Apple Releases Penryn-Based MacBook Pros with Multitouch

dinosaur

I have been waiting to buy a macbook pro for a year now. The updates have been nice but I want a new case. My old dinosaur powerbook g4 looks the same as their newest releases (minus the isight). If they do not update the design of the macbook pro by this summer I am going to lose it.

Somebody please tell me that this summer I will see a new design!
 
johnny applesee said:
I have been waiting to buy a macbook pro for a year now. The updates have been nice but I want a new case. My old dinosaur powerbook g4 looks the same as their newest releases (minus the isight). If they do not update the design of the macbook pro by this summer I am going to lose it.

Somebody please tell me that this summer I will see a new design!
Click to expand...

no you won't. quit the waiting game now if you need a new computer, there's no better time. otherwise, get prepared to wait another six months, or more.
 
johnny applesee said:
I have been waiting to buy a macbook pro for a year now. The updates have been nice but I want a new case. My old dinosaur powerbook g4 looks the same as their newest releases (minus the isight). If they do not update the design of the macbook pro by this summer I am going to lose it.

Somebody please tell me that this summer I will see a new design!
Click to expand...

Seriously, don't wait.
No matter when you buy, another upgrade is just around the corner. Such is the beast.
Just jump in and stop torturing yourself.
 
chazzonline said:
I guess you need some expert opinion buddy. So it goes like this, buy the student ADC today. Have ur ID's and course list ready 4 tomorrow and send the fax to them ASAP tomorrow, call the guy and tell him u sent the fax ( if you dont remind them they might not do it for days - it happened with me ) , it gets verified by the evening and you buy the MBP in the night @ ADC hw store and get it ...... it depends on what u order .............so get goin buddy :D
Click to expand...

Your pace seems a little slow;)
This is how I did it today (or yesterday according the eastern time). bought student ADC around 12pm, received the notice and activate it around 1pm, fax the ID copy and course list around 1:30pm. Called them around 3:30pm. 5 minutes later, the account got verified.
 
johnny applesee said:
I have been waiting to buy a macbook pro for a year now. The updates have been nice but I want a new case. My old dinosaur powerbook g4 looks the same as their newest releases (minus the isight). If they do not update the design of the macbook pro by this summer I am going to lose it.

Somebody please tell me that this summer I will see a new design!
Click to expand...

just buy it now.
 
novocaine said:
no you won't. quit the waiting game now if you need a new computer, there's no better time. otherwise, get prepared to wait another six months, or more.
Click to expand...

This is good advice. While no one outside of 1 Infinite Loop truly knows the MBP's future plans, now is a great time to buy if you are in the market. It would be insane to wait 6 months for a possible refresh if you need a machine now.
 
I did it. I bought a new MBP.

I had the money saved up as of May, but waited this long to buy. My PB G4 667 (yes, titanium with black keys) is ridiculously outdated, so I was crazy to wait even this long. But I'm glad I did. The old machine didn't die, and now I'm getting a machine that points the way forward. I wrote the following in another thread, but I'll repeat it here:

I've been telling myself all along that I want the maximum in forward compatibility, so I'm going to trust those who say that Penryn will vastly outperform Merom once graphics apps incorporate the SSE4 instruction set.

Also, I'm certain that Multitouch will be the new wave of input technology and will become a hardware dividing line (i.e. laptops that don't have it will seem really outdated). I think some kind of external Multitouch device (mouse or keyboard) will come along for the machines that are lacking the technology, but it will still be one of those defining/dating features for laptops.

And I won't mind having the other extras (more VRAM, hard disk space, etc).

For the first time ever, I'm thinking of my new laptop purchase as a temporary solution. I intend to sell this Penryn machine as soon as there is a major redesign of the MBP, and I think having Multitouch will boost its resale value.
 
whatever said:
These are the first MacBook Pros to support a 30" ACD (at least according to Apple) and there has never been a Powerbook that supported a 30" ACD (again this is according to Apple).

I for one would have bought one if it was so.

What resolution to you run your 30" Dell at? 2560x1600, which is the max resolution for an 30" ACD.
Click to expand...

As I recall, and looking at the spec pages of all the MacBook Pros [apple.com/support] I see that they all have had Dual-Link DVI, so they can support 30" ACD resolutions [2560x1600]. You are correct that the PBG4 never had dual-link DVI
 
Actually it was a BTO option.

whatever said:
These are the first MacBook Pros to support a 30" ACD (at least according to Apple) and there has never been a Powerbook that supported a 30" ACD (again this is according to Apple).

I for one would have bought one if it was so.

What resolution to you run your 30" Dell at? 2560x1600, which is the max resolution for an 30" ACD.
Click to expand...

Actually it was a BTO option. My resolution is set to 2560x1600.
My specs.

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: PowerBook G4 15"
Model Identifier: PowerBook5,6
Processor Name: PowerPC G4 (1.2)
Processor Speed: 1.67 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 1
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.9.1f1
Serial Number: not sure if i need to show this...
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled
Version: 1.0

ATI Mobility Radeon 9700:

Chipset Model: ATY,RV360M11
Type: Display
Bus: AGP
VRAM (Total): 128 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x4e50
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-xxxxx-145
Displays:
DELL3007WFPHC:
Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No display connected

Copied from my System Profiler. It was standard for the 17 in PB G4 1.67 at the time as well. Naturally, I'd prefer to have a Macbook Pro, however this fits the bill nicely for now. :)
 
I ordered a base line macbook pro this morning, australian time, and this afternoon at 3pm my order shipped out of Sydney. It's currently at the depot in sydney now. I might even have it by tomorrow. Talk about cool.

I've also gone on a bit of a spree today. Maxing ram and an aussiebag.com neoprene sleeve. Think about whether $50 for a gelaskins decal is worth it. I love ralph steadman though...
 
Wow, we've been waiting for this ???

Well, I guess I'll still be waiting for a "real" upgrade.

I still don't understand why MBPs keep their old keyboards while MB and MBA have these nice dustfree ones.

Talking about MB, paying 200$ more for a black one is still a ripoff to me.

But that's just because I don't need any of these right now.
 
I mainly use my MBP for Logic/Mainstage use live and at home, using sampler instruments.

How much better would the 2.5 (with 6mb L2 cache) be for this, vs the 2.4 (with 3mb)? Ive been using a 2.2 merom (which had 4mb L2 cache!) and would like to see an improvement in CPU usage, but is the 2.5 really worth £270 more than the 2.2 (at my CTO spec which includes the 7200rpm HD)?
 
Is it worth to sell a MBP SR 2.2Ghz and buy the new base model of the MBP? How much can I get for my old machine?
 
I ordered mine from Apple Belgium today.

Estimated delivery time: 3th of April!!

After waiting 6 months for an update, hehe, great :p
 
craigerific said:
It does help, thanks! And from the sounds of it, a the MB refurb in black should do everything I need and I'll save some money. Which is great, but I'm actually a little disappointed to hear that, as part of me really wants the MBP. I'm just not sure if I can justify it.
Click to expand...

No worries, it feels good helping other people make the right decision :)

I know what you mean - I LOOOOOONG for a MBP but my fave colour is white and my MB is plenty powerful.

I suppose it's like an iMac vs a Mac Pro.... If you REALLY want one then just buy the new base-level MBP.

You'll be over the moon with whatever you buy, but my advice is to go try both @ an Apple Store and make up your own mind ;) you'll know you made the right choice that way.

Good luck, and enjoy!
 
Student ADC Discount

Phrasikleia said:
I second that question. I really wish there were some way to see a listing of these discounts with my own eyes. I'd hate to pay the $99 and then find out that the discounts vary.
Click to expand...

I just bought a mid level 2.5 MBP for $1999 instead of $2499. It's a once in a lifetime thing, but well worth it. It's a pain because of all the verification required, but I would do it again to save $500. Here is the url for the developer store:

http://developer.apple.com/membership/usa.html and clicking on hardware store

Enjoy. :D
 
shipping date

I ordered the glossy screen 2.5 MBP, and they saying March 3-6 Shipping date..Do you think it will come from CHINA?
 
devman said:
Core Image, but that's for a certain class of applications and they're easy to identify.

Core Animation. This is the biggie. More and more cocoa apps will be layer-backed. More textures needs more vram.
Click to expand...

Every window in OS X is a texture (assuming Quartz Extreme). More VRAM means more open windows can be stored in the video card's VRAM and not have to be "loaded" whenever they become visible.

(Brutally simple explanation, I know, but it gets the point across.)

Now, as to whether there's any benefit to having 512M over 256M, that depends on how much stuff you run. Display spanning to a 30" screen with dozens and dozens of windows open, might show better performance.
 
melchior said:
I ordered a base line macbook pro this morning, australian time, and this afternoon at 3pm my order shipped out of Sydney. It's currently at the depot in sydney now. I might even have it by tomorrow. Talk about cool.

I've also gone on a bit of a spree today. Maxing ram and an aussiebag.com neoprene sleeve. Think about whether $50 for a gelaskins decal is worth it. I love ralph steadman though...
Click to expand...


I ordered the Macbook Pro 15" 2.5GHz this morning from apple.com/au too and got notification at 6.00pm tonight that it had shipped out of Sydney and was due for delivery tomorrow (Thursday) here in Brisbane. Very excited! :D
 
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