Apple Releases MacBook Pro Firmware Update to Address SATA Interface Speeds

[MacRumors]

Last week, we reported on a discussion in our forums regarding Apple's apparent downgrade of the SATA hard drive interface to 1.5 Gbps in the latest 13" and 15" MacBook Pros when compared to previous-generation MacBook Pros running at 3.0 Gbps. While users were unlikely to max out the 1.5 Gbps transfer rate unless they had installed an aftermarket fast solid state drive (SSD), concern remained about Apple's decision to scale back the interface speed.

Apple today addressed the issue with the release of MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7, which allows the new MacBook Pros to utilize the full 3.0 Gbps interface.

MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7 addresses an issue reported by a small number of customers using drives based on the SATA 3Gbps specification with the June 2009 MacBook Pro. While this update allows drives to use transfer rates greater than 1.5Gbps, Apple has not qualified or offered these drives for Mac notebooks and their use is unsupported.

Full details on the update are located in the associated support document, and instructions for installing the update are included in the update application package. The update weighs in at 3.35 MB and requires OS X 10.5.7.

Article Link: Apple Releases MacBook Pro Firmware Update to Address SATA Interface Speeds

[smileyborg]

There, now y'all stop your complaining

[BRLawyer]

Originally Posted by smileyborg

There, now y'all stop your complaining

Now tell me: WHICH COMPANY IN THE WORLD provides such a quick feedback to customers' demands? Apple is SUPREME again in quality of service...it's just amazing!

PC pundits, have you eaten some crow already?

MS IS DEAD. DELL IS DEAD.

[iMacDragon]

Now if they could just get round to fixing the broken express card implementation under windows on the first 15" unibodies..

[Capt Crunch]

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

Now tell me: WHICH COMPANY IN THE WORLD provides such a quick feedback to customers' demands? Apple is SUPREME again in quality of service...it's just amazing!

PC pundits, have you eaten some crow already?

MS IS DEAD. DELL IS DEAD.

Easy, killer.

[Icaras]

Why do people still rate this article a negative?

Are these people who just want to be capped at 1.5? Please someone help me understand.

[applecultvictim]

Originally Posted by Icaras

Why do people still rate this article a negative?

Are these people who just want to be capped at 1.5? Please someone help me understand.

Because apple has denied them their favorite pastime of projecting and venting out by criticising apple. And they feel extra sore after managing to lock that last thread that apple managed to
prove them wrong and be so quick with an update.

Sorry boys.

[Jelite]

Yeeesss!! 3.0 giggawatts!!

Im not sure i actually care, but obviously there's lots of you that do so, err, thanks apple.

Originally Posted by Icaras

Why do people still rate this article a negative?

Are these people who just want to be capped at 1.5? Please someone help me understand.

If you fill a room with monkeys and computers eventually one of them will rate a Macrumors story negative.

[Eidorian]

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

Now tell me: WHICH COMPANY IN THE WORLD provides such a quick feedback to customers' demands? Apple is SUPREME again in quality of service...it's just amazing!

I guess the Unibody MacBooks never happened.

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

PC pundits, have you eaten some crow already?

MS IS DEAD. DELL IS DEAD.

Oh you. There's more than enough consumers out there for everyone. I don't see a reason to beat your chest with such misguided end all statements.

[BRLawyer]

Originally Posted by Eidorian

I guess the Unibody MacBooks never happened.

The unibody MBs are the main reason for my statement; otherwise, Apple wouldn't have released the 13" ones now.

[tdream]

VICTORY!!!

[iAlex]

Thank You Apple!!!!! :d

[Eidorian]

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

The unibody MBs are the main reason for my statement; otherwise, Apple wouldn't have released the 13" ones now.

Can you elaborate?

It's strange that they'd pretty much go as far as to say FireWire is dead only to bring it back.

[bryanzak]

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

Now tell me: WHICH COMPANY IN THE WORLD provides such a quick feedback to customers' demands? Apple is SUPREME again in quality of service...it's just amazing!

PC pundits, have you eaten some crow already?

MS IS DEAD. DELL IS DEAD.

This is sarcasm right?

Apple rarely caves to customer demands. Their entire history is one of forging ahead and dealing with the flack that results.

Microsoft tries accommodates every wish and whim of everyone and that's one of their problems - they are so worried about upsetting some market segment that they end up creating mediocre products with 10 bazillion customization options.

[applecultvictim]

Originally Posted by bryanzak

This is sarcasm right?

Apple rarely caves to customer demands. Their entire history is one of forging ahead and dealing with the flack that results.

Microsoft tries accommodates every wish and whim of everyone and that's one of their problems - they are so worried about upsetting some market segment that they end up creating mediocre products with 10 bazillion customization options.

ha, ha, ha. What an argument! So it's the markets fault for demanding too much and confusing ms!!! That's the real reason their products are never innovative and almost always mediocre at best!!! Way to scew logic.

[andiwm2003]

Originally Posted by applecultvictim

ha, ha, ha. What an argument! So it's the markets fault for demanding too much and confusing ms!!! That's the real reason their products are never innovative and almost always mediocre at best!!! Way to scew logic.

actually, he's spot on.

[MattInOz]

Originally Posted by applecultvictim

ha, ha, ha. What an argument! So it's the markets fault for demanding too much and confusing ms!!! That's the real reason their products are never innovative and almost always mediocre at best!!! Way to scew logic.

No still Microsoft's fault for trying to get every customer into their Monopoly.
They choose to target everyone and not miss out on anyones money.
The flip side is they can't let any customer go, they have to pleas everyone.

The other option is they pick part of the market they can service well to target, plus support anyone outside the target who sees value in the targeted profit.

Leaving room for others to target the profitable niches.
Competition is good after all.
How different the market place would be with 4-5 compatible products each targeting a niche (apple - visual people, another for word smiths like lawyers,....) there would be more than enough crossover and overlap to keep them all on their toes and interesting.

[bryanzak]

Originally Posted by applecultvictim

ha, ha, ha. What an argument! So it's the markets fault for demanding too much and confusing ms!!! That's the real reason their products are never innovative and almost always mediocre at best!!! Way to scew logic.

Huh?

Just saying that trying to design something efficient, elegent and intuitive is much easier with one or two people calling the shots, making final decisions and having a willingness to break with the past.

Whereas MS tends to take feedback from thousands and tries to accommodate them. Design by Committee doesn't have a very good track record so far in any industry.

[3NV7]

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

Now tell me: WHICH COMPANY IN THE WORLD provides such a quick feedback to customers' demands? Apple is SUPREME again in quality of service...it's just amazing!

PC pundits, have you eaten some crow already?

MS IS DEAD. DELL IS DEAD.

Lighten up, Francis.

[Stevamundo]

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

Now tell me: WHICH COMPANY IN THE WORLD provides such a quick feedback to customers' demands? Apple is SUPREME again in quality of service...it's just amazing!

PC pundits, have you eaten some crow already?

MS IS DEAD. DELL IS DEAD.

Are you wearing your Apple cheerleading outfit with your Apple shaped pom-poms from your closet when you're writing this?

[Stevamundo]

Originally Posted by smileyborg

There, now y'all stop your complaining

No! People always need to bitch about something. Besides, this update isn't supported by Apple drivers. I'm sure that some people will bitch about this.

[dernhelm]

Well based on all the moaning and complaining from when this was first reported, apple's sales figures should skyrocket now that this huge deficiency has finally been fixed!

[djellison]

Originally Posted by smileyborg

There, now y'all stop your complaining

What we learn here is that Apple were not ready to release these products and rushed them out.

What else will come up as a problem.

[Gasu E.]

Originally Posted by djellison

What we learn here is that Apple were not ready to release these products and rushed them out.

What else will come up as a problem.

That's not likely to have been the case here.

All products are designed to meet a specification, and because Apple never intended to ship a device above 1.5Gps, that's probably what the design spec said.

Since the spec called for nothing above 1.5Gps, probably no QE tests were run against higher speed.

Then probably some overly conservative engineer decided to put in a "safety" feature so customers would not run in some "untested configuration, with potentially unpredictable results". Just doing his job. Since he stayed within spec, there's no managerial decision needed to approve this.

Folks, unless you have worked on a major development project involving hundreds of people, you can't appreciate how important it is for people to "color within the lines" and stick to the spec. It's the only way to make sure people are on the same page.

Once the product hit the market, useful feedback, such as found at this site, led the product manager to better understand the need, and ask engineering to qualify a sample configuration, then remove the safety code.

Stuff like this happens with every product. It's not a bug, or a sign of bad quality, but a sign of good procedures that generally lead to quality products.

[fredfnord]

Something nobody mentions about this problem is multiple devices hitting a bottleneck due to the SATA restriction. Glad I don't have to worry about it now the next time I'm pushing video around with three drives hooked up, etc, etc.

The reason nobody mentions this is because it's 100% wrong. With SATA, each device is on its own bus. You're assuming that SATA worked the same way as PATA (master/slave) or SCSI (multiple drives, one bus) but it doesn't.

-fred