the touch pad just as they can be drawn on the screen of the iPhone now. There will be multi-touch functions creeping into other apple software, I believe.
USB 3.0 (Worth the wait, I was of the opinion that even if it does come out there wont be many devices for it for years, and even then only high end stuff)
Products are expected in early 2010:
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...-usb-demos-tip
One thing that's odd is why Firewire 3200 is taking so long. It's ready to go AFAIK and works with current FW800 hardware. Perhaps Intel have made some sort of deal to get rid of firewire and move to USB 3, which has a higher theoretical bandwidth.
BluRay (Is it ever going to show up? I though no and still think no, but again, my friend is sure its coming to mac...)
If it doesn't, I think Apple are in serious trouble. They are very popular in media production and you just can't deliver HD reliably over a network - not at 1080p anyway. So, they're going to have to support Blu-Ray sooner or later. If the next Final Cut Studio doesn't have support, there's going to be a lot of unhappy people.
Quadcore (Obviously it will show up one day, but when could we expect to see a quadcore chip in macbooks/pros? I have to admit this would be cool and if I knew is was going to be out sometime in the next 12 months I might wait since the processor is one of the things you cant upgrade)
Clarksfield was shown in slides and noted as being targeted to thin and light notebooks. It's actually a 4 core, 8 thread chip too. With a 35W TDP, it is a bit on the high side for Apple's laptops but not far off the higher end mobile chips. It should go in the iMac at least.
This is somewhere in the July-September time frame. Wait until October and if they haven't used Clarksfield, there's no point waiting any more because they will be moving to 32nm chips in 2010, which are 2-core 4 thread processors. Then it should go to 4-core again by the end of 2010.
Graphics card (I really know nothing about this, any cool technology just around the corner? Will Mac finally get comething thats above average?)
The Macbook Pro can play Crysis quite adequately. I would say that it's already above average. Not to mention that's just using one of the 2 GPU processors bundled with it. Throw in some hybrid SLI and it's all good. There are better GPUs but they use more power and generate more heat.
Solid state (Already here, just have to wait for it to get cheap, no big deal IMO since you can upgrade later)
One idea I liked recently was fitting 2 lower capacity SSDs in a single 2.5" enclosure in RAID-0. Right now, 2 x 128GB SSD would be close to £200 so £400 for 256GB.
Now, a 15,000 rpm hard drive gets about 160MB/s and costs £300 for 300GB. A RAID-0 SSD would beat that so it just needs to drop to 75% of the price. If it drops half of the price by the end of 2010, I'm sold. I would gladly pay £200 for 256GB SSD that performs at 200MB/s or so. Sure it's 4 times more than a standard HDD but it's 4 times faster too.
One thing that's odd is why Firewire 3200 is taking so long. It's ready to go AFAIK and works with current FW800 hardware. Perhaps Intel have made some sort of deal to get rid of firewire and move to USB 3, which has a higher theoretical bandwidth.
I would hope its coming out soon, but since firewire has never been as popular as USB it could be that it is being indefinably been put on hold.
USB caught on far more than anyone could have guessed, a USB flash drive is one of the most prevalent external devices around, even totally computer illiterate people know what one is, its as common as a mouse or keyboard now.
Firewire is not nearly as well known or accepted, and since apple is getting more standardized I wouldn?t be suprised at all if it never appears, or is very quietly introduced as a 800 replacement. If its ready to go they might just slip it in regardless. But I can't see many hardware manufacturers picking it up.
If it doesn't, I think Apple are in serious trouble. They are very popular in media production and you just can't deliver HD reliably over a network - not at 1080p anyway. So, they're going to have to support Blu-Ray sooner or later. If the next Final Cut Studio doesn't have support, there's going to be a lot of unhappy people.
Not to start another BluRay debate, but I can't honestly see Apple paying for the licensing fee, Both Sony and HP have adopted BluRay and now dominate that Market.
Its almost to late, others jumped in quickly and have the market cornered.
Clarksfield was shown in slides and noted as being targeted to thin and light notebooks. It's actually a 4 core, 8 thread chip too. With a 35W TDP, it is a bit on the high side for Apple's laptops but not far off the higher end mobile chips. It should go in the iMac at least.
This is somewhere in the July-September time frame. Wait until October and if they haven't used Clarksfield, there's no point waiting any more because they will be moving to 32nm chips in 2010, which are 2-core 4 thread processors. Then it should go to 4-core again by the end of 2010.
Sweet, if they bring the quadcore out by the new macbook pro update I'll be a happy camper, its been awhile since the Macbooks had a good processor upgrade.
One idea I liked recently was fitting 2 lower capacity SSDs in a single 2.5" enclosure in RAID-0. Right now, 2 x 128GB SSD would be close to £200 so £400 for 256GB.
Now, a 15,000 rpm hard drive gets about 160MB/s and costs £300 for 300GB. A RAID-0 SSD would beat that so it just needs to drop to 75% of the price. If it drops half of the price by the end of 2010, I'm sold. I would gladly pay £200 for 256GB SSD that performs at 200MB/s or so. Sure it's 4 times more than a standard HDD but it's 4 times faster too.
At the moment I'll probably just go for the 300GB 7,500rpm and wait for solid state to drop to a more reasonable rate.
Myself and a couple of the people I work with were talking about our computers and our planned next purchases, two of us are due for new computers (1 laptop, 1 laptop or desktop) and one has just recently brough a standard macbook.
Good but what do you mean by "due". If it is a company thing to upgrade on a schedule then stick to the plan. If this is personal what does due mean in this context.
From the standpoint of economics the thing to do is to keep the old system humming along as long as possible. It is like buying a car; after paying for it, the longer it runs trouble free the longer you can bank money for other things.
As usual the debate turned to the old question, should we just bite the bullet and buy now, wait a few months and buy the next generation macbooks coming out latter on this year, or buy a really cheap laptop now and wait for the really amazing technology due t come out in the next few years.
First a really cheap laptop is never the answer. I have to ask though what is the rush? If the current machines work then I'd continue to run them. Especially considering tech that is coming in 2010 or later. In any event one can't really answer your question without context.
My plan is just to put up with my current shitty laptop for a few months and buy the next gen latter this year, but one of the others is planning on buying the cheap one and waiting for certain update. So I was hoping you all could help with the list of possible tech, pro and cons of it, and when it will show up, if ever.
I see no point at all in buying an interim laptop. If you really need a new laptop buy a good one now.
I'm no expert but here are the things that came up in our talk:
USB 3.0 (Worth the wait, I was of the opinion that even if it does come out there wont be many devices for it for years, and even then only high end stuff)
NOT WORTH THE WAIT!
Not unless you have very specific usage in mind and know the associated hardware will support USB3. As far as hardware support and by the way full OS support, that is a ways off in the future. Last I knew only one chip even came close to fully supporting the spec.
In anyevent ask yourself how do you use USB today.
BluRay (Is it ever going to show up? I though no and still think no, but again, my friend is sure its coming to mac...)
I have my doubts about laptops, desktops eventually. In anyevent I'm siding with another poster in this thread, Apple would do well to get rid of the internal optical drives in laptops. They waste space and power.
Quadcore (Obviously it will show up one day, but when could we expect to see a quadcore chip in macbooks/pros? I have to admit this would be cool and if I knew is was going to be out sometime in the next 12 months I might wait since the processor is one of the things you cant upgrade)
Actually I'm with you on this one as I think quad cores would be huge in the MBPs especially after Snow Leopard. For this very reason I expect a quad core machine sooner than later. I'd even accept a modest cut in clock rate if required.
Of course to a certain extent the utility of quad cores depends on you work load. It is an important forward looking tech to have but what it will do for your personal experience is unknown.
New trackpad based on iPhone iTouch screen (Would be cool but not ever going to be essential to anything, no bet on it ever happening)
I'm not sure what you mean, both use capacitive tech.
Graphics card (I really know nothing about this, any cool technology just around the corner? Will Mac finally get comething thats above average?)
I'd say they are above average right now! Even the Mac Books with the 9400M are awsome for machines with integrated graphics.
On the otherhand graphics will improve on future machines. Well hopefully it will, there is always the chance that Apple goes back to Intel. In general though it isn't worth waiting on unless you have a specific need.
Solid state (Already here, just have to wait for it to get cheap, no big deal IMO since you can upgrade later)
I didn't know that Macs still had tubes in them.
I'm assuming here you are talking about storage. Here I still see the industry in transition, the number one problem being that SATA is the wrong interface for solid state storage. If Apple was smart the would take a hint from the netbook community and stadardize internal notebook solid state storage on PCI Express cards. That is all that Flash cards are, a printed circuit expansion card. There is no mechanics to justify the legarcy drive physical formats.
The other problem is that flash is going to be short lived as competeing tech is coming on hard.
Anything else I might no be thinking of?
Thanks for your help.
Well yeah, how about OLED screens? Maybe built in cellular modems? A dedicated GPU or vector chip for OpenCL acceleration? More importantly massive RAM capability, something Apples laptops ate short on?
There are all sorts of reasons to wait if you dig deep enough. Buying should be based upon when it makes economic sense in the case of a business decision. For a personal purchase it is a different story. Economics still come into the question of course but you have to justify the purchase in different ways which by the way only you have to justify.
Either way I wouldn't buy now if I could avoid it. The small MBP are poorly configured, especially with the lack of FireWire and the 17 incher lacks quad cores. Also consider how much RAM can be stuffed into the machine, important when the world is going 64bit real soon now.
Lots of luck with your decision.
Dave
Well the reason I need a new laptop is because I currently have a Dell Latitude D510 (40HD,512RAM,1.72cpu). It currently "works" in the sense I am here typing a relpy to you on it, but if right now I wanted to open MS word and clicked on the shortcut, it would go "buzz buzz crackle buzz" and three minutes latter it would start opening it, about 3 minutes after that I could begin typing. Its just old and shitty and can't support anything I need to do now meaning I mahe to rely on my Desktop.
So while I can use this for a few more months basically as a big heavy netbook, I do need a replacement capabale of doing everything I want to do, and remaining capable for several years in the future. For many reason I'm going to be going with the pro, and most likely buying the next generation is September/October, unless I know there is a damn good reason (quadcore) to wait until January when aplle sometimes slips in a second update.
I'm not sure what you mean, both use capacitive tech.
I was refering to the rumors that Apple will replace the current trackpad with what is esentially a iTouch, one that can work as a standard trackpad but also be used as a miniture display for information like battery life ect for when playing media, it can also be programmed to display shortcuts ect. Since it is esentially a second smaller disply with touch interface it creates far more possibilites that a standard trackpad. Since Apple as reached for finger geastures on standard pads this presents one of the only ways left to move the tech forward.
Thanks for the help and ideas, I hope the next gen out latter this year is Quadcore, as that is really the only upadate I am holding out for, everything else would be cool but not essential.
This update is great for the lower end macbooks but the higher end ones didnt get a lot, no new ports (USB3 or Firewire3200) no quadcore, no Bluray.
And due to this happening now its going to be at least 12 months until they do another massive overhaul of the macbooks, the next big thing will be the iMacs and the iTouch and Snowleopard. I guess I'll just buy now and do with out...
I expect that the next generation of MacBooks Pro will be all solid state. I don't expect to see any options for rotating internal media. SSDs will be integral on the motherboard like the RAM on the MacBook Air. RAM will also be integral. Buy as much RAM and SSD storage as you need when you buy the computer as that's what you'll have for the life of the computer. That will make the next generation of MacBooks Pro lighter, thinner, cheaper, and more reliable. DVD/BR drives will be external only, like for the MacBook Air.
The only thing that might happen with consumer backlash is the built in SSD. Storage is one thing that people are always running out of or in need of updating, so I expect consumer demand for updatable secondary store to not go away. Not by updatable I don't rule out soldered on SSD, rather there needs to be an expansion bay for adding to your storage allotment. This is one thing that Apple has been very short of in the past but has made great strides forward with the latest MBP's.
In the future I'd like to know that any SSD built into the more board can be expanded by use of a PCI - Express card or similar expansion.
Finally we should note that what we mean by SSD storage today does not imply flash memory in future devices. Future hardware could be using vastly different SSD storage.
Dave
I'm disapointed the update happened now and we missed out on all the really cool stuff.
The cool stuff needs to be ready for mass production so I don't think we missed out on much. I'm actually surprised at the depth of the updates so I'm on record as saying that a boy Apple. The new 13" MBP is a much more salable machine than anything Apple has produced recently.
Notably I think this demonstrates an ability on Apples part to turn around completely new machines faster than they ever have in the past. The CNC'ed housing probably helps there a bit but I'm really surprised that they would scrap a motherboard so quickly as they did on these MBP machines.
This update is great for the lower end macbooks but the higher end ones didnt get a lot, no new ports (USB3 or Firewire3200) no quadcore, no Bluray.
It is totally unreasonable to expect USB3 already, I'm not sure where you get that idea that it is ready to go. Intel doesn't even have silicon ready to go last I knew.
Likewise Firewire 3200 has been finalized for awhile but again who has verified silicon? As a side note that might be Apple. Everybody believes they purchased PA Semi to produce iPod chips, that might not be the case in totality. PA has the talent to produce very interesting chips and some of those chips could be high-speed interconnect chips, possibly supporting the latest Firewire 3200 spec. Of course that is speculation, right now it looks like Apple is trying to abandon Firewire, but that could just be a lack of focus on it right now.
The lack of quad core is a big mistake but that could come to high end machines right around the time SL comes out. Frankly I'm totally confused on this belligerence on Apples part. I mean really we have a delivery date for SL yet they avoid shipping machines that can harness that power. Doesn't make any sense at all.
BlueRay doesn't bother me at all. Id rather see the optical drive disappear from the low end machines.
And due to this happening now its going to be at least 12 months until they do another massive overhaul of the macbooks, the next big thing will be the iMacs and the iTouch and Snowleopard. I guess I'll just buy now and do with out...
Buying is up to you! But I disagree that it will be 12 months as Apple has clearly made a point of doing a major upgrade a lot faster than that with this current round of updates. Further even something minor usually comes out before the holiday seasons and after the start of school.
Speaking of school, this MBP update is one of the best I've ever seen from Apple right before the back to school buying season. It ought to make for very good sales over the next few months.
Dave
SSD bank (bootable) sitting right off the processor on the motherboard.
No optical drive (too slow, takes too much power)
ExpressCard 2.0 on the higher end laptops
SDXC on the lower end
OLED screens (only on the very high end and smaller in size roughly 13" )
CPU/GPU ondie
Integrated battery
Wireless docking
? Radical new battery technology. I read a story awhile back about some guys from Princeton or
MIT that were working on this nanotube battery tech that had 10 times the capacity of current
batteries & if I remember correctly they could be fully recharged in minutes.
? An OLED screen would be nice especially since they look awesome & need a fraction of the power
to run.
? Much larger SSDs (possibly in a raid setup) and preferably solving the quirks that current SSDs
have. (I read somewhere that the speed of current SSDs will slowly degrade the more you use them.)
? I wouldn't mind seeing some sort of wireless HDMI technology built in. It would be cool if I could
plug-in a small device into one of the HDMI inputs on my TV & wireless transmit what's on my
laptop's screen to my TV.
? HD video iChats. 720p minimum but preferably 1080p.
? Voice control. After seeing the voice control demo on the iPhone it would be pretty sweet if I
could do the same thing on my laptop. An example of this is working in Photoshop & telling my
laptop to, "play the Foo Fighters the Colour & Shape tracks" without having to go to iTunes.
? Visual & voice recognition security. Instead of a traditional password or biometric scanner the
built in camera would see me saying a particular phrase would recognize my face & voice and
would grant me access.
The only thing that might happen with consumer backlash is the built in SSD. Storage is one thing that people are always running out of or in need of updating, so I expect consumer demand for updatable secondary store to not go away. Not by updatable I don't rule out soldered on SSD, rather there needs to be an expansion bay for adding to your storage allotment. This is one thing that Apple has been very short of in the past but has made great strides forward with the latest MBP's.
I honestly would not be suprised to see SSD standard in all macbook pros by this time next year (they probably need to wait that little bit longer for bigger and cheaper ones).
The main reason for this in my opinion is not speed and weight like many think, although that is cool. The reason is the new SD card slot, the big theory at the moment is that people can use that as a portable hard drive always on hand, and with the 2TB!!!!! models, its not so big a deal to only have 200-400SSD hard drives.
It is totally unreasonable to expect USB3 already, I'm not sure where you get that idea that it is ready to go. Intel doesn't even have silicon ready to go last I knew.
Sorry I think you misunderstood me, I didnt expect USB 3 now, what I wanted was for the major overhaul to wait until it was ready. I don't share your opinion that Apple can or will do a major overhaul to its notebook line very often. Not when it still has to think about its desktops, iTouch, iPods and software SL.
I would have prefered to wait to october-November for this update and had Firewire 3200 or USB 3.0.
And most importantly quadcore which might be able to come out now, but surely by the last quarter of this year.
As I said, I think for the lower end Macbooks this is a simply fantastic update, the dropping of Express card for SC makes perfect sense for 80% of consumers. And its those consumers who got a fantastic update.
I just feel Apple should make an effort to still produce a real high end laptop with the cutting edge stuff in it. Keep the rest of the Macbook family but also make the high end 15" and 17" true pros with Quadcore and fast transfer hardware.
BlueRay doesn't bother me at all. Id rather see the optical drive disappear from the low end machines.
You know, even a few weeks ago I could not have disagreed more, but the more I read into Blu-Ray and other media the less I like it. I moving over to the camp of, ditching the oprical drive altogether, getting an external drive if needed (Which many just dont) and using the space for more SSD, Battery or other hardware.
Buying is up to you! But I disagree that it will be 12 months as Apple has clearly made a point of doing a major upgrade a lot faster than that with this current round of updates. Further even something minor usually comes out before the holiday seasons and after the start of school.
Well I'm going to wait until SL comes out since we could probably expect a little bump all round to specs, but I'm not expecting much so soon.
But I just honestly cant see another big overhaul (which is what adding quadcore or the other hardware would be) so soon after this.
I'll say again so it doesnt look like I'm just ragging on Apple. I think this was a fantastic update, they truely listened to consumers and I am telling several of my friends to buy now, but I still wish they had waited a bit and still produced a true pro.
Thanks for the feed back Dave.
The lack of quad core is a big mistake but that could come to high end machines right around the time SL comes out. Frankly I'm totally confused on this belligerence on Apples part. I mean really we have a delivery date for SL yet they avoid shipping machines that can harness that power. Doesn't make any sense at all.
dual core cpu and 2 gpus can harness SL.
I honestly would not be suprised to see SSD standard in all macbook pros by this time next year (they probably need to wait that little bit longer for bigger and cheaper ones).
I think magnetic drives will stay ahead capacity wise for awhile. Some of us have a need for larger amonts of storage than others. If ones storage needs are more modest, SSD are the way to go today.
The main reason for this in my opinion is not speed and weight like many think, although that is cool. The reason is the new SD card slot, the big theory at the moment is that people can use that as a portable hard drive always on hand, and with the 2TB!!!!! models, its not so big a deal to only have 200-400SSD hard drives.
It is going to be a long time before we have 2TB SD cards. Further I don't ever see SD becoming a primary storage system. SD is really focused on a different storage needs.
Sorry I think you misunderstood me, I didnt expect USB 3 now, what I wanted was for the major overhaul to wait until it was ready. I don't share your opinion that Apple can or will do a major overhaul to its notebook line very often. Not when it still has to think about its desktops, iTouch, iPods and software SL.
I more or less disagree with all of the above.
I would have prefered to wait to october-November for this update and had Firewire 3200 or USB 3.0.
I suspect maybe Apple didn't have a choice. As to your high speed interfaces I don't think you will see them in 2009 and probably not in 2010. There is a good chance we ms never see Firewire 3200. Either way it could be 2011 by the time economical solutions with these interfaces are on the market.
And most importantly quadcore which might be able to come out now, but surely by the last quarter of this year.
I don't know what is up with quad core but Apple should have such in their iMacs by now. It might be a stretch in a MBP but I think they need something to support Snow Leopard.
As I said, I think for the lower end Macbooks this is a simply fantastic update, the dropping of Express card for SC makes perfect sense for 80% of consumers. And its those consumers who got a fantastic update.
Yes it certainly is. I can reccomend these machines without hesitation now.
I just feel Apple should make an effort to still produce a real high end laptop with the cutting edge stuff in it. Keep the rest of the Macbook family but also make the high end 15" and 17" true pros with Quadcore and fast transfer hardware.
I agree on quad core but you are off base about new I/O. The problem with I/O is that it has to be available. Wishing for it does not make it come faster.
You know, even a few weeks ago I could not have disagreed more, but the more I read into Blu-Ray and other media the less I like it. I moving over to the camp of, ditching the oprical drive altogether, getting an external drive if needed (Which many just dont) and using the space for more SSD, Battery or other hardware.
Yeah it took me awhile to come around too. Some of that is because I now have a bit of experience under the belt with my early 2008 MBP. The two things that standout is: the short battery life and I seldom use the CD drive. Personally I'd rather have a larger battery an an array of secondary storage modules.
I say secondary storage modules because I'd love to see Apple take the lead of the netbook makers and use PCI-Express cards for storage. In one update drop a lot of the legacy crap in a single move.
Well I'm going to wait until SL comes out since we could probably expect a little bump all round to specs, but I'm not expecting much so soon.
Some of the machines yes, but I'd expect zip for the MBP. But what do I know as I wasn't expecting this major update so soon to the portables.
But I just honestly cant see another big overhaul (which is what adding quadcore or the other hardware would be) so soon after this.
Quad core shouldn't be a massive update. If they have any sense at all they would have chips validated already.
I'll say again so it doesnt look like I'm just ragging on Apple. I think this was a fantastic update, they truely listened to consumers and I am telling several of my friends to buy now, but I still wish they had waited a bit and still produced a true pro.
See to me this is BS as these are MBPs. But enlighten us here as to what you did expect. Nothing you alluded to above is possible today and some not even the near future. Apple had no choice but to reconfigure the 13" device as it was being rejected by the community. They also addressed the memory issues on these pros, all in all they have a highly salable product now. What did you expect, did you want Apple to slide along with a crap machine. Especially considering it is back to school season. Apple pretty much turned the 13" MBP into the ideal student machine.
Apple's acting quickly to debut the new line up was one of the smartest things they have done in years. It will likely lead to a very strong quarter for them.
Thanks for the feed back Dave.
No thank you! Seriously this gives me the opportunity to evaluate why and what I like about my MBP. I see Apple as having addressed some of those very well on the new machines. Like you I'm still bummed about quad core but Apple got a lot of other things right. There are really good reasons for me to reccomend these machines now.
I know on some points we disagree but I like the agressiveness and resonsiveness that Apple has shown with respect to it's laptops.
Dave
dual core cpu and 2 gpus can harness SL.
I keep seeing statements like this and sadly I don't know how to address them anymore as it is apparent reality isn't getting out to the masses. OpenCL is the component in Snow Leopard that helps leverage the GPU. To benefit your app either needs to be written for it or use libraries that take advantage of OpenCL. Not all software will be written to do so. That because there has to be an advantage in using the GPU. For some software there is no advantage at all. This is due to what a GPU is, which is similar to a vector processor.
So you still will have a lot of code that will need more CPU threads to see a speed up in SL. This because some code or algorithms do not map well to GPU processing. That is not to discount what does work well via GPU processing, just that a GPU processor does not equate to another i86 CPU.
Dave
I suspect the next revisions for the MacBooks Pro and Air will be when Intel release Arrandale. Since Arrandale processors will require a completely new motherboard design, that is the logical time to expect the MacBook Air to get 4GB of ram. We might even get SSD directly on the motherboard to reduce cost, weight, and power consumption while increasing reliability, however, I suspect SSD on the motherboard will come only with the next case revision (at which time we'll get the glass trackpad of the Macbooks Pro).
Put me down for Apple using Clarkfield initially and then offering Arrandale in a Spring 2010 refresh.
Both are mPGA-989 procs and should be interchangable at some level without extensive retooling.
Clarkfield for people that need a lot of multitasking and thus quad core and Arrandale for your lower end general computing.
Put me down for Apple using Clarkfield initially and then offering Arrandale in a Spring 2010 refresh.
Both are mPGA-989 procs and should be interchangable at some level without extensive retooling.
Clarkfield for people that need a lot of multitasking and thus quad core and Arrandale for your lower end general computing.
Yes, you're right, the Arrandale and Clarksfield use the same socket, but the power requirements are quite different. Clarksfield processors which run cool enough to be used in MacBooks Pro might have clockrates that are unappealing to consumers (even if actual performance is great). We certainly won't see Clarksfield processors in MacBooks Air.