MacBook Pros with Hybrid SLI, Extra Long Battery? MacBook Announcement?

[antominus]

SLI macbooks too?

Please note, the "9400M integrated" rumored for the macbooks is a hybrid SLI of a 9100 (nvidia's integrated) and a 9300 dedicated... so if the 9400M IS IN FACT in the macbooks all of apple's notebooks today will be SLI and can turn off the dedicated when it is not rendering to save power...

Could be that they meant 9100 integrated and messed up the part numbers from Nvidia's product portfolio though. We'll find out soon.

 

[AppliedMicro]

Is it not correct that Firewire is essential for:

> Using a hard drive as a TimeMachine
> Using an external drive as a boot drive
> Connecting, in any useful way, most High Def camcorders?

No.
No.*
No.**

* They aren't going to design their computers with regard to external drive bootability.
** You can get USB HD camcorders. In fact, that is what manufacturers seem to be majorly pushing nowadays. Only the old DV variety need FireWire. So you want one of those or keep your old one? Bad for you. But of course you can always a Pro MacBook.

Not to mention the apparent better usability of large external FW over USB2 drives

FireWire is a bit faster, while USB is sufficient for most.

ALL the Macbook owners I know have external FW drives they use routinely...?

That's maybe because USB had serious performance problems in PowerPC times.

keeping a FW port in the design must cost next to nothing?

Don't forget the controller chip on the mainboard (while USB is integrated in chipsets, and cheaper anyway). They cost enough to make Apple want to drop them.

 

[dstrauss]

Another "buy on rumor, sell on news" day for my Apple stock. For us geeks, the potential details of these new Macs may be fascinating, but the market is going to see this as ho hum, especially if the rumored $899 MacBook is missing. Yesterday several analysts estimated 50-60% revenue boosts for bringing in the low end model, now without it, the "air" flies out of my Apple portfolio once again...

 

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)

I like the extra long battery option. This is very tempting. I hope this proves to be true. Only a little longer to wait.

 

[AppliedMicro]

the market is going to see this as ho hum, especially if the rumored $899 MacBook is missing

Well... I'd never rule out Steve to have an ace (a one "more thing" affordable notebook?) up his sleeve.

But I find it quite believable that Apple will continue producing the low-end plastic MacBook for a few months, and offer it below 1000$ (999$). Good way of ripping off the early-adopting suckers who lust for aluminum and dedicated Nvidia graphics...

 

[MAcNIAC]

. Only a little longer to wait.

aussie apple store is down

 

[CTYankee]

glossy?

It better be a much better implementation of the glossy screen than the MacBook or iMac. Both are too harsh in how they render color and blacks to be used to accurately simulate paper (photos). The iPhone glossy screen is not as bad due to its polarized finish and treated glass. 3.5 hours to see what I pull the trigger on....something for sure.

 

[Rilely]

Concerns

Overall, I am very excited! I do have a few concerns however:

1.) Glossy Screen - In the past, this feature has not been implemented well. The glare alone is god awful! I cannot speak for the depth and quality of colors, but for heaven's sake, the glare is enough to keep me purchasing this!
2.) No 17" model? I was hoping to pick up the 17" this time around but if there is no offering and one that might not be available for the distant future, I will be forced to get the 15"
3.) Processor Speeds - There doesn't appear to be much of a bump in speed, would it be too premature to purchase a new MBP now? Might be worth the wait for Nehlem

 

[olliebraves20]

It better be a much better implementation of the glossy screen than the MacBook or iMac. Both are too harsh in how they render color and blacks to be used to accurately simulate paper (photos). The iPhone glossy screen is not as bad due to its polarized finish and treated glass. 3.5 hours to see what I pull the trigger on....something for sure.

I agree, I have never really like the glossy screens. I do have the iPhone and have never once had a problem with it. If it is like that then I would say we have a winner. Either way tho I"m going to end up getting a new MBP. I need one real bad. If the graphics rumors are correct then that would somewhat offset the glossy screen.

 

[jzuena]

You can get USB HD camcorders. In fact, that is what manufacturers seem to be majorly pushing nowadays. Only the old DV variety need FireWire. So you want one of those or keep your old one? Bad for you. But of course you can always a Pro MacBook.

Not just old DV camcorders... brand new HDV camcorders are FireWire only as well. Since iMovie actually supports these camcorders, you would be hard-pressed to call this a Pro feature.

It doesn't matter to me. I was ready to build a Hackentosh to replace a dying notebook but wanted to wait to see what Apple offers. Apple may think lack of FW will push people to the MBP, but it may in fact push them to other manufacturers instead. I'm not replacing a 1 year old Canon HV20 and I'm not in the market for a Pro laptop. I'd like something with a little more punch than my Mini, but it is sounding more and more like Apple won't be releasing what I am looking for this time around. Not a big deal, my wife will use Windows as her primary OS anyway. Getting a Mac would be worth $2-300 extra to me to have a 10.6 ready home machine, but not $1000 extra to get a MBP.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

For those of you really upset about firewire... why don't you save up a little more money and get a MBP, which sounds like it is going to be an absolutely amazing machine? You'll have much more power and your computer will take much longer to go obsolete. I guess if there's a considerable size difference I can understand, but it seems to me someone to whom the speed difference of firewire 400 vs. USB 2.0 makes a great difference should also benefit from the considerable performance gains that would be offered by the upgrade...

So tempted to sell my AAPL stock for the little roller-coaster that is sure to follow if Steve has no big trick up his sleeve and no worthwhile entry-level computer, but I'll hold on to it. He might have his 'one more thing' and, if not, it is still an awesome hold in the long run.

What is new with regard to performance are the video cards: all these new MacBooks — regular, Pro, and Air — ship with the new Nvidia 9400M GPU.

Are people missing this? That is huge for the Macbook!

 

[kockgunner]

I use a glossy Macbook Pro and I kinda like glossy (although I kind of wish I got matte), but not giving users the option is just stupid. This is no, "Oh, you don't need a CD drive" scenario. Good thing Apple glossy screeens are nicer than the competitions and less reflective. Apple is one of the last manufacturers to offer matte screens. All the other PC manufacturers use crap glossy screens.

 

[WildCardPix]

What will professional photograhers do now?

How can pro shooters have true-color capability now that Apple only offers a glass-glossy display for their MacBook Pro's. Am I missing something? If not, are there work-arounds that people know of? Thank you.

~Dave

 

[thejadedmonkey]

What does "extra-long battery life" really mean? 10 hours? And is it RL battery life? Or "Apple" battery life?

It actually means the same battery life. Or, with dedicated graphics, shorter!

 

[Trip.Tucker]

Give me a f'n headless Mac that's bigger than the Mac mini and allows me to upgrade the PCI-E 2.0 card and HDD. We're not asking it to canibalize Mac Pro sales as it won't come close to the Xeon and it's expansion, dual GigE, etc.

Just something that allows one to add a second box for development without buying into a f'n laptop or a f'n iMac full desktop or a f'n Mac Pro.

As Steve Martin said in Trains, Planes & Automobiles, ``... Four f**king wheels and a seat!''

No.