Last I checked, the University of British Columbia Bookstore does not have any. They also don't know when they will get them in (supposedly "soon" though) and they didn't indicate that they would be getting any matte versions. Have any matte displays popped up in stores?
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17" store sightings
- Thread starter mac jones
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It helps if you mention what town this Regent street is in
lol if youre a londoner and didn't know what regent street was i'd have to ask what rock you were hiding under
but yeah base configuration matte options will be available!
NYC sighting!
At long last I saw the new 17" in the flesh last night at the Apple store on 14th Street in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan. I had gone down there to look for sleeves for my 18-month-old 17" Santa Rosa MBP, and the timing was great: a huge film crew was doing a shoot and had scared away most of the customers. So I had 2 brand new 17" MBPs to test drive. Both machines AFAIK were 2.66GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB 5400 rpm HD, and both had the glossy display.
Here are my impressions:
Build:
As reports have stated, the build is to die for. You can fairly easily pick up the machine with one hand if it's closed, though you have to heft it of course. Extremely solid. Keyboard was amazing to type on; same design as the Air and the smaller new MacBooks and Pros, but somehow even more reliable. Like typing on a brick--which almost worried me that you might get carpal tunnel from it maybe; but in any case, it's incredibly satisfying to feel the stability of the keys as you bang out sentence after sentence. Also: the feel of the edges of this notebook, closed or open, is like silk or velvet; yet the aluminum is brushed enough that it never slips out of your fingers when you grab it, due to the textured finish.
Design:
There was a lot to study in terms of the design, and its almost all good. Pictures cannot convey the beauty and expansiveness of the machines design--you have to see it in the flesh. The screen is just huge, and so is the base. Keyboard does NOT feel small, wrist rest and trackpad just massive (in a good way), and all around the most minimalist design imaginable. Makes me want to cry just remembering this part of the experience.
Glossy Screen:
I had huge fears about the glossy screen. I hate the glossy screen on the new (non-white) MacBooks and the new 15 Pros. Damn reflections! But the 17 seems an improvement, as good as the Air; definitely less problems in this department.
Speakers
Although the store was noisy, I was impressed by the punch of the speaker system. I supposed youll never get a huge base from any of these machines, but the power was on a par with my Santa Rosa machine.
Sleep
As with all the new units, even with ten apps open (including Safari, Word, iPhoto, iTunes, iCal, Address Book), machine went to sleep (and woke up) in under 2 seconds. Impressive.
Speed
Now for the bad news--and I apologize for not having more data on this. But damn if this machine wasnt INCREDIBLY slow. Opening programs, using stores wifi, going back and forth between windows, going back and forth between open photos in iPhoto...just slow, slow, slow beyond belief. Same amount of memory as my Santa Rosa, slightly faster chip, but not really any faster than my older machine. Was it the 5400 RPM 320 GB HD? Maybe the machine was running on the slower graphics chip? (I forgot to switch it or even check.) But still, that wouldnt explain ALL the slowness. By comparison, a nearby MacBook Air with an SSD was 2 or 3 times faster in ALL respects. Very, very disappointing. And BOTH machines in the store were like this. Crippled. I just dont get it.
So thats my report. If it werent for the speed problem, I would hock my soul for this new MBP, maybe try to sell my old one. Maybe getting 8GB RAM and the SSD will provide more speed. Anyone care to comment on this one issue?
Anyway, all you New Yorkers who havent seen it yet, take a trip over to 14th & 9th, and enjoy!
At long last I saw the new 17" in the flesh last night at the Apple store on 14th Street in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan. I had gone down there to look for sleeves for my 18-month-old 17" Santa Rosa MBP, and the timing was great: a huge film crew was doing a shoot and had scared away most of the customers. So I had 2 brand new 17" MBPs to test drive. Both machines AFAIK were 2.66GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB 5400 rpm HD, and both had the glossy display.
Here are my impressions:
Build:
As reports have stated, the build is to die for. You can fairly easily pick up the machine with one hand if it's closed, though you have to heft it of course. Extremely solid. Keyboard was amazing to type on; same design as the Air and the smaller new MacBooks and Pros, but somehow even more reliable. Like typing on a brick--which almost worried me that you might get carpal tunnel from it maybe; but in any case, it's incredibly satisfying to feel the stability of the keys as you bang out sentence after sentence. Also: the feel of the edges of this notebook, closed or open, is like silk or velvet; yet the aluminum is brushed enough that it never slips out of your fingers when you grab it, due to the textured finish.
Design:
There was a lot to study in terms of the design, and its almost all good. Pictures cannot convey the beauty and expansiveness of the machines design--you have to see it in the flesh. The screen is just huge, and so is the base. Keyboard does NOT feel small, wrist rest and trackpad just massive (in a good way), and all around the most minimalist design imaginable. Makes me want to cry just remembering this part of the experience.
Glossy Screen:
I had huge fears about the glossy screen. I hate the glossy screen on the new (non-white) MacBooks and the new 15 Pros. Damn reflections! But the 17 seems an improvement, as good as the Air; definitely less problems in this department.
Speakers
Although the store was noisy, I was impressed by the punch of the speaker system. I supposed youll never get a huge base from any of these machines, but the power was on a par with my Santa Rosa machine.
Sleep
As with all the new units, even with ten apps open (including Safari, Word, iPhoto, iTunes, iCal, Address Book), machine went to sleep (and woke up) in under 2 seconds. Impressive.
Speed
Now for the bad news--and I apologize for not having more data on this. But damn if this machine wasnt INCREDIBLY slow. Opening programs, using stores wifi, going back and forth between windows, going back and forth between open photos in iPhoto...just slow, slow, slow beyond belief. Same amount of memory as my Santa Rosa, slightly faster chip, but not really any faster than my older machine. Was it the 5400 RPM 320 GB HD? Maybe the machine was running on the slower graphics chip? (I forgot to switch it or even check.) But still, that wouldnt explain ALL the slowness. By comparison, a nearby MacBook Air with an SSD was 2 or 3 times faster in ALL respects. Very, very disappointing. And BOTH machines in the store were like this. Crippled. I just dont get it.
So thats my report. If it werent for the speed problem, I would hock my soul for this new MBP, maybe try to sell my old one. Maybe getting 8GB RAM and the SSD will provide more speed. Anyone care to comment on this one issue?
Anyway, all you New Yorkers who havent seen it yet, take a trip over to 14th & 9th, and enjoy!
I have 2 local apple stores 15 minutes away from me here in houston texas.
The one in the galleria mall has a few (only the 2.66ghz, glossy) and the memorial city mall has none.
The one in the galleria mall has a few (only the 2.66ghz, glossy) and the memorial city mall has none.
Glasgow (Scotland) store apparently got the demo's in but they were no where to be seen in-store... the desk where they shoudda been were empty.
The 3 apple stores in orlando,FL have the new 17" mbp's. I hate that they only carry the base model and not the 2.93 one. Seems rather dumb.
Westfield London has one demo unit in store and they had two in stock today. Was going to buy one but decided on a BTO matte as the glare is too much and I'm not to sure as to how the glass bezel and screen would cope with the rigors of Afghanistan. The matte model is the classic look of the Penryn Pros on the unibody and I love it. When will Apple get there act together and open a store in Edinburgh??