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Apple Releases New MacBooks
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Obviously I meant "NEW MAC BOOK PRO"
Obviously I meant "NEW MAC BOOK PRO", a new updeted version..
Does anyone knwo if a MacBook Pro is coming up next days?
Gabloman
Obviously I meant "NEW MAC BOOK PRO", a new updeted version..
Keyword is AVAILABLE
. eg. a company sells it on new laptops.No one is whining about getting crapy graphics on used laptops, they are whining about getting crappy graphics on NEW laptops.
What does this mean, and does it apply to the United States, or just the UK? It sounds like you're saying there are TWO educational discounts? The normal one, and a better one you can get somehow?
If so...how to I get it? I see the same discount regardless of whether I visit Apple's education store from a computer on my university's domain, or at home.
As coren2000 says, we're talking about CURRENT video. I mean I could say "the 386 is way worse than that Celeron..." but that's not saying anything.
Keyword is AVAILABLE
No one is whining about getting crapy graphics on used laptops, they are whining about getting crappy graphics on NEW laptops.
Sorry I meant to say anything from S3 is far far worse than anything from Intel.
2 Laptops that can be purchased with Chrome 9 IGP.
2 Laptops that can be purchased with UniChrome Pro IGP.
I assure you that the GMA950 is better than both of those, which are supposed to support DX9. Intel isn't the only manufacturer that make IGP's, there are others. Intel is just the largest.
All I can say is wow. They have the balls to ship these with Vista no less.
Well I stand corrected.
NewEgg is currently selling 198 different laptops equipped with the GMA950. Most/many of the lower- to mid-end laptops currently on the market make use of it.
Well this discussion got a little out of hand.
My thoughts: I don't think we should be apologizing for Apple - it's unfortunate that these are most likely going to be the MacBook configs for 6 months or so. I could care less about "what's good business". As a consumer, I love Apple's products and want the best value to me. I'm sure a few on here are stockholders and do care what's best for the company, but we are all enthusiast consumers on this board so it's probably best to look at these upgrades that way.
However, to expect Santa Rosa products right now is pretty absurd to me. Dell only has them in a few lines and who knows how many of those are even shipping (think of the C2Ds - Intel announced them in early August but they weren't reaching consumers en masse until mid October, and Apple released their MBPs not long after). Apple will most likely release a Santa Rosa MBP when they can got a lot of notebooks out there to meet daily sales, and I would guess this won't be until at least June.
My thoughts: I don't think we should be apologizing for Apple - it's unfortunate that these are most likely going to be the MacBook configs for 6 months or so. I could care less about "what's good business". As a consumer, I love Apple's products and want the best value to me. I'm sure a few on here are stockholders and do care what's best for the company, but we are all enthusiast consumers on this board so it's probably best to look at these upgrades that way.
However, to expect Santa Rosa products right now is pretty absurd to me. Dell only has them in a few lines and who knows how many of those are even shipping (think of the C2Ds - Intel announced them in early August but they weren't reaching consumers en masse until mid October, and Apple released their MBPs not long after). Apple will most likely release a Santa Rosa MBP when they can got a lot of notebooks out there to meet daily sales, and I would guess this won't be until at least June.
In Defense of the Positive
In defense of the "Positive"; seeing there were (at the time of this posting) 1893 Negatives and 488 Positives attached to this topic, I felt I would present another Positive.
The first thing that occurred to me, in regard to the new MacBook release, was that somebody was filling a demographic marketing hole/vacancy.
As far as "Santa Rosa", 'everybody's got that'... but,
I get the impression Apple, as usual, may be a little 'further ahead' than credit given and here is why.
I recalled reading 'a few things that stuck' from Intel's press releases and went running over there to dig them up, so I could present my case.
Keyword is: Penryn
January 27, 2007: Intel's Transistor Technology Breakthrough Represents Biggest Change to Computer Chips In 40 Years
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070128comp.htm
March 28, 2007: Intel Details Upcoming New Processor Generations
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070328fact.htm
April 16, 2007: Intel Provides Details On New Products, Initiatives For Higher-Performing, More Efficient Computers
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070416comp_b.htm
May 9, 2007: Multitude Of Innovations Boost New Intel-Based Laptops
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070509comp.htm?iid=pr1_releasepri_20070509m
Before piecing together my view, I thought I would take a look around to see if 'somebody else', 'was thinking the same thing' and came across this:
April 16, 2007: Intel offers a look beyond Santa Rosa - At Spring IDF Intel shows off a laptop running the Penryn mobile due later this year
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/04/16/HNintelbeyondsantarosa_1.html
Which offered some interesting quotes and covered what I was going to offer:
"We will be able to take Penryn, the 45-nanometer [chip], and plug it into exactly the same platform to enable a fast ramp," said Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of Intel's mobile platform group
"some gamers and hardcore users will want to push their systems past the performance limits set by Intel"
"Intel is preparing a mobile chip for gamers that allows overclocking."
"We've opened the design in such a way that you can overclock, but it's your responsibility to take care of cooling on your own," - Mooly Eden
"One possibility is the release of a quad-core chip on a single silicon die -- something that Intel has hinted will come in the future, but has so far not discussed in concrete product terms."
In closing, (imo) the MacBooks were a 'niche fill' and the near future looks promising...
In defense of the "Positive"; seeing there were (at the time of this posting) 1893 Negatives and 488 Positives attached to this topic, I felt I would present another Positive.
The first thing that occurred to me, in regard to the new MacBook release, was that somebody was filling a demographic marketing hole/vacancy.
As far as "Santa Rosa", 'everybody's got that'... but,
I get the impression Apple, as usual, may be a little 'further ahead' than credit given and here is why.
I recalled reading 'a few things that stuck' from Intel's press releases and went running over there to dig them up, so I could present my case.
Keyword is: Penryn
January 27, 2007: Intel's Transistor Technology Breakthrough Represents Biggest Change to Computer Chips In 40 Years
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070128comp.htm
March 28, 2007: Intel Details Upcoming New Processor Generations
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070328fact.htm
April 16, 2007: Intel Provides Details On New Products, Initiatives For Higher-Performing, More Efficient Computers
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070416comp_b.htm
May 9, 2007: Multitude Of Innovations Boost New Intel-Based Laptops
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070509comp.htm?iid=pr1_releasepri_20070509m
Before piecing together my view, I thought I would take a look around to see if 'somebody else', 'was thinking the same thing' and came across this:
April 16, 2007: Intel offers a look beyond Santa Rosa - At Spring IDF Intel shows off a laptop running the Penryn mobile due later this year
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/04/16/HNintelbeyondsantarosa_1.html
Which offered some interesting quotes and covered what I was going to offer:
"We will be able to take Penryn, the 45-nanometer [chip], and plug it into exactly the same platform to enable a fast ramp," said Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of Intel's mobile platform group
"some gamers and hardcore users will want to push their systems past the performance limits set by Intel"
"Intel is preparing a mobile chip for gamers that allows overclocking."
"We've opened the design in such a way that you can overclock, but it's your responsibility to take care of cooling on your own," - Mooly Eden
"One possibility is the release of a quad-core chip on a single silicon die -- something that Intel has hinted will come in the future, but has so far not discussed in concrete product terms."
In closing, (imo) the MacBooks were a 'niche fill' and the near future looks promising...
These are single models of manufacturers (most of them look to be high-end desktop replacements or expensive ultraportables) that don't ship and sell near as many machines as the MBPs or MacBooks. Note Dell hasn't put them in their Inspiron line for I'm sure the same reason (along with moving out old stock). Give it a few more weeks and they'll be in the MBPs.
I said it was unfortunate that the Macbooks probably won't have Santa Rosa for the next 6 months or so, but there's no way Apple could keep a healthy supply in stores with what I'm sure is limited supply of chipsets right now. And Apple's not going to split the line and have say the Blackbook with Santa Rosa and others with the old chipset - that's not how they do things.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/09/dell-officially-announces-santa-rosa-based-d630-and-d830/
The Latitude still sells a lot of units.
And Apple had the iMac Core Duo shipping out just a week after Napa's launch at CES 2006...
Apple: performance specs, etc
You're right--this isn't PPC land anymore. When Apple used PPC processors, they could still fend off the "specs aren't comparable to x86" detractors by reminding them of the RICS > CISC comparison.
Those of us who knew the difference (power users, mac loyalists, spec geeks) bought them knowing they were better than their x86 Intel/AMD counterparts even though their clock speeds were higher.
Point #2: All for-profit companies are in business to make money. To make MORE money, specifically (if you're a publicly traded company, you have stockholders to please with increasing revenue and stock prices) Apple knew they needed to get more people in to the flock than us power users, loyalists, creative professionals, etc. They knew that to do this they's have to appeal to the non-spec conscious mass market--a market that knows only brand names and clock speeds. The majority of the people who buy iPods and MacBooks don't know, nor care about what Santa Rosa is or means besides being a town in California.
That being said, The switch to Intel was brilliant to attract this laymen mass market. Not so good for us power users, loyalists, and creative professionals. Why? because now we have a DIRECT SPEC COMPARISON on products. And with Apple always being infrequent with updates, we're left with a scenario of disappointment. We see PC laptops coming out with better CPUs/GPUs they really DO have better specs. Apple knows that its new mass market lover doesn't care about these differences, they know that the Intel name and the superior OS are enough to make more money [intentional use of MORE], and that there is no need to keep up with specs that only a (now) small segment of their customer base cares about.
Dell, Gateway, etc buy in larger bulk orders, and thus cheaper per-unit costs to them. They can afford to sell a product with the latest technology at a near-similar price to consumers. Apple cannot. It all comes down to sales. Apple's new client base know when a price changes because they offer so few models to choose from, basically two laptops: MacBook and MacBook Pro, so Apple can't just raise the price to cover a product update and expect to sell more units to a market that knew the "same" Intel MacBook sold for $100 cheaper last month. So, Apple keeps prices the same, or drops them every so often, at the expense of having the latest marginal technology upgrades to performance.
Side Notes: Although performance tests show that MacBooks are faster than my iBook, I'm glad I'm still using a PPC product.
Speaking of Wish Lists: My magical unicorn would be a Cell Processor-based Mac. They are already being distributed in some blade servers, etc, and I'd really like to see Apple set themselves apart again with the processor. But it doesn't look like that will ever happen. People know the Intel name; people BUY the Intel name; Apple wants to make money.
P.S. Why get so disappointed NOW when Leopard is still looming? A "major" update to MBs and MBPs will happen around then, why not hold off?
You're right--this isn't PPC land anymore. When Apple used PPC processors, they could still fend off the "specs aren't comparable to x86" detractors by reminding them of the RICS > CISC comparison.
Those of us who knew the difference (power users, mac loyalists, spec geeks) bought them knowing they were better than their x86 Intel/AMD counterparts even though their clock speeds were higher.
Point #2: All for-profit companies are in business to make money. To make MORE money, specifically (if you're a publicly traded company, you have stockholders to please with increasing revenue and stock prices) Apple knew they needed to get more people in to the flock than us power users, loyalists, creative professionals, etc. They knew that to do this they's have to appeal to the non-spec conscious mass market--a market that knows only brand names and clock speeds. The majority of the people who buy iPods and MacBooks don't know, nor care about what Santa Rosa is or means besides being a town in California.
That being said, The switch to Intel was brilliant to attract this laymen mass market. Not so good for us power users, loyalists, and creative professionals. Why? because now we have a DIRECT SPEC COMPARISON on products. And with Apple always being infrequent with updates, we're left with a scenario of disappointment. We see PC laptops coming out with better CPUs/GPUs they really DO have better specs. Apple knows that its new mass market lover doesn't care about these differences, they know that the Intel name and the superior OS are enough to make more money [intentional use of MORE], and that there is no need to keep up with specs that only a (now) small segment of their customer base cares about.
Dell, Gateway, etc buy in larger bulk orders, and thus cheaper per-unit costs to them. They can afford to sell a product with the latest technology at a near-similar price to consumers. Apple cannot. It all comes down to sales. Apple's new client base know when a price changes because they offer so few models to choose from, basically two laptops: MacBook and MacBook Pro, so Apple can't just raise the price to cover a product update and expect to sell more units to a market that knew the "same" Intel MacBook sold for $100 cheaper last month. So, Apple keeps prices the same, or drops them every so often, at the expense of having the latest marginal technology upgrades to performance.
Side Notes: Although performance tests show that MacBooks are faster than my iBook, I'm glad I'm still using a PPC product.
Speaking of Wish Lists: My magical unicorn would be a Cell Processor-based Mac. They are already being distributed in some blade servers, etc, and I'd really like to see Apple set themselves apart again with the processor. But it doesn't look like that will ever happen. People know the Intel name; people BUY the Intel name; Apple wants to make money.
P.S. Why get so disappointed NOW when Leopard is still looming? A "major" update to MBs and MBPs will happen around then, why not hold off?
The unfortunate thing with Apple is that the concept of an entry level machine isn't really equal to what is considered entry level in the PC world. I think this is the number one issue with respect to the release of this update, that is for the same money you can get a SANTA ROSA based machine in the PC world.
Maybe, I don't know what limitations you are working with but Linux can be a very easy OS for the novice if set up correctly. In some ways it can be better for the beginners as you can set it up easily in such a way that it is very difficult for them to screw it up. Linux can be better than Windwos in this regard.
The thing is if you are going to become the support desk for family or friends go with an OS that makes your life easier. Linux offers you the ability to keep the user out of the parts of the system where they can do hard. Given that the user environment has matured vastly in the last couple of years it is doable.
As an aside I'd suggest not becoming the support desk for friends and family but that is me.
Interesting, I'm assuming this isn't Egypt NY.
In any event thinking positive about where you live can make life a lot more bearable. If that doesn't work moving to some place else works.
This is exactly the issue I have why go with a what is suppose to be a base line system that doesn't even have a baseline chip set. In my case there is a lot more to Santa Rosa than just the graphics though. The power saving features are exactly what the MB platform needs. SR does have other benefits but the power savings and graphics improvements are exactly what is needed in a light weight machine.
I can only hope that Apple has the intentions of making use of SR is the much rumored MBLite. Knowing Apple though this will likely be a grossly over priced machine. From what can be gathered publicly it will be a machine designed around low power components.
Dave
I can understand your situation. I really like my iBook G4, but lately I've been coveting a new machine. My G4 is almost 3 years old (and almost out of warranty if it isn't already since I upgraded the hard drive--a laborious process for even someone like me who had worked in IT for 7 years), and I'm thinking about better hardware for using Adobe Creative Suite. plus my iBook came out before standard bluetooth, scrolling trackpad, mag-safe, core-graphics, etc. It was nearly the all-options 14" at the time (sans superdrive) and cost about $1,750 AFTER $200 student discount. I know that when I do upgrade it will be a MBPro.
I had been looking at refurbed PowerBook G4s (15", 1.67, 512 PC2-4200, 80Gb -- latest PBook made) from the Apple Store (comes with 1 year warranty same as new products), but why spend $1350 on a machine that is now (with Core Duo 2) being outperformed by the MBPro?
P.S. - I bought a 5G iPod Video 30GB refurbished from the Apple Store online back in August. It came at a savings of $100 off the new ones AND came with the same 1-year warranty they give new products, new earbuds, CD, etc. Haven't had one problem with it. Highly recommend refurbs from the Apple store, just make sure it's discounted enough.
Edu discount prices did drop in the US. Now you can get the cheapest macbook for 999 instead of 1049. Not a huge drop - but it did drop.