Apple unveils faster, more affordable MacBook Pros

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Comments

  • Reply 141 of 239
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Elixir View Post


    Ya know... i've been a member here and a mac user for a long damn time, and most of the time i'm on top of things... i apologize if i wasn't keeping up this time. I do have a thing called a LIFE and so I've been real busy.



    Just wasn't paying attention.



    Many of us, myself included have bought an apple product, right before a major upgrade. Go easy dude.





    9
  • Reply 142 of 239
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    Have you seen the streaming service? It's not great. The people who used to buy 8 hour tapes and copy four movies like it.



    Still, BD usage is growing faster.



    Netflix works great for me. I have the roku box.
  • Reply 143 of 239
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by brucep View Post


    Netflix works great for me. I have the roku box.



    Depends on your expectations.
  • Reply 144 of 239
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    Depends on your expectations.



    Well its free. And the screen quality is great. And i also watch on my laptop.

    But alas the movie's are old.
  • Reply 145 of 239
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    Shame about the expresscard slot. I guess I'm glad I bought the USB version of most of my stuff. Kinda lame though...my 10" netbook has an expresscard slot.



    I agree, I cant believe they remove the ExpressCard slot from the 15" MacBook Pro. I have the previous model with a eSata and a multicard reader. I would not exchange these 2 cards for a simple SD card slot.
  • Reply 146 of 239
    rogue27rogue27 Posts: 607member
    SD is winning the memory card war. Perhaps they see that as the removable storage solution for the fully solid-state consumer machines they'll be offering in a few years and want to get people ready for the transition? Optical drives and spinning hard disks are on their way out. BluRay will never exceed DVD's market share.
  • Reply 147 of 239
    macfindermacfinder Posts: 32member
    THAT'S AWESOME !!! Lower prices, faster MBP !

    I was always worrying about two NVIDIA's,

    because they have nearly the same power,

    but two is twice expensive than one !

    4GB RAM ! Increased battery life !



    I'm starting saving for 1699$ MBP right now !
  • Reply 148 of 239
    s.metcalfs.metcalf Posts: 972member
    I'm trying to pick whether this post is sarcastic LOL



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacFinder View Post


    THAT'S AWESOME !!! Lower prices, faster MBP !

    I was always worrying about two NVIDIA's,

    because they have nearly the same power,

    but two is twice expensive than one !

    4GB RAM ! Increased battery life !



    I'm starting saving for 1699$ MBP right now !



  • Reply 149 of 239
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by s.metcalf View Post


    My brother ordered the previous 15" only last week and he hasn't even received it yet! The thing is he ordered a BTO with a 7200 RPM hard drive. What are the chances he can get the new version?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Outsider View Post


    Tell him not to open it and he should be able to return it without paying a restocking fee.



    Totally true. Personally, it's a wash for me with the ed. discount, so I don't care.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by photoeditor View Post


    They are really hobbling the 15 inch Macbook Pro. Overall, it seems great; better memory capacities, better hard drive capacities, better display, lower price.



    But no Express Card support means no eSATA; and the ongoing lack of a matte display option means a literal headache for a lot of people. I think many people who need power AND portability are going to be very upset at having to either buy the 17 or else punt.



    I thought the whole idea of lithium polymer batteries (which is what this long-life built in is all about) was to be able to build around unusual shapes, such as the space in the case taken by the Express Card slot. But no . . . we get stuck with a not-very-useful SD card slot that doesn't even take other small card formats such as xD.



    They dropped it because their research told them people don't care. Period. Obviously "pros" don't care, either...not as a group.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by brucep View Post


    Many of us, myself included have bought an apple product, right before a major upgrade. Go easy dude.





    9



    Exactly. I bought one because my 2006 MBP suffered a HDD failure. I wanted a new machine anyway, so I figured I'd replace the drive and sell it on ebay to offset the cost. I also needed a machine right away. I apparently wasn't paying attention though. I didn't realize that it had been several months since the intro of the "old new" MBP. I almost lost my shit when I saw the AI headline last night. I paid $2299 for mine. For $2099, I get a much better machine with a 300GB more storage, 10% faster processor, SD slot and better battery. My own fault I guess. It's worse then when I bought a G5 iMac three weeks before the intels were intro'd .
  • Reply 150 of 239
    carmissimocarmissimo Posts: 837member
    Here's something that maybe a lot of people haven't considered. Yesterday's laptop announcements will impact Mac Mini sales. I was looking to upgrade my mini to better accommodate editing the HD video that I can now shoot with my new camera. It was an easy decision to do so by way of buying a new mac mini maxed out with the faster processor and 4 gigs of RAM. But that was before Apple offered laptops that are not that much more expensive speced out comparably and with an option to get even better hardware for more cash.



    In Canada, for example, if you max out a mini, the price tag before taxes is $1,357, including a wired keyboard and mouse. You end up with a 2.26Ghz Core 2 and 4 gigs of RAM. The MacBook Pro 13", in comparison, now checks in at $1,639 speced more or less the same (same processor, same memory, same hard drive) which, really, is a bargain for adding portability. And on top of that, it's possible to wind up with a significantly faster 13" MacBook Pro for not much more money whereas the mini tops out as described above. Maxed out (not including a $1,200 doubling of RAM), a 13" MacBook Pro retails here for $1,929 and that's for a 2.53Ghz processor and a 500GB hard drive.



    So now as it stands, you can spend a really modest amount more to add portability to what a top-end mini would offer or opt for a more powerful alternative, which is simply not possible via a mini.



    Seems to me this means, probably, that the mini will have to either be tweaked – lower prices, better specs, maybe a combination thereof - or Apple really does intend to pull the plug on the mini line. I can't see it as a viable product for enough consumers to soldier on largely unaffected by changes in the pricing of the laptops on which it's based. There is no excuse for Apple to sell a MacBook for $1,369 with similar specs to a mini that will set you back $1,357. The advantage of the mini is a slightly faster processor (very slightly) and firewire. That pales in comparison to what the MacBook offers as a laptop considering a $12 price difference.



    My guess is that Apple will announce changes to the mIni very soon but with little fanfare, mainly because it would have been kind of odd to lump in the mini with all those laptop announcements. If that fails to happen, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the mini's future will be.
  • Reply 151 of 239
    xwiredtvaxwiredtva Posts: 389member
    Don't know guys/gals. Looks like a good update to me. Dropping the Express Card wasn't a bad thing. Not many use them and that standard is going away since it cost a lot less to make USB which works on everything. eSATA might be a little tougher but if you bought an EXC for that, then you probably have a MBP that has one not the other way around. The speed bumps won't make much of a difference if you have one either, just new buyers.



    Bumping Ram across the board to 4gb, smart. Dropping the price, smart. Leaving out the 9600m graphics, not bad because the 9400m does amaziling well. I know one person who complained about the 9400m being default and having to log out and back in to run his 30"... He forgot to do this and called me screaming about how WELL it worked. He hasn't switched since. Not sure what the comparisons are between the 9400m and 9600m but to him they can't be far enough off to require the login to activate it.



    As for moving the 13" AL into the pro line, DUH.



    Looks like they did this whole update and roundup to combat those MS Commercials.



    I liked what I saw with everything else, could care less about the iPhones anymore.



    I ordered 3 MBP's last week on Wed, but was told they wouldn't ship until today... They were the 2.4ghz base models. I curious to see what shows up. Already did the RMA's on all 3 but we'll see.
  • Reply 152 of 239
    xwiredtvaxwiredtva Posts: 389member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Carmissimo View Post


    Here's something that maybe a lot of people haven't considered. Yesterday's laptop announcements will impact Mac Mini sales. I was looking to upgrade my mini to better accommodate editing the HD video that I can now shoot with my new camera. It was an easy decision to do so by way of buying a new mac mini maxed out with the faster processor and 4 gigs of RAM. But that was before Apple offered laptops that are not that much more expensive speced out comparably and with an option to get even better hardware for more cash.



    In Canada, for example, if you max out a mini, the price tag before taxes is $1,357, including a wired keyboard and mouse. You end up with a 2.26Ghz Core 2 and 4 gigs of RAM. The MacBook Pro 13", in comparison, now checks in at $1,639 speced more or less the same (same processor, same memory, same hard drive) which, really, is a bargain for adding portability. And on top of that, it's possible to wind up with a significantly faster 13" MacBook Pro for not much more money whereas the mini tops out as described above. Maxed out (not including a $1,200 doubling of RAM), a 13" MacBook Pro retails here for $1,929 and that's for a 2.53Ghz processor and a 500GB hard drive.



    So now as it stands, you can spend a really modest amount more to add portability to what a top-end mini would offer or opt for a more powerful alternative, which is simply not possible via a mini.



    Seems to me this means, probably, that the mini will have to either be tweaked ? lower prices, better specs, maybe a combination thereof - or Apple really does intend to pull the plug on the mini line. I can't see it as a viable product for enough consumers to soldier on largely unaffected by changes in the pricing of the laptops on which it's based. There is no excuse for Apple to sell a MacBook for $1,369 with similar specs to a mini that will set you back $1,357. The advantage of the mini is a slightly faster processor (very slightly) and firewire. That pales in comparison to what the MacBook offers as a laptop considering a $12 price difference.



    My guess is that Apple will announce changes to the mIni very soon but with little fanfare, mainly because it would have been kind of odd to lump in the mini with all those laptop announcements. If that fails to happen, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the mini's future will be.



    Agree. Maybe a ram bump to the mini wouldn't have hurt the bottom line. 2gb/4gb and for heavens sake UPGRADE THE HD's! 320gb/500gb. Of course they use Fujitsu's right now and they have squat for HD's.
  • Reply 153 of 239
    sybariticsybaritic Posts: 340member
    In advance of Bare Feats doing a comparison between the 2.8GHz and 3.06GHz, does anyone have sense of the benefit of the $300 cpu upgrade? The 3.06GHz runs hotter (35W), which in a laptop can be an issue ...
  • Reply 154 of 239
    carmissimocarmissimo Posts: 837member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by xwiredtva View Post


    Agree. Maybe a ram bump to the mini wouldn't have hurt the bottom line. 2gb/4gb and for heavens sake UPGRADE THE HD's! 320gb/500gb. Of course they use Fujitsu's right now and they have squat for HD's.



    What would make me happy would be the following:



    Keep the current price point on the entry-level unit but spec it out with a 2.26Ghz processor, 2GB of RAM and the 320 HD currently in the top model. Then, increase the price of the top configuration a relatively small amount but go with the 2.53Ghz processor and a 500 HD, and of course 4GB of RAM, differentiating it a little more from the base machine, even at the expense of a little more difference in price.



    I think being able to get a mini running the 2.53 cpu would really be to the liking of people who can't afford a Mac Pro but who need horsepower for HD video editing, etc. For some of us $3,000 Cdn. for a computer is just too expensive and in addition the Mac Pro tower is overkill in terms of expandability unless you're really into some pro-calibre work. HD video editing is very demanding and a lot of us are now shooting 1080P video. But it doesn't mean that someone like me would need four HD bays, etc. A nicely equipped mini would be just the thing.



    I sure hope Apple goes that route, rather than kill the mini off, otherwise there's a laptop in my future. The Mac Pro tower, realistically, is just not an option.
  • Reply 155 of 239
    dakeseydakesey Posts: 6member
    So the 17" MacBook Pro has an ExpressCard/34 extension card slot, instead of a SD slot (like the 15.4" MacBook Pro). Can I use a SD card in the ExpressCard/34 slot? If so, do I need a special SD card adapter to use this slot for a SD card? Thanks.
  • Reply 156 of 239
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dakesey View Post


    So the 17" MacBook Pro has an ExpressCard/34 extension card slot, instead of a SD slot (like the 15.4" MacBook Pro). Can I use a SD card in the ExpressCard/34 slot? If so, do I need a special SD card adapter to use this slot for a SD card? Thanks.



    Sure, there are adapters. Check out the Google page to find some:



    http://www.google.com/search?client=...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
  • Reply 157 of 239
    dakeseydakesey Posts: 6member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    Sure, there are adapters. Check out the Google page to find some:



    http://www.google.com/search?client=...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8



    So, I do need a special adapter? I cannot just use a SD card as is?
  • Reply 158 of 239
    carmissimocarmissimo Posts: 837member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rain View Post


    Glossy screens and built-in batteries = Apple shares tanking $5 on the news.



    Wonder if they are going to give the public what they want any time soon?



    The glossy screens is a mistake but what could you possibly have against two additional hours of battery life? Not only does the built-in battery allow for more charge cycles, it will require recharging less often which means the battery will last even longer. Odds are the hard drive will go long before the battery does.



    Apple is offering to do away with the expense of buying a battery for your laptop every couple of years (if not sooner) and you treat it like it's a problem.



    As for the stock tanking, every time Wall Street sells off Apple stock, we have people running around in a panic declaring, "The sky is falling. The sky is falling." Wall Street types are generally too narrow in their thinking to have a clue what Apple is up to. Also, the stock always runs up in anticipation of what will be announced at major events only to have those speculators sell off a little right after. It's inevitable and it amounts to sound and fury signifying nothing.



    Apple is a great success story specifically because it doesn't do what everybody else does yet every time they innovate some are quick to criticize. I welcome the battery innovation. It's just the sort of thing Apple does better than any other manufacturer.



    If that sort of top-grade engineering is a problem for you, there are lots of companies out there serving up inferior products, albeit at bargain prices, who are quick to give people what they want, even if what they want is inferior to what a company can deliver.
  • Reply 159 of 239
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Carmissimo View Post


    Apple is offering to do away with the expense of buying a battery for your laptop every couple of years (if not sooner) and you treat it like it's a problem.



    Come on, do batteries really fail that quickly for most people?
  • Reply 160 of 239
    sybariticsybaritic Posts: 340member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by maccpu View Post


    Is Apple using the T or P series CPU's in the Macbook Pro 15 and 17?



    For example:



    2.66 Ghz - T9550 or P8800



    2.8 Ghz - P9700 or T9600



    I'm also curious about this, too. I assume that we are talking about the new processors.
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