Sources weigh in on Apple's MacBook Pro and iBook plans

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Comments

  • Reply 81 of 107
    elixirelixir Posts: 782member
    i do like probook better as well.



    i think i'll just refer it as probook from now on.



    if the ibooks are renamed to macbook without the "pro"



    it's going to be obnoxious distinguishing them by saying macbook pro/macbook





    so probook it is.









    EDIT: what if they are still working on the battery life? is that a possibility? or are they already manufacturing the machines for launch?
  • Reply 82 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Elixir

    i do like probook better as well.



    i think i'll just refer it as probook from now on.



    if the ibooks are renamed to macbook without the "pro"



    it's going to be obnoxious distinguishing them by saying macbook pro/macbook





    so probook it is.









    EDIT: what if they are still working on the battery life? is that a possibility? or are they already manufacturing the machines for launch?




    This has to be finished by now.



    People who have ordered from the site said that shipping was Feb 15th. If they were still playing with it, they couldn't give a ship date.



    It likely has about 3 hours life when everything is up and running, with the screen on its brightest setting, and probably 4.5 when everything is average.
  • Reply 83 of 107
    elixirelixir Posts: 782member
    well i'm not happy about that.



    i'm still iffy about preordering.





    so they are shipping the 15th?
  • Reply 84 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Elixir

    well i'm not happy about that.



    i'm still iffy about preordering.





    so they are shipping the 15th?




    They've been known to change the date, either backwards, or fowards.



    The times I mentioned are from the reviews of three Core Duo machines on PC Magazines site. The times were for 2 hours to 3.5 hours for a loaded system running full out.



    This one should be in there somewhere. I doubt it's at the bottom, but we can't assume that it will be at the top either.



    EDIT: Fixed my terrible sentance structure. Brrr!
  • Reply 85 of 107
    elixirelixir Posts: 782member
    well here is my serious question



    will macbook pro owners using yonah be able to upgrade to merom chips?



    is it going to be as easy as just switching it out?
  • Reply 86 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Elixir

    well here is my serious question



    will macbook pro owners using yonah be able to upgrade to merom chips?



    is it going to be as easy as just switching it out?




    NO.



    The Yonah is a 32 bit chip, while the Merom is 64 bits. Everything will be different in the machine that relates to that.



    But, you can't really update laptop chips.
  • Reply 87 of 107
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Elixir

    well here is my serious question



    will macbook pro owners using yonah be able to upgrade to merom chips?



    is it going to be as easy as just switching it out?




    No. More than likely the chips are soldered to the surface of the motherboard and I'd imagine they are also a different pinout being as Yonah and Merom are not from the same architecture (Yonah = Pentium M/Dothan heritage, Merom = Intel's Next Gen Arch).
  • Reply 88 of 107
    Quote:

    Originally posted by aegisdesign

    No. More than likely the chips are soldered to the surface of the motherboard and I'd imagine they are also a different pinout being as Yonah and Merom are not from the same architecture (Yonah = Pentium M/Dothan heritage, Merom = Intel's Next Gen Arch).



    oOOOOo... does this mean ill still be able to install Vista on it!?
  • Reply 89 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mike12309

    oOOOOo... does this mean ill still be able to install Vista on it!?



    There's supposted to be a 32 bit, and a 64 bit version. So, hopefully, it should work (unless there are issues we don't know about yet).
  • Reply 90 of 107
    Quote:

    Originally posted by melgross

    There's supposted to be a 32 bit, and a 64 bit version. So, hopefully, it should work (unless there are issues we don't know about yet).



    And Vista is the only version of windows to support 32bit EFI as used on the Mac. So it seems likely. I surprised someone with an intel iMac hasn't tried Vista beta yet.
  • Reply 91 of 107
    Quote:

    Originally posted by aegisdesign

    And Vista is the only version of windows to support 32bit EFI as used on the Mac. So it seems likely. I surprised someone with an intel iMac hasn't tried Vista beta yet.



    it was a joke...
  • Reply 92 of 107
    elixirelixir Posts: 782member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by melgross

    NO.



    The Yonah is a 32 bit chip, while the Merom is 64 bits. Everything will be different in the machine that relates to that.



    But, you can't really update laptop chips.




    what about upgrading to a better yonah chip?
  • Reply 93 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Elixir

    what about upgrading to a better yonah chip?



    It's a good question. From the photo's on the web of the inside of the new machine (the iMac) it seems as though the cpu is on a board, plugged into a socket. Since that's the way these chips are normally used, it's possible. PC's can be upgraded within a certain line of chips using the same socket.



    We'll have to see what was done in the laptop first.
  • Reply 94 of 107
    Quote:

    Originally posted by melgross

    We'll have to see what was done in the laptop first.



    I can't imagine they'd socket a laptop chip. It takes up too much room and would be prone to coming lose when the case is flexed during normal portable use.



    Already they were having problems with fitting the DVD drive in which dropped to a 4X non-DL drive because they needed to use a 9.5mm high drive instead of the old 12mm thick drive.
  • Reply 95 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by aegisdesign

    I can't imagine they'd socket a laptop chip. It takes up too much room and would be prone to coming lose when the case is flexed during normal portable use.



    Already they were having problems with fitting the DVD drive in which dropped to a 4X non-DL drive because they needed to use a 9.5mm high drive instead of the old 12mm thick drive.




    That's why I'm saying to wait and see. I know that some laptops do have sockets. It would certainly be cheaper in the long run for Apple to use one if they intended to stick a faster (or slower) chip in when it first becomes available. It's also safer for the chip.
  • Reply 96 of 107
    http://mactree.sannet.ne.jp/~kodawar...l/01141082.jpg



    is the picture of the socketed CPU in the iMac.



    It'd be nice to think they'll let you upgrade that without a hack or having to solder resistors for clock settings. I wonder if it'll just turn into a Rev A feature though because of uncertainty in supply or late delivery on the first batch?



    It's a real pity the've not continued the Rev A/B G5 iMac case design though. That would have made it much easier to get at the CPU.
  • Reply 97 of 107
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by melgross

    That's why I'm saying to wait and see. I know that some laptops do have sockets. It would certainly be cheaper in the long run for Apple to use one if they intended to stick a faster (or slower) chip in when it first becomes available. It's also safer for the chip.



    Maybe, bit I have my doubts. Laptops with sockets seem to be a lot rarer than laptops without sockets, the ones that are socketed are generally thicker than those that aren't.
  • Reply 98 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by aegisdesign

    http://mactree.sannet.ne.jp/~kodawar...l/01141082.jpg



    is the picture of the socketed CPU in the iMac.



    It'd be nice to think they'll let you upgrade that without a hack or having to solder resistors for clock settings. I wonder if it'll just turn into a Rev A feature though because of uncertainty in supply or late delivery on the first batch?



    It's a real pity the've not continued the Rev A/B G5 iMac case design though. That would have made it much easier to get at the CPU.




    Well, you know, form over function.



    The A/B models were form follows function.



    But Intel and AMD chips are also known by the socket series. We've not had that here on the Mac. Modern chips have upwards of 500 pins, male or female, on the back. Soldering that reliably, is a bear.
  • Reply 99 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JeffDM

    Maybe, bit I have my doubts. Laptops with sockets seem to be a lot rarer than laptops without sockets, the ones that are socketed are generally thicker than those that aren't.



    That's why I won't say. We'll have to see.
  • Reply 100 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    A link to ARs, where they mention that the CPU in the iMac is socketed (from the Japanese tear-apart picture).



    Let's hope the Japanese site gets the money to buy a MacBook Pro when it comes out.



    http://arstechnica.com/journals/appl...2006/1/15/2521
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