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My goodness! Why!?! Why!? The combo drive?! Isn't it absurd to have a computer with a 1 GB of RAM and without the possibility to burn DVDs?
We're in 2007! I cannot really see why they keep it!
 
Why do people have this view? It's moronic.

1GB>>Better graphics card unless you are a gamer, in which case you aren't buying a Mc :rolleyes:. More RAM allows you to multitask better and for the 99% of MB owners who don't game it is far more useful.
Moronic???? Excuse me? Just get this: You can upgrade ram, BUT you can't upgrade the graphics card. That makes a laptop with a dedicated graphics card a better buy (value for money), although it might not be a better performer/experience (So always upgrade ram to at least 1 GB).
Azurael said:
There isn't space on the MB's logic board for a graphics chip in a 13" configuration anyway.
Nonsense. And besides, they can just as well replace the GMA950 with the X3000.
 
well, I think superdrive should be standard on all macs these days.

Otherwise, no major disappointment with the update...come to think of it, it's an update typical of apple, it seems to me. The morale of the story: if you want a computer now and you can buy now, buy it now. The UK price drop was good news.
 
If I remember correctly, you could get a SuperDrive with the $1,099 model before... Now I have to pay $1,299 for it?

I don't mind the no-Santa-Rosa bit, or no ultra-portable, but forcing customers to now pay more to have a SuperDrive seems harsh.
 
I have to join the crowds of disappointed people here. I don't own a mac yet, I've been waiting 6 months because:

1. I don't want to buy a MBP (I want a small screen, and they are overpriced)
2. MB is good enough in every other aspect apart from the graphics chip!

Such a shame Apple didn't put SR into the MacBook today. No body needs the hard disk upgrade. Memory is cheaper to buy off line from apple anyway. And a few percent on the processors makes no difference to 95% of the users. But the graphics chip is putting so many people off the MB. SR does make a big difference in that respect.

Shame, I was following the threads at work today and felt the excitement that apple might finnaly fix this achilies heel on the MB.

What to do? Back to rumour monitoring I guess.

But thanks to all for the entertainment on a slow work day :)
 
Because obviously for professional video editors and stuff they need a high end graphics card, I agree with that.

The reason the Mac Pro and the MBP haven't got integrated graphics is that they do drain the performance of other parts of the computer as they share the RAM. This wouldn't change by upgrading the graphics card to a X3000, and at a consumer level the performance hit is negligible.

I knew the reason. It was a rhetorical question. ;) And I still think MBs should have dedicated cards. iBooks did- why not these? They don't have to be the best in the world.
 
Why do people have this view? It's moronic.

1GB>>Better graphics card unless you are a gamer, in which case you aren't buying a Mc :rolleyes:. More RAM allows you to multitask better and for the 99% of MB owners who don't game it is far more useful.

i seriously doubt that 99% of Mac owners don't game. in fact, i'd guess that a majority of us DO game, and that majority would appreciate that Mac would do more to appease us. i don't buy the argument to "use a PC for gaming and a Mac for everything else." well, i for one, want my macbook to at least have some rudimentary gaming, and i'll bet i'm not alone.
 
If I remember correctly, you could get a SuperDrive with the $1,099 model before... Now I have to pay $1,299 for it?

I don't mind the no-Santa-Rosa bit, or no ultra-portable, but forcing customers to now pay more to have a SuperDrive seems harsh.

Nope- you still had to pay $1299 for the model with the superdrive.
 
and at a consumer level the performance hit is negligible.

Well Apple has differentiated along the consumer/pro line. Clearly there are more than two types of computer users.

Pros who use Photoshop need lots of ram and fast drives (fast CPU helps too), but a video card is not that important.

A home user or business user who uses email, a browser, and quicken also doesn't need a fast video card - are these "consumers"?

A home user who surfs the web, checks email, and lives in WoW, does want a fast video card - not a consumer....nor a pro... a gamer.

How about the casual gamer who dables in photography and video for fun, along with the standard apps (ical, address book, safari, quicken, word, excel). This tweener can mostly get away without a "pro" machine, but does want a big hard drive (for video/photos), needs lots of ram for multiple-apps, and would like to get decent frame rates on new 3D games. This is a consumer who has to go "pro". The iMac can get the job done, but isn't enough. I think there are more and more people who fall into this category..... prosumer, gamsumer, gampromer.

The video card in the iMac is shackling it. The lack of upgradeability to the video card is the kicker. A $1000 computer with integrated graphics, or higher prices $1200-$2000 with a decent, but non-upgradeable card. This would be fine if it wasn't the only mid-range "tower" from Apple.
 
Yeah, I actually had one in my cart with my Apple account info and credit card number entered and hit checkout and it redirected me. It cleared my cart because it stated that there was not enough supply of the item I had requested and they will email me when the product becomes available again.

I wonder if anyone actually got past that point in checkout and if there's a snowballs chance in Hades that Apple will honor it.

If you got one, post. Then keep us updated if you actually get it.:eek:

If anyone did get passed the check out they are legally entitled to only pay the $109 as advertised for there product, apple will have to sell the product at the price advertised!!
 
i seriously doubt that 99% of Mac owners don't game. in fact, i'd guess that a majority of us DO game, and that majority would appreciate that Mac would do more to appease us. i don't buy the argument to "use a PC for gaming and a Mac for everything else." well, i for one, want my macbook to at least have some rudimentary gaming, and i'll bet i'm not alone.

With suffiecient RAM, it does do more than rudimentary gaming.

...although I, and every single person I know with a mac (which is at least a dozen) doesn't game at ALL.
 
Puts it at £601 at my educational dicount

i know, it's great! shame i got my macbook last august for 715 quid, now i could have a better specced one for 601!

also its a shame how u have to buy from the NUS store to get a macbook which is in line with normal US prices :)
 
I have to join the crowds of disappointed people here. I don't own a mac yet, I've been waiting 6 months because:

1. I don't want to buy a MBP (I want a small screen, and they are overpriced)
2. MB is good enough in every other aspect apart from the graphics chip!

Such a shame Apple didn't put SR into the MacBook today. No body needs the hard disk upgrade. Memory is cheaper to buy off line from apple anyway. And a few percent on the processors makes no difference to 95% of the users. But the graphics chip is putting so many people off the MB. SR does make a big difference in that respect.

Shame, I was following the threads at work today and felt the excitement that apple might finnaly fix this achilies heel on the MB.

What to do? Back to rumour monitoring I guess.

But thanks to all for the entertainment on a slow work day :)

The 950 is a good card. Give it enough ram and it'll do most everything you need it to do. Only the latest 3D games will be beyond your reach. Seriously. I wish people would stop knocking the integrated graphics in the MacBook. The MacBook is a very fast, very capable machine.

And people DO need the hard drive upgrade. One of the first things I did was order a 160 GB drive from Newegg.com because I needed more room. Sheesh.
 
I'm not trolling. I've been waiting since November for this update to buy my first Mac. I was ready to order today.

While all other manufacturers are announcing their brand spanking new SR laptops Apple give us this and you call it a "solid update".

I think everyone can agree that this update stinks. Slightly faster, last gen CPUs. Brilliant.

When all comparable laptops are shipping with SR and DVD burners as standard we'll see how "good" this update is, eh?

you've been waiting 7 months to buy a new computer? relying on rumors and assumptions to convince yourself of the new specs of the next model. and then you're disapointed that you were wrong? Most of the Rumors didn't even put SR processors in the macbooks.
since you had 7 months.. why didn't you save up for the mbp?
 
more memory and a larger hard drive are wasted if you prefer to do it yourself with maxed-out RAM and a bigger-than-Apple's hard drive. Maybe this has been answered in this thead--I'm still on page 3--Does the 1GB of RAM occupy one slot or both slots? If one, then bravo. If two, it's an even bigger waste for do-it-your-self upgraders.
 
I can't wait to see the reactions to the MBP. It will max out at 2.4GHz (again only a 70MHz increase), OSX doesn't support Robson yet (but there may be an OS update), and a paltry 166MHz increase in bus speed.

The only things worth looking forward to are LED screens and a better GPU. And from what I have heard the LED screens are nothing to write home about.

That's why I've wondered why so many people have been saying they were holding out for months waiting on Santa Rosa. It will be a relatively minor upgrade, and certainly nothing worth waiting several months for. I'm quite happy with the C2D MacBook I bought 3 months ago, and I'm definitely glad I didn't wait around for SR or for today's minor bump either.

The bottom line is, if you need a MacBook just get one already. The models that were for sale yesterday were great, and the new ones released this morning are too. And if you don't really need one, then the fact that today's release doesn't have SR isn't going to kill you then anyway...
 
With suffiecient RAM, it does do more than rudimentary gaming.

...although I, and every single person I know with a mac (which is at least a dozen) doesn't game at ALL.

what? Im a mac user and I play games... my favorite game right now is Tetris. though Ive really feel the graphics card prevents me from enjoying it as much as I'd like to.
 
Until they fit a DVD writer as standard - it isn't. There are PC laptops out there for half the price of the base spec with DVD writers included. When you sell the package as being for home media, then take away the ability to write DVD's - something is wrong.

I bought the cheapest macbook as a refurb last week - love it to pieces - but I still thing Apple are screwing their customers by not including DVD-writers in every model.

I agree. Apple used to be the leader of the pack when it came to getting rid of legacy hardware... they were one of the first to do away with the floppy drive. Why haven't they killed read-only optical drives yet?!?!
 
At some point, people need to stop comparing the MacBook and MacBook Pro to 'every other laptop out there'. The claims that in months the MacBook is gonna look like crap because 'every other laptop out there' has Santa Rosa are unfounded. The claims that Apple is overcharging for 'yesterday's technology' compared to 'every other laptop out there' are also unfounded. Look at Dell.. Sure they just introduced some new Santa Rosa laptops, but their bottom end is AMD Sempron and Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo). Gateway still sells computers with P4s in them... *that* is yesterday's technology.

Apple's entry pricepoint is higher than these other manufacturers and that is an area where you can complain, but if you compare feature for feature the MacBook to things in its price range, it's really not a bad deal at all.

Perhaps the best quote in the 29 pages of posts!

Personally, I'm bummed about the upgrades because I just bought my MB . . . I would have loved the bigger hard drive, and the bump in speed would have been nice too. Over all, I think these are solid upgrades. Some thoughts:

1. What do you make of the product announcement as reported by MacWorld?
"We feel this is the prefect line-up for the Spring." Perhaps we'll see another refresh for the back-to-school period?

2. As someone who just (last week) had to replace his G4 iBook due to a failing logic board/airport issue, I priced comparable PCs. Can I get a Dell for $600? Sure . . . but it is a POS! Comparably spec'd, the Mac Books are very competitive! With these updates, that's even more true!

3. With respect to those complaining about the graphics, they really are not that bad. Moreover, in the same price range, PC vendors are not providing anything better. Sure, I might be able to pay more to get better integrated graphics on a pc, but if I'm paying more I'd go with a dedicated option such as the MBP. Comparing Apples to Apples (so-to-speak), your $1200 dell isn't going to play WOW any better than the $1200 MB.

4. As to the Combo-drive, there are also pc vendors spec'ing their entry-level laptops with CD-R/DVD drives. I purchased the SuperDrive equipped MB because I needed to burn DVDs and the MB is my primary computer. I could see other people without the need that would be just fine with the combo-drive. I like that apple gives the option.
 
Apple MacBook: Yesterdays technology at today's prices.

EVERYONE would've been happier had they stuck with 1.8 and 2.0 and gone with Santa Rosa. Now the graphics, CPU and chipset on the MB will be a generation behind every other laptop for the next 6 months.

Good work Apple. Idiots.

As someone waiting to buy their first Mac I am FURIOUS with Apple and their continued raping of MB buyers.

The MBs are the line of computers that will benefit most from SR and Apple do THIS? I actually cannot believe it. They are absolute bastards.

Ha, ha! Tell us how you really feel, OK?

You completely misunderstand the MB line. It's not the answer to your need to play Oblivion. It does not come with graphical rendering oomph. The MB is sold for sitting on MySpace and AIM and downloading plagiarized college essays and watching twee indie band videos and episodes of Lost and trying to stand out among the clones at Starbucks, or actually to blend in with them.

Want power? Shop the Macbook Pro. Neither the low-juice Macbook nor the iBook ever had a decent GPU, and by the time one does, the rest of the world will be running quantum computers. So revise your expectations.

"Raping MB buyers." Omg! It's like you're both in an Apple store AND stuck in a Tarantino grindhouse movie, huh? Occupying both heaven and hell simultaneously, as it were, mate. And here comes leering big bad Apple to the strains of the Deliverance theme! Quick--can you fit a semi-automatic on that grisly stump, or will you be singing falsetto?
 
I can't wait to see the reactions to the MBP. It will max out at 2.4GHz (again only a 70MHz increase), OSX doesn't support Robson yet (but there may be an OS update), and a paltry 166MHz increase in bus speed.

The only things worth looking forward to are LED screens and a better GPU. And from what I have heard the LED screens are nothing to write home about.

I am just hoping for the MBP to get the user replaceable HDD like the MB. That will be worth it to me.

Hickman


I absolutely won't buy one unless the hard drive is user replaceable, so that's the bigee for me. My second biggest complaint is the GPU. I'm hoping they throw a mid range card in there like an 8600, though the way things are going we'll probably get a Radeon 9200 or something :p

The CPU bump is appreciated, but I would have bought months ago if not for the hard drive and GPU issues.

The 950 is a good card. Give it enough ram and it'll do most everything you need it to do. Only the latest 3D games will be beyond your reach. Seriously. I wish people would stop knocking the integrated graphics in the MacBook. The MacBook is a very fast, very capable machine.

That's just not true. The Radeon x1600 was deemed not acceptable for games in Anandtech reviews over a year ago...and it's light years beyond Intel's graphics.

And people DO need the hard drive upgrade. One of the first things I did was order a 160 GB drive from Newegg.com because I needed more room. Sheesh.

Yeah...you upgraded the hard drive, because you CAN upgrade the hard drive easily and cheaply. You CAN'T upgrade the GPU, which is why it's more important that it come with a decent GPU.

you've been waiting 7 months to buy a new computer? relying on rumors and assumptions to convince yourself of the new specs of the next model. and then you're disapointed that you were wrong? Most of the Rumors didn't even put SR processors in the macbooks.
since you had 7 months.. why didn't you save up for the mbp?

I've been waiting 10 months for new systems. Not one of Apple's systems meets my needs, and I'm just waiting for either Dell or Apple to release a new notebook that does. (Basically if Apple releases a system with a replaceable hard drive and mid range GPU, I'll get that, if not, I guess I'll look at Dell :-/ )

I was expecting mobile 8800GPUs in November...because that's what all the rumors said. Now it's May, and I'm still waiting for just a mobile 8600. Lame, I know.

I *sooooo* hope they release a model with a replaceable hard drive and 8600. I've saved up and have the money sitting in the bank if they just release something that suits me...
 
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