17'' MacBook Pro at NAB?

[Surreal]

...Last I saw, PB's had no free PCI slots. They may be good for editing news or other small projects, but to 90% of the people at NAB, if you're editing video, laptops don't cut it. If I had to do half the projects I do on our 3 month old loaded PowerBook, I'd go insane waiting for it to render, compared with my almost-3-year old Dual 2.0 G5.

isnt expresscard PCI Express compliant?

i understand that isnt the exact same...but it is pretty close. 2.5 Gb/s

from the site, it looks like it IS PCI express. just small.

despite my counterclaim, i understand your point, but you don't know ANY pros with a 17"? hard for me to believe.

o and 2GB PC2-5300 modules are finally hitting market. crucial has a $700 module. so pros will be able to hit 4GB portable...that seems like something they'd like to hear.

 

[MrCrowbar]

Price drops at Apple? No, not gonna happen. Hardware upgrade are highly more probable. Apple is also about prestige. Somepeople WANT to spend more for a cooler product because everyone knows they are more expensive.

 

[MovieCutter]

Anyone wanna buy a two-week old maxxed out, pixel perfect, whine free MacBook Pro 15"???

 

[Fiveos22]

Are you just waiting for a new 17" MBP, or are you specifically waiting for Merom? If it's the latter, why?

It will be years before apps or the OS for that matter are all truly 64 bit aware, anybody waiting for Meron under some reason OTHER than a little bit better battery life and a slight boost in speed (having nothing to do with 64 bit BTW) are totally delusional and are very misguided. They're like the same G5 owners who actually think the fact they have 64 bit PPC chips is making them that much faster, they're not, the CPU is.

Actually I would much rather have Merom due to its future. Yonah, from all that I have read, is a transition processor. Whoop-dee-doo. Transitions are nice, for early adoptors. I'd rather have something that isn't a step back for the sake of novelty (I consider going from a 32 bit system to a 32 bit system not exactly a step forward...no?) Don't get me wrong, Yonah has proven to be a very strong processor so far...but it still is only a transitional processor.

Merom is what Intel had in mind for an architecture for mobile computing (I also have a problem with Yonah, Pentium M underpinnings, being used in desktop PCs, but that's another issue), Yonah was the early version of what Merom is going to be. It is what I believe Intel is going to use as their mobile architecture for the next 3-4 years. Having a 64 bit processor means that my computer will be viable for the next four years...with the advent of Vista's and 10.5's 64 bit-ness pushing the novel incorporation of 64 bit elements into applications.

Some of us aren't too keen on buying things that don't have staying power (we're not made of money and thus unable to purchase hardware often).

 

[~Shard~]

Actually I would much rather have Merom due to its future. Yohan, from all that I have read, is a transition processor. Whoop-dee-doo. Transitions are nice, for early adoptors. I'd rather have something that isn't a step back for the sake of novelty (I consider going from a 32 bit system to a 32 bit system not exactly a step forward...no?) Don't get me wrong, Yonah has proven to be a very strong processor so far...but it still is only a transitional processor.

Merom is what Intel had in mind for an architecture for mobile computing (I also have a problem with Yonah, Pentium M underpinnings, being used in desktop PCs, but that's another issue). Having a 64 bit processor means that my computer will be viable for the next four years...with the advent of Vista's and 10.5's 64 bit-ness pushing the novel incorporation of 64 bit elements into applications.

Some of us aren't too keen on buying things that don't have staying power (we're not made of money and thus unable to purchase hardware often).

Are you going to say the same thing about Merom when Penryn is released in 2 short years? Saying that anything has "staying power" in this industry is pretty naïve if you ask me.

 

[iHeartTheApple]

Wow! This thing is going to be a beast! I can't wait to see what kind of specs it's going to be sporting...and whether I will trade my 17" PB up for it or for a 13"/15" MBP...

The screen real estate *is* epic, but I'm starting to feel the size (not the weight) of this thing...

 

[AidenShaw]

Are you going to say the same thing about Merom when Penryn is released in 2 short years?

Penryn will be similar to Merom, just faster, smaller, and use less power. Incremental improvements... Merom will run Penryn code, Penryn will run Merom code.

Merom is 64-bit, Yonah is 32-bit. Major difference. Yonah won't run Merom code.

64-bit advancements leave Yonah behind.

Saying that anything has "staying power" in this industry is pretty naïve if you ask me.

True, but Yonah will be a lame duck as soon as Merom ships.

 

[kenn8theocho]

Is apple on crack?!

Why on earth does apple plan on releasing the 17" before the 13.3"??? I think they are taking up those hallucinogens again. I'm done waiting for the 13.3". I'm going to go on eBay, pay less than 1200 and get a powerbook 12". Since Apple is going to find a middle-ground between the ibook and powerbook 12", I doubt that the ibook will be better than the 12" powerook. Keep in mind, when put up against a pentium 4 with a clock speed of 3 Ghz, Apple's 1.5 Ghz processes at the same speed. So... If apple release a 1.6 GHz Core duo processor in the Macbook (3.2 total), the computer would be only .2 GHz faster than its predecessor. Also, the macbook will not be made up of the stylish aluminum, but plastic rather. Have you seen how easily the ibook becomes scratched and dirty? And finally, there's the isight (which in my opinion is completely unnecessary... you'll become bored of taking pics. after a few day) which really isn't as great as it's made up to be. I don't care for windows, and the magsafe is only the cream on top. So let's look at the benefits of the macbook: likely .2-.5 Ghz faster processing speed, and some poor additions. Downfalls: cheap plastic exterior, cheap additions, and a dumb name. I think I’ll stick with the 12" pb which has been refined to perfection over the years. Anyone want to share their thoughts?

 

[~Shard~]

Merom is 64-bit, Yonah is 32-bit. Major difference. Yonah won't run Merom code.

64-bit advancements leave Yonah behind.

...

True, but Yonah will be a lame duck as soon as Merom ships.

Agreed, and agreed.

 

[YoNeX]

Penryn will be similar to Merom, just faster, smaller, and use less power. Incremental improvements... Merom will run Penryn code, Penryn will run Merom code.

Merom is 64-bit, Yonah is 32-bit. Major difference. Yonah won't run Merom code.

64-bit advancements leave Yonah behind.



True, but Yonah will be a lame duck as soon as Merom ships.

To those people clueless, mind explaining to these people the benefit of 32 bit vs 64 bit.

And yes this notebook would be the flagship computer. More like bragging rights of how much power you can stuff into a notebook. My film major friend has a 17" powerbook and enjoys it. Does all his work there, and suits him just fine. So yes, it has a market, but not that may people use it. I will stay away from talking about the other MBP line for another thread.

 

[Multimedia]

I Recommend Waiting To Exercise The FCS Upgrade 'til December

I'm gonna be really pissed if the FC 6.0 is released next week. I *JUST* sent the PO out for the 5.1 upgrade of the suite!

It would be nice to see the 17" MacBook Pro released. I'll bet it's a monster!

I Recommend Waiting To Exercise The FCS Upgrade 'til December. The offer is so outstanding, that waiting until the end of the offer period - Ends December 20 - is the best way to insure that what you get will be the best the FCS team can do as close to Leopard as we can get.

 

[Multimedia]

Waiting For Merom 17" MacBook Pro This Fall

Penryn will be similar to Merom, just faster, smaller, and use less power. Incremental improvements... Merom will run Penryn code, Penryn will run Merom code.

Merom is 64-bit, Yonah is 32-bit. Major difference. Yonah won't run Merom code.

64-bit advancements leave Yonah behind. Yonah will be a lame duck as soon as Merom ships.

I'm with you Alden Shaw. Am Waiting For the Merom 17" MacBook Pro specifically because of this. That is also the reason I am waiting to exercise the FCS Upgrade until December in the hopes that more of its code will be 64-bit centric by then.

 

[whoooaaahhhh]

I wonder if...

I wonder if we aren't going to see the Mac Pro released at NAB. Sure no one's heard any rumblings about it. But they have released Desktop towers at or around the same time as NAB before. Besides, releasing it at the end of April for a June shipping isn't that crazy, it's just enough time for them to build enough and work out last minute kinks...

Call me CRAZY, but I think there's a possibility...

 

[iEdd]

I wonder if we aren't going to see the Mac Pro released at NAB. Sure no one's heard any rumblings about it. But they have released Desktop towers at or around the same time as NAB before. Besides, releasing it at the end of April for a June shipping isn't that crazy, it's just enough time for them to build enough and work out last minute kinks...

Call me CRAZY, but I think there's a possibility...

Oh.. If that comes out without a rumour first, we can't speculate the name. I know! MacTop Pro...

 

[50548]

god, i'm so fed up with all this crap ..........i'm about to just buy an ibook...i need an affordable mac laptop..........macbook MAYBE released in may, shipping in what...june july??!?.ldskfl;aksdjfasldfkjalskdfjalskdfj

Hehe, I feel the same way...too many rumors and little substance...the good thing is: I have no money to spend on a new notebook now...ain't that great!!???

 

[Gee4orce]

Regarding the 12" Powerbook

The 12" Powerbook has always been a black sheep of the Powerbook family. Have a look at the specs - it's really an iBook with screen spanning enabled and an Alu shell.

It makes sense to drop it from the 'Pro' line - SO LONG AS the consumer line still retains an appearance that's sufficiently business-like. Lots of people like me love the 12" for it's portability, but I wouldn't want to pull out a garish plastic monstrosity at work !

 

[rxse7en]

Merom to ship early

So, back to my original question...

Anyone think the 17" may be announced with a Merom proc?

 

[Multimedia]

ZERO Possibility Of Desktop MacIntel Until September

I wonder if we aren't going to see the Mac Pro released at NAB. Sure no one's heard any rumblings about it. But they have released Desktop towers at or around the same time as NAB before. Besides, releasing it at the end of April for a June shipping isn't that crazy, it's just enough time for them to build enough and work out last minute kinks...

Call me CRAZY, but I think there's a possibility...

There is ZERO Possibility Of Desktop MacIntel Until September. Intel doesn't make the Woodcrest 64-bit dual socket capable dual core processors yet that will take us from G5 to Quad Intels. You need to study the roadmap or read Alden Shaw's analysis more. It is absurd to think Apple will put out a 32-bit desktop MacIntel.

Are you daft? Oh no. I see you are CRAZY.

 

[Multimedia]

NO Merom 64-bit Mobile Macs Before September

Merom to ship early

So, back to my original question...

Anyone think the 17" may be announced with a Merom proc?

No. NO Merom 64-bit Mobile Macs Before September. This is hardly news. All it means is that quantities may be ready a month or two sooner than previously expected. But that still puts product on the street no sooner than August after WWDC in the best case scenario which is highly unlikely to become the reality when push comes to shove.

Remember, Apple is not Intel's only customer and is a small customer at that.

 

[rxse7en]

No. NO Merom 64-bit Mobile Macs Before September. This is hardly news. All it means is that quantities may be ready a month or two sooner than previously expected. But that still puts product on the street no sooner than August after WWDC in the best case scenario which is highly unlikely to become the reality when push comes to shove.

OK. So, you think that Apple will be shipping 17"ers immediately after the announcement at NAB?

"All three are now expected to be shipping "in volume" in Q3 2006. This could mean that processors would be available as early as June or July of this year."--I can almost see Steve-O announcing the new 17" at NAB and shipping in June/July when the procs are available. This is assuming that Apple has already built/tested the system. The only other thing I can add to my assumption is that there are others out there who are already running Merom-based Macs. Merom in a Mac

Thanks for your replies...
B

 

[50548]

There is ZERO Possibility Of Desktop MacIntel Until September. Intel doesn't make the Woodcrest 64-bit dual socket capable dual core processors yet that will take us from G5 to Quad Intels. You need to study the roadmap or read Alden Shaw's analysis more. It is absurd to think Apple will put out a 32-bit desktop MacIntel.

Are you daft? Oh no. I see you are CRAZY.

Even though Shaw's analyses are the MR equivalent to Dvorak or Enderle's predictions, I have to agree with you on this one...

There is NO Intel/AMD machine in the market to supersede the mighty Quad for now...therefore, Apple will only release the MacPros after 64-bit professional chips start shipping in quantity...

 

[Multimedia]

NO Merom 64-bit Mobile Macs Before September

OK. So, you think that Apple will be shipping 17"ers immediately after the announcement at NAB?

"All three are now expected to be shipping "in volume" in Q3 2006. This could mean that processors would be available as early as June or July of this year."--I can almost see Steve-O announcing the new 17" at NAB and shipping in June/July when the procs are available. This is assuming that Apple has already built/tested the system. The only other thing I can add to my assumption is that there are others out there who are already running Merom-based Macs. Merom in a Mac

Thanks for your replies...
B

Repeat - NO Merom 64-bit Mobile Macs Before September. I believe the Rev A 17" MacBook Pro will be with the same Core Duo Yonah 32-bit processor as the 15" model - perhaps a tad faster. There is no way Apple is going to announce a mobile Merom months in advance of shipping. Q3 is July-August not June.

By the time Apple gets their small share of the first-off-the-line allocated Meroms we'll still be lucky to see it inside mobile Macs before September and I do not think Apple's luck is that good in the face of many other longstanding Intel customers who deserve the lion's share of those first-off-the-line Meroms. You think Apple is going to get preferential treatment over customers who have been buying Intel processors for decades? No Way in San Jose.

Apple may be a feather in Intel's cap, but it sure ain't their meat and potatoes.

 

[AidenShaw]

Even though Shaw's analyses are the MR equivalent to Dvorak or Enderle's predictions, I have to agree with you on this one...

Your first comment is always ad hominem - what a weak way to open an argument, Mr. Lawyer....

 

[milo]

And I know some of the pros will disagree, but I don't think Apple looks at NAB as the platform to launch a 17" MBP. Pro editors, for the most part, don't use laptops. We want loaded G5s with 4, 8, or better yet 16 GB of RAM, massive hard drive space and, if you're a serious pro, you're NOT using firewire to connect your camera or deck, you've got an AJA or similar card handling all that stuff. Last I saw, PB's had no free PCI slots. They may be good for editing news or other small projects, but to 90% of the people at NAB, if you're editing video, laptops don't cut it. If I had to do half the projects I do on our 3 month old loaded PowerBook, I'd go insane waiting for it to render, compared with my almost-3-year old Dual 2.0 G5.

Why even mention the powerbook? There are benchmarks out for FCS on the macbooks, and the fastest ones beat dual G5's. Sure, there are limitations of laptops, but the new ones are fantastic boxes to use for a portable system, great for doing rough cuts on the go.

I would like to see more ram slots, maybe that will happen with the 17. What four apps are you running at the same time that would max out 16 gigs of ram? (I assume there aren't any video apps on OSX that can address more than 4 gigs, are there?)

Merom is 64-bit, Yonah is 32-bit. Major difference. Yonah won't run Merom code.

And you honestly think we'll see any apps that are Merom compatible only? The G4 won't run "g5 code". How many apps have you seen that are G4 only? Hell, I'm typing this on a beige G3. It's seven years old and there still aren't that many apps that won't run on it.

Keep in mind, when put up against a pentium 4 with a clock speed of 3 Ghz, Apple's 1.5 Ghz processes at the same speed. So... If apple release a 1.6 GHz Core duo processor in the Macbook (3.2 total), the computer would be only .2 GHz faster than its predecessor.

Look at a benchmark or two. The core duo is TONS faster than a single G4. Night and day difference. The g4 is a dog speedwise. You can't just compare clock speed numbers (the core chips are way faster than the P4's, even at a considerably lower clock speed).

 

[50548]

Your first comment is always ad hominem - what a weak way to open an argument, Mr. Lawyer....

Just summing up your posts, Shaw, no offense intended with my ad personam argument...but that's a fact, I hardly see you saying anything good about Apple...therefore, a certain bias may be clearly identified in your posts, which makes my assertion legitimate...

Worry not, it's a sunny and warm day here in Geneva...too warm for my taste, actually...and yes, no MacPros expected soon...