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17" specs in the 15"!!

S

stuttboksa

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 13, 2009
7
0
Hi!

I'm thinking about getting a macbook pro 15", but I'm afraid to do a mistake!

I'm wondering if any of u know if there's a reason to belive that the 15" will get the same battery, and the same ability to expand to more than 4gb ram in the near future? I dont want to buy it now and finding out a month later that i should have waited:)


-stuttboksa
Norway
 
I seem to remember reading that the 15" Macbook Pro's chipsets are capable of handling 8GB of ram in theory with a firmware update.

I doubt it will see the battery though. That is a special design for the 17" as the 15" battery is much different.
 
The RAM yes but who knows ehen, then again do you REALLY need 8GB in a laptop?
The battery now, there may be after market battery's using the same technology in a year or 2 but as to the difference in run time we would have to wait and find out. I doubt it will be 8 hours however.
 
The battery technology in the 15" is the same as the new 17" already, the only reason the 17" has a longer battery life is because the battery's bigger and fitted inside the computer.
 
i dont think thats quite true. the new battery design in the 17" houses an additional circuit board that is the brains behind the extra long life of the new setup. it regulates very precisely how the battery is charged and extends the life to five years.

i was hoping the same would be available for the 15" but i cant see it happening unless this new charging monitor could be incorporated into the 15" battery design.

i think the 15" users will have to wait for new batteries that fit into our machines. maybe third party will come up with higher capacities or even silver oxide etc.

it was an odd thing to do, only giving this new technology to the 17" users, i suppose their had to be some difference between the models.
 
dark knight said:
i dont think thats quite true. the new battery design in the 17" houses an additional circuit board that is the brains behind the extra long life of the new setup. it regulates very precisely how the battery is charged and extends the life to five years.
Click to expand...

I *think* the logic board integrated in the new 17" battery only serves to adaptively balance charge each LiPo cell within the battery. This will increase the battery's life-span but not its capacity.

The UMBPs already have LiPo batteries and I expect that integration of such a circuit board would necessitate smaller cells, and thus a lower capacity battery.

There's always the possibility that Apple could release higher capacity LiPo batteries as technology advances but they never did this with the old Li-Ion batteries, so don't count on it.
 
Thanks guys!!

So bottom line is that I might as well purchase it now?

I have one more question. I don't know if this is the right thread to ask it, but I do it anyway... ;) As I see it the ram is quit at bit more expensive in the original apple store! I understand that u can buy ram from other places. They are not original, but works just as well. Is this true? If that's the case, wish ram should i buy! (brand, size, mhz etc...)

-stuttboksa
Norway
 
8767092 said:
I seem to remember reading that the 15" Macbook Pro's chipsets are capable of handling 8GB of ram in theory with a firmware update.
Click to expand...

I hope this is the case, because really the only thing I'm jealous of on the new 17" is the memory capacity, which I could definitely use due to VM's running. Otherwise I don't really care for the 17" laptops.....kinda like an aluminum picnic table :D

apolloa said:
The RAM yes but who knows ehen, then again do you REALLY need 8GB in a laptop?
Click to expand...

Absolutely! I'd like to run as many VM's as possible, and that would definitely help.
 
kastenbrust said:
Actually all Macbook, Macbook Air and Macbook Pro batteries have this curcuit board on the batteries.
Click to expand...

Really? I wonder why Apple aren't promoting that the older laptops have the new Adaptive Charging system. Care to provide any evidence for this?
 
drlunanerd said:
Really? I wonder why Apple aren't promoting that the older laptops have the new Adaptive Charging system. Care to provide any evidence for this?
Click to expand...

The 'new battery' is "litium polymer" which is nothing new:

"Li-poly batteries are also gaining ground in PDAs and laptop computers, such as Apple's MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Macbook Air"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_polymer_battery

Its been used in all Apples laptops for a few yeas, the only reason theyre making a big deal about it with the new 17" pro's is because its built in, which means it can be slightly bigger, and have a longer batter life.
 
kastenbrust said:
The 'new battery' is "litium polymer" which is nothing new:

"Li-poly batteries are also gaining ground in PDAs and laptop computers, such as Apple's MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Macbook Air"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_polymer_battery

Its been used in all Apples laptops for a few yeas, the only reason theyre making a big deal about it with the new 17" pro's is because its built in, which means it can be slightly bigger, and have a longer batter life.
Click to expand...

No, that's not what I'm referring to.

You said, "Actually all Macbook, Macbook Air and Macbook Pro batteries have this curcuit board on the batteries."

Can you provide a link that proves this please.
 
kastenbrust said:
The 'new battery' is "litium polymer" which is nothing new:

"Li-poly batteries are also gaining ground in PDAs and laptop computers, such as Apple's MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Macbook Air"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_polymer_battery

Its been used in all Apples laptops for a few yeas, the only reason theyre making a big deal about it with the new 17" pro's is because its built in, which means it can be slightly bigger, and have a longer batter life.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure - there's a video on the Apple site with the engineers talking about the new technology of the new 17" battery.

I don't think its just the fact that its Lithium Ion Polymer, but also to do with electronic circuitry that helps make it as efficient as possible.

The video is on the Macbook Pro page. Its a breakthrough apparently, so I really don't think its the sameas the one in the current 15".

From the features page :

"The battery in the new 17-inch MacBook Pro lasts up to 8 hours on a single charge and can be recharged up to 1000 times — compared with only 200 to 300 times for typical notebooks. To do this, Apple engineers custom-designed lithium-polymer cells to create the largest possible battery, then they went even further: They built the battery right into the computer, eliminating the space-consuming mechanisms and housings that standard removable batteries require. The result is a battery that’s 40 percent bigger than the previous generation and offers up to 8 hours of wireless productivity on a single charge — all in a notebook that’s less than an inch thin, weighs just 6.6 pounds,3 and remains the same price as the previous-generation model.

But building a battery that lasts up to 8 hours is only part of the story. Giving it a lifespan of up to 1000 recharges required breakthroughs in battery technology. Apple electro-chemists developed advanced chemistry that maintains the battery’s charging capabilities longer than ever. And while most notebooks wear down their batteries by charging them at a constant rate, the 17-inch MacBook Pro takes a different approach. Using an Apple-developed technology called Adaptive Charging, a microchip on the battery constantly communicates with the computer to determine the optimal way to charge its cells, adjusting the current up and down depending on a variety of conditions. Combined, these advancements offer a dramatic improvement in battery lifespan: more than three times the lifespan of typical notebook batteries — up to five years."

features page
 
The thing about the battery lasting as long as 5 years is gonna vary on the user and how much it's used. I would think that if you did use your MBP for 8 hours minimum say 6 days a week on average then the battery might not last 5 years as Apple says it should. But should there be something from Apple on how to replace it yourself along with hard drive upgrades and memory upgrades? I ran across that information for the 15" about a month ago on apple.com in .Pdf format. Saved a copy to hard disk at home. Maybe apple will release this info when the time is closer for the 17" to ship?
 
I'm a bit confused here! Are you now saying that there's a new 15" coming soon, or should I buy that one that they are selling now?

May I also ask what "MBP" stands for? I am in fact a newbie ;-)
 
stuttboksa said:
I'm a bit confused here! Are you now saying that there's a new 15" coming soon, or should I buy that one that they are selling now?

May I also ask what "MBP" stands for? I am in fact a newbie ;-)
Click to expand...

I would say it's highly unlikely for them to release another 15" anytime soon, seeing as how the current one is only 3 months old.

MBP stands for MacBook Pro.
 
polaris20 said:
I would say it's highly unlikely for them to release another 15" anytime soon, seeing as how the current one is only 3 months old.

MBP stands for MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...


That last one was quite obvious! HEHE!! I hope i look smarter than I am ;-)

Thanks for the info! I'll order one soon!!!
 
There's no chance I'll wait a year!! I'll begin studying late summer-time, so I need to learn mac well before that :)
 
apolloa said:
Just buy one now. The only worth while upgrade won't be until next year when they move over to the Nehalem processor platform, so unless you want to wait about another 12 months, buy it now.
Click to expand...

How about "silent upgrades":

For example:
The 256GB SSD
The Matte - aka Non-glossy screen

These might happen anytime without warning. There is no reason
for them to wait, or at least after the 17 has started shipping.
 
no matter how long I wait there's always a chance there will be something new. I'll just have to take a chance :)
 
I'm on the fence too. I've been pricing MBP at Macmall, Amazon etc. More rebates and lower prices. I've noticed the pricing slip in the last week from several other companies. I'm ready to purchase now but would hate to have Apple upgrade the 15" at the end of the month.
I'm moving from a 15" 1.67 G4 powerbook thats a little long in the tooth.

I need a MBP that I can run 3-4 virtual OS in Parallel or VMware.
I'm working on my MCITP and need to run Windows 2008 server domain controller, RODC, and 2 clients XP and Vista all in virtual so I can test settings and pass my certifications.
I'd love to have 8GB in a 15" but until the 4GB chips come down in price I'm stuck with 2x2GB chips. I've already ordered a 320GB 7200rpm drive to replace the stock 250GB 5400rpm drive. Virtual use bang on the drives more especially when using more than 1 at a time.
 
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