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Apple Launches MacBook Pros with Thunderbolt, Quad Core CPUs, AMD GPUs

Is it just me...or do iPod's, iPhones and iPad's have a hidden Firewire 800 port I know nothing about??

From the specs for the new MBP:

With the new Thunderbolt port, you can daisy-chain as many as six devices, including your display, to create a full-fledged workstation. Two USB 2.0 ports (three on the 17-inch MacBook Pro) and a FireWire 800 port let you connect your iPad, iPod, iPhone, digital cameras, and external hard drives.
 
jbg232 said:
A few comments on looking at the image below:

compareyy.jpg


In RED - how do they justify charging 1799 for such an inferior chip in comparison?

In YELLOW - 1499 for this chip, really apple?

I still love my unibody macbook.
Click to expand...

They justify it by doubling the cores, giving you a larger screen, and discreet graphics
 
Dumb thunderbolt question

If this is using the minidisplay port, how would I hook up an external monitor as well as 'thunderbolt-enabled' storage? There's one reference to 'daisy chaining' but my monitor doesn't look like it could be part of a chain. Will we face another round of new adapters/connectors?
 
Am I to understand that a fully specced 15 inch has no advantage over a 17 inch except for screen size/rez.? I know that the numbers are on the site, but I'm not overly tech savvy and perhaps there's a detail I overlooked. I always presumed I'd just get a 17, but if it's another grand or so just for a bigger screen.... hell, perhaps a 15 is the way to go. Usually the 17 has something extra to recommend it.
 
I hope Mac OS X Lion will support TRIM for SSDs ... !

The 17" with 2.3 processor is nice ... RAM and SSD upgrade will not come from apple their prices are 2x higher than street prices atm.
Then you have a very powerfull workstation with a good battery life.
 
How hard is it on these new laptops (assume same build as current) to replace the hard drive? On my unibody Macbook 2008 it's a breeze because it's under the replaceable battery.

Reason I'm asking is I'm tempted to upgrade but I have a 256GB SSD (amazing) that I want to move over to the new laptop. I guess I would setup the new macbook using Time Machine and thenc lone the new system to my SSD then pop the SSD in. I just need to know how tough it is to replace the existing HDD.
 
Agh, please stop with the battery complaints. They changed their measurements, but it's still the same life.

Which laptop didn't get changed today? The MacBook.
What was the MacBook's previous battery life? 10 hours, same as 13" MBP.
What is the MacBook's newly listed life? 7 hours

This means that 7 new hours = 10 old hours. QED.
 
aristokrat said:
I'm pretty sure your prices include your ridiculously high VAT, ours do not include any tax (which will be added to the final price). Also, if you want to get mad at someone, I'd bet your protectionary import tariffs probably have something to do with higher costs to Apple as well.

Someone has to pay for the NHS, why not you!
Click to expand...

Wow.. so much fail. Bet you watch Fox news.
 
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Uk stores seem to be unaware of when they'll be getting stock...
 
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joskewarez said:
2,3GHZ core i3 thats nothing faster than the previous C2D 2,4Ghz.
It's just a new name for almost the same processor
Click to expand...

You, sir, are hilarious.
 
teasphere said:
I wanted to buy two MBPs now I am possibly going to buy a single last model C2D and wait for the 2012 refresh. Disappointing.
All it would have taken:

13" with decent CPU and solid GPU.
Superdrive inside.
I would have killed to have a black/gunmetal/dark alu chassis.

Price, glossy/matte, SSD, Thundercat, none of that mattered to me.
Click to expand...

Well it does have a SuperDrive and a decent CPU. The 2.3GHz Core i5 and 2.7GHz Core i7 smoke the Core 2 Duo you are considering. The GPU is a step backward (Apple is conspicuously silent about it), though it will be OK for regular video streaming and iTunes. Are you a gamer? If so, I agree you'll be better off waiting for the 2012 refresh.

Why specifically, do you need the SuperDrive inside? Do you watch a lot of movies? If not, I've found that I rarely use the external SuperDrive that I purchased 3 years ago for my Rev A MacBook Air (and have carried forward to the Rev D).
 
onlymiah said:
Is it just me...or do iPod's, iPhones and iPad's have a hidden Firewire 800 port I know nothing about??

From the specs for the new MBP:

With the new Thunderbolt port, you can daisy-chain as many as six devices, including your display, to create a full-fledged workstation. Two USB 2.0 ports (three on the 17-inch MacBook Pro) and a FireWire 800 port let you connect your iPad, iPod, iPhone, digital cameras, and external hard drives.
Click to expand...

(Two USB ports + 1 FW800 port) let you connect devices. You parsed the sentence wrong.
 
Even the 11" MBA has more pixels on screen than the MBP 13". I wonder what segment the latter caters to?
 
mgkimsal said:
If this is using the minidisplay port, how would I hook up an external monitor as well as 'thunderbolt-enabled' storage? There's one reference to 'daisy chaining' but my monitor doesn't look like it could be part of a chain. Will we face another round of new adapters/connectors?
Click to expand...

I'm guessing there will be an adapter for the port to enable connecting two devices to it.
 
jbg232 said:
A few comments on looking at the image below:

compareyy.jpg


In RED - how do they justify charging 1799 for such an inferior chip in comparison?

In YELLOW - 1499 for this chip, really apple?

I still love my unibody macbook.
Click to expand...

GHz have become more complicated. :D

All the new Intel chips change their clock speed depending on how many cores you are using. That's because the heat production is the main problem that keeps the clock speed down; so if only one core is working, you can run faster.

Both processors can run a single core at 3.4 GHz for a short time.
Both processors can run two cores at 2.7 GHz for infinite time.
The quad core processor can run four cores at 2.0 GHz for infinite time.

So the dual core is advertised as "2.7 GHz" and the quad core as "2.0 GHz" even when they actually run at the same speed.


mgkimsal said:
If this is using the minidisplay port, how would I hook up an external monitor as well as 'thunderbolt-enabled' storage? There's one reference to 'daisy chaining' but my monitor doesn't look like it could be part of a chain. Will we face another round of new adapters/connectors?
Click to expand...

Your monitor can be the end of the chain :)
Any hard drive or other peripheral that is "thunderbolt-enabled" would have one connector going in, and one connector going out. New monitors should have the same, so that you can plug the first hard drive into the MacBook, the second hard drive into the first hard drive, your new monitor into the second hard drive, and your old monitor without the second connector goes into the new monitor.


andrewsd said:
NONONONO, They "Apple" just miscalculated how to messare the battery life on the previous model and had to adjust to more real world figures....You know sort of how they "miscalculated" attenea/singnal strenth relative to "bars" on aonther one of their products.....:rolleyes:


EDIT: I JUST SEE THAT IT SAYS UP TO 7 HOURS OF "WIRELESS WEB".
So maybe the 10 hours on the previous model was say word processing with wifi turned off....????

Also you are telling me I can get a better display on MBA?!?!?!?!:eek:
Click to expand...

That's the problem with battery life. "7 hours battery life" is about as meaningful as saying "the petrol tank in my car lasts for 7 hours".
 
Last edited:
mobilehavoc said:
How hard is it on these new laptops (assume same build as current) to replace the hard drive?
Click to expand...

I'm sure Apple is using the new screws that are present on the Macbook Airs. That will make it a PITA to open up w/out a proper screwdriver.
 
Lets examine that $2199 price of the quad core 15 inch laptop.

In reality it probably is closer to 2499. Is the non glare screen option going to be free? Who in the hell is going to put up with 1400x900? So at least $100 more for the upgrade. Toss on three years of Apple Care and this thing gets far past stupid in pricing.
 
zorinlynx said:
I should have you note that Apple notebooks have been cheaper lately than they've been in YEARS.

Back in 2003, to pick up a 15" Powerbook G4 you had to START at $2500 for a decent system!

Now you can get a 15" Macbook Pro for $1700 and on top of that, the dollar isn't worth as much as it used to be so it's even less.

Stop bitching about pricing, people. And you can't compare Macbooks to cheap flimsy plasticy Dell/HP stuff. I'm sorry, but no.

Edit for those who don't believe me: http://web.archive.org/web/20030402060702/www.apple.com/powerbook/index15.html
Click to expand...

+1

well said :) Even my old 12" PB is better than some of the new notebook these days, BTW still working perfectly with only new battery ;)
 
The GPU used on the 13", the Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 384MB DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory, is roughly comparable to the previously used 320M isn't it? Is that because it uses 384MB? The 320M used 256MB didn't it? The new Intel one has to sap another bunch of memory to get similar performance? How irritating. Had the battery remained at 10 hours I wouldn't be fussed, but sheesh. Unfortunate. Still, lovely computers indeed.
 
Eorlas said:
I'm so glad that I bought my 13" for the 2010 refresh when it had a GOOD graphics card in it.

The new 15/17 's look nice though, albeit expensive. Never heard of those nvidia cards before.
Click to expand...

Oh pleasee... If you need to convince yourself to avoid buyer's remorse, it's ok.

That doesn't change the fact that the intel HD 3000 has roughly the same power than the nvidia 320M, give or take, and certainly doesn't either change the brutal superiority the new i5-2410M has over the P8600, any day, any time.

Any of those new MBP is better than the old version, without hesitation, and at the same pricetag. Certainly buying the computer again is quite unnecessary, but it feels really stupid "to be glad" of having bought the old one.
 
jbg232 said:
A few comments on looking at the image below:

compareyy.jpg


In RED - how do they justify charging 1799 for such an inferior chip in comparison?

In YELLOW - 1499 for this chip, really apple?

I still love my unibody macbook.
Click to expand...

the 15" is quad-core, not dual core. it's a lot better.

Another thing: Apple says the 13" core i5 2,3ghz has 3mb cache. If you look at intel's site, there's only 1 cpu with 2,3ghz and has 6mb cache, while there is only 1 cpu with 3mb cache and it's 2,7ghz.
Here it is :


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

edit: I just realised there is only 1 dual-core core i5, and it's the one with 3mb cache and 2,7ghz.
So are we basically getting an underclocked i5-2390T ?
 
jbg232 said:
A few comments on looking at the image below:

compareyy.jpg


In RED - how do they justify charging 1799 for such an inferior chip in comparison?

In YELLOW - 1499 for this chip, really apple?

I still love my unibody macbook.
Click to expand...

Look again - dual vs. quad core. Also, I think the GPU is integrated into the CPU, so Apple doesn't have many options there.
 
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