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Apple is no where near cutting edge
- Thread starter jim2008
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That photo says it all. The whining that goes on in so many threads about Apple's failure to make its laptop line "cutting edge" wears me out. Sure, we are all frustrated by the long delay in updating the MBP line but that shouldn't give rise the the kind of irrationality I have seen displayed over and over again. I want an ultra lightweight laptop but the MBA's limited RAM and the weight of the 13 inch MBP have eliminated both from my consideration. Thus, I'm waiting for the upgrade to see what the offerings are. But should I turn my back on OS X and buy a Windows laptop in order to be the first kid on my block to have the fastest chip, the biggest SSD, and 8Gb of RAM? So far, at least, I have managed to retain a little more of my sanity than that.
More seriously, I concede that there is a disconnect between the premium prices Apple charges for MBPs and the level of technology they currently provide. When I bought a 17 inch Powerbook G4, 7 years ago, it was the only 17 inch laptop available, as well as being the thinnest available in any size. Thus, the hefty premium I paid for it made more sense than now paying such a premium would. Apple retains one advantage, though. It makes the only computers that allow buyers to run both OS X and Windows applications right out of the box.
Yes, you're right, Nvidia 9400 + 9600 for a $2500 computer, it's a joke, it's at least 3 generation behind. How can apple sell a computer with a ancient GPU for such a high price, shame on you, apple.
I agree. The sadder part is that many will still pay Apple these prices.
Obviously, after the iPad's time in the spotlight, the mbps refresh will happen. Hopefully, the new ones will meet some of our expectations.
We'll see....
+1 I know I'm tired of them.
Specs DON'T MATTER. You can't compare hardware across operating systems but people for some reason can't fathom that.
Do tests once. My MBP in my sig smokes the newest windows rigs in things like lightroom, photoshop batching, dvd encoding, etc. I work in IT and have a virtually endless supply of new and old hardware to try all this with.
Windows users tend to always chase hardware thinking it will gain them some advantage.
Mac OS is a whole other deal. No need to have the latest and greatest. Sure it would be nice so stupid threads like these stop but it doesn't matter. I get work done much faster on a mac then a win machine.
Not to mention if they did start cramming all the latest and greatest into their laptops people would bitch about heating, and thickness, etc. Take your pic. I think Apple strikes the perfect balance between form and functionality.
Fine, its 3 generations behind, so what. If you don't like it, don't buy it. People are still going to buy Apple laptops regardless of what you say.
I'm not a fan boy here, I just believe that Apple makes great products. I'm still using a Core Duo MacBook Pro and it runs 4 years later with no problems and running the latest software. I switched through 3 PC laptops within 2 years because it was had hardware issues such as a broken motherboard, busted GPU, cracked screen... yadada.
Have you looked at market cap.
It's been mentioned before and I'll do it again:
-Apple has not traditionally been on the cutting edge. There are how many PC makers? Apple only updates hardware at most four times a year - I'm sorry they can't add new hardware of the week. The reality is while some of the PC makers have added some of that stuff, not all have.
-Reliability is key. The 27" iMac is only going to slow things down more. Apple will not have another PR disaster like that.
-The Apple Tax. You are always going to pay more for Apple. Is it the OS? Who knows. The reality is plenty of us will continue until there is a better alternative. Sure, anyone can try to explain why Windows 7/Snow Leopard closed the gap. The reality is the gap is still there and IMO it's not close enough to getting anywhere close for me to look elsewhere.
Yeah, completely agree.
I mean, if it took till February for Apple to update the MacBook Pro, understandable. There's been issues with Intel supplies and the whole what GPU combination to use.
But come on, we're at April, almost at the end of first quarter of 2010 and no update.
It is true Apple is concerned with other things than computers, and computers aren't their priority anymore. I love my iPhone and could not use any other phone, so I'm not annoyed for Apple going into other markets, but would be nice if they still gave their computers attention.
We need an update quick.
It is obvious they are holding off until the iPad hype is out of the way, so the iPad gets attention, and then the MacBook Pro gets attention, as opposed to a blend of both. Understandable from a marketing point of view, but not something your customers really want.
This Tuesday may bring the release, but I reckon Apple will wait another week until the iPad hype is out of the way.
Really annoying.. I wish the iPad release date had been May, so they could release the MBP's now and leave a whole month of hype before releasing the iPad..
I mean, if it took till February for Apple to update the MacBook Pro, understandable. There's been issues with Intel supplies and the whole what GPU combination to use.
But come on, we're at April, almost at the end of first quarter of 2010 and no update.
It is true Apple is concerned with other things than computers, and computers aren't their priority anymore. I love my iPhone and could not use any other phone, so I'm not annoyed for Apple going into other markets, but would be nice if they still gave their computers attention.
We need an update quick.
It is obvious they are holding off until the iPad hype is out of the way, so the iPad gets attention, and then the MacBook Pro gets attention, as opposed to a blend of both. Understandable from a marketing point of view, but not something your customers really want.
This Tuesday may bring the release, but I reckon Apple will wait another week until the iPad hype is out of the way.
Really annoying.. I wish the iPad release date had been May, so they could release the MBP's now and leave a whole month of hype before releasing the iPad..
You want a laugh? The reason I went out and bought my Sony was the power brick on my PowerBook G4 crapped out (2nd one to do that), and I needed a laptop lol.
I was getting tired of dealing with a G4 anyway.
People will stop buying Apple laptops not because of what he said but because of how dated those laptops are.
People are still going to buy Apple's laptops. I don't care if they do or they don't! **** I still recommend them, to those who would seem like it'd work fine for them.
FFS though! An i5 520m is not too much to ask for. The HM55 is on the market, the GPUs work fine with it, and the i5 520m uses as much power and produces as much heat (if not less) than a 2.66 Core 2 Duo does.
FFS though! An i5 520m is not too much to ask for. The HM55 is on the market, the GPUs work fine with it, and the i5 520m uses as much power and produces as much heat (if not less) than a 2.66 Core 2 Duo does.
My understanding is that i5 Arrandales actually consume 20% less power for the same performance as C2Ds.
1199 is not pocket change for me but I'm happy with the MBP I purchased in November. Stop complaining, if you don't like it, don't buy it.
ignorance does not change reality. Unless you meant to say its still very much adequate to 90%...then you'd probably be in the ballpark.
That's because 90% of buyers don't know or care that their potential machine doesn't have the latest processor. 90% of Mac users just use Safari, iPhoto, and maybe play Sims. Even Core 2 Duos are overkill for that. The average user isn't going to get any performance benefit with the new chips.
Why would Apple cut their profit margin (using newer, more expensive chips) if they can get away with not updating? This isn't to say they aren't interested in updating - they don't want to sell "slow" machines - it's just that the desire to have the fastest machines is apparently overrided by other ambitions (working on a design refresh, preserving profit margin, other ideas I haven't thought of)...
I'm not saying what Apple is doing is right or wrong, I'm just trying to provide you with rationale Apple may be using and why this community of technology-aware people is reacting much differently from the general populace.
I did it.. I bought an ipad but haven't opened it yet.. it's listed on ebay right now, so I can make a few bucks profit but I'm actually just thinking about returning it instead.
To be honest.. I like the ipad a lot and it would be great to compliment a mbp. The reason why I like it so much is because it gives me a nice break from using computers all day.. when I want to just relax, take the seriousness out of my work and do some light internet and office tasks. being able to touch the screen an take a break from a trackpad or mouse is very nice. and the on screen keyboard works surprisingly well, I got used to it in a few minutes at the store..
but I just cannot afford to have both right now. And the updated MBP will fit my priorities much better at the moment .. I eventually will have both though.. it's just a matter of time..
The Macbook is way too cutting edge. Let's face it, everyone wants extended battery life and performance and that's what Apple is striving for. It would make much more sense to put another video card in...say and nVidia 7400 or 6400...uses less power and they aren't plagued with the problems of the 8x00 series. Furthermore, they're a proven video card.
Next, the CPU needs to be converted over to a Celeron chip to cut the power even more. No one uses CPU ever...Gaming is all in the video card, but this is not a gaming laptop...it's a professional laptop. As for word processing and internet browsing, it doesn't need CPU power. Lower power=extended battery life!
Now memory, 4GB is enough, but we can always use more...I think Apple has it here...if you're going to make others with the standard 4GB suffer by requiring yours to function with 6GB or even 8GB, you should pay a premium price.
Screen resolution, Apple needs to reduce the resolution, not increase it. By reducing it, you should be able to drop the power and the cost while increasing the performance of the video card. We can get the 6400 card really performing at 800x600. For all the photo needs...you don't need to zoo in as much now. This is what a professional laptop offers!
Hard drive, face it, only gamers need the space so you don't need a huge hard drive. Apple also do not support piracy and unless you're rich, you don't need a large size. Furthermore, we can stick in a 4200 RPM hard drive...it uses less power again and will do great! I mean 4200 RPM is really, really fast.
Blu ray drives? Let's face it, who buys blu ray? DVDs and other physical media is going obsolete. We need to pull the DVD drive to reduce weight. We can add an external drive if needed, but on an 800x600 screen, blu ray isn't going to give you any more resolution clarity. It's just overrated.
USB, it's bottleneck is the speed of whatever drive it is running, which 3.0 isn't going to help.
Once Apple makes these changes, it will be the state of the art notebook which everyone should use. The only other addition I would recommend is replace the keyboard with a wheel much like the ipod.
Ahh, here you go, here's my design on its way to life:
http://www.theonion.com/video/apple-introduces-revolutionary-new-laptop-with-no,14299/
Wow, is there a name for an article of pure sarcasm?
Next, the CPU needs to be converted over to a Celeron chip to cut the power even more. No one uses CPU ever...Gaming is all in the video card, but this is not a gaming laptop...it's a professional laptop. As for word processing and internet browsing, it doesn't need CPU power. Lower power=extended battery life!
Now memory, 4GB is enough, but we can always use more...I think Apple has it here...if you're going to make others with the standard 4GB suffer by requiring yours to function with 6GB or even 8GB, you should pay a premium price.
Screen resolution, Apple needs to reduce the resolution, not increase it. By reducing it, you should be able to drop the power and the cost while increasing the performance of the video card. We can get the 6400 card really performing at 800x600. For all the photo needs...you don't need to zoo in as much now. This is what a professional laptop offers!
Hard drive, face it, only gamers need the space so you don't need a huge hard drive. Apple also do not support piracy and unless you're rich, you don't need a large size. Furthermore, we can stick in a 4200 RPM hard drive...it uses less power again and will do great! I mean 4200 RPM is really, really fast.
Blu ray drives? Let's face it, who buys blu ray? DVDs and other physical media is going obsolete. We need to pull the DVD drive to reduce weight. We can add an external drive if needed, but on an 800x600 screen, blu ray isn't going to give you any more resolution clarity. It's just overrated.
USB, it's bottleneck is the speed of whatever drive it is running, which 3.0 isn't going to help.
Once Apple makes these changes, it will be the state of the art notebook which everyone should use. The only other addition I would recommend is replace the keyboard with a wheel much like the ipod.
Ahh, here you go, here's my design on its way to life:
http://www.theonion.com/video/apple-introduces-revolutionary-new-laptop-with-no,14299/
Wow, is there a name for an article of pure sarcasm?
That photo says it all. The wining that goes on in so many threads about Apple's failure to make its laptop line "cutting edge" wears me out. Sure, we are all frustrated by the long delay in updating the MBP line but that shouldn't give rise the the kind of irrationality I have seen displayed over and over again. I want an ultra lightweight laptop but the MBA's limited RAM and the weight of the 13 inch MBP have eliminated both from my consideration. Thus, I'm waiting for the upgrade to see what the offerings are. But should I turn my back on OS X and buy a Windows laptop in order to be the first kid on my block to have the fastest chip, the biggest SSD, and 8Gb of RAM? So far, at least, I have managed to retain a little more of my sanity than that.
More seriously, I concede that there is a disconnect between the premium prices Apple charges for MBPs and the level of technology they currently provide. When I bought a 17 inch Powerbook G4, 7 years ago, it was the only 17 inch laptop available, as well as being the thinnest available in any size. Thus, the hefty premium I paid for it made more sense than now paying such a premium would. Apple retains one advantage, though. It makes the only computers that allow buyers to run both OS X and Windows applications right out of the box.
We call those whiners "spec whores".
First off, I'd like to state that I'm not an apple fan, I actually dislike apple, while keeping some interests in their product, I'm not buying until they start treating their customer like someone closer to a human being. I'm just going to comment your post.
Apple probably believes that those cpu are fast enough for now and that we reached a point where the customer doesn't matter about the specs, this is obviously false, however, there are so many retarded apple fans out there, they probably sell more MBP than they ever did... the human is pretty dumb.
While you can't get a pc laptop with 8gb of ram for 600$, apple's offer does indeed sucks ball.
Yes, apple is really selling us the cheapest parts at the highest price, people should begin to understand that you pay for the image and the cult, not some high fidelity parts because that's just being naive.
I don't like bluray, to me (aka: for my personal use) it's useless. I know some people wants it bad but I don't think Apple will ever get bluray drives, they want you to buy online media because that's the future, you shouldn't buy Sony stuff, Sony currently has wet dreams about being in Apple's pants... Apple obviously don't want to promote Sony's technology.
I didn't know this, thanks for the info.
Apple is leader in terms of cultism and promoting necessary consummation, to me, Apple is Big Brother and they are good at it, there are still lots of people who think that Apple products are good investments, or just think that it's not overpriced.
You are only buying an image, to me, when I see someone needing this image, I interpret it as "I have little personality and I'm quite uninformed about my overall consummation, I follow the trend because other people took the decisions for me"
So yeah.. I'm still looking at their products just in case they eventually start to offer something good, because I do like the design.. and that slim keyboard is neat, I'm using it right now.
Seriously people, take it easy. Go surf some porn or something and come back when your more relaxed.
Apple is driven completely by DESIGN. not just looks and feel but customer experience. They do sometimes, in the service of design use the latest in tech, the macbook air offered ssd's before anyone else, and they were criticized for being too expensive. They were using IPS panels in displays for consumer products largely before anyone else, and are the first to my knowledge to push them out across their imac, line inclusing ipad. why? because they just look better. They were the first company to really make bluetooth useful, the first to make "superdrives" the first to make wifi standard across thier laptop line, the first to use core chips in laptops when they came out... first first first...
Why dont they offer better 7200 rpm drive options? franlly because most people wont notice the speed increase, and would prefer to get more than 2 hours of life out of their laptop battery... Why dont they offer more ram as standard? becaue most people dont need it, and DDR3 is more expensive than ddr2 was by a lot. Why dont they have the latest new processors in their laptops? because they wanted the market completely focused on the ipad launch, which is there most important product launch since the iphone. they will likely launch their line of laptops in the next 3 or 4 months... Buy ti Suspect they have been pushing on Intel to give them an option without built in graphics which the i series all come with and that they dont want. Who knows...
What I do know is this, despite not having the latest processor or hdd options, the Mac line is the most advanced line of computers made today. Why? because its SOFTWARE that makes them powerful and easy to use, not the chip inside. and for that I have been, and most people who have used one have been willing to sacrifice a little more money to get.
If your not, then thats fine, but might I suggest going and hanging out at windowsrumours.com or some other site, as macrumours happens to be for apple fans and you might feel more comfortable there with your purchases.
Apple is driven completely by DESIGN. not just looks and feel but customer experience. They do sometimes, in the service of design use the latest in tech, the macbook air offered ssd's before anyone else, and they were criticized for being too expensive. They were using IPS panels in displays for consumer products largely before anyone else, and are the first to my knowledge to push them out across their imac, line inclusing ipad. why? because they just look better. They were the first company to really make bluetooth useful, the first to make "superdrives" the first to make wifi standard across thier laptop line, the first to use core chips in laptops when they came out... first first first...
Why dont they offer better 7200 rpm drive options? franlly because most people wont notice the speed increase, and would prefer to get more than 2 hours of life out of their laptop battery... Why dont they offer more ram as standard? becaue most people dont need it, and DDR3 is more expensive than ddr2 was by a lot. Why dont they have the latest new processors in their laptops? because they wanted the market completely focused on the ipad launch, which is there most important product launch since the iphone. they will likely launch their line of laptops in the next 3 or 4 months... Buy ti Suspect they have been pushing on Intel to give them an option without built in graphics which the i series all come with and that they dont want. Who knows...
What I do know is this, despite not having the latest processor or hdd options, the Mac line is the most advanced line of computers made today. Why? because its SOFTWARE that makes them powerful and easy to use, not the chip inside. and for that I have been, and most people who have used one have been willing to sacrifice a little more money to get.
If your not, then thats fine, but might I suggest going and hanging out at windowsrumours.com or some other site, as macrumours happens to be for apple fans and you might feel more comfortable there with your purchases.