Apple Releases 17'' MacBook Pro

[MainStreeter]

In response to the questions others have asked regarding the hard drive speed question...

I, too, was confused as to which way to go on this. I spoke with an Apple sales rep via phone today, and their answer was that unless you are operating apps for video editing there would be no noticeable difference between the 5400 and 7200 rpm drives. His claim was that with standard apps like I run (business management software and design software) I was probably better off with the extra hard drive space.

That's what I elected to do.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

The tech specs page has been updated and claims 5.5 hours battery for the 17". The 15" info has also been entered and claims 4.5 hours. I get 2.5 hours max on my 15" MBP... anyone get better than that?

Yeah, I get 5 hours on a regular basis.

 

[Multimedia]

Early Posts Here Show 17" MBP LESS Expensive Than Comparable PC Notebooks

Taking the OS out of the equation. If one were to run windows on this laptop, is the price a good one for a PC laptop? How much does a PC laptops with specs like this one cost? The difference you end up with will be the added cost of design/materials and the Mac tax.

If you go back to the early posts here, from this morning - I can't believe we've made it past 500 already - those comparisons were calculated by a number of members and overwhealmingly resulted in this new 17" MBP being up to $1,000 less money than a Dell PC with similar specs. This new Mac is a fantastic bargain and the subsequent iterations will only get better.

Meanwhile on the 15" front, Apple is going to have to figure out how to get a FW800 port on there IN ADDITION to the FW400 port it already has. Otherwise the 15" MBP is going to have to be renamed the MacBook Semi-Pro. Seriously.

Someone in planning, marketing or engineering really screwed up not including both FW ports on the 15" model. It is one of the most glaring omissions I have ever seen done by Apple in an evolving model. For them to think it isn't important is to completely misread the market and who their user base is.

 

[Di9it8]

17" ??? Get an external monitor for goodness sake.

Try carrying an external monitor around

 

[picklescott]

Core Duo chip soldered?

Does anyone know if the 17" MBP Intel Core Duo chip is soldered onto the motherboard (like the 15" MBP) of if it's swappable (like the Mac mini)?

 

[Dyuta]

Yeah, I get 5 hours on a regular basis.

Is this under absolutely bare minimum power management settings? Under what kind of use do you get such an amazing battery life?

 

[Multimedia]

Space and/or Cooling May Be Why MBPs Don't Have Sockets

Does anyone know if the 17" MBP Intel Core Duo chip is soldered onto the motherboard (like the 15" MBP) of if it's swappable (like the Mac mini)?

And the iMacIntels too.

I just emailed a NAB attendee friend of mine to ask them this. But there may be a space and/or cooling reason they can't use a socket in these slimline mobile Macs.

 

[Photorun]

Does anyone know if the 17" MBP Intel Core Duo chip is soldered onto the motherboard (like the 15" MBP) of if it's swappable (like the Mac mini)?

At 1" thick one would doubt it could be anything BUT soldered on.

 

[FF_productions]

Funniest thing is the pricing.

A 15.4" with the 2.16 BTO and 120GB HD comes in at Eur 2,924.68

A 17" with same spec costs Eur 2,694.67

250 Euro cheaper than the 15" ??? That's fecked up. I suspect Apple are going to have to do some price re-structuring in its 15" range as it does not represent good value in its current form.

I really wonder how Apple is going to price these MBP's...

 

[generik]

That's Apple's call. I imagine the cost of the FW800 chip is 50¢ more than the FW400 chip so some bean counter voted to keep it slow. FW400 can run on a FW800 port with a simple 50¢ adaptor. Apple's always trying to differentiate products. I guess they think "consumers" will never need nor want FW800 "so why give them the choice?" I think it's rude not to include it in the whole line.

The trouble is FW400 is included with the Intel chipset, so it means Apple is getting FW400 for free. FW800 however would need a separate chip on the "logic board" so it is actually a lot more than $0.50, it is also having to make some real estate available on the internal circuitry too...

Try carrying an external monitor around

Lots of offices have it. You don't need 17" to demonstrate something to a customer in a cafe...

 

[Multimedia]

FW400 Support Is NOT Included In The Intel Chipset

The trouble is FW400 is included with the Intel chipset, so it means Apple is getting FW400 for free. FW800 however would need a separate chip on the "logic board" so it is actually a lot more than $0.50, it is also having to make some real estate available on the internal circuitry too...

WRONG! According to a post by Alden Shaw, FW400 Support Is NOT Included In The Intel Chipset and it was Apple's call to choose a FW400 chip instead of a FW800 chip to only support the slower speed on the 15" MBP.

According to Alden, the idea that there is free FW400 support included in the "Intel Chipset" is a FALSE RUMOR that some IDIOT started here a while back.

 

[Mac_Freak]

For those of you that complain that 15" MBPs don't have a FW800 you might one try this SATA ExpressCard/34 host adapter from FirmTek. The review is at BareFeats and here is one performance graph.... are you impressed?

I want one of those things, oh and the drive too.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Is this under absolutely bare minimum power management settings? Under what kind of use do you get such an amazing battery life?

Extremely light work. AirPort and Bluetooth off, backlight on minimum brightness, doing word processing and spreadsheet only.

With my 12" PowerBook G4 (867MHz, rev.a,) with the backlight OFF, I could get 7 hours. (Not often I had lighting good enough to have the backlight off for 7 hours, but I did do it once, when I forgot my power cord.)

Why? Mostly for the challenge of getting as much battery life as possible out of it... With AirPort on and a video iChat going, I can get 4 hours on my MacBook Pro.

 

[projectle]

Think of it this way...

I love my 17" notebooks solely because it allows me to see more of what is going on in a readable format.

It is also somewhat nice for development as it is large enough to allow fully visible code + the ability to test it at the same time.

It is sure nice to be able to do this sort of thing.

What I would love even more would be if they made a MBP with two LCDs as touchscreens...
Bottom as your normal input panels with the ability to swap to a normal screen, top as normal, with touchability.

 

[Multimedia]

FirmTek EC/34 eSATA Port Doesn't Ship Until July

For those of you that complain that 15" MBPs don't have a FW800 you might one try this SATA ExpressCard/34 host adapter from FirmTek. The review is at BareFeats and here is one performance graph.... are you impressed?

I want one of those things, oh and the drive too.

The bad news? FirmTek EC/34 eSATA Port Doesn't Ship Until July.

 

[mgcapplegirl]

firewire 800

what is firewire 800

 

[jsw]

what is firewire 800

It's twice as fast as "standard" firewire - up to 800 Mbps. Much faster than USB 2.

 

[Multimedia]

FW800 Is Twice As Fast As FW400

what is firewire 800

Welcome MGC Apple Girl. And thank you for completing page 21 of today's string. Here at page 22 post #527 - thanks fo jsw's fast reflexes, I will explain what everyone here probably knows already except you.

FW800 is simply a faster version of the original FireWire - twice as fast to be aproximate. The connector is square so you need that kind of connector to hook up ANY FW device, 400 or 800, and it will work at whichever speed the hooked up device is running at - IE FW800 ports will automatically GEAR DOWN to FW400 speed when a slower FW400 device is attached to them.

USB2 is running at 480 mbps - in theory. But often times USB2 gets caught up in overhead because of its dependency on the central processing unit which FW does not depend on at all.

 

[mgcapplegirl]

Gracias!

Thanks for the Firewire info ... I guess it's not that important if I don't use it . I have the Powerbook G4 15" and I am so tempted by the new 17", it's so dreamy, but I have to admit it's a matter of aesthetics for me

 

[Multimedia]

What Is A Matter Of What Aesthetics?

Thanks for the Firewire info ... I guess it's not that important if I don't use it . I have the Powerbook G4 15" and I am so tempted by the new 17", it's so dreamy, but I have to admit it's a matter of aesthetics for me

You have BOTH FW400 and FW800 on your PowerBook G4. The are both on the right side of your PB G4. See?

Now would be the best time to sell your 15" PB G4 and buy the 17" or 15" MBP because soon all PB G4's will hold very little resale value. They will soon be weaker than the iBook once they are released. What do you mean "it's a matter of aesthetics". What aesthetics are you referring to?

 

[MacTruck]

You have BOTH FW400 and FW800 on your PowerBook G4. The are both on the right side of your PB G4. See?

Now would be the best time to sell your 15" PB G4 and buy the 17" or 15" MBP because soon all PB G4's will hold very little resale value. They will soon be weaker than the iBook once they are released. What do you mean "it's a matter of aesthetics". What aesthetics are you referring to?

You are correct about firewire. I don't know why they just don't dump Firewire 400 and go solely with firwire 800. Do camcorders work with firwire 800 though?

 

[ChinComSlot]

resale value

You have BOTH FW400 and FW800 on your PowerBook G4. The are both on the right side of your PB G4. See?

Now would be the best time to sell your 15" PB G4 and buy the 17" or 15" MBP because soon all PB G4's will hold very little resale value. They will soon be weaker than the iBook once they are released. What do you mean "it's a matter of aesthetics". What aesthetics are you referring to?

what's the resale value of typical PB G4? i have rev. A 1.25GHz, 80GB, 512MB, plus tons of installed software (final cut pro, mathematica, office 2004, iLife06, Font Book, Adobe CS 1, acrobat professional, iWork, Virtual PC, etc).....what would u guys think it's worth?

u all think i should sell it before no one would buy used PB G4??

 

[matticus008]

You are correct about firewire. I don't know why they just don't dump Firewire 400 and go solely with firwire 800. Do camcorders work with firwire 800 though?

Because everyone with FW400 peripherals would be stuck without anywhere to plug them in...

 

[ninethirty]

Anyone know if the ram from Crucial for the 15" works for the 17" Is it the same stuff? Because Crucial is MUCH cheaper.

 

[Demoman]

Hard Drives and Screens

We all use our machines differently and for diverse applications. Right now I have 2 PM G5's and a PB G4 1.5 17" (when I need to be mobile). But, I am not humping the thing around airports all the time where I might be more focused on size/weight. So, I have a LaCie 250 GB FW800 drive I carry with the PB which gives me a nice amount of working room (video). I need the large screen because I am also developing SW as well as video. With my external drive, cables, wireless mouse (plus backup), I guess my ensemble weighs in at 15 pounds. If they made a 20" PB, I would probably own one. No, I would definitely own one.