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

[greenmeanie]

Your dell is a BRICK and a battery hog.
I use to have an XPS so I know what it is. Also built cheap and the screen sucked on mine.

My Dell XPS WIPS the MPB!!!!! and its almost two years old LOL

N11X6501 1 £1,086.76
Studio XPS 16 : Intel Core i7 Processor 720QM(1.60GHz,6MB cache) 1
Display : 16in RGBLED Black Leather Edge to Edge Full HD1080p with TrueLife 1
Camera : Integrated Camera with Facial Recognition Software 1
Resource DVD : Studio XPS 1645 Diagnostics and Drivers 1
Ship Accessory : English Docs 1
Memory : 4096MB (2x2048) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel 1
Hard Drive : 500GB Free Fall Sensor (7200RPM) 1
Optical Drive : Blu-Ray ROM (Blu-Ray,DVD and CD read & write) Slot Load Combo Drive 1
Power Supply : XPS 90W AC Adapter 1
Power Cord : UK 1M 1
Battery : Primary 9-cell 85W/HR LI-ION 1
Not Included Carry Case 1
Graphics : 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics card 1
TV tuner : No Integrated TV tuner 1
Wireless : Europe Dell Bluetooth 370 Card 1
Wireless : Dell Wireless 1397 (802.11 b/g) Mini Card European 1
Keyboard : Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard 1
Operating System : English Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 BIT) 1
English Microsoft Works 9.0 (Word Processor, Database) with Recovery CD 1
Software : Datasafe Local 2.0 Basic 1
Software : Napster for Win 7 (60 Free Songs and 1 year Free Music Streaming) 1
Dell Dock 1.0 1
English McAfee Security Centre 10.0 - 15 Month Subscription 1
Advanced Service - 2 year Collect & Return Service within 6 days + 2 years Accidental Damage Support 1
Standard Service - 1 year of coverage included with your PC 1
2 years Accidental Damage Support 1
DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1
DataSafe Online size - 2GB Trial 1
I have already selected the Services promotion. 1
Studio XPS 1645 Order - UK 1
Studio NB - System Only 1
Subtotal: £1,086.76
Freight: £0.00

Total Net: £1,086.76
VAT( 15%): £153.69
Total: £1,240.45

 

[Blu101]

wtf??? what is this crap??? 7 hours battery time on the 13"

Hopefully it's 7 hours based on Apple's new testing standards, that they used on the last round of MBAs...?

 

[TigerWoodsIV]

They couldn't have offered 512MB of GDDR5 on the entry level 15"?

We go from 256MB to 1GB?

I heard somewhere that those chips jump from 256 to 1 gig, could be wrong...

 

[ppnkg]

new 13' specs tell me the upgrade of ipad is going to be substantial

 

[k995]

1. threads about unibody macbooks cracking ... i would like to see such a thread. i travel a lot with mine and have put a few small dents in it, but haven't seen any cracks in the unibody. where i work, every new student gets a MBP (meaning 50 new MBPs / year so there are a few 100 around at any one time and I still haven't seen/heard of a crack ... dents maybe, cracking no).

http://www.google.be/search?hl=nl&nord=1&site=webhp&q=+site:forums.macrumors.com+unibody+cracked

2. i'm not saying choosing one over the other With a MBP, you can LEGALLY run OSX and Win7, you CANNOT do this on a non-Apple machine. we use a lot of OSX specific software during our daily use. running a Hackintosh is actually violating most ISPs TOS.

And that software only exist for OSX and there is nio windows replacement?

Then you are a quit unique case, doesnt really matter for the very vast mayority of people.

3. Of course the value is of concern. If it's stolen, it has a certain value versus age. That value is always higher with Mac than with a PC (% wise, not just absolute value). Using until broken is a feeble excuse for not thinking about depreciation over time. never mind the tax benefit/detriments.

Again if its stolen, its stolen, it will only cost once more to replace, very bad argument.

Tax write off and resale value is a small argument at best as not much people do this. And if they did, prices would drop.

You will never get back the initial extra price.

4. I don't think you're open-minded, you're either anti-apple or haven't really thought about what you're speaking about.

Funny how anyone not glorifying and saying its the absolute best for anyone is "anti apple" . I have plenty of apple , but I also have plenty of experience with non apple , perhaps that is what you are lacking.

 

[blueraja]

Thanks for clearing this up. You wouldn't happen to have a link to these said SB benchmarks, would you?

Its not really an apples to apples comparison (2.4 core2duo with 5400rpm drive vs 2.3 i7 quad with an ssd...but when the resolution goes up the 3000 takes a big hit...at lower resolutions its decent but i dont know how much of that is due to the faster drive and faster cpu. The same site is supposed to have opencl benchmarks up soon according to their forums.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Prod...4.155.158.159.162.163.170.171.178.179.182.183

 

[Stella]

battery life = new test that apple uses... so quite complaining. Its the same as before... just more accurate.

Yes: The way Apple tests batteries is good - more realistic usage.

I've got fed up with manuacturers claiming 10 hours battery life when in practice the battery lasts no more than 2 hours. Sure, the claim is good if you turn on your computer, reduce the screen brightness to 0% and don't touch it for 10 hours...

Cell phone battery claims are the worst.. 8 hour talk time.. yea right. Only if your phone is used in optimal conditions... such optimal conditions that no one is going to achieve these unless in a testing lab.

 

[Steve121178]

So when will I be able to sync my iPhone via Thunderbolt???

It will only be iPhone 5 and above and you'll need a £50 adapter.

I'm joking. Sort of.

 

[moomin89]

which is the one to buy?

i get a student discount so im looking to invest in one, i dont understand why the "13 doesnt have an audio in and audio out. is it really that hard to include?

also im pretty sure the prices just went up slightly on the uk store.

 

[Tonepoet]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

I noticed that the battery life went down to 7 hours in all models. For those of you who have the 2010 13" model, did it really get up to 10 hours of battery?

I'm on my mom's 2.4 GHZ 2009 unibody 13", it gets more like five to six in real world usage with Wifi on. The same goes for an online friend I've been chatting with, albeit I'm not sure what he's doing with it. If the tests are more rigorous, seven to eight will definitely be an improvement.

Considering that Apple's such a braggart about the battery, I think the tests might prove to be more accurate. Sandy Bridge processors use less power for the performance so it'd be rather asinine to go down really

Anyway, I'm disappointed in the lack of USB 3. I have some peripherals I've been eying. Like others from before I'm also disappointed that Thunderbolt's in the Minidisplay port now since there's no Apple Cinema Display to Daisy Chain it with. The 13 inch also looks unappealing. HDDs are utterly worthless to me. Finally if you're going to include an optical drive Apple, make it blu-ray. Oh and I think Sandy Bridge procs. have DRM in them, eww.

Otherwise however, the specs appear satisfactory and while DRM would set me back at least until Ivy, I'm in no position to argue with a broken iMac. I gotta check out the second hand market before I make the jump though.

Also would anybody mind saving me some bus fare and a trip to a very small crowded Apple Store with extra crowding and tell me if they're using SATA 3.0 or fixed Cougar Point chips for the H.D.? I'm considering an after-market install for the SSD.

 

[madzr]

I'm going to buy the top-of-the-line 15".
Question is:
- 500gb 7200rpm or 128gb ssd? (is it possible to change the HD later by yourself without losing the warranty?)
- 2.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 or 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7?
- glossy or antiglare screen?

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

Nonsense!

Don't try to run Flash video on any of these new MBPs, you'll be very disappointed :

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#technotes/tn2010/tn2267.html



Apple have yet to announce any Intel or ATI support for the framework that Flash uses to hardware decode its video for playback. Note this is the same Framework that players like VLC/Mplayer are implementing.

1. Give them time to update the TN!

2. VLC/MPlayer DO NOT use functions from this framework. The Video LAN Project plans it for a future version. It depends all on the ffmpeg-project, and these people had to solve some internal problems in the past months.

 

[Roessnakhan]

It's cool how the anti-glare versions have an "MacBook Air-esque" silver bezel

They always have.

 

[MacBallin22]

Does the intel hd 3000 suck as a graphics card? can i play sc2 with this?

 

[Val-kyrie]

The crazy low-res screen on the MPB13 alone prevents me from buying it. I just find it very hard to understand it when the Macbook Air gets it but no the Macbook Pro..

Perhaps you should look at the Wintel world. This resolution on a 13" is pretty standard. Comparable Windows are a little wider but shorter (1366 x 768, IIRC). I prefer 1280 x 800. Higher resolutions on a 13" cost extra and are harder for some people to use. Apple also seems to use the resolution to differentiate the MBA from the MBP. I personally would lean toward the former in this case, if I were purchasing a 13" machine.

Sorry but an i7-Dual or Quad makes no sense with a 5400rpm Drive!!! ....

I agree.

Why making such a huge deal about it? Just buy a 7200rpm or SSD, that it has 5400 as standard doesnt mean ****.

In a "Pro" machine, 7200 RPM should be standard; especially at Apple's prices. The consumer should not need to update the computer's hard drive from the outset to achieve optimal performance. That is why people buy the "Pro"s.

 

[henrikrox]

Seriously is no one Disapointed with res of the 13

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

which is the one to buy?

All!

 

[jtrenda33]

I love my Company's Employee Purchase Program

2.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display
Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

For the lovely price of $2,299.00 vs $2,499.00

It's only $2,179.00 in the education store..

Either way, these prices are stupid. I was really looking forward to buying my first macbook pro today, but these prices are not persuasive enough. I was really hoping to see a $100-$200 drop in price, or at least the same price, not an increase! And now that the other rumor came out yesterday about the "milestone" redesign next year, I really can't justify spending the money right now. I was happy to see an increase in HDD capacity to 750 GB, but I was hoping for 1 TB. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that the 13" can have the same storage capacity as the 17". I was, however, very disappointed that they didn't increase the base RAM, or increase its maximum capacity to 16 GB...

...ugh...one more year, I suppose...at least then price shouldn't be an issue for me.

 

[cult hero]

Noticed that too. Hoping either:

1) It was 7 hours before, and I'm misremembering.

2) It's a typo.

If the battery life for the 13-inch laptops has indeed *dropped* 3 hours, I'm totally skipping these.

When they released the MBA they said they began using a more rigorous and realistic benchmark for battery life. The "10 hours" the 2010 13" gets is really more like 6 - 7 (that's what I could squeeze out of mine when I first bought it).

All in all this is a really good release, except that the updates to the 13" model are underwhelming—the screen resolution being the foremost issue. I can't understand the lack of even an option to upgrade to something higher when they're using the higher resolution panels in the MBA.

I'm usually not baffled by Apple's releases, but the 13" models this time are a bit confusing. Can't complain about the CPU though. On the bright side, I will not be replacing my current 13" model. Ha.

 

[xxjudgmentxx]

Does the intel hd 3000 suck as a graphics card? can i play sc2 with this?

You should be able to play SC2 on low or medium (with some tweaks) no problem.

 

[sunny1985]

Your dell is a BRICK and a battery hog.
I use to have an XPS so I know what it is. Also built cheap and the screen sucked on mine.

admit its HEAVY but its better than the CRAP thats been sold within the NEW MBP!

no screen issues with mine mate. and BTW if you ever spend time in a apple store,

and you’ll release the issues the MBP have to this date! (im an X employee!)

 

[onlymiah]

Your dell is a BRICK and a battery hog.
I use to have an XPS so I know what it is. Also built cheap and the screen sucked on mine.

My Dad has an dell XPS 17" laptop. That thing is a BEAST! Huge power brick adapter, the thing weighs a ton, the keys are falling off, the lid is broke and it has MISERABLE battery life. It is always tied to the wall with a huge brick power adapter because the battery life is so miserable it can't really be taken much of anywhere...which defeats the purpose of a laptop.

 

[Gemylon]

Is there a big difference (other than 2.2 vs 2.3) between the two processor options on the new 17''? What are they?

I am thinking the same.

I guess It just a speed difference, but is it worth the bucks ?
Depends on how you count,
but I think I will go for 2.3 ...


G

 

[andy845]

Well in the UK if you take the top 15" (for the decent graphics card) and up the screen res we are basically talking £2000 ($3218). Its a little hard to justify this......

So the extra price between the low and high 15" just isn't worth it I don't think, the performance of the graphics card in the low end 15" is questionable tho. If only it was slightly better I'd buy now, not sure whether to just go for it

 

[TigerWoodsIV]

Your dell is a BRICK and a battery hog.
I use to have an XPS so I know what it is. Also built cheap and the screen sucked on mine.

Yeah, definitely. I have a friend who bought a top of the line XPS when I bought my MBP (around the middle of 2008). He can't wait to get rid of it because of the problems he's had and he's getting a Mac so he doesn't get in shouting matches with customer service reps.

The screens suck on those things, and I know the batteries suck (or rather the power consumption). They're also big and ugly IMO. And that price in pounds is higher than a MBP costs in dollars. Currently it's 1.62 dollars per pound. So over 2k dollars at 1,240 pounds.

Not familiar with the prices of the MBP in the UK, but I'm just saying, I'd rather pay for a MBP than use a few year old Dell. I already did it once when I bought a top of the line 15" in 2008 instead of taking my Dell to college. I realized how bad Dell and Windows are.