Apple Releases Updated MacBook Pros With Core i5 and i7 Processors

[haruhiko]

then charge consumer prices, not creative professional prices.

Never. They need to make Joe the consumer thinks that he IS the creative professional after his purchase of the MacBook ***PRO*** with a three year old Core 2 Duo processor.

 

[D0rk]

Not happy with the new graphics card choice. The 330 is pretty weak. And I really wish they would have expanded the 512 video memory down farther in the 15 inch lineup.

I was so eager to spend my money today, but now i'll probably wait (again) for a few more months and try to find a 15 inch high-res antiglare on the refurb store.

 

[mike200015]

Do you guys think there will be any updates on these MBPs at WWDC? I don't remember if Apple has ever updated the notebooks so soon after a previous update.

 

[Mousse]

Wait for what? A battery life bump?

I'm waiting for the return of removable batteries.😀

 

[EBH]

How long do you think it'll be before an update of the MB? And what do you think the odds are for Apple to sneak in a mini update of the 13" MBP to new processors along with it? The update of MBP now makes the MB look lacking in tech that Apple obviously has, especially in battery time, so it shouldn't be too long. In the meantime Intel may have caught up with the production of the i-series... Do you follow my line of thought?

 

[dainja]

Sweet!

That 1680x1050 screen on the 15" is a wicked update!

Definitely think going to be purchasing an i7 15" with that screen. 17" is still tempting but this resolution might just make the 15" useable for music.

I will wait to see some benchmarks before upgrading my 2.4/4gb/500gig early 2009 unibody though. If it's a 50% increase, I'll go for it.

I like how the top end prices have dropped! This is almost the same price as what my midrange laptop cost me last year!

The 13" looks pitiful but the others seem to have gotten a nice upgrade. Pretty much what I expected.

 

[The Big Mac]

Has anyone been able to find one at a local store yet?

 

[jragosta]

Keep in mind they were using 25W Penryn Pxxxx processors just yesterday. The gains in battery life today are marginal except in the 13" model.

But the new graphics chips also use less power than the old ones - and they switch on the fly so you don't have to remember to turn off the high powered GPU when you don't need it. Result is significantly better battery life (if the specs are correct).

wow, i actually feel bad for all those 13" buyers who have been holding out for months for this update. Glad I got my 13" five months ago, this update would not have been worth the wait 😀

Maybe not for you. Apple's page says that the new ones are up to 80% faster than the old ones for some things.

I wonder why so many people get "it's not worth it FOR ME" confused with "it's not worth it"?

um...automatic graphics switching is pretty huge.... and 10hr battery life

Yes, plus faster graphics and more virtual cores on the 15 and 17". Decent upgrade. Not stellar, but decent.

Unfortunately, I decided that my old 2.3 GHz Core 2 Duo 17" does what I need it to do and I"ll be using the laptop less since my traveling is slowing down, so I'm sticking with the old one. Too bad - I like new toys.

I don't really get it why people are upset there's no quadcore. I mean, everyone was eagerly expecting arrandale (right?), which is dualcore. No surprise in this update...

Equally important, if you have an app that benefits from a quad core, the i5 and i7 mobile have 4 virtual cores. Not quite as good as 4 real cores, but still better than Core 2 Duo.

The 13" MBP is C2D, not Core i5. You got hosed.

Yet another person who confuses "it's not worth it to me" with "it's not worth it".

For a huge percentage of computer users, C2D is more than adequate. Heck, that system is faster than the one I use every day - and I don't have any immediate need to upgrade. At some point, it's no loner about the specs - and for a large percentage of users, we've reached that point.

 

[Furrybeagle]

Now the only question is can I buy that high res 15” screen and stick it on my late ‘08…

 

[Moses]

I'll be passing on this update, for the following reasons:

1. No quad-core - for a laptop I'll need to last at least 4 years, it will need quad-core. Apple obviously doesn't feel the current quads can work in their enclosures.

2. Nvidia graphics - the 330 is a marketing name for a core that is now several years old, but which Nvidia keeps rebranding and passing off as a new chip. No thanks. I'd rather have an ATI 5000-series chip and have to switch chips manually, please.

3. $650 for a 256GB SSD? No thanks. Yes I could buy my own and replace it, but I'd rather Apple offer it at a realistic price.

4. The way these laptops were silently updated suggests to me a larger update is in the pipe.

So for now I stick with my 2006 MBP. Still in the market for a new MBP, but I can wait.

 

[paradox00]

To be honest I'm not that interested in upgrading to the new MacBook Pro line. Okay it has the new i5 and i7 intel CPU but hey it is not quad core and I am still happy with my 2 month old 2.8Ghz Core2Duo MacBook Pro and there are still loads I can do on it and besides I have my brand new iMac i5 quad core if I want to do powerful video editing and audio recording.

Art

There isn't a quad core chip because Intel doesn't make one with integrated graphics, which makes the graphics switching feature Apple is using impossible. That plus the fact that the chips themselves consume more power would result in dismal battery life. Honestly though, you shouldn't be considering a new mac given the fact that you have just recently bought two.

 

[lockstock88]

Sweetness

Lucky, Just decided to join the apple army and ordered my macbook Friday C2D 15" 2.66. Heard the news about release, went to cancel my order, Apple had already update my order with a new 15" 2.53 i5 with SSD, saved me $200 off the price too.

BTW Blu Ray is a dead dog. There is no way that technology is going to last, so i'm glad it wasn't part of my macbook, no way i'm burning money on the new laser discs. Yes I'm old enough to remember laser discs.....

 

[Eidorian]

But the new graphics chips also use less power than the old ones -

True, 40 nm vs. the older 55nm.

and they switch on the fly so you don't have to remember to turn off the high powered GPU when you don't need it.

I still wonder why Apple's claims it as their accomplishment.

Result is significantly better battery life (if the specs are correct).

My point is that people are mistaking today's standard voltage processors for medium/low voltage ones.

 

[theydonotmove]

i knew it...

Apple is cheap, we saw it with the iPhone, and we're seeing it with the Macbook Pro, and we'll probably see it with the iPad.

would it kill them to throw a new processor into the 13 inch? of course, cause it's the most popular laptop, and they wouldn't want to put a new processor into the most popular laptop and give people ANOTHER reason to buy the cheapest one.

Whoever figured out the marketing BS to make macs so trendy must be effin rich by now.

they only upgraded the two high range laptops and they jacked up the price of the cheaper 15 inch.

i'm strongly considering sticking PC machines after this miserly move from Apple.

PS. Watch a cheaper revision of the iPad come out in a few months with all the features the first one lacked.

 

[Flackhead]

I bought mine 13inch MBP 2.4ghz 5 minutes after the store was up again, and they say i can expect 10 days for delivery 🙁

 

[vipergts2207]

Why are some people unhappy with the 330M GPU? Seems to be without cause to me. It's from the performance range of nvidia's mobile GPUs, which Apple has always gone with, 8600M GT and 9600M GT were from that range. And the comparison of GPUs that has been posted is misleading because the majority of the cards on the list are desktop GPUs. It's a no brainer that desktop parts outperform mobile parts. Not only that, but compare the 330M score to the previous gpu, the 9600M GT. The 330M gets a 467 to the 9600M GT's 333. A roughly 40% increase in performance seems like a respectable increase to me. 😕

 

[CaptainJeff]

13" for me. Comparing the pricing from yesterday, I spent around $80 less (for 13" with RAM at 4GB) than I would have yesterday and get a slightly faster processor, somewhat better graphics, and a much improved battery.

Would have loved to throw in an i5 there, but oh well. When I need power, I have my octo-core Mac Pro at home. This laptop is about portability while still having plenty of power to do what I need to do on the road (web, office stuff, mobile platform application development), so the new 13" specs are pretty darn good. ment), so the new 13" specs are pretty darn good. 😎

 

[lcs101]

Has anyone been able to find one at a local store yet?

I went to the Apple store in Nashville and was told they would not be getting the refreshed models until tomorrow or Thursday.

 

[Hattig]

a serious upgrade to replace their half-working computers (in this case: me). I can't believe that in 4 years, all they can offer is nothing short of a minor spec update... basically doubling the processor speed, ram and hard drive of my machine, adding a graphics card but removing the firewire port in the process.

So they doubled the CPU, tripled the HD, quadrupled the RAM, added a vastly superior graphics capability, upped Firewire to Firewire 800, upped the OS from 10.4 to 10.6, added 64-bit, made the case unibody, improved the multi-touch significantly ...

 

[Artmuzz]

Honestly though, you shouldn't be considering a new mac given the fact that you have just recently bought two.

Exactly, I already mentioned that in my post.


Art

 

[HexagramCMYK]

dilemma...

So I wonder if anyone can give me some guidance...
Currently I am still working on a Power Mac G5 from 2002 (1.6 ghz non intel) haha its a dinosaur at this point but still works sluggishly.
So its not that I want to upgrade I kinda need to when upgrading programs I use & needing the convenience of having a mobile workstation.
So i've been waiting since December for this update and well...here it is!
I'm not super bummed by the update...I guess just was hoping for a few extra features. To get to the point I'd like some advice on if I should upgrade now? (which I'm sure 99% of you will say yea!)
And then which 15" model to get...
I was thinking the mid level one...however for its price I'm considering either saving a few bucks and getting the lower level with a few BTO upgrades or the higher level since it has i7 among a few other options I would desire...basically will I not notice the extras the high level has over the low level or should I stick with the mid...I'm just confused which would suit my needs!
To give you background I'm a Graphic Designer who uses my computer for Adobe programs, Music Editing Software and basic Video Editing software.
Any advice would be much appreciated!!
😎

 

[thejadedmonkey]

$1799 WITH 256MB on the video card?!?!?!?! FTW!!!!!!

Come to daddy!!!!

THAT is what I was hoping for.... pro laptop on a KindredMac budget!

You do realize that Apple was offering 256mb video cards in the original Core Duo laptops that came out in 2006 - 4 years ago - and that Dell currently sells an ATI card with 1GB of video card RAM?

Why oh why oh why oh why would you want a 1080p display on a 13-inch screen?🙄

Because other, less "advanced" *cough windows cough* operating systems support something called "Resolution Independence", something Apple promised and never delivered. You can scale the fonts and UI up, while keeping a large resolution for working with images or watching videos. It's really quite nice actually.

 

[theMaccer]

I lol'ed so bad when I saw the pricing in the ADC Store.

 

[finalcut]

hrmm no usb3 and no i7 on the 17inch version :/

 

[bernardwill]

hmmm

not expected a mobile nuclear power plant, or a oLed screen. But at least a bluray, and 1080p to 15" line, weak update. 😎