Apple Releases Updated MacBook Pros With Core i5 and i7 Processors

[jtrenda33]

When is it the back-to-school promotion?? I'm not ask accurate prediction just based on from your experiences.

don't have experience. you'll have to ask one of the regulars, but i would hope that they won't wait as long as last time, and I would hope they would at least increase the capacity of the serial hard drives, and i'm still holding out for blu-ray, and HDMI. maybe if apple uses sony's sensor in the iphone like macrumors noted, it will open the door up for future collaborations like blu-ray. but either way, i'll probably get one the next time.

Hey everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

lol.

I LOL'd... and then checked the Buyer's Guide...

a thank you.

 

[iOzzie]

Since Boot Camp support is officially advertised, I would expect it to work right out of the box. Windows drivers for the new HW should have been written and tested as part of the development process.

That doesn't mean it will be bug free. Obviously Apple is more concerned with OS X performance than Windows. It took ages to get acceptable performance with the glass trackpad on the unibodies, and it still doesn't compare to OS X.

Thanks for your reply! When someone eventually tests this on a 13' MBP could they please let me know the results for WIN7 64 bit...

 

[jtrenda33]

I waited up to go to an apple store at 10am...they didnt have them in...checked at noon and they did! I got the 15" i5 2.53mhz...Mobile Me, iWorkds, AppleCare and a Printer!!! I've basically been up since 6pm monday night and spent the whole day playing and moving things over from my PC! The old laptop goes to my brother when I'm done! :

oh, so i guess that dude i saw at best buy today when i was checking out the ipad for the first time actually did get one of the new ones. well, that's nice...cuz in my head i was like, "dude."

 

[jtrenda33]

I'm now debating on going from a 2.4Ghz with 500GB @ 7200rpm + hi-res screen for a grand total including tax and 2-3day shipping of $2085.00. But then I realized to myself, if i were to save another $200 or so i could easily get the 2.66ghz with the core i7, much better CPU + gpu MB. Do you guys believe this would be a good idea? I'm only gunna game on it, i have no intentions of using any other power intensive programs.

Thanks!

oh yeah and another note...do u think these laptops will sell out anytime soon? i'm saving a little more money so i'm not BROKE at the end of the day when i buy this. So lets say, another week or 2? do u think they will still be in stock? (I've never bought from apple when they first released a product!!!)

i think you're safe lol.

 

[Terminal.app]

NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512MB

Seriously Apple? It had to be a gimpy NVIDIA chip when ATI currently has the upper hand on modern GPUs. Where's the Mobility Radeon 5850? If the 330M had at least been the 1GB version...but 512 MB is so 2007. Seriously.

 

[cult hero]

Yeah i agree 100%, . I'll take 16:10 screen anyday for laptops. So glad they did not reduce it to 16:9. 16:10 is much easier for doing work. Watching movies on laptops is secondary for me. You have your big screen tv for movies so i dont know why these ppl are complaining..

While I'm avoiding most of this discussion like the plague, I MUCH prefer 16:10 to 16:9. I use my laptop for work, not as a mobile DVD player.

 

[beginnersview]

Total fail. No anti-glare option on the 15" without their stupid "hi-res" screen (which is an extra $150)? NOBODY WANTS GLOSSY SCREENS!! "Hi-res" screens in 15" make things way too tiny to read.
...

On the one hand I am glad that Apple still provides a real anti-glare anti-reflective screen option.
On the other hand, I am saddened that it only comes with the higher priced, higher pixel resolution 1680 screen.

Great for movies and picture details, horrible for basic old-fashioned words and text display.

I agree that 1680 pixels on a 15.4" screen means that all the names and text are going to be pretty dam small for me to read.
Yes, once you are in an app you can usually tell it to display text larger. But depending on the app, that doesn't always work uniformly or naturally. And the Finder (files, folders names and lists), and text based apps are still going to be pretty hard for me to read.
Sigh.

Currently I am using a 22" 1680x1050 monitor with my Mac Mini. I can only imagine the magnifying glass I'm going to need to read when they've crammed the same number of pixels into a 33% smaller physical space. Double sigh.

 

[Terminal.app]

ITT: People who, for some bizarre reason, secretly long for the days of 1024x768 CRT screens.

Why on earth are you complaining about a higher-res screen? I would kill for a 1920x1200 option on the 15" like some of the Thinkpads have. Pixel density is fantastic.

 

[o9p0]

Yeah. I really find the Macbook updates to be gradual enough that a 4 or even 5 year timeframe for replacing one is just about right.

If you're into content creation and rich media consumption, this doesn't make sense. At the 2 year mark, the demands of new media and bloating software tools (here's looking at you Adobe) are such that new hardware is needed to compensate for more complext processing tasks. At the 3 year mark, the productivity factor / CPU time will begin to be an issue: minutes add up to lost productivity.

If all you're doing is web surfing, office *****, and email. Then you've been alright with Windows XP or pre-mac Panther on 2002 hardware (if you run two programs at a time and have maxed your system ram).

 

[Repo]

Pixel density is fantastic.

Granted code writers understand they need to scale things up.

 

[pastparticiple]

Why on earth are you complaining about a higher-res screen? I would kill for a 1920x1200 option on the 15" like some of the Thinkpads have. Pixel density is fantastic.

Because the higher the resolution the tinier many things get. There is not any sort of universal scaling available. I had to turn the resolution down 2 notches on my last gen MBP so I could read it comfortably.

Even the third party apps that supposedly address font size etc don't work reliably.

My biggest beef is that to get anti glare I have to pay $150 more and take the high res with it. I don't need or want high res and I think it is a ****ty thing of Apple to force you to buy the "package".

since they dropped matte as a standard option many people have been complaining about it and it's lack of even a paid possibility on the 13". So what does Apple do? They make it cost even MORE and still don't make it available on the 13". Personally this single thing thing has made me go back to Windows. Not because I like the OS but because I am not willing to be nickle and dimed for a feature I need for comfort. The premium has exceeded the worth in my eyes and lots of other people's apparently.

 

[cult hero]

7) 10.6 has been rock solid since 10.6.2 for me, and most people.

I just want to add, as a day 1 10.6 installer, that it's been rock solid on all the machines I installed it on since.

 

[camoas]

Core i7 2.66GHz vs. Core2Duo 3.06 GHz

Which one wins the CPU benchmark test?

I am wondering about the CPU power of the old model (Core2Duo 3.06 GHz) in comparison to the Core i7 2.66GHz.

 

[DontMacTheGyver]

Bummer!

I'm not really happy with the 13" update... I think my expectations were just too high.

My late 2008 white MB/2.4C2D/4GBRAM (except for that crappy Intel graphic chip) still meets my needs an therefore I'll wait for the next REAL MBP update, hopefully with higher resolution screen. If not, I have to go for the 15" then, but so or so, it will be the new generation!

Regards from Istanbul
MacGyver

 

[MCPeck]

finally!! ...ordered...

a sweet replacement for my pb g4 1.5, aaahhhhh

edit~ i got the stock 2.4 15" but with the HD screen. hd & ram can be upgraded later... still, $2k out the door

 

[Cecco]

The iMac is a desktop, and the MBP is a notebook, you can't expect the same technology in different machines. The dual-core i5/i7 are MOBILE variants of the processor... this has been known all along and is not a gimack madeup by Apple. Seriously, you had months to read up on this stuff (don't act like you didn't care, you're posting at 6 in the morning PCT). The mobile variants are still much faster than previous C2D chips because of Hyper Threading. This update isn't what it was rumored to be, but it never is... We got concrete upgrades that were expectable and at least bring the MBP closer to being up to date (though I really believed blu-ray would be included judging by some of the rumors).

The fact, that several people asked, whether these i5/i7 MBPs are quad-core shows, that there is some confusion already.

Remember: In all Intel iMacs and MacMinis, Apple used mobile processors so far. Only the MacPros had dedicated desktop processors (XEON).

The i5/i7 quad-core cpus in the iMacs are mobile processors as well.

I never said, the dual-core i5/i7 are no improvement over the C2D, but anybody, who thinks the new i7 MBP with a 7200 rpm hard drive is just as fast as the iMac i7, is totally wrong.

Concerning 6 in the morning: FYI, we don't use PCT in Europe. ;-)

Cecco

 

[MCPeck]

The fact, that several people asked, whether these i5/i7 MBPs are quad-core shows, that there is some confusion already.

Remember: In all Intel iMacs and MacMinis, Apple used mobile processors so far. Only the MacPros had dedicated desktop processors (XEON).

The i5/i7 quad-core cpus in the iMacs are mobile processors as well.

I never said, the dual-core i5/i7 are no improvement over the C2D, but anybody, who thinks the new i7 MBP with a 7200 rpm hard drive is just as fast as the iMac i7, is totally wrong.

Concerning 6 in the morning: FYI, we don't use PCT in Europe. ;-)

Cecco

Firstly, Xeon procs are SERVER procs, not desktop. Core i3/5/7 are (iMac) desktop procs that also happen to have mobile variants. The procs spec'd and rumored for the MBP update were always the mobile variety.

I'm quite sure that the desktop Core i3/5/7 versions will be in the upcoming iMac/Mini's soon enough.

 

[Mafuzzer]

Right, lets start of with the positives of what Apple has done:
+ The 15" and 17" MacBook Pro's have i5's and i7's,
+ All the laptops have major graphic upgrades, from the 9400M + 9600M to Intel HD Graphics + 3XXM Series,
+ The battery life has been increased to 8 hours at least,
+ Better displays are available (from 1440x900 to 1680x1050)

But what we disagree with is:
- 13" still has a Core 2 Duo processor,
- The 15" and 17" CPU's are only dual core with Hyper Threading,
- No USB/Blu-ray (apparently, this is big)
- 5400RPM HDD's, costs about £120 to upgrade to the 7200RPM HDD (something I noticed, personally thought it should be included)

My personal opinions:
~The 13 MacBook Pro - Substantial battery life, better graphic card, but needs a better CPU
~The i series processors have been added, but there isn't 4 physical cores. Really? It's still an i5/i7. The fact that you would put them in the laptops would probably cause an increase in overall heat, making your laps burn. They did what we asked - put an i series inside the mac. I think we should be glad they put i5's/i7's in there.
~The USB and Blu-ray are not really needed as they are not mainstream. Also, if you do wait for them, you'll probably end up playing the waiting game as by the time they are mainstream, there will be something new that you would want in a Mac.
~5400RPM HDD's - this should have been 7200RPM standard.

 

[Leo72]

New models have subwoofers. My wish came true

 

[cool11]

How much faster is s i5 vs a c2d cpu?

 

[Baadshah]

Do you guys know if next update would be a new generation of MBP?, as the aluminum macbooks are soon over 2 years old.

 

[ToM7]

help

upgrade my macbook or not still wait to the next update?
some advices will help me thanks

 

[apolloa]

If you want to know how much faster the i7 is, why don't you read the story on the front page of this website?

https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/1...nt-performance-gains-for-core-i7-macbook-pro/

It also shows why all the stupid idiots claiming this isn't much of an upgrade have no clue what they are talking about and should shut up really. Unless you personally think a 50% gain in performance isn't a big upgrade? Dynamic CPU and graphics control to prolong battery life on a computer laptop isn't an important and big upgrade?

And as for ATI, well more fool you for thinking they would have it, I did to begin with until I read about Optimus then knew Apple would use Nvidia again. It makes far more sense for them to do that.

 

[DontMacTheGyver]

upgrade my macbook or not still wait to the next update?
some advices will help me thanks

Depends on your needs.
If you are really a pro user and need the i5/i7 power for your work - get one.
If you are a normal/medium user, and it looks like that, wait for the next generation. Then you can get 13" MBP with new processor and most probably some nice quad core 15/17"...
Your MacBook is not too bad, I think it will make it another year

Regards from Istanbul
MacGyver

 

[bruno7]

What a joke...
For what you get for the money you spend on these new updates is preposterous.. aside from the increased battery life, there really is nothing to rave about...

I just bought a Asus G73JH-A2 w/ Core i7-720QM, 8GB, 1TB 7200 RPM drive, DVD+/-RW, 17.3in Full HD, Radeon HD 5870, Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit for just under $1700 Canadian which included a back pack and gaming mouse ... I sold my October 09 Macbook, sick of the slower than windows 7 OS and the heat too ...

My ASUS has a better graphics chip, does not heat up like the Macbook ( I swear I had a waffle iron sitting on my lap at times), it has the heating vents out of the back and Windows 7 does not have the habit of OS X which has the spinning beach ball occur more every-time a new Snow Leopard update comes out.. and the new stealth look of Asus looks great and is a durable rubberized finish...

My point is that Macbook Pros are way over priced and they need to change their ways as in offer more for the money people are spending if they want to truly got a larger market share for their laptops...

OK, so you've got your Asus (which to me BTW is one of the ugliest laptops ever... never mind), now why exactly are you complaining about this update?

You're in the Windows world now! I can only say - enjoy it! I will gladly and happily stay in the world of Mac OS and the beautiful design that surrounds it!