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

[gianly1985]

Let's be clear. I was not talking to you directly. I was going off your post for my monologue. I neither know or care who you are.

The "told ya so" thing confused me, I thought you were the OP of this thread, with whom I was arguing about the lack of USB 3.0. Sorry.

My points were:
1. Future Macs, all of them, need SSD+HD. See, I agree with you.
2. Offering Macs with crippled I/O is both expected-Apple, and bad. Stop that. Have at least one maximal I/O option. Please. Be an early adopter of USB3, too. LP is greatness.

Rocketman

I still don't understand the sequence:

Dual SSD+HDD setup ----> "I told you so" ---> crippled I/O


PS:

1. Future Macs, all of them, need SSD+HD.

Just in case someone doesn't know, present and past mac can already do SSD+HDD.
Every Mac released after October 2008 has a SATA Superdrive, you just need to put it out and buy a proper caddy to fit the ODD bay.

 

[nontroppo]

I think the GT 240M is a likely choice for the higher-end models. It's the direct successor the 9600M GT anyway, and has roughly the same TDP. (GTS 250M is likely too hot, although it would be sweet) It has 48 SP's instead of 32 on the 9600, and it's GT200 based.

360 vs. 170 gigaflops 250M vs 240M for only 5W extra, wonder how hotter it would be?

The dual CPUs should be making Apple worry less about TDP, but if Apple couldn't get switching of the 9400M / 9600M without restart right, how will they handle switching intel / discrete?

 

[J the Ninja]

360 vs. 170 gigaflops 250M vs 240M for only 5W extra, wonder how hotter it would be?

The dual CPUs should be making Apple worry less about TDP, but if Apple couldn't get switching of the 9400M / 9600M without restart right, how will they handle switching intel / discrete?

I think dual graphics is gonna be gone with the new ones. And these new CPUs do change the TDP picture somewhat. Remember, no separate NB is required with these, it's power is included in the CPU figure. The current 15s can do 35W CPU + 23W GPU + NB, so you're right, 35W CPU + 28W GPU without the NB is probably feasible. The GTS 250M would definitely be an awesome upgrade. It's over 3x power of the 9600M. Great ad copy for Apple and Intel: "Intel's new and improved Arrandale architecture reduces the power use of the CPU, allowing for up to 3x graphics performance with the same battery life! All in a notebook less than 1 inch thin!"

 

[iMacmatician]

In the Air, it was dumped to make it thinner. On the Pro, it would be dumped in order to put a second HDD in the bay. There are already products that exist for this, like the MCE Optibay. To be honest, I've been tempted to do it myself, and probably would if OWC didn't sell such awesome 2.5" Firewire drives.

Imagine it for a minute: The MBP, as portable as it is now, not all bulky like most PC laptops with dual HDDs...yet...you can stuff dual 640GB HDDs in it! All the iTunes library space you need! Or mix and match. Maybe an X-25 for OS and apps, and and a 500GB 7200rpm HDD as a scratch disk! Combine that with a Core i7M quad core and a GT 240M, and you have a machine that is creeping up on the firepower of the first Mac Pros, all in a 1" notebook! A beautiful, 1" thick Apple notebook. Reaching for your wallet yet?

Yeah and since a HDD is 1/2 the size of the optical drive we could see a second HDD plus something else.

And I don't see why there wouldn't be the option of an external SuperDrive like the MacBook Air.

 

[NSMonkey]

...
The Hope here is that Apple could benefit from the fast SSD for boot and app performance while keeping bulk storage relatively cheap. The thought is that 256 GB of SSD would be enough for most user as far as app storage goes. With data on rotating media the SSD should last a very long time due to being primarily a read only drive. That is apps get install and for the most part you don't see much in the way of change happening on the SSD. This might actually simplify the design of the SSD controller, making the storage both cheaper and faster.

Thanks
Dave

Interesting stuff, but don't you think just a single 256 GB SSD is enough for most people? I can't see the justification for the added complexity and, I assume, price of a multiple drive configuration in a laptop.

 

[mandoman]

Let's hope expresscard returns to the 15"

 

[J the Ninja]

Holy $%&#, did we just conclude the following MBP is feasible for the refresh?

1.73Ghz Core i7M
2TB HDD space (2x 1TB)
8GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia GTS 250M

 

[Shanpdx]

Holy $%&#, did we just conclude the following MBP is feasible for the refresh?

1.73Ghz Core i7M
2TB HDD space (2x 1TB)
8GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia GTS 250M

on the 15" $2299 and 17" $2499 models possible, battery life will be lower though

 

[JTK28]

Holy $%&#, did we just conclude the following MBP is feasible for the refresh?

1.73Ghz Core i7M
2TB HDD space (2x 1TB)
8GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia GTS 250M

Doubt you will see the 2TB of HDD space or the 8GB of ram.

Ram prices for 8GB DDR3 is still a bit too high in my opinion for apple to feasibly include it in any refresh. Just doesn't make sense in terms of cost/profit.

 

[2992]

Can anyone tell me what this means for the Macbook Air? When will the Air-compatible processors be available? I just bought a Macbook Air last night... might be able to cancel?

You can cancel it: I've anyways heard that they will be issuing a newer version sometimes next summer, which is even newer than the version they will issue in January, which again, is newer than the version you have just ordered last nite. For me, seems the MBA you have just bought is already obsolete considering the above two versions.

 

[LesQQmorePewPew]

i want higher resolution screens

 

[J the Ninja]

Doubt you will see the 2TB of HDD space or the 8GB of ram.

Ram prices for 8GB DDR3 is still a bit too high in my opinion for apple to feasibly include it in any refresh. Just doesn't make sense in terms of cost/profit.

Funny, it's already an option, and has been for almost a year. I didn't mean that machine would be a stock model. What I posted would of course be a (very expensive) BTO model.

 

[JTK28]

Funny, it's already an option, and has been for almost a year. I didn't mean that machine would be a stock model. What I posted would of course be a (very expensive) BTO model.

My mistake. I thought you were talking about what a stock model refresh might look like.

 

[scottness]

This figures. I really need to buy a new 13" MBP before the end of the year. Maybe I'll shop on the 31st and hold out hope that the new models, if the 13" gets bumped, are available before my 14 days are up.

I'm in the same boat. I'm seriously thinking about buying one big fat ~$2000 gift certificate for myself on Dec 31st. I wonder if I can get away with it...?

 

[gianly1985]

Doubt you will see the 2TB of HDD space or the 8GB of ram.
Ram prices for 8GB DDR3 is still a bit too high in my opinion for apple to feasibly include it in any refresh. Just doesn't make sense in terms of cost/profit.

Maybe you should look at this:

Anyway the best option is buying it on ebay:

Doubt you will see the 2TB

It's already possible in current MBPs:

 

[gianly1985]

My mistake. I thought you were talking about what a stock model refresh might look like.

Ok.

Anyway if they go dual HDD bay (as some people here supposed/hoped), 2tb may be possible even on stock models (as an option).

8gb, as mentioned, are already an option on stock models.

 

[iMacmatician]

Anyway if they go dual HDD bay (as some people here supposed/hoped), 2tb may be possible even on stock models (as an option).

2 TB…amazing.

 

[gianly1985]

It's already possible in current MBPs:

Errata corrige

I forgot those caddies are not tall enough to take 12mm 3-platters drives, so the maximum capacity setup on current MBPs is this:

 

[JTK28]

Ok.

Anyway if they go dual HDD bay (as some people here supposed/hoped), 2tb may be possible even on stock models (as an option).

8gb, as mentioned, are already an option on stock models.

As you pointed out, 8gb of ram is only available on a build to order models, not stock models.

As for the second hard drive i never said it wasn't possible, i was simply saying that i didn't think that any STOCK model would have this feature included in the refresh.

 

[gianly1985]

2 TB…amazing.

Yeah....with 2 proper HDD bays, 2 TB would be possible....

Anyway an hybrid setup makes a lot more sense....like a future 320gb x25-m and a 1tb scorpio blue....you got 1,3 TB but 0,3TB of them are super-fast for booting the OS and apps....

 

[iMacmatician]

I forgot those caddies are not tall enough to take 12mm 3-platters drives, so the maximum capacity setup on current MBPs is this:

Anyway an hybrid setup makes a lot more sense....like a future 320gb x25-m and a 1tb scorpio blue....you got 1,3 TB but 0,3TB of them are super-fast for booting the OS and apps....

1.6 TB or 1.3 TB…still amazing.



Agreed with the benefits of the hybrid setup too.

 

[gianly1985]

As you pointed out, 8gb of ram is only available on a build to order models, not stock models.

As for the second hard drive i never said it wasn't possible, i was simply saying that i didn't think that any STOCK model would have this feature included in the refresh.

My fault, I didn't get that "stock" meant "default configuration".

 

[lilskaterpunk]

Interesting... I guess well have to wait till January 2010 to see whats new

 

[topgun072003]

this is huge news for me! Now if only there was more rumors on the mac pro... I hope apple puts back the express card slot instead of the SD on the 15 or have it as a *free* option.

SERIOUSLY!!! Who needs an SD slot? I need an express slot! If you do need an SD connection, you can get one throught the express lot, but not the other way around.

 

[bmastudent]

Just ordered a 13" MBP 2.53ghz w/ 4gb, 250gb for $1300 AR w/ free printer and WMware fusion at Macconnection. Really wondering if I should cancel this order. Been debating because of the new chips in January. Wont really be needing a laptop the whole month of January anyways.

What I am concerned with is, has any of the past updates upped the ram and hd space? Would really like to see a better graphics card, but I any speculation on whether 4gb of ram and 250gb hd will be standard?

I really want to get in on the entry level price point on the MBP just wondering what other people are speculating. Right now at $1300 I get a lot of the extras basically topping out the current MBP 13" for 200 less than retail.

In the same boat and having a lot of internal debate about what to do. Ordered a new MBP 13" on black friday for 1050 which is a great deal...if it were another incremental upgrade like usual, I would have no problem keeping my great deal. The question is whether this is more than the usual incremental upgrade. Sure, the CPU might be a little faster, there might be a little more RAM or HD capacity. However, my impression of the new chipset is in additional to the could potentially double the computing power in certain applications with the 2 additional virtual cores in addition to significantly reducing the heat output and power requirements. Have we even already ruled out features such as blue ray, USB 3, a new form factor altogether?