I think you're missing my point. I am not asking for something as extreme as the Vaio. I am simply saying that there is a middleground between where the Macbook is now and where the Vaio is. I am also saying that it doesn't have to start at $1900 like the Vaio. It can still start at $1200 for all I care. I just want the option to get a fully loaded machine for $2500 if I choose it.
With all due respect, I think you're missing the point. Leaving the excessive additional cost out of the equation, you're saying because Sony has a machine with the features you wan, and because Apple can,that they should make a machine with the features you want. If your statement was worded as "I'd like" I wish" that would be different, but it sounds like you're saying how Apple should operate. A few people wanting a product a viable market does not make. Those are my points.
As an example, I want a Home Server based of the lightweight Phone OS but that is not the same as saying "because HP makes a home server that Apple should. BTW, HP Media Smart running WinHS edition is a pretty good product.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solarein
Weird, it says there are three pages to this thread but I can't go to page three. Maybe this extra post will help.
I think it usually happens when an mods puts a poster on global ignore. This is called Tachy Goes To Coventry. It prevents any of their posts from being seen, except by mods, but they aren't deleted or locked out of their account. Unless they check from an account that is logged out they may not even realize the issue.
I can see a market for the ultra=light notebooks, like the MBA, but the need does diminish quite a bit with the removal of the ODD and the eventual thinning by 2.5mm once they can go to an SSD (or loss a platter in the HDD).
Plus, the MBA's battery is pretty bad compared to the current notebook lineup. Hopefully the next revision resolves some of that but I am not sure how much they can improve it. Ideally that type of machine would have more longevity than other notebooks.
The inclusion of the SD card slot on Macs was odd since it was so longer after they were standard in cameras and in most PCs. It did come after the SDXC was ratified which I think played a major role, but I think that Apple intends to eventually put their OS restore disc on SD card. You can already copy SL to an SD Card, Flash drive, or an internal or external disk and boot from it. it's easy as pie with Disk Utility and means you'll never need Target Disk Mode to do a fix or remove files.
I don't think the time for this will be for another two years at least. Maybe more.
Until most music is bought as a download. Until most Tv shows and movies are bought as downloads. And most software is bought as downloads, people won't be ready for that. The Air is sold and bought as a business laptop. That's different. Most software is installed at the company, through the network. But most other laptops are bought for other reasons. People, in general, aren't going to buy a laptop without a DVD recorder. It's too clumsy to buy an external.
I think that is most people's initial response to the ODD. They think it's as important as the CPU or RAM but when they think about the last time it was utilized they realize they haven't.
I see this as very important consideration on smaller laptops. The space that the optical drive takes up in a small laptop is a total waste. I'd rather have a Tera Byte of disk storage, a lighter machine and a lower profile. Besides an external USB drive works fine when you need it.
Quote:
I'm so keen on the space being multi-function. It would still mean 5" of port-side real estate gone and it could never be as efficient as simply moving the ODD externally for the few that need it. There would be lots of complaints and they would likely sell quite a few external ODDs, hopefully dropping the current MBA ODD price from $99 to $49-79.
This is Apple they won't drop the price because of that.
As to using the space I'd love to see Apple come out with machines with PCI express slots for mass storage cards or what ever type of card you could want in the machine.
Quote:
I wish I could. I got delayed the day of my vacation. It was a month long cruise to Australia. No biggie, I'd have missed this forum too much anyway.
Post some vacation pictures some place.
Quote:
PS: I "hope" that the delay intelligent method in pro Mac updates is due to a Mac special event coming shortly. One where they want to showcase the new Macs on stage because it's radical changes, not just a speed bump. They need less than a week for the media, but I don't think they even need that these days. Just film it in house, post the video and let it go viral. I'm sure even MSNBC would spend plenty of time on it.
They are likely waiting on advance technology like LightPeak. Everone assumes it is due to Intel but the delay could very well be something more worthwhile. Let's face it the latest releases from Intel aren't all that inspiring.
Call me crazy, but I just had a notion that we might not see new MBPs until March 30th or even April 6th. If Apple is planning on using Nvidia's Optimus tech, then it's very possible that they aren't happy with the current selection of GTS 300 Mobile chips and are waiting for the mobile Fermi (aka GTS 400M series) chips. Given Apple's focus on Open CL recently, this actually makes sense. While Fermi will deliver some impressive performance boosts for gaming, it's also got a lot of CUDA-oriented improvements. Fermi is being released on March 26th.
Call me crazy, but I just had a notion that we might not see new MBPs until March 30th or even April 6th. If Apple is planning on using Nvidia's Optimus tech, then it's very possible that they aren't happy with the current selection of GTS 300 Mobile chips and are waiting for the mobile Fermi (aka GTS 400M series) chips. Given Apple's focus on Open CL recently, this actually makes sense. While Fermi will deliver some impressive performance boosts for gaming, it's also got a lot of CUDA-oriented improvements. Fermi is being released on March 26th.
Apple has problems with their choices right now. Either go with Intel's latest and best, and stick with their worse graphics, or go with another Core2 design, and go with Nvidia's best graphics.
This is a dilemma for Apple. No matter what they do, there will be an outcry.
Call me crazy, but I just had a notion that we might not see new MBPs until March 30th or even April 6th. If Apple is planning on using Nvidia's Optimus tech, then it's very possible that they aren't happy with the current selection of GTS 300 Mobile chips and are waiting for the mobile Fermi (aka GTS 400M series) chips. Given Apple's focus on Open CL recently, this actually makes sense. While Fermi will deliver some impressive performance boosts for gaming, it's also got a lot of CUDA-oriented improvements. Fermi is being released on March 26th.
Apple don't typically release cutting edge graphics cards on any of their machines. I'm not saying they won't do it this time around but it isn't their typical MO.
If they don't get new MBPs and MBs out soon the iPad will be released and I doubt Apple will release anything for a month after that's released. The iPad will get to bask in the limelight for a while at the Apple website. Especially with all the hype surrounding it.
That could put a MBP/MB release into May. That's too long a wait IMO.
Call me crazy, but I just had a notion that we might not see new MBPs until March 30th or even April 6th. If Apple is planning on using Nvidia's Optimus tech, then it's very possible that they aren't happy with the current selection of GTS 300 Mobile chips and are waiting for the mobile Fermi (aka GTS 400M series) chips. Given Apple's focus on Open CL recently, this actually makes sense. While Fermi will deliver some impressive performance boosts for gaming, it's also got a lot of CUDA-oriented improvements. Fermi is being released on March 26th.
I doubt that. We will probably see some 3X0 GPU in there as Optimus is almost certain and that is probably the only choice. The 3X0 GPUs suck compared to ATI HD 5XX0 Series but Apple was never at the cutting edge with this stuff, therefore it is likely the go for a convenient but slow Optimus GPU.
On March 26th there will be the Desktop Fermi Paper Launch. Although Nvidia said that they intend to release a broad range of products and not only the Desktop/Workstation HighEnd Cards, I doubt mobile parts is in the list. It is not entirely impossible as Fermi is almost half a year late and all the usually parallel Developments of the slower desktop and mobile Chips might be around the corner, a launch in the next 1 or 2 month would really surprise me (of mobile chips).
It would be nice though as Fermis Architecture although I think it is less Power Effecient and thus probably still slower than HD 5XX0 mobile Chips, would really work well with the whole GPGPU thing. If we see Fermi MBP I doubt they arrive in March, as Apple would develop a new Notebook with a GPU in mind that is reaching partner as late as this one.
This is a dilemma for Apple. No matter what they do, there will be an outcry.
I'm looking to buy my first Mac in over 15 years and I'm getting tired of waiting. I don't want to contemplate going back to PCs, I hate the things, but how long does Apple think people can wait for the new MBPs? I will not be able to hold out past mid-March, after that I'll get a Core i7 PC.
And two days after you got your new Core i7 PC, Apple will get their new stuff out. Heheheee !
I hope you're right Kali! Now that I've waited this long...I am going to keep waiting...a few more weeks...I sincerely wish I had just bought the current one in January now. Darn, being here makes you think you know what is coming! Well, we think we know what's up, but of course no one really knows what's next but Steve Jobs. Alright, show's over for this week folks! See ya'll next Tuesday! Unless Apple goes crazy and releases on a day that is not Tuesday of course.
I'm looking to buy my first Mac in over 15 years and I'm getting tired of waiting. I don't want to contemplate going back to PCs, I hate the things, but how long does Apple think people can wait for the new MBPs? I will not be able to hold out past mid-March, after that I'll get a Core i7 PC.
Well, you can do what you want. I don't think waiting for the next thing is such a big deal myself. I would just buy what's out now.
I'm looking to buy my first Mac in over 15 years and I'm getting tired of waiting. I don't want to contemplate going back to PCs, I hate the things, but how long does Apple think people can wait for the new MBPs? I will not be able to hold out past mid-March, after that I'll get a Core i7 PC.
If you don't want to go back to PC's then why even consider it? There is absolutely nothing wrong with the current ones if you are really in need. Further are you really certain that Apples next MBP revisions will be using Core i7? What ever they may be using I'm sure there is a good reason for the wait.
There are many possibilities but one to consider is that maybe they just aren't ready. Its a possibility and frankly about the right time for a major revision from Apple. In other words it is reasonable to expect that new technology could be mixed into the machine.
Apple has problems with their choices right now. Either go with Intel's latest and best, and stick with their worse graphics, or go with another Core2 design, and go with Nvidia's best graphics.
This is a dilemma for Apple. No matter what they do, there will be an outcry.
Like it or not all the people whining here about i7 don't realize that it is a trade off and doesn't really offer a lot in compensation. So yep another Core 2 spin is a possibility as it may be the only way for Apple to really deliver the hardware they want to support their initiatives.
However I'm not even sure that Nvidia is even in the running. Apple could easily go with proven ATI hardware and deliver a very high performance machine. The important thing here though is support for OpenCL. The more and better that Apple can support execution via OpenCL the less important the i7 advances become.
Of course trying to explain this to people who have their heart set on an i7 based MBP is useless. They see these fantasy numbers indicating a huge improvement in performance when in fact those are select specs for marketing. Trying to explain that acceleration via OpenCl is even faster is difficult to pass along.
Like it or not all the people whining here about i7 don't realize that it is a trade off and doesn't really offer a lot in compensation. So yep another Core 2 spin is a possibility as it may be the only way for Apple to really deliver the hardware they want to support their initiatives.
However I'm not even sure that Nvidia is even in the running. Apple could easily go with proven ATI hardware and deliver a very high performance machine. The important thing here though is support for OpenCL. The more and better that Apple can support execution via OpenCL the less important the i7 advances become.
Of course trying to explain this to people who have their heart set on an i7 based MBP is useless. They see these fantasy numbers indicating a huge improvement in performance when in fact those are select specs for marketing. Trying to explain that acceleration via OpenCl is even faster is difficult to pass along.
Dave
I agree that Core i7 Arrandale performance isn't as good as it could be, I would've liked to see everything moved on-die with the CPU like the first generation Nehalems, but it looks like Intel went with the money saving route by reusing their 45nm northbridge fabs. But there is a definite performance gain, compared to the fastest Core 2 Duo (T9900), the Core i7 620M performs better in most benchmarks, with especially wide margins in multi-threaded benchmarks. And this comes with little decrease in battery life compared to the high frequency Core 2 Duos (battery life is worse in absolute terms compared to lower end Core 2 Duos but still better in terms of performance/watt.) So what's the tradeoff here? It seems to me to be just a newer, better chip.
With regards to OpenCL acceleration, how long do you think it will be before applications that people use often support it? OpenCL is still too nascent for it to be a major factor in purchasing decision when it comes to laptops. By the time that the applications that someone would like to run faster supports it, it may be time to purchase another laptop. Also, OpenCL is only helpful for very specific kinds of programs, those that can execute with massive parallelism. GPGPU execution is a tradeoff, in exchange for having many execution units, each unit is exceedingly simple compared to what CPUs can do. They don't have the out-of-order, branch-prediction, speculative execution logic that CPUs use to speed up single threads. This means that only specific kinds of programs that can be parallelized to such scales are accelerated by GPGPU execution, other kinds of programs will execute quite poorly on GPGPUs.
I couldn't help myself I stopped by BestBuy today...they had all MBP models in stock and SKUs active. Also there was "nothing coming in over the next 7 days" according to the guy who orders and manages inventory. He didn't know any more; he wants a new MBP personally actually. Anyway...I am subsequently not feeling a release next Tues. Seems like 3/16 is more possible.
o what's the tradeoff here? It seems to me to be just a newer, better chip.
I can confess that I am genuinely confused about the differences in the 2010 processors. Can you explain the differences between the Core i3,i5, and i7 processors? How do they compare to similarly clocked Core 2 Duo machines? I know some seem to be clocked very low (like 1.6ghz) and some are clocked much higher. Some have turbo boost and hyper threading and some don't.
What it comes down to is that I have to buy a machine in the next week or so for work, and I would hate to get a Macbook or Macbook Pro only to find that the Core i3 or i5 is a dramatic improvement since I am likely to keep it for a few years.
I couldn't help myself I stopped by BestBuy today...they had all MBP models in stock and SKUs active. Also there was "nothing coming in over the next 7 days" according to the guy who orders and manages inventory. He didn't know any more; he wants a new MBP personally actually. Anyway...I am subsequently not feeling a release next Tues. Seems like 3/16 is more possible.
agree...if it doesn't happen the 9th or the 16th they aren't gonna come in march. imho, i don't think they'll be here until late april, early may. apple has alot on there plate esp. now with the ipad release (which most ppl on this site would rather get a mbp first) and steam on its way to macs. new low end macbooks go on sale in august...aka...just in time for school...looks like a nicely spaced out schedule for apple cpu products.
I can confess that I am genuinely confused about the differences in the 2010 processors. Can you explain the differences between the Core i3,i5, and i7 processors? How do they compare to similarly clocked Core 2 Duo machines? I know some seem to be clocked very low (like 1.6ghz) and some are clocked much higher. Some have turbo boost and hyper threading and some don't.
What it comes down to is that I have to buy a machine in the next week or so for work, and I would hate to get a Macbook or Macbook Pro only to find that the Core i3 or i5 is a dramatic improvement since I am likely to keep it for a few years.
The best way to learn is to read up on them. The easiest way to see a list of comparison is usually on Wikipedia.
Comments
I think you're missing my point. I am not asking for something as extreme as the Vaio. I am simply saying that there is a middleground between where the Macbook is now and where the Vaio is. I am also saying that it doesn't have to start at $1900 like the Vaio. It can still start at $1200 for all I care. I just want the option to get a fully loaded machine for $2500 if I choose it.
With all due respect, I think you're missing the point. Leaving the excessive additional cost out of the equation, you're saying because Sony has a machine with the features you wan, and because Apple can,that they should make a machine with the features you want. If your statement was worded as "I'd like" I wish" that would be different, but it sounds like you're saying how Apple should operate. A few people wanting a product a viable market does not make. Those are my points.
As an example, I want a Home Server based of the lightweight Phone OS but that is not the same as saying "because HP makes a home server that Apple should. BTW, HP Media Smart running WinHS edition is a pretty good product.
Weird, it says there are three pages to this thread but I can't go to page three. Maybe this extra post will help.
I think it usually happens when an mods puts a poster on global ignore. This is called Tachy Goes To Coventry. It prevents any of their posts from being seen, except by mods, but they aren't deleted or locked out of their account. Unless they check from an account that is logged out they may not even realize the issue.
I can see a market for the ultra=light notebooks, like the MBA, but the need does diminish quite a bit with the removal of the ODD and the eventual thinning by 2.5mm once they can go to an SSD (or loss a platter in the HDD).
Plus, the MBA's battery is pretty bad compared to the current notebook lineup. Hopefully the next revision resolves some of that but I am not sure how much they can improve it. Ideally that type of machine would have more longevity than other notebooks.
The inclusion of the SD card slot on Macs was odd since it was so longer after they were standard in cameras and in most PCs. It did come after the SDXC was ratified which I think played a major role, but I think that Apple intends to eventually put their OS restore disc on SD card. You can already copy SL to an SD Card, Flash drive, or an internal or external disk and boot from it. it's easy as pie with Disk Utility and means you'll never need Target Disk Mode to do a fix or remove files.
I don't think the time for this will be for another two years at least. Maybe more.
Until most music is bought as a download. Until most Tv shows and movies are bought as downloads. And most software is bought as downloads, people won't be ready for that. The Air is sold and bought as a business laptop. That's different. Most software is installed at the company, through the network. But most other laptops are bought for other reasons. People, in general, aren't going to buy a laptop without a DVD recorder. It's too clumsy to buy an external.
I think that is most people's initial response to the ODD. They think it's as important as the CPU or RAM but when they think about the last time it was utilized they realize they haven't.
I see this as very important consideration on smaller laptops. The space that the optical drive takes up in a small laptop is a total waste. I'd rather have a Tera Byte of disk storage, a lighter machine and a lower profile. Besides an external USB drive works fine when you need it.
I'm so keen on the space being multi-function. It would still mean 5" of port-side real estate gone and it could never be as efficient as simply moving the ODD externally for the few that need it. There would be lots of complaints and they would likely sell quite a few external ODDs, hopefully dropping the current MBA ODD price from $99 to $49-79.
This is Apple they won't drop the price because of that.
As to using the space I'd love to see Apple come out with machines with PCI express slots for mass storage cards or what ever type of card you could want in the machine.
I wish I could. I got delayed the day of my vacation. It was a month long cruise to Australia. No biggie, I'd have missed this forum too much anyway.
Post some vacation pictures some place.
PS: I "hope" that the delay intelligent method in pro Mac updates is due to a Mac special event coming shortly. One where they want to showcase the new Macs on stage because it's radical changes, not just a speed bump. They need less than a week for the media, but I don't think they even need that these days. Just film it in house, post the video and let it go viral. I'm sure even MSNBC would spend plenty of time on it.
They are likely waiting on advance technology like LightPeak. Everone assumes it is due to Intel but the delay could very well be something more worthwhile. Let's face it the latest releases from Intel aren't all that inspiring.
Dave
Call me crazy, but I just had a notion that we might not see new MBPs until March 30th or even April 6th. If Apple is planning on using Nvidia's Optimus tech, then it's very possible that they aren't happy with the current selection of GTS 300 Mobile chips and are waiting for the mobile Fermi (aka GTS 400M series) chips. Given Apple's focus on Open CL recently, this actually makes sense. While Fermi will deliver some impressive performance boosts for gaming, it's also got a lot of CUDA-oriented improvements. Fermi is being released on March 26th.
Apple has problems with their choices right now. Either go with Intel's latest and best, and stick with their worse graphics, or go with another Core2 design, and go with Nvidia's best graphics.
This is a dilemma for Apple. No matter what they do, there will be an outcry.
Call me crazy, but I just had a notion that we might not see new MBPs until March 30th or even April 6th. If Apple is planning on using Nvidia's Optimus tech, then it's very possible that they aren't happy with the current selection of GTS 300 Mobile chips and are waiting for the mobile Fermi (aka GTS 400M series) chips. Given Apple's focus on Open CL recently, this actually makes sense. While Fermi will deliver some impressive performance boosts for gaming, it's also got a lot of CUDA-oriented improvements. Fermi is being released on March 26th.
Apple don't typically release cutting edge graphics cards on any of their machines. I'm not saying they won't do it this time around but it isn't their typical MO.
If they don't get new MBPs and MBs out soon the iPad will be released and I doubt Apple will release anything for a month after that's released. The iPad will get to bask in the limelight for a while at the Apple website. Especially with all the hype surrounding it.
That could put a MBP/MB release into May. That's too long a wait IMO.
Call me crazy, but I just had a notion that we might not see new MBPs until March 30th or even April 6th. If Apple is planning on using Nvidia's Optimus tech, then it's very possible that they aren't happy with the current selection of GTS 300 Mobile chips and are waiting for the mobile Fermi (aka GTS 400M series) chips. Given Apple's focus on Open CL recently, this actually makes sense. While Fermi will deliver some impressive performance boosts for gaming, it's also got a lot of CUDA-oriented improvements. Fermi is being released on March 26th.
I doubt that. We will probably see some 3X0 GPU in there as Optimus is almost certain and that is probably the only choice. The 3X0 GPUs suck compared to ATI HD 5XX0 Series but Apple was never at the cutting edge with this stuff, therefore it is likely the go for a convenient but slow Optimus GPU.
On March 26th there will be the Desktop Fermi Paper Launch. Although Nvidia said that they intend to release a broad range of products and not only the Desktop/Workstation HighEnd Cards, I doubt mobile parts is in the list. It is not entirely impossible as Fermi is almost half a year late and all the usually parallel Developments of the slower desktop and mobile Chips might be around the corner, a launch in the next 1 or 2 month would really surprise me (of mobile chips).
It would be nice though as Fermis Architecture although I think it is less Power Effecient and thus probably still slower than HD 5XX0 mobile Chips, would really work well with the whole GPGPU thing. If we see Fermi MBP I doubt they arrive in March, as Apple would develop a new Notebook with a GPU in mind that is reaching partner as late as this one.
This is a dilemma for Apple. No matter what they do, there will be an outcry.
I'm looking to buy my first Mac in over 15 years and I'm getting tired of waiting. I don't want to contemplate going back to PCs, I hate the things, but how long does Apple think people can wait for the new MBPs? I will not be able to hold out past mid-March, after that I'll get a Core i7 PC.
I will not be able to hold out past mid-March, after that I'll get a Core i7 PC.
And two days after you got your new Core i7 PC, Apple will get their new stuff out. Heheheee !
And two days after you got your new Core i7 PC, Apple will get their new stuff out. Heheheee !
I hope you're right Kali! Now that I've waited this long...I am going to keep waiting...a few more weeks...I sincerely wish I had just bought the current one in January now. Darn, being here makes you think you know what is coming! Well, we think we know what's up, but of course no one really knows what's next but Steve Jobs. Alright, show's over for this week folks! See ya'll next Tuesday! Unless Apple goes crazy and releases on a day that is not Tuesday of course.
I'm looking to buy my first Mac in over 15 years and I'm getting tired of waiting. I don't want to contemplate going back to PCs, I hate the things, but how long does Apple think people can wait for the new MBPs? I will not be able to hold out past mid-March, after that I'll get a Core i7 PC.
Well, you can do what you want. I don't think waiting for the next thing is such a big deal myself. I would just buy what's out now.
I'm looking to buy my first Mac in over 15 years and I'm getting tired of waiting. I don't want to contemplate going back to PCs, I hate the things, but how long does Apple think people can wait for the new MBPs? I will not be able to hold out past mid-March, after that I'll get a Core i7 PC.
If you don't want to go back to PC's then why even consider it? There is absolutely nothing wrong with the current ones if you are really in need. Further are you really certain that Apples next MBP revisions will be using Core i7? What ever they may be using I'm sure there is a good reason for the wait.
There are many possibilities but one to consider is that maybe they just aren't ready. Its a possibility and frankly about the right time for a major revision from Apple. In other words it is reasonable to expect that new technology could be mixed into the machine.
Dave
Apple has problems with their choices right now. Either go with Intel's latest and best, and stick with their worse graphics, or go with another Core2 design, and go with Nvidia's best graphics.
This is a dilemma for Apple. No matter what they do, there will be an outcry.
Like it or not all the people whining here about i7 don't realize that it is a trade off and doesn't really offer a lot in compensation. So yep another Core 2 spin is a possibility as it may be the only way for Apple to really deliver the hardware they want to support their initiatives.
However I'm not even sure that Nvidia is even in the running. Apple could easily go with proven ATI hardware and deliver a very high performance machine. The important thing here though is support for OpenCL. The more and better that Apple can support execution via OpenCL the less important the i7 advances become.
Of course trying to explain this to people who have their heart set on an i7 based MBP is useless. They see these fantasy numbers indicating a huge improvement in performance when in fact those are select specs for marketing. Trying to explain that acceleration via OpenCl is even faster is difficult to pass along.
Dave
Like it or not all the people whining here about i7 don't realize that it is a trade off and doesn't really offer a lot in compensation. So yep another Core 2 spin is a possibility as it may be the only way for Apple to really deliver the hardware they want to support their initiatives.
However I'm not even sure that Nvidia is even in the running. Apple could easily go with proven ATI hardware and deliver a very high performance machine. The important thing here though is support for OpenCL. The more and better that Apple can support execution via OpenCL the less important the i7 advances become.
Of course trying to explain this to people who have their heart set on an i7 based MBP is useless. They see these fantasy numbers indicating a huge improvement in performance when in fact those are select specs for marketing. Trying to explain that acceleration via OpenCl is even faster is difficult to pass along.
Dave
I agree that Core i7 Arrandale performance isn't as good as it could be, I would've liked to see everything moved on-die with the CPU like the first generation Nehalems, but it looks like Intel went with the money saving route by reusing their 45nm northbridge fabs. But there is a definite performance gain, compared to the fastest Core 2 Duo (T9900), the Core i7 620M performs better in most benchmarks, with especially wide margins in multi-threaded benchmarks. And this comes with little decrease in battery life compared to the high frequency Core 2 Duos (battery life is worse in absolute terms compared to lower end Core 2 Duos but still better in terms of performance/watt.) So what's the tradeoff here? It seems to me to be just a newer, better chip.
With regards to OpenCL acceleration, how long do you think it will be before applications that people use often support it? OpenCL is still too nascent for it to be a major factor in purchasing decision when it comes to laptops. By the time that the applications that someone would like to run faster supports it, it may be time to purchase another laptop. Also, OpenCL is only helpful for very specific kinds of programs, those that can execute with massive parallelism. GPGPU execution is a tradeoff, in exchange for having many execution units, each unit is exceedingly simple compared to what CPUs can do. They don't have the out-of-order, branch-prediction, speculative execution logic that CPUs use to speed up single threads. This means that only specific kinds of programs that can be parallelized to such scales are accelerated by GPGPU execution, other kinds of programs will execute quite poorly on GPGPUs.
o what's the tradeoff here? It seems to me to be just a newer, better chip.
I can confess that I am genuinely confused about the differences in the 2010 processors. Can you explain the differences between the Core i3,i5, and i7 processors? How do they compare to similarly clocked Core 2 Duo machines? I know some seem to be clocked very low (like 1.6ghz) and some are clocked much higher. Some have turbo boost and hyper threading and some don't.
What it comes down to is that I have to buy a machine in the next week or so for work, and I would hate to get a Macbook or Macbook Pro only to find that the Core i3 or i5 is a dramatic improvement since I am likely to keep it for a few years.
I couldn't help myself I stopped by BestBuy today...they had all MBP models in stock and SKUs active. Also there was "nothing coming in over the next 7 days" according to the guy who orders and manages inventory. He didn't know any more; he wants a new MBP personally actually. Anyway...I am subsequently not feeling a release next Tues. Seems like 3/16 is more possible.
agree...if it doesn't happen the 9th or the 16th they aren't gonna come in march. imho, i don't think they'll be here until late april, early may. apple has alot on there plate esp. now with the ipad release (which most ppl on this site would rather get a mbp first) and steam on its way to macs. new low end macbooks go on sale in august...aka...just in time for school...looks like a nicely spaced out schedule for apple cpu products.
I can confess that I am genuinely confused about the differences in the 2010 processors. Can you explain the differences between the Core i3,i5, and i7 processors? How do they compare to similarly clocked Core 2 Duo machines? I know some seem to be clocked very low (like 1.6ghz) and some are clocked much higher. Some have turbo boost and hyper threading and some don't.
What it comes down to is that I have to buy a machine in the next week or so for work, and I would hate to get a Macbook or Macbook Pro only to find that the Core i3 or i5 is a dramatic improvement since I am likely to keep it for a few years.
The best way to learn is to read up on them. The easiest way to see a list of comparison is usually on Wikipedia.That is probably more than you wanted. At least check out the AnandTech site and, as always, take Wikipedia with a grain of salt.
PS: And always check the MacRumors Buyer's Guide to see when an update is likely...