Apple prepares for Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro ramp

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 107
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member
    The Apple Institutional Store online has gone from 7-10 days shipping on the MacBook Pro to 2-3 weeks.
  • Reply 42 of 107
    If they don't have a new one by tuesday i will just go ahead and get the macbook. my powerbook 12" is slow and i need to use windows for many software that we use in school like Visual studio and Xilinx. keeping my fingers crossed for tuesday!
  • Reply 43 of 107
    bdj21yabdj21ya Posts: 297member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ShamrockTattoo


    If you could make a list of all the new and upadated features you'd like to see in the new MacBook Pro that's coming out soon, what would they be???



    Here's what I have so far... please make comments and add on to my list...



    * faster chips (new core 2 duo chip)

    * support for 4GB of memory

    * MacBook type keyboard

    * new video card

    * firewire 800 (15" model)

    * 3 USB 2.0 ports (15" model)

    * longer battery life

    * 802.11n

    * new enclosure



    Could you please explain why you would want a MacBook type keyboard? Backlight is a REALLY great feature, and the keys on the MacBook look clunky, like something from the 80's. It works for a consumer model, but I think a sexy looking AL notebook should have a sexy looking keyboard.
  • Reply 44 of 107
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mugwump


    Any divot / dent / ding in the aluminum MBP enclosure voids Applecare. WTF??





    huh???
  • Reply 45 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solsun


    Regarding refurbs:



    Anyone know if Apple clears out stock of an older model by calling it a refurb? Could these sometimes be new machines?



    No, and no.
  • Reply 46 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mugwump


    Any divot / dent / ding in the aluminum MBP enclosure voids Applecare. WTF??



    I hadn't heard that. But it could be because Applecare doesn't include repairing a machine that has been mishandled or abused.



    Any blow strong enough to cause the case to dent would most like damage the parts inside.



    That would constitute mishandling or abuse.
  • Reply 47 of 107
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by willgonz


    I want a MacBook Pro. However, I will wait until they release the newer version. I want the 17" version. My friends say it is huge but the 1680X1050 screen is the same res as the Apple 20" display. I will get the three year apple care. Compusa offers a screen protection plan for three years. I will get that, then after the three years maybe the displays would be around $100 on ebay.



    A MBP Tablet would be tight. Esp. with the two+ finger touch ability.



    I wish they would do user upgradeable video cards.



    [drunken rant]



    What else will you get with it? Will you get the Mighty Mouse? Will you get the Bluetooth keyboard? Will you get an iCurve? Will you get a 23" ACD? Will you get a bag for it? Will you get an EVDO card for it? Will you get a keyboard protector for it?



    I guess you've told us what you plan on getting, even though most of us don't care, I'm just curious what other pointless accessories/additions you plan on getting with it as well, or what the point of your post was besides a shopping list of what you will get.







    [/drunken rant]
  • Reply 48 of 107
    You're not a happy drunk, are you?
  • Reply 49 of 107
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 1337_5L4Xx0R


    You're not a happy drunk, are you?



    He's not even drunk.
  • Reply 50 of 107
    skatmanskatman Posts: 609member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bdj21ya




    The interesting thing is that everyone saw this as a huge problem.




    No shit! The power supply is faulty from the start!



    Quote:

    Every laptop I've owned (an Acer tablet and a Dell Inspiron 300m) made the same whining noises,



    Congrats! Dell and Acer are made by similar/same second and third tear southasian sweatshops as Apple. Why should they be better?





    Quote:

    So, it's not like the other manufacturers' computers don't exhibit many of the same issues, it's just that Apple consumers hold them to a much higher standard of what quality is.



    You should try Sony, Fujitsu, or Panasonic... then you don't have to deal with these issues.
  • Reply 51 of 107
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ShamrockTattoo


    If you could make a list of all the new and upadated features you'd like to see in the new MacBook Pro that's coming out soon, what would they be???



    Here's what I have so far... please make comments and add on to my list...



    Quote:

    * faster chips (new core 2 duo chip)





    Quote:

    * support for 4GB of memory



    Hope it has four RAM slots though, since it's going to be cheaper getting 4x 1GB than 2x 2GB sticks



    Quote:

    * MacBook type keyboard



    I'm ok with both keyboards, but I prefer the MacBook for typing, but the MBP's keyboard is ok since it looks more professional. Can you imagine a MacBook-type keyboard that is aluminum? That's gonna be ugly! And give it some backlight and it would look even uglier!! I'd prefer the normal MBP keyboards as is.



    Quote:

    * new video card



    X1800



    Quote:

    * firewire 800 (15" model)



    That's the reason I didn't buy the MBP when they came out



    Quote:

    * 3 USB 2.0 ports (15" model)



    Not really necessary, but rather have 3 than 2 anyways



    Quote:

    * longer battery life





    Quote:

    * 802.11n



    This is for sure



    Quote:

    * new enclosure



    DL superdrive should also come standard on all MBP models



    That's all of what I would like to see....
  • Reply 52 of 107
    greglogreglo Posts: 63member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by skatman


    You should try Sony, Fujitsu, or Panasonic... then you don't have to deal with these issues.



    Oh yes..I think everyone knows how undenniably excellent Sony's products are...especially their batteries.









    Legal fireworks.
  • Reply 53 of 107
    The #1 thing I think Apple really needs to improve is internal storage. 120GB hard drives just don't cut it when you're taking tons of pictures (at a paltry 5 Megapixels), and shooting a lot of video (1080i). The first thing everyone says is, "just buy an external." That's convenient if you're not traveling all the time and needing to keep things to a minimum.



    While I'm aware that Apple isn't exclusively to blame here, they are the ones making their laptops so thin that only single platter drives will fit in. With the hard drive manufacturers providing little relief to the single platter limitations, one would hope that Apple would address this issue with a notebook the size of their old Wallstreet. That would allow for a larger hard drive and I'll tell you this, I'll take a 750GB or 500GB over 120GB any day of the week.



    Sadly, I know that Apple will never design such a laptop to have a decent amount of hard drive space, so I'm essentially limited to keeping the majority of my photos and video on my desktop and just uploading pertinent things to the MBP when I need them.



    The biggest limitation is internal storage as far as I can see and it's the one thing Apple isn't doing anything to resolve.
  • Reply 54 of 107
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Brian Green


    While I'm aware that Apple isn't exclusively to blame here, they are the ones making their laptops so thin that only single platter drives will fit in. With the hard drive manufacturers providing little relief to the single platter limitations, one would hope that Apple would address this issue with a notebook the size of their old Wallstreet. That would allow for a larger hard drive and I'll tell you this, I'll take a 750GB or 500GB over 120GB any day of the week.







    You want a 3.5-inch drive in a laptop? Are you aware of the massively higher dimensions, weight, heat, noise and power requirements? The Wallstreet, dimensions-wise, had the same type of hard drive every current Mac laptop has.



    At best, what Apple could realistically do is allow for two 2.5-inch drives, perhaps in their 17-inch model, next to each other. That might be feasible.
  • Reply 55 of 107
    cool11cool11 Posts: 73member
    Apple should provide dual layer dvd recorders in mbp 15'. Even the chepeast pc-laptops has one for about 2 years now. It is not fair to pay so much money purchasing mbp and not having dual layer, in 2007!
  • Reply 56 of 107
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cool11


    Apple should provide dual layer dvd recorders in mbp 15



    They will.



    Quote:

    Even the chepeast pc-laptops has one for about 2 years now.



    Yes, laptops that are significantly thicker, therefore having enough space for one.
  • Reply 57 of 107
    philbyphilby Posts: 124member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by smashbrosfan


    I hear ya... Though I'm willing to settle. Give me an X1950 GPU and C2D and I'm happy.





    X1950? Your MBP will either have really, really heavy batteries, or it'll run only for some really, really short time on a normal battery. But it'll run fast, that's true.
  • Reply 58 of 107
    Chucker,



    I'm aware of the hard drive size of a Wallstreet, I used to have one. I was going off of the additional thickness of the Wallstreet when compared to my MBP.



    In regard to the solutions Apple uses, I'm no engineer, nor do I claim to be one. I expect people in those positions to be very well paid for coming up with a solution that dramatically improves the internal storage capacity of MBP's. I also refuse to accept that the 17" is the only model this could be done with.



    The problem I see is that Apple is more concerned about millimeters in thickness versus internal storage capacity. Did they think that the H264 thing would make our capacities improve? The problem is, I don't think anyone over in the Apple engineering department actually thinks about this at all beyond their need to get a current single platter drive into any configuration they are told to. They don't look at how to get notebook users some elbowroom when it comes to internal storage.



    No matter what group you may fall into, there's simply no excuse for the 120GB limitation when the media used these days (high definition and high megapixels) requires dramatically more storage than that needed when 10.0 came into existence. When the needs change, Apple ought to accommodate, and they haven't yet. One third of my hard drive is owned by iTunes alone, with my 60GB iPod nearing capacity with podcasts, downloaded movies from the iTunes Store, music, and videos. Then bring in my catalog of over 10,000 5-Megapixel images from around the world and you have another 30GB lost to that. I would have gone out already and purchased a higher resolution DSLR, but I know full well that if I do, I'm just killing myself on space even more, so I stick with the 5-Megapixel I have. Then we can also factor in that I also have just over a hundred compressed movies I've done in Quicktime. None are over 100MB in size, but it's obvious that I can't continue to add much more.



    The last thing that comes to mind is virtual memory. I have 2GB of ram in my MBP, and according to my SysStat widget, I have 17.4GB dedicated to virtual memory, which leaves me with less than 10GB of additional storage remaining on my laptop before edging into the virtual memory space it wants.



    Chucker, I don't expect you to have answers for the issue of internal storage, but I expect someone at Apple ought to get off their ass and make a very serious improvement to the considerable limitations to internal storage. This is quite simple an area where Apple hasn't innovated at all, and quite seriously needs to for it's users. I could care less if I have to lug around something that's thicker if it means that I have the ability to store everything internally rather than the 500GB external drive (and all of it's damn cords) that I currently lug around.



    It's the engineer's job to provide solutions not excuses.
  • Reply 59 of 107
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Brian Green


    No matter what group you may fall into, there's simply no excuse for the 120GB limitation when the media used these days (high definition and high megapixels) requires dramatically more storage than that needed when 10.0 came into existence.



    Here's an excuse: it's the biggest drive available in reasonably high supply and speed. There are a 160 GB ones which are slow and not widely available, and there's a 200 GB one that has been announced a long time ago and still doesn't seem to be out, plus it's ridiculously slow.



    This has nothing to do with Apple; all other laptops have to deal with the same. Some do so by putting two drives in rather than one, but that's a clunky solution at best, and obviously only works for big laptops.



    3.5-inch drives are not a solution at all. It's not just the thickness and weight. Battery life would be measured in minutes, not hours.



    Quote:

    When the needs change, Apple ought to accommodate, and they haven't yet.



    There is nothing for Apple to accommodate to. Technology just isn't there yet, period.



    Quote:

    I have 2GB of ram in my MBP, and according to my SysStat widget, I have 17.4GB dedicated to virtual memory, which leaves me with less than 10GB of additional storage remaining on my laptop before edging into the virtual memory space it wants.



    That is incorrect; that 17.4 GB number is not, as you appear infer, space used up on your hard drive. To see how much the virtual memory is actually taking up, you have to look at the size of your swapfiles, in /var/vm. It'll likely be a lot less.



    Quote:

    Chucker, I don't expect you to have answers for the issue of internal storage, but I expect someone at Apple ought to get off their ass and make a very serious improvement to the considerable limitations to internal storage. This is quite simple an area where Apple hasn't innovated at all, and quite seriously needs to for it's users.



    As much as I understand your frustration (really, I do; my MacBook Pro's 100 GB drive can be quite limiting), the best I can do is ask you to hold on for a while. Perpendicular storage technology will eventually improve the situation a lot.



    Apple isn't, and to my knowledge never has been, in the business of manufacturing or designing hard drives. They can come up with a few new ideas and patent them and license them to manufacturers, but this simply isn't their focus, nor that of most other laptop manufacturers.
  • Reply 60 of 107
    Chucker,



    I'm not suggesting that Apple begin manufacturing hard drives. I'm simply suggesting that a form-factor change may be needed in order to provide adequate storage for people who really do need it in their Pro computers.



    I've read similar information on the 160GB and even 200GB hard drives out there as my needs have me begging for some serious capacity. I've also read about Perpendicular storage technology, but it seems there's nothing to indicate that we'll see anything like them in the near future.



    The reason I brought up the Wallstreet example to begin with is that with the extra space afforded by the larger enclosure, Apple could implement a RAID setup that would allow for multiple drives to be installed. I'll bet you could easily fit three or four across with the extra room, even make them slot loading like the new Mac Pro. People are always talking about battery life and I can see the need for that, but there are many of us who never use the battery. We simply need mobility so we bring the plugin with us wherever we go. I'm not saying it's a solution that will work for everyone, but the 30" screen Apple has isn't a solution for everyone either. Options are a good thing.



    The thing that annoys me is that I came up with that idea in a few minutes and I'd bet Apple engineers never have. Why can't we see additional storage options in a larger sized laptop? I'll also bet the extra room in that enclosure would offer additional cooling for the higher end video cards.



    Some people buy laptops to have laptops. I bought mine to be a desktop replacement due to my travel around the world (Angkor Wat in Cambodia is next for me). I wish Apple would expand their minds a bit on this rather than limit us so much with their trend of only wanting to be the thinnest of laptops. I'd rather have the functionality I want than the thin factor.
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