Apple Releases New MacBooks

Rocketman said:
This update is a "speed bump" pending Santa Rosa chips being available in sufficient quantity and motherboards being debugged with them installed. But for a "mere" speed bump, look at what you DO get. 802.11n, which is a big deal for wireless users. Slightly bigger HD, iSight, which is a "fad" thing, but "free". 20-30% faster performance. For a speed bump, that is massive.
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- I am pretty sure all Core 2 Duo Mac systems had 802.11n anyway, so no change on the Macbook. Big deal for wireless users? Not really, 802.11n is still uncommon.

- iSight was already present.

- 20-30% faster? From what, 130MHz core increase on the base model? The more RAM on the base model would have that affect in usability but it certainly will not be massively difference speed wise than its predecessor. Keep in the mind the Apple benchmarks should the difference to the original Core Duo Macbook, not the just replaced Core 2 Duo Macbook.

So no, not massive. :p
 
I have to agree about Apple focusing on upgrading the storage. The first things I did to my MacBook were a RAM upgrade to 1.25 GB -- no, the performance of dual-channel or whatever you call it doesn't matter for what I do -- and put in a 120GB hard drive -- which was exceptionally easy, so I felt comfortable doing it.

My work, it's one thing. I'm a writer. My current projects, including an entire book and a third of another one, 760KB. I kid you not (I don't use Word; files from Word of the same stuff would probably be about 10 or 12MB). But gigabytes of family photographs, music and a few TV shows and a couple movies, I had to have the extra space for room to add to more photos, music, movies, etc.
 
mattscott306 said:
Not quite the greatest argument ever...
While macs and PC's have some vast differences, they still serve the same general purpose. It's not like buying a boat vs buying a car. It's more buying a Ferrari vs buying a Honda.
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I suppose that makes sense if you consider that people in the market for a Ferrari won't be buying Hondas or vice-versa. But it misses the point because it still comes down to brands and price; it ignores the fact that there are low-end Macs and low-end PCs, and high-end Macs and high-end PCs. The point is, people considering low or high end Macs should not be considering their PC "equivalents" -- not because they suck, but because they're fundamentally different where it actually matters (software). I cannot comprehend buying a computer and having the operating system actually be a secondary consideration.
 
Hey, I noticed you can't selected whether or not you want a glossy screen anymore...
so are all the screen glossy now? orare they all 'classic'?
 
Well this confirms it, I am getting a MBP over the Macbook. Kind of lame updates. I was hoping for a graphics update in the worst of ways. Ah well, new MBP's on Tuesday (evening! :D)
 
Ok they fixed it....

The reason the store went down the second time is that they had accidentally listed the refurbished black macbook for $109.00

Unfortunately, its been fixed.
 
Evangelion said:
So, what DO you want to do with the computer that GMA950 is preventing you from doing? Gaming? X3100 would still be too slow for that. Or is this simply a case of "I want NEW technology in my laptop!"?

I'm still using Mac Mini with Radeon 9200 and that's even LESS future-proof than GMA950 is.
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Actually, considering that WoW is playable (though slow -- maybe 10-15 fps -- and ugly) on a 1.66 Mini with the GMA950, and that the hardware T&L is likely to provide benefits above and beyond the simple increase in MHz speed, the X3100 could be quite nice for gamers. WoW in particular should be comfortably playable (and with much prettier effects).

Just one example, yes. But an awful lot of people play it. :D
 
coming from someone who sells these in australia, i don't think we'll be waiting too long before we see an update on the macbook pro line.

the macbook update saw the prices drop over here, by about AUD$200 each, and now, the entry mpb has a smaller hard drive, slower superdrive, same amount of ram as the top mb, the only extras are a bigger screen and dedicated graphics card.

and it's now AUD$1000 more than the mb.

also, as a side note, the 17 inch superdrive imac now only has a dedicated graphics card over the top macbook.

it's now going to be very hard to sell the entry imac and the entry mbp to average consumers.

unless... (updates?...) if not today, the very, very soon, methinks.
 
speakster said:
The reason the store went down the second time is that they had accidentally listed the refurbished black macbook for $109.00

Unfortunately, its been fixed.
Click to expand...

no the reason it went down is they added 'Hear this speaker' to the store......
 
Zadillo said:
Santa Rosa is not THAT interesting as a platform update.

People in particular seem to be focusing on the continued use of GMA950 instead of GMAX3100, but why exactly is this a deal-breaker?
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Some people think that GMA950 won't quite cut it for Leopard, but that X3000/X3100 will. I suppose it's possible.

The other thing Santa Rosa should do for MacBooks is raise the RAM ceiling above 2GB. It's not a huge deal, but perhaps it's worth waiting for.
 
How lame is it that the rest of the manufacturers
update their lineup with updated hardware regardless of the diffrence in specs.
But apple doesnt and charge the same price?

Yes there is no major diffrence in SR compared to MEROM
BUT COME ON get serious already if its out there and your the supplier why dont you just give it to the people insteasd of banking on old hardware at current hardware prices?

jeez apple
 
I'm disapponted etc., etc.
Upgrade in storage is a nice surprise but I would rather sacrifice that for the TurboCache or whatever it is called now.
Honestly, all I wanted was the 15" Macbook, lack of Santa Rosa would have been fine but a processor upgrade is pretty crappy.

Have they still not fixed the fuzzy scrollbar problem?

That said, I am once again very tempted but I should perservere and wait for the iMacs!
 
oups....

Oh well, I was wrong predicting them not releasing anything, but they did.
nothing revolutonary, just faster models, with more memory, and bigger harddrives. great machines, just a shame that there is still a combo drive...
That is so out of time...
Anyway, these MB's would do very nicely as a Powerbook G4 replacement, but I am going to wait until the MBP's are updated, I want the FW800 port and a larger screen, I'm not in a hurry, and can wait for a nice shiny new MBP when they get updated next, and run Leopard. :) :apple:
 
I noticed that the Blackbook premium has been increased with this update as well. Since the only difference between the two is the size of the hard drive.

Blackbook $1549 (CAD edu discount)
Macbook with upgrade to match $1433 (CAD edu discount)

Before this update it was down to a $50 difference. Oh well, all the more reason to not get a black one now i guess.
 
For those of you waiting for an update, I would think the MBP update was always going to be more revolutionary anyway, and for a few hundred dollars more much more futureproof.

My biggest MB complaints are too low of max addressable memory (a futureproof issue for me), silly to not have superdrives., really should have a BTO backlit keyboard option.

The kid's getting one anyway.

Rocketman

Posted today on an OS 9.2.2 PMG4-500 with 512mb ram ! :(
 
$109 Refurb

speakster said:
The reason the store went down the second time is that they had accidentally listed the refurbished black macbook for $109.00

Unfortunately, its been fixed.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I actually had one in my cart with my Apple account info and credit card number entered and hit checkout and it redirected me. It cleared my cart because it stated that there was not enough supply of the item I had requested and they will email me when the product becomes available again.

I wonder if anyone actually got past that point in checkout and if there's a snowballs chance in Hades that Apple will honor it.

If you got one, post. Then keep us updated if you actually get it.:eek:
 
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