MacBook and MacBook Pro: Penryn, Battery Life, Updates Sooner than Later?

[MacRumors]

Apple released new MacBooks and MacBook Pros today which carry the new 45nm Penryn processors, upgrading the laptops from the older 65nm Merom processors. The jump from Merom to Penryn is not a dramatic one as previous benchmarks demonstrate.

Penryn Advantages

Overall, the high end Penryn's may have marginal improvements in performance due to higher L2 cache, though the low-end Penryns (2.1GHz and 2.4GHz) actually have less (3MB vs 4MB) of L2 cache vs their Merom counterparts. Whether this results in any real world difference is unclear. Early benchmarks of the new Penryn 2.4GHz MacBook Pro reveals a comparable GeekBench score (3086) to the older Merom 2.4GHz MacBook Pro (3094).

One new feature all Penryn processors share is the SSE4 instruction set. Similar to the PowerPC's Altivec instruction set, SSE4 can provide dramatic speed increases (40% faster) for applications specifically written for them.

Battery Life

There's been some discussion about the fact that Apple's battery ratings for the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros are significantly less than previously published ratings. The new ratings are listed below with old ratings in parenthesis:

MacBook: 4.5hrs (6hrs)
15" MacBook Pro: 5hrs (5hrs)
17" MacBook Pro 4.5hrs (5.75hrs)

Apple PR clarified today, however, that this is simply due to a difference in reporting the numbers, and the new Penryn-based MacBooks and MacBook Pros' battery life has actually improved -- which would be expected with the more power efficient processors:

Anuj went on to explain that Apple has always done three separate battery tests when coming up with this metric—a DVD playback test, a wireless productivity test, and a "highway test," which got the best battery life and Apple used to advertise. However, the highway test is "hard to reproduce, and people got confused" he said, which is why Apple ditched it and started going with wireless productivity instead. "The wireless productivity test is the closest to normal usage, right in the middle of the road with WiFi, text editing, sending e-mail, etc." Anuj said.

Other Notes

- The new MacBook Pros have a Multitouch trackpad, but the MacBook does not.
- The Apple Remote control is no longer included, and must be purchased separately ($19).
- Teardown photos of the new MacBook Pro.
- BestBuy's inventory system incorrectly reported the MacBook part numbers as MacBook Pros, leading to some confusion about the planned updates. For future reference, BestBuy may be fed part numbers ahead of time, but has no actual knowledge of specs or price points, and clearly used placeholder information in this case.

Why Now?

The biggest question is why Apple bothered speed bumping the MacBooks which were not yet due for revision. According to our sources, Apple was forced by Intel into upgrading the MacBooks at this time. Intel is aggressively phasing out the older generation 65nm Merom chips over the coming months. As a result, Apple needed to upgrade the MacBooks in the interim to maintain a proper supply. One could speculate that, consequently, the next MacBook refreshes may occur mid-year, ahead of their expected product cycle.



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[kavika411]

Good analysis.

[shadowfax]

Most exciting news: Intel is lighting a fire under Apple's butt to keep their darn product line up to date. Love it!

[cohibadad]

Big news day. Now we need SSE4 utilization!

[shoulin333]

wonder if this means the MBA will be upgraded soon also... i hope not bah

[LostPacket]

Originally Posted by shoulin333

wonder if this means the MBA will be upgraded soon also... i hope not bah

Probably not. It's using the new die that Intel is just starting to market to other manufacturers. That chip is just starting it's life cycle.

The biggest news I can see is the lack of new multi touch in the MBs. It really differentiates it from the MBPs. With the MBP controller, new gestures are just a software update away. Not so with the MBs. Maybe they did this to make up for the jump in MB processor power?

[theddie]

I thought all the mbps had the multi-touch?

[arn]

Originally Posted by theddie

I thought all the mbps had the multi-touch?

yep. that was a mistype. All MacBook Pros have multitouch. MacBooks do not. I corrected the article

arn

[ZorPrime]

Arn was right... It is Tuesday, he said there would be, and there have been MB & MBP updates.

[skwoytek]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

One could speculate that, consequently, the next MacBook refreshes may occur mid-year, ahead of their expected product cycle.

I'm more worried about the next refresh of MBPs.

My ADC discount expires in September. So do I buy the latest MBP fresh on release, today? Or, do I hold out until September for one more refresh, with the possibility of time running out and then using my discount to buy a six-month old MBP.

[akadmon]

Originally Posted by skwoytek

I'm more worried about the next refresh of MBPs.

My ADC discount expires in September. So do I buy the latest MBP fresh on release, today? Or, do I hold out until September for one more refresh, with the possibility of time running out and then using my discount to buy a six-month old MBP.

Buy now. Apple is going to milk this release for all it's worth, that is to say they'll wait until most kids wanting to buy a MBP will crack under pressure in September. You'll see the update no sooner than October, after the iPod deal is over.

[dante@sisna.com]

Originally Posted by akadmon

Buy now. Apple is going to milk this release for all it's worth, that is to say they'll wait until most kids wanting to buy a MBP will crack under pressure in September. You'll see the update no sooner than October, after the iPod deal is over.

Agree -- I have come to know you as one of the wise ones who hang out here.

[akadmon]

Originally Posted by dante@sisna.com

Agree -- I have come to know you as one of the wise ones who hang out here.

Thanks. I'm just applying the rules of common sense and using what I've learned from recent history. I predict I will be wrong one of these days

[JCT]

Originally Posted by akadmon

Buy now. Apple is going to milk this release for all it's worth, that is to say they'll wait until most kids wanting to buy a MBP will crack under pressure in September. You'll see the update no sooner than October, after the iPod deal is over.

Strongly agree-- the other issue is waiting and then going for a Rev A.

I currently have a Rev A MBP (2.16 GHz/CD/7200 HDD/2 GB RAM) -- it is probably my best computer purchase in my 20 years of buying machines, but those first few months were a bit rough (logic board replaced, etc). The machine runs flawlessly, but I'm using more PS3 and Aperture of late and more RAM would really help.

I could certainly hold out a bit more, but I think that any major redesign is not going to be as soon as people think and may represent a Rev A -- not sure I want to go down that road again so soon. It's actually the reason I held off on a MBA for work. Not to mention the fact that I may not *like* the redesign .

So I think I will try to sell my current one and either buy the 2.5 GHz or a late refurb (the prices are great) --- I still like the current design, this is a late rev machine and should be stable as a rock AND with 4 GB of RAM it should be a real improvement over my current one.

I do hate the effort of selling laptops though....

JT

[himansk]

Originally Posted by skwoytek

I'm more worried about the next refresh of MBPs.

My ADC discount expires in September. So do I buy the latest MBP fresh on release, today? Or, do I hold out until September for one more refresh, with the possibility of time running out and then using my discount to buy a six-month old MBP.

I am on a similar boat, my subscription ends in oct, I plan to wait though, montevina is due mid 2008 so I hope apple will get the updated mbp soon after since its around time of back to school promos. Thats my educated guess...

[WHM]

After charging mine for less than an hour it is showing 4:30 battery life. My 3 year old PowerBook G4 never got beyond 3 hours so far I AM A HAPPY CAMPER.

[TheSpecialist]

Interesting that Apple is changing so much, even more appealing to me is that they did at least 1 thing every tuesday...!!!

Also, the new MBP doesn't have the Apple logo on the command key anymore, it now says command or cmd.

[mrcrapperson]

Originally Posted by TheSpecialist

Interesting that Apple is changing so much, even more appealing to me is that they did at least 1 thing every tuesday...!!!

Also, the new MBP doesn't have the Apple logo on the command key anymore, it now says command or cmd.

hm.. about time

I'll miss the old apple key, but it was kind of a pain to have to describe it when doing phone support.

[tirerim]

Originally Posted by mrcrapperson

hm.. about time

I'll miss the old apple key, but it was kind of a pain to have to describe it when doing phone support.

Huh? It's the key with the apple symbol on it; doesn't seem that hard to describe to me. It's only hard if you call it "command" rather than "apple". I may be betraying my childhood spent on Apple ][e's, though. I'll miss the old three-fingered salute being control-apple-reset... not that I've had to use it much lately. :-)

[jbh001]

Originally Posted by tirerim

Huh? It's the key with the apple symbol on it; doesn't seem that hard to describe to me.

You've obviously never worked in customer service.

My brother finally got over it when he pictured that every person on the other end of the call was really Homer Simpson. Then he was finally explain things to them (or at least not get as frustrated).

[ShiggyMiyamoto]

Originally Posted by TheSpecialist

Interesting that Apple is changing so much, even more appealing to me is that they did at least 1 thing every tuesday...!!!

Also, the new MBP doesn't have the Apple logo on the command key anymore, it now says command or cmd.

I have a Santa Rosa (late Merom) MacBook, and I don't have the symbol either. I'm a Mac veteran so I don't need it, but I can see how come people have grown to rely on it...

[j26]

Originally Posted by TheSpecialist

Interesting that Apple is changing so much, even more appealing to me is that they did at least 1 thing every tuesday...!!!

Also, the new MBP doesn't have the Apple logo on the command key anymore, it now says command or cmd.

That's a deal breaker for my daughter (aged 2 1/2). Sometimes she sits beside me when I'm studying and says "Press de Apple one, Daddy"

[d_and_n5000]

The only thing I have to say is I hope that Apple makes it very well known that they are using a new formula for their battery tests. I'd imagine that Joe Consumer who did a decent amount of research will take one look at the new MacBook battery test, say "WTF! Battery life dropped an hour and a half! What's Apple doing? They need to beef it up, I'm not getting this for that that much less battery life!" Lost sale. Not good.

[diamond.g]

Originally Posted by d_and_n5000

The only thing I have to say is I hope that Apple makes it very well known that they are using a new formula for their battery tests. I'd imagine that Joe Consumer who did a decent amount of research will take one look at the new MacBook battery test, say "WTF! Battery life dropped an hour and a half! What's Apple doing? They need to beef it up, I'm not getting this for that that much less battery life!" Lost sale. Not good.

They have Wireless Productivity under the numbers. Just like they do for the Macbook Air. Shouldn't be too difficult to figure out.

[Darkroom]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Why Now?

The biggest question is why Apple bothered speed bumping the MacBooks which were not yet due for revision. According to our sources, Apple was forced by Intel into upgrading the MacBooks at this time. Intel is aggressively phasing out the older generation 65nm Merom chips over the coming months. As a result, Apple needed to upgrade the MacBooks in the interim to maintain a proper supply. One could speculate that, consequently, the next MacBook refreshes may occur mid-year, ahead of their expected product cycle.
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could one also speculate that, consequently, the new iMac revision is next week?