Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros Soon?

[generik]

I think the only place a modem should be included is in the MB. Can't see a reason why someone who can afford a 2000+ MBP cant afford DSL. But as above poster said faxing mskrs a little more sense then modem for internnet acess

It is not so much being able to afford DSL or not, but sometimes when you travel around, or end up in a strange new city where the only internet access you can get comes in the form of a prepaid card with a dialup userid and password under a scratchie, it'd be quite a bummer to not have a modem to use it.

But even then I do contend that it is a pretty rare occurence.

 

[poppe]

just get a usb modem, theres no difference, plus there's places in the U.S. that don't have DSL coverage. Those places have satellite, but that's just too darn expensive IMO. $50 a month + $500+ setup fee, i'd be happy with a usb modem if dsl isn't available in my area. I got pretty lucky that AT&T has service out in the middle of nowhere (where i live).

I suppose its just a little hard for me to believe that people acctually still can't get DSL or cable... I never knew there was still locations that didn't have access to them... I come from a town of 950 people and DSL has been their for 3-4 years now if i remember right.

I figured if a town of 950, that was 30 mintues away from any town with a population fo 20,000+, is able to get DSL practically anywhere in the US could get it besides those living in the backwoods 6 miles away from your neighbor...

 

[poppe]

http://developer.apple.com/membership/hardware.html

Going there and then clicking to join are saying that appleconnect.com are currently down or something... thought that that was weird though I don't think it means much...

 

[ThunderLounge]

I suppose its just a little hard for me to believe that people acctually still can't get DSL or cable... I never knew there was still locations that didn't have access to them... I come from a town of 950 people and DSL has been their for 3-4 years now if i remember right.

I figured if a town of 950, that was 30 mintues away from any town with a population fo 20,000+, is able to get DSL practically anywhere in the US could get it besides those living in the backwoods 6 miles away from your neighbor...

Believe it. I've been fighting getting it at my house for years. No dice.

The company that owns our switch (Valor Telecom) refuses to do any upgrades at all. We're lucky to have call waiting and caller ID. Seriously.

There is actually a local phone company in the next town over that wanted to be able to offer DSL at the switch, but Valor flat out told them to piss off and that there was no way that DSL would be implemented at the switch. So they offered to buy out the switch. Again, same response.

So, the local company says OK, have it your way. Last spring they started running a brand new, fiber optic system that will cover every house on the switch when they're done. They'll have DSL, and all the fixin's. They also are charging half the price for phone service with free call waiting, caller ID, and 3-way.

Right now I pay just over $53 for a dialtone, with all the taxes. Oh, and that includes $2 a month for an unlisted number.


While this isn't the norm, it isn't uncommon in a rural area either. And my closest neighbor isn't 6 miles away, it's about 3/4 of a mile as the crow flies.


Back on topic...

I'm good with Apple taking the internal modem out of their models. It's an engineering deal. OK. Cool. But paying $49 for a little USB one is a little annoying.

 

[50548]

### Well if Apple would change their priorities from "pretty" to "performance", it *could* make a significant difference. Alienware, Boxxtech offer MUCH higher performance GPUs in their laptops and **they** don't even underclock them..what a concept!

You mean those "laptanks" they love to launch, the equivalents of a Hummer in the world of portables? No, thanks...I'd rather have a good enough GPU instead of a monster on my lap, just to say that I have the newest GPU with more 5fps...

 

[50548]

I thought the 12" PBG4 has no backlighting? Or did I remember wrongly?

If ya mean "backlit keyboard", no, it doesn't...as for backlighting, I am pretty sure all laptops in the world since 1995 have it...

 

[timmillwood]

UK Store down!!!

US up though!!!

Thats twice in one day!! whats going on MBPs soon!, just hope my new 0% credit card comes soon too

 

[uNext]

Why?

Its been proven that merom is not that great of a deal so why are people so anxious? is it for bragging rights? i dont care about a processor proven to be no so diffrnet from the current one. what i am more interested in is a case update.

flock a merom bring on santa rosa PROVEN to be the real upgrade
merom is just a windows me but hardware based get your facts straight people.

 

[Gurutech]

If ya mean "backlit keyboard", no, it doesn't...as for backlighting, I am pretty sure all laptops in the world since 1995 have it...

The next MBP and MB should use LED backlightning.
CCFL isn't as reliable and durable as LED backlightning.
I believe Sony and few other companies already uses LED backlightning, which in turn has reduced the thickness of LCD panel significantly.

 

[rtharper]

flock a merom bring on santa rosa PROVEN to be the real upgrade
merom is just a windows me but hardware based get your facts straight people.

ORLY? And here I thought that increasing the processor speed, doubling the amount of L2 cache, and transitioning to a 64-bit platform were somewhat non-trivial. It is true Santa Rosa will have a new chipset, and, most importantly, offer an 800mHz FSB, but that doesn't mean that the other additions are completely pointless.

Doubling the amount of cache would be nice for dual core processors, especially if a lot of stuff is taking advantage of shared storage to communicate between threads. Also, save the 64-bit is stupid talk, there are lots of ways to take advantage of it that could increase performance.

For some of us, a 10% speed bump overall isn't the point. Specific features, future proofing, getting the most for our money are other interests, too.

 

[juststranded]

With the 24" iMac I suppose Apple proved you wrong on the first count.

And I wouldn't put it beyond Apple to accomplish the 2nd, so here's to hopin'

Concerning the former statement:

The 24" iMac is why I suppose teh next line of Cinema displays will be something like 20", 24", 28" and 32" or something like that. My point being that I think they'll make 24" Cinema Displays in the future.

I say Apple forgets about the 10"-12" MBP and around mid-2007 they release another line geared totally toward portability. Perhaps some tablets, and/or UMPC's.

 

[poppe]

Concerning the former statement:

The 24" iMac is why I suppose teh next line of Cinema displays will be something like 20", 24", 28" and 32" or something like that. My point being that I think they'll make 24" Cinema Displays in the future.

I say Apple forgets about the 10"-12" MBP and around mid-2007 they release another line geared totally toward portability. Perhaps some tablets, and/or UMPC's.

I think the Ultra Portable computer/Tablets are even more of a niche group than the 10-12" MBP's would be so I really doubt this.

My guess is all they will do is take the white MB and put merom in it with the low cache while the Black MB and the MBP's will have the High amount of cache.

- As you can see I dont' know the terminology yet, but if I did my sentence would be a little more clear.

 

[generik]

I think the Ultra Portable computer/Tablets are even more of a niche group than the 10-12" MBP's would be so I really doubt this.

My guess is all they will do is take the white MB and put merom in it with the low cache while the Black MB and the MBP's will have the High amount of cache.

- As you can see I dont' know the terminology yet, but if I did my sentence would be a little more clear.

Considering the 2Ghz version starts coming with higher cache it is hard to see how Apple will do that. Unless they suddenly degrade the clockspeed of their new lineup...think different!

 

[Pressure]

Concerning the former statement:

The 24" iMac is why I suppose teh next line of Cinema displays will be something like 20", 24", 28" and 32" or something like that. My point being that I think they'll make 24" Cinema Displays in the future.

I say Apple forgets about the 10"-12" MBP and around mid-2007 they release another line geared totally toward portability. Perhaps some tablets, and/or UMPC's.

No one is producing a 24" S-IPS panel to my knowledge.

 

[KingYaba]

I wasted another 15 minutes of my life reading a worthless MBP thread.

 

[50548]

I wasted another 15 minutes of my life reading a worthless MBP thread.

Oh yeah...aka PowerBooks G5 perhaps?

 

[poppe]

Considering the 2Ghz version starts coming with higher cache it is hard to see how Apple will do that. Unless they suddenly degrade the clockspeed of their new lineup...think different!

Always having to ruin theories pulled out of my a

 

[steve jr.]

I'm pretty sure stores go down once a week or so. Every week someone picks up on it, and expects something cool to happen. It never does. It's just maintenance.

Hopefully I'm wrong. I'd love to see Merom MBPs, and would really, really like to see Merom MBs, but don't expect them at least until tuesday... Apple releasing something on a weekend? Not likely.

Sorry to burst ya bubble...


EDIT 3: Hmmm, Apple store has now officially been offline for over an hour, assuming when "howsoonisnow" posted, the Australia store was offline. It says they will be back within the hour. But they aren't. MEROM MBPs!!! (joke)

EDIT 4: Nope, was right. Just maintenance. No Merom MBPs. Store back up now.

remember when the C2D iMacs came out? The day before they were introduced the store was down for a little over an hour. Nothing happened then, but the next day something did! sorry for the lead on false hope, but just piecing things together from what i've (we've) seen in the past.

 

[timmillwood]

I think we are on track for Tuesday but .... you never know with Apple

All these updates on the could of just been the offer changing

 

[DHagan4755]

I am thinking because of the U.S. holiday — Columbus Day — that it will be Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

 

[poppe]

I think we are on track for Tuesday but .... you never know with Apple

All these updates on the could of just been the offer changing

What about the Xserve? When is that supposed to come out... Could it just be for that?

Though, would apple make a front page soley for the Xserve?

 

[Zadillo]

Its been proven that merom is not that great of a deal so why are people so anxious? is it for bragging rights? i dont care about a processor proven to be no so diffrnet from the current one. what i am more interested in is a case update.

flock a merom bring on santa rosa PROVEN to be the real upgrade
merom is just a windows me but hardware based get your facts straight people.

Well, certainly there are some people who just like to have the latest and greatest (a lot of these are the people who will sell their Core 2 Duo MBP's in 6 months to buy a Santa Rosa MBP).

I think a larger segment though doesn't care so much about Core 2 Duo in and of itself as much as that they are excited because a Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro would be a clear revision, and they hope that it would not have any of the issues noted with the MacBook Pro. And then there are the people who also hope that the updated CPU will be accompanied by larger amounts of stock RAM, larger HD's, etc. In that case it is sort of legitimate; if you don't need something immediately, as long as you're paying for a laptop, it does make sense if you think you can also get some more RAM and HD space for the same amount of money.

 

[cepler]

Perhaps you should buy a PC for your work. While OSX is nice it is obviously not running on hardware that helps in your work, so why fight with it?

I too had the experience of wondering how to connect to a router via the serial interface cable when my computer had no damned serial port before. Do they even work with USB dongles?

I have a Keyspan USB dongle for serial. It works fine, I just hate having to drag it around and it's a pain configuring equipment that is in a rack and having it dangling there. The Keyspan one is one I recommend as many others cannot send a proper BREAK which you definatly want if you're doing Cisco IOS stuff.

 

[ThunderLounge]

I am thinking because of the U.S. holiday — Columbus Day — that it will be Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

But it is not a major holiday. The mojority of companies don't observe it. Unless you work for the post office, or another government agency, you're most likely going to be at work. This is of course unless you're one of the lucky few.

The Wednesday iMac launch was after Labor Day, which is a major holiday that is observed at a level almost on par with Christmas or New Year's Day.

Not that it doesn't rule out a slight possibility, but it certainly doesn't help it.

 

[Gurutech]

But it is not a major holiday. The mojority of companies don't observe it. Unless you work for the post office, or another government agency, you're most likely going to be at work. This is of course unless you're one of the lucky few.

The Wednesday iMac launch was after Labor Day, which is a major holiday that is observed at a level almost on par with Christmas or New Year's Day.

Not that it doesn't rule out a slight possibility, but it certainly doesn't help it.

yeah..
i even have classes on that day...
shoot...