First Intel Arrandale (MacBook Pro) Processors Due January 3rd?

[lPHONE]

No, its all just speculation and conjecture.

The best advice you can follow is if you need a computer now, buy it. If you don't, don't.

The bottom line is wait.

Even if you don't want the new chips. Newer models drive down the prices of the previous generations. When you're this close to getting an update, it's stupid to buy.

Nobody really needs Christmas presents, it's a luxury that Apple is banking on for sales. After the new year, when sales cool off, there will be a new macbook.

 

[str1f3]

We've been going on about the post-MCP79A solutions for months now. We'll just have to wait.

Yeah, I know. I've been following the Arrandale thread in the laptop forums but if Apple thinks they can get away with selling a 13" Pro with solely Larabee, they've lost me as a laptop buyer. LOL, the iBook would probably have a better card than any laptop with only Larabee.

If Apple has to eat some profits with a dedicated card on the 13" MBP then so be it. They can't offer a Pro model with that card considering it is a step down from a 9400.

 

[Eidorian]

Yeah, I know. I've been following the Arrandale thread in the laptop forums but if Apple thinks they can get away with selling a 13" Pro with solely Larabee, they've lost me as a laptop buyer. LOL, the iBook would probably have a better card than any laptop with only Larabee.

If Apple has to eat some profits with a dedicated card on the 13" MBP then so be it. They can't offer a Pro model with that card considering it is a step down from a 9400.

Arrandale's IGP core (Graphics Media Accelerator HD) is Intel GMA based.

My reply was directed more at those that haven't spent all these months speculating and discussing.

 

[str1f3]

Arrandale's IGP core (Graphics Media Accelerator HD) is Intel GMA based.

My reply was directed more at those that haven't spent all these months speculating and discussing.

No doubt and with no intention to debate, but I do hope someone important at Apple is listening. If they did this they would lose customers and those who have been Mac users for a very long time (which include myself). Windows 7 is no OSX, but it's enough to get the job done.

Like many others on this forum, I influence a lot of people on what they should buy and would never recommend an Intel card over a machine with far better specs at a lower price.

 

[Eidorian]

No doubt, but I do hope someone important at Apple is listening. If they did this they would lose customers and those who have been Mac users for a very long time (which include myself). Windows 7 is no OSX, but it's barely enough to get the job done.

I have rather high expectations of Apple as well. They haven't offered a product that has interested me in some time. My MacBook is overkill for what I do on the road.

 

[lPHONE]

I just don't want this to be on the level of the discussions at engadget as this is an apple forum which I also like to think has a higher iq level than the moronic interactions at that other site.

Are you kidding? We're like the red-headed step child of computing. We're the laughing stock of all technology forums. Everyday, thousands of people on other sites post things like this.
Owning a Mac got so embarrassing, that I bought a cheap pc and left my mac at home when I went to cafes.

I ended up buying a red hard case on eBay that makes it look like a new DELL and since then nobody calls me gay or beats me up anymore.

 

[scotteh]

Are you kidding? We're like the red-headed step child of computing. We're the laughing stock of all technology forums. Everyday, thousands of people on other sites post things like this.
Owning a Mac got so embarrassing, that I bought a cheap pc and left my mac at home when I went to cafes.

I ended up buying a red hard case on eBay that makes it look like a new DELL and since then nobody calls me gay or beats me up anymore.

i'd just like to note the difference in activities done on the computers between the two forums.

 

[DMann]

So, for $100 less than the entry MacBook Pro you get:

• Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor @ 1.6GHz (slower clock speed, poor battery life) (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache) instead of 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (faster clock speed, better battery life) Better
• 17.3" screen (low brightness, lower quality display) instead of 13" screen (higher brightness, higher quality LED display, better battery life) Preferable, for many
• 4 GiB RAM (DDR2 at 800MHz) instead of 2 GiB RAM (1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM) Better
• 250 GB disk instead of 160 GB
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD vs NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM Better
• Non-backlit keyboard vs backlit keyboard Better
  [*]Dell track pad vs Apple Multi-touch Trackpad Better
• Non-Magsafe vs Magsafe Better
• 56 Whr Lithium Ion Battery vs 73-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery Better
• Windows 7 Home Premium vs OS X (Ultimate) Better
• Bulky casing vs Uni-body Aluminum Better
• Option for Blu-ray vs no Blu-ray option (of no impact to this particular cost comparison)

Clearly the MacRumors Forum Bullies are right when they say that there's no "Apple Tax".

The Dell Troll is back.

Clearly, Dell's cheaper and compromised option is, just that. We'll just call it the "Dell Deficit."

You get what you pay for.

 

[Eidorian]

The Dell Troll is back.

Clearly, Dell's cheaper and compromised option is, just that. We'll just call it the "Dell Deficit."

You get what you pay for.

The original specifications were a bit flawed to begin with.

I think you should take a look at Dell's site after seeing how to responded to the processor, RAM, and display. Your judgment based on clock speed alone is a little depressing.

Apple can't shoehorn in Clarksfield and a GPU without making aesthetic and battery life compromises. Those being the core factors in the differentiation of their hardware.

 

[DMann]

The original specifications were a bit flawed to begin with.

How not surprising.

Your judgment based on clock speed alone is a little depressing.

Battery life and heat will be an issue, regardless.

Few applications, at this time, will even take advantage of more than one core, anyway.

In this regard, clock speed and battery efficiency for a "laptop" might be considered factors of value, for the majority of consumers.

 

[Eidorian]

Few applications, at this time, will even take advantage of more than one core, anyway.

I'm going to be the first to welcome you to 2009 and the wonderful Nehalem/Westmere platform.

In this regard, clock speed and battery efficiency for a "laptop" ought to be considered factors of value, for the majority of consumers.

How does this relate to our discussion of mobile workstations and the diminishing returns on Apple's notebook hardware outside of the 13.3" models?

Your clock speed comparison was flawed to begin with.

 

[DMann]

I'm going to be the first to welcome you to 2009 and the wonderful Nehalem/Westmere platform.

How does this relate to our discussion of mobile workstations and the diminishing returns on Apple's notebook hardware outside of the 13.3" models?

Your clock speed comparison was flawed to begin with.

I agree, for those who are interested in mobile workstations. It would be great if Apple decided to offer an upgrade option for the MBP, in a similar fashion to what they did with the iMac.

Hopefully, this will happen, eventually, as 12 nanometer chips come to fruition.

 

[Eidorian]

Hopefully, this will happen, eventually, as 12 nanometer chips come to fruition.

Can you elaborate?

The critical flaw there is that Intel has set to its TDP brackets. For said future processors there's still going to be a disparity between 25W and 45W on mobile. You're being rather vague as well since that's several years out.

 

[DMann]

Can you elaborate?

The critical flaw there is that Intel has set to its TDP brackets. For said future processors there's still going to be a disparity between 25W and 45W on mobile. You're being rather vague as well since that's several years out.

Was being sarcastic with the 12 nm.

When do you think Haswell will be let loose? (successor to Ivy Bridge)

 

[Eidorian]

Was being sarcastic with the 12 nm.

When do you think Haswell will be let loose?

We're just making it to Westmere. 2010 is rather quiet otherwise with nothing dramatic coming from Intel or AMD. Sandy Bridge doesn't come into play until 2011.

2012/2013 looks like an easy target.

 

[DMann]

We're just making it to Westmere. 2010 is rather quiet otherwise with nothing dramatic coming from Intel or AMD. Sandy Bridge doesn't come into play until 2011.

2012/2013 looks like an easy target.

8 cores at 22 nm - seems worth the wait.

 

[MorphingDragon]

We're just making it to Westmere. 2010 is rather quiet otherwise with nothing dramatic coming from Intel or AMD. Sandy Bridge doesn't come into play until 2011.

2012/2013 looks like an easy target.

I dunno, with AMDs extra revenue they might be able to push some projects forward.

TBH, if AMD put a HD5200/5300 in their Fusion Chips, they will beat the pants off Intel's solution.

 

[kernkraft]

God, I feel great potential! I bet that somebody could argue that an apple that's 2$, is actually cheaper than a pear that costs 1$. Just because it's Apple?

Since when 4GB of DDR2 is worse than 2GB of DDR3? With the same twisted logic, you could argue that 160 GB is better than 250 GB as there is 'less' to go wrong.

I have an entry level 13.3" MBP now and I have to say that it is crap. After a few of the first unibody prototypes, I couldn't stand the extremely poor screen and lack of Firewire, so I went down from 2.4 GHz to 2.26 GHz. There IS a noticeable difference. I was sick of beach balling, so I upgraded to 7200RPM and 4GB memory. But whatever I do, I cannot escape the 2-2.5 hours battery life (from an 'up to 7 hours' one), the heat, the constant fan noise, the exhaust fan regularly spinning at 4000 rpm and the high-pitched noise coming from the left hand side. Meanwhile, I like the aluminium enclosure (although wifi reception suffers) and the backlit keys are essentials with black keys, I think. Also, I love the trackpad.

But what I think upsets a lot of people is the fact that Apple pays attention to some of these elements, whilst completely ignores others. Frankly, these computers (I stick to the £800 - £1200 category, 1£=1.6$) are not very powerful, so why the overheating, the all sorts of noises? From time to time, I am asked not to use my MacBook Air around colleagues - it drives them mad. And you look at the computer and know - somebody paid a lot of money for not a lot of performance and substance; and he's got an annoyingly noisy computer.

Next time, I will build my own computer! Oh, wait... I cannot put OS X on it. Nevermind, I will.

 

[DMann]

God, I feel great potential! I bet that somebody could argue that an apple that's 2$, is actually cheaper than a pear that costs 1$. Just because it's Apple?

If the $2 apple offers a better user experience, i.e. taste, flavor, freshness than a dry pear, this can indeed be debated.

Since when 4GB of DDR2 is worse than 2GB of DDR3?

No one said it was worse. However, 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM is better than DDR2 at 800MHz. SL will perform just fine with 2GB - the upgrade price to 4GB is reasonable.

With the same twisted logic, you could argue that 160 GB is better than 250 GB as there is 'less' to go wrong.

Considering the extremely high failure rate of Dell laptop drives, in comparison to other laptops, this doesn't bode well for claiming an advantage for their 250 GB drives.

I have an entry level 13.3" MBP now and I have to say that it is crap. After a few of the first unibody prototypes, I couldn't stand the extremely poor screen and lack of Firewire, so I went down from 2.4 GHz to 2.26 GHz. There IS a noticeable difference. I was sick of beach balling, so I upgraded to 7200RPM and 4GB memory. But whatever I do, I cannot escape the 2-2.5 hours battery life (from an 'up to 7 hours' one), the heat, the constant fan noise, the exhaust fan regularly spinning at 4000 rpm and the high-pitched noise coming from the left hand side. Meanwhile, I like the aluminium enclosure (although wifi reception suffers) and the backlit keys are essentials with black keys, I think. Also, I love the trackpad.

My student doesn't have those issues with the 13" MBP - then again, he doesn't have a 7200 RPM drive in it either.

The Multi-touch track pad and backlit keys are useful, as is Magsafe, and the MBP seems to have decent Wi-Fi reception, despite the aluminum unibody enclosure (although, you're right about the signal being dampened by it)

Furthermore, the inclusion of Home Premium does not constitute a better value than the full version of OSX, IMO. For the extra $100, the MBP seems to be the better deal.

 

[lPHONE]

Considering the extremely high failure rate of Dell laptop drives...

Dell makes drives?

 

[DMann]

Dell makes drives?

No, but they probably purchase knock-offs, or bottom-grade drives from the manufacturer.

It wouldn't surprise me.

 

[lPHONE]

It would surprise me.




too close to call

 

[NightFox]

I'm holding out for the MBP with a Rock Creek CPU. Then again, if something else is in the pipeline when that comes out, I may need to wait...

 

[bigwig]

Architecture changes excite me more than process shrinks. I think Sandy Bridge is the better one to wait for. If AMD had been on their toes we'd be seeing preproduction samples already, instead Intel has pushed it off to 2011, perhaps even later if AMD continues its moribund pace.

 

[applesupergeek]

8 cores at 22 nm - seems worth the wait.

The problem is though that this is contested by a lot of industry insiders, and intel themselves have said upfront that the transition to 22 nm will not be easy and might be delayed.