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Apple Expected to Ramp Up Production of Haswell-Based Notebooks Next Month
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Perhaps Apple needs to hire engineers that work for, well... Anyone else but Apple, since they have managed to put Ethernet ports in devices that are of similar dimensions as an rMBP.
I agree. I prefer the cMBP form factor myself and wish it could stay slightly larger with all applicable ports and discrete graphics in 13" at least available as an option. Unfortunately, they're moving toward small/thin for some odd reason. Since the Air occupies the thin/light niche it'd be nice to keep the Pro larger and more capable.
The real performance increase with this new generation of rMBPs lies in the graphics! I did not see anybody mention the new dedicated nVidia 750M which will accompany this upgrade.
The nVidia 750M is " up to 75% faster than the previous generation. [Game performance in Crysis 2: GeForce GT 650M vs. GeForce GT 750M.]".
THIS is what I am waiting for! A huge boost in dedicated GPU performance!
Furthermore, there is the 100% increase in integrated GPU performance which is due to Haswell and its integrated GT3 GPU.
This is what matters! Especially with the retina MBP and its ridiculously high resolution. The 10% CPU performance increase seems negligible in contrast to the better GPUs.
The nVidia 750M is " up to 75% faster than the previous generation. [Game performance in Crysis 2: GeForce GT 650M vs. GeForce GT 750M.]".
THIS is what I am waiting for! A huge boost in dedicated GPU performance!
Furthermore, there is the 100% increase in integrated GPU performance which is due to Haswell and its integrated GT3 GPU.
This is what matters! Especially with the retina MBP and its ridiculously high resolution. The 10% CPU performance increase seems negligible in contrast to the better GPUs.
Hear, friggin' hear.
I'm due up for a notebook replacement soon and I fear I'm going to have to go with the cMBP because the rMBP simply cuts too many corners for my liking. While I don't use RJ45 a lot, I use FW800 a hell of a lot, and it's just nuts that in order to get the nice display, you have to give up so much. I have enough dongles in my life, I don't need more for the essential tasks I do. I am a professional, I need a professional notebook which lets me do these tasks with a minimum of hassle.
But then, Apple doesn't really care about professionals, it's clear in the direction they're moving. Perhaps it will take their still-overvalued stock spiraling some more before they figure out that they need to balance telling people what they should want versus actually giving them what they want a little better.
I'm thinking that it is 100% appropriate that I am enjoying a beautiful glass of whine as I read this thread.
If Apple doesn't make your perfect computer, quit yet b--ching and buy something else! Holy Hanna what a bunch of cry babies!
Better yet, start your own computer company and build only your perfect machine and see how many you actually sell.
If Apple doesn't make your perfect computer, quit yet b--ching and buy something else! Holy Hanna what a bunch of cry babies!
Better yet, start your own computer company and build only your perfect machine and see how many you actually sell.
This alternative would make sense if other companies made OSX computers, but they don't. (Nor would I want them to.) So unfortunately, if there is no Haswell cMBP, I will be getting a maxed out Ivy Bridge one, and sit on it for a few years.
Or start looking at Hackintoshes, but I dislike the potential troubles that might give, and there'll still be no FW800.
I feel like we did this song and dance when Sandy Bridge first came out with a SATA III bug.
I'd wager that the 15" classic unibody will be gone with the refresh and replaced with a 15" retina model occupying that one remaining $1799 price-point but only coming with Haswell's integrated graphics and no discrete just like Apple did in 2009 with the low-end 15" model of that rev.
As for the 13", my guess is that they'd keep just the higher-end current model around (and otherwise not update it) for a rev. Then, the rev afterwards, they'd kill it and that'd be the end of anything not bearing both a retina display or the new design that debuted last year.
I agree, but I think Apple sees this as being tolerable for a majority of MacBook Pro customers and will thusly press onward with it. But yeah, I'm not down with that either, hence going with a 15" non-retina last Fall instead of the identically specced Retina models.
Nothing's WRONG with it per se. But it is more cumbersome to take your portable machine and have to cart around a bunch of accessories for it that you need because Apple decided to make the machine ever so thinner, especially if you use them all frequently.
Productivity isn't the argument. Convenience, on the other hand, is.
Uh, you do realize that one of Haswell's key features is increased power efficiency, right?
Uh, you do realize that the retina machines are too thin for an Ethernet port and that the best you'd get here is a third Thunderbolt port that you could use for a Gigabit Ethernet adapter, right?
I mean, they could build in an Ethernet chipset and use a smaller proprietary port with an included proprietary dongle that provided Ethernet like some Ultrabooks do, but I don't see Apple putting that much effort into providing complementary Ethernet into its MagSafe 2 era laptops.
Like it's such a heavy thing to cart around...
Spending $2199 on a computer and not having some form of ethernet is just plain crap, I'm sorry. It's not a freakin' iPad; it's not a freakin' smartphone; it's a full-fledged computer; should it ever be placed in an environment where transferring files between machines is key or where internet connectivity stability is highly valued, then it will flounder unless one spends that additional $30. That is annoying. Good for you that you are exempt from that annoyance; please be respectful of those who aren't.
For people that have a MacBook Pro as their ONLY COMPUTER! Or are you saying that I should leave my pictures, movies, and videos on separate drives and plug them in when I want to use my computer for general home use, because that's not even remotely convenient.
Oh...key..,
What is easier to happen?
A Quad Core Air or a 13" with discrete Gpu...or maybe
a 13" with Quad core and still...
a dual Air with just a redesign?
Quad-Core Air; though you won't see it this time around. You might with Broadwell, though I'm not overly optimistic. You'll soon see a 13" retina MacBook Pro with a Quad-core CPU, but odds are you won't ever see either machine with discrete graphics; and really, given the improvements being made to integrated graphics, you won't really appreciate the then-added benefit that discrete will offer until you get to larger screen sizes anyway.
I ordered my non-retina 15" with a 1TB hard drive because (a) I didn't have the money to shell out for a 768GB SSD on a retina and (b) I have ~800GB of data. Until Apple has their proprietary mSATA stick drives at 1+GB and on the cheap, I think people like me, who want to have everything on one portable computer with as few external things as possible will not be satisfied with either the current retina offering nor the idea of having to use one with external drives in tow. For some, that's just plain inconvenient.
You were doing so well up until the "and" after "DVD". Retina is the future; they've said it themselves. They want that display to become the new standard. Given their history, they'll kill the non-retina MBPs and the retina MBPs will become the only MBPs 'til next we design refresh.
That's the whole point, I am going to buy something else when the time comes to replace my MBP as Apple no longer make anything that isn't a thin and light, glossy toy. I did the same with my desktop PC - Apple don't make a core i7 tower machine so I built something myself. I am annoyed though that having bought into the Apple ecosystem it looks like I will have to migrate away from in the next year or so as I replace hardware.
Apple are making a lot of their money from the consumer, but it won't always be this way as others are catching up. If they forget their professional market and loose it completely, once they start loosing ground in the consumer market times will be rough for them. Their product line is simply too narrow now.
I use a lot of VMs, most of them windows.
I can still look at my 17 inch MBP, after using an ipad, so I still think retina is a Gimmick. Actually, I don't buy the "it looks better" argument at all for programming. But I also programmed on some old vt100 terminals long ago, so perhaps I am not that spoiled.
Non everyone just sits in their mommy's basement and surfs the web. Some people have other needs, get over it.
Umm...
1. If you are a 'pro laptop customer' you are using an SSD and probably retina display. If you are not, I'm not sure I would call you a 'pro anything'.
Not everyone needs the speed of an SSD, and many do need the roomy expanse of a 1 TB + HDD. Also, some people like the reliability of HDDs over SSDs.
Not everyone feels like lugging around an external HDD all the time. Or even has the luxury. Some people actually need to use laptops as, you know, portable computers.
Obviously. But it shouldn't be. If you're an actual professional user (or a power user), you really do not want to buy something where you can't even upgrade the hard drive much less the RAM.. or add another HDD. It's a bit sad.
Let me break it down for you here.
See, most people who use Macs generally tend to use OSX, right? Some of the software they use to run their business might only be available on OSX. The problem with this is OSX is only well supported on one line of machines. I'm pretty sure you can guess which one.
So when the computers they have to use has features missing that are widely available elsewhere, it has a tendency to tick people off.
Now I know what you're gonna say next "well they can just move all their stuff over to another software suite so they can use a computer with a blah out port HARF DARF DE DARF DARF DUUURR". Uh huh. Sure. If only it were that easy. Beyond price, and setting everything up to work well together, they'll also be hoping all their old files are compatible with the new software. Or at least transfer over only slightly molested. Plus if they're running a decently sized business, they'll have to train all their employees to use new machines, which'll cost a goodly chunk of time and change.
And all for want of a port. So which sounds easier to you? Having to swap everything out for a machine that provides the bare basics, or Apple providing this basic port on their pro laptops?
They have a right to whine.
Retina and adapter
I have had the Retina, loaded, since the week it came out. I travel constantly. I have the ethernet and the firewire thunderbolt adapters in a little pocket in my computer bag. They work when I need them. This computer is so fast, so light, that I take everywhere, with no hesitation like I had with the heavier, older macbook pros. I LOVE IT. It is exceptional. I have a separate LG BlueRay drive that I bought for $75 as well. But I don't have to carry that most of the time.
By cutting out some features, Apple has made an outstandingly light and fast computer. And they have adapters that address the specific people who have special needs. The adapters work. To demand that Apple include builtin ethernet just because you use it (most people don't. I travel constantly and don't use it that often) is mostly self centered. And to complain about a trivial cost for the adapter that represents a tiny fraction of the laptop is just being cheap or ego petulant. Give it up, man! The computer is great.
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One more thing: the screen is fantastic. I would NEVER buy the ****** glossy screen they used to have, but this screen is fine with reflections. I say this as a professional cinematographer and photographer. I love the screen, try using it and you will see. It is the best screen on any laptop by far.
I have had the Retina, loaded, since the week it came out. I travel constantly. I have the ethernet and the firewire thunderbolt adapters in a little pocket in my computer bag. They work when I need them. This computer is so fast, so light, that I take everywhere, with no hesitation like I had with the heavier, older macbook pros. I LOVE IT. It is exceptional. I have a separate LG BlueRay drive that I bought for $75 as well. But I don't have to carry that most of the time.
By cutting out some features, Apple has made an outstandingly light and fast computer. And they have adapters that address the specific people who have special needs. The adapters work. To demand that Apple include builtin ethernet just because you use it (most people don't. I travel constantly and don't use it that often) is mostly self centered. And to complain about a trivial cost for the adapter that represents a tiny fraction of the laptop is just being cheap or ego petulant. Give it up, man! The computer is great.
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One more thing: the screen is fantastic. I would NEVER buy the ****** glossy screen they used to have, but this screen is fine with reflections. I say this as a professional cinematographer and photographer. I love the screen, try using it and you will see. It is the best screen on any laptop by far.