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Intel Announces Centrino 2 (Montevina)

And about Blu-ray...

And I meant to say this too - put me down for those in favor of a Blu-ray BTO option.

It's hard to see how someone can be against the choice. Nobody's forcing you to get it, but some of us would find it most useful. In school we'll be shooting HD video (which is why I'm looking at the 17" with the Hi-Rez) and the ability to burn BD or even just watch them would be a big plus. Having even a read-only would be great to just hook the MBP up to a tv and use it as a player - the players are all in the $300-400 range anyway, I don't mind applying that cost to the laptop, and have the option to watch on the road (plugged in of course since they're so hard on your battery, right?) or at home. The Hi-Rez screen will show off the 1080p beautifully.

We're still a long way from the bandwith and storage to ditch media. If you don't need a drive, check out the Air. But don't begrudge those of us that would have use for a BD drive ours.
 
AidenShaw said:
One GPU is the integrated one in the CPU chipset, so that one is more-or-less free.
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Intel offers two versions of their chipsets - one with the IGPU and one without. And the one with costs more then the one without.

Sure, we're likely talking $25 or so at the component level, but that $25 becomes more like $125 by the time the finished product is released at retail.

Personally, I'd rather spend that $125 on more RAM or more HDD space then having two GPUs... Heck, I'd spend it on a second battery and enjoy even longer life even with the fire-breathing discrete GPU. :)
 
CWallace said:
Intel offers two versions of their chipsets - one with the IGPU and one without. And the one with costs more then the one without.
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Do you have any proof of that? I couldn't find any references to OEM prices on chipsets one way or the other.

(Not surprising, since they're only sold to Intel's motherboard partners.)


CWallace said:
Sure, we're likely talking $25 or so at the component level, but that $25 becomes more like $125 by the time the finished product is released at retail.
Click to expand...

I think this is unlikely, since one can find P35 and G33 motherboards for less than $70.

If there's a $25 delta in OEM pricing for one component of the motherboard, you won't find nearly identical retail pricing.


CWallace said:
Personally, I'd rather spend that $125 on more RAM or more HDD space then having two GPUs... Heck, I'd spend it on a second battery and enjoy even longer life even with the fire-breathing discrete GPU. :)
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It's not about you ;)

If it were $125, I might agree. I'll stick with my original claim that the embedded GPU is more-or-less free, though.

I think that it's a great idea to have a dual-mode graphics system, so that one can get great battery life without having a system with relatively weak 3D graphics.

(As long as the OS can transparently shift between graphics systems depending on application needs or perhaps a software switch or function key. Rebooting to shift graphics modes would be a non-starter. At worst it shouldn't be any more difficult than changing screen resolution settings.)
 
I’m quickly becoming less and less optimistic about a timely (ie pre September, in time for college) laptop refresh.

With all the iphone frenzy and the challenges they’re having with iphone and mobile me software, things don’t look promising for them piling on another hardware release soon…
 
BullMooseFilms said:
So I always knew the only way I'd ever get a Mac was basically if someone put a gun to my head - and now it's finally happened.

I think I'll feel better once I get boot camp going and slap a nice Vista sticker over the mac logo... that ought to piss a few people off :D
Click to expand...

I don't think these "choice words" were the best to post in a forum full of Macheads. If your only argument against OS X is that you don't know how to use it then stop whining and leave, I could care less how much you like Vista. And don't expect anyone to feel sorry for you because you're being forced to buy a Macbook Pro, it's a great machine-updated or otherwise.
 
schubes said:
I’m quickly becoming less and less optimistic about a timely (ie pre September, in time for college) laptop refresh.

With all the iphone frenzy and the challenges they’re having with iphone and mobile me software, things don’t look promising for them piling on another hardware release soon…
Click to expand...

I'm not. Hardware engineering is different to the predominantly software based stuff they've been working on - the iPhone was publicly demonstrated several months ago, and while it may have been tweaked, the fundamental design and system components would have remained very similar. Given that AppleInsider confirmed those screenshots of a MBP were legit, it means they've been working on both concurrently. Barring any major design problems, there's no reason they can't get it out the door in the two months or so until September 1st.
 
Digital Skunk said:
That Sony notebook is AWESOME!

I think it competes with the MacBooks more than the Air of course but I just couldn't see myself paying for anything other than that notebook for $2600.

The press release didn't say dual SSDs, just dual channel 128GB SSD (in the singular) so that's not too clear.

It's typical of Sony to blow away the competition with this book. The fact that these machines are running Windows is fast becoming less of a downside. I think I'd have to get used to Windows to get my nerd/geek hands on a machine like that.
Click to expand...

The reason I compare the Sony to the Air is because of the weight. The MBA weighs in at 3 lbs. The Vaio Z weighs 3.4 lbs. Only 6 oz separate these two laptops in portability. Yet 6 oz gets you dual SSDs in Raid O, HDMI, Blu-ray, and discrete graphics card.
 
J@ffa said:
I'm not. Hardware engineering is different to the predominantly software based stuff they've been working on - the iPhone was publicly demonstrated several months ago, and while it may have been tweaked, the fundamental design and system components would have remained very similar. Given that AppleInsider confirmed those screenshots of a MBP were legit, it means they've been working on both concurrently. Barring any major design problems, there's no reason they can't get it out the door in the two months or so until September 1st.
Click to expand...

Hope your take turns out to be thee correct one
 
come on apple! my imac just died, the logic board failed, so i want my new blackbook now. plus school is coming up...

i'm so close to giving up waiting, i can only wait another couple weeks anyway before i have to order for uni. is it worth waiting those couple weeks?
 
mahk said:
I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but the reasons floated around for why there may be a case design with Montevina are:

1) Montevina chipset supposedly has a smaller footprint than Santa Rosa, leaving room in the case for either smaller form factor or other features (e.g., user changeable hard drive)

2) Keyboard update a la MacBook Air -- likely inevitable though some may not like it

3) Other design cues from MacBook Air -- though it is a niche product, not likely that Apple will let their flagship portable be completely outshined from a design standpoint

4) Though a brilliant design, the current design is getting incredibly long in the tooth by computer design standards. 4+ years is an eternity, and other manufacturers are beginning to catch up

Can't vouch for any or all of these per se -- but none are completely unreasonable that a case design wouldn't happen with Montevina vs. waiting another year for Nehalem.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the compilation. I couldn't agree more with 4)! Here's hoping you're right and they come out within a few weeks, as I need to upgrade to 17 inch, 4 GB of RAM, and higher cpu speed.

What I was worried by is that Nehalem is supposed to come out later this year or early next, which might be a good time for them to upgrade to a new design in the light of the Macworld in SF in January.
 
Sadly i do not think there will be a new case remodeling for the centrino 2 chip, i think they will wait tell Nehalem processors come out. the reason i think this is because Nehalem will be such an improvement compared to Centrino 2 and Mr jobs knows that students will still purchase the old model Macbook with the centrino 2 chips and then when the Nehalem chips come out it will attract even more consumers!! I hope this is not the case but i guess only time will tell!!!
 
macbook123 said:
What I was worried by is that Nehalem is supposed to come out later this year or early next, which might be a good time for them to upgrade to a new design in the light of the Macworld in SF in January.
Click to expand...

I totally shared your concern, until folks pointed out here and elsewhere that only the high-end Nehalem chips will be out towards the end of this year -- the mobile chips won't be out until Q3 2009, so we'd probably be looking at that update about a year from now.

So will Apple go another whole year before updating? Certainly possible, but obviously many hope not.
 
mahk said:
I totally shared your concern, until folks pointed out here and elsewhere that only the high-end Nehalem chips will be out towards the end of this year -- the mobile chips won't be out until Q3 2009, so we'd probably be looking at that update about a year from now.

So will Apple go another whole year before updating? Certainly possible, but obviously many hope not.
Click to expand...

Thats a real good point!!!
 
schubes said:
I’m quickly becoming less and less optimistic about a timely (ie pre September, in time for college) laptop refresh.

With all the iphone frenzy and the challenges they’re having with iphone and mobile me software, things don’t look promising for them piling on another hardware release soon…
Click to expand...

OK, could this forum server be any slower?

Anyway, in terms of production I doubt that iPhone and MacBook departments have anything to do with each other. Stresses on one won't affect the other. Apple would not be worth the stock I purchased if they did not release a refreshed MacBook in line with EVERY OTHER manufacturer to compete with back to school sails.

On the other hand, Apple seems to use some different decision making algorithms than traditional business. I'm waiting on one, too.
 
MacBook not the Pro

All i see if screenshots of the future or what might be a design of the MBP, is there any news/rumor about the cheaper Macbook..
 
Tallest Skil said:
They'll be the same price points for the update. It's not getting any cheaper.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i know it's not going to get cheaper, i just meant all i see is the next rumored picture of the macbook pro and i'm more interseted in the macbook because as a college student i couldn't afford , unless i want to chrage a macbook and also tack on 50,000 a year school i don't think that's a wise idea
 
AidenShaw said:
I hear that it's one of the top laptops for running Vista, at least according to the annoying Mac guy on television.
Click to expand...

Yeah, wasn't looking for sympathy, just felt it was important to explain my situation, if I don't seem thrilled about OSX. I've always thought the hardware was great, looks wise etc, just really overpriced.

Plus if I am going to lay out nearly 3k for a laptop I want to learn about it and do my homework, even if it isn't by choice - and what fun is to read forums and never post.

I like hearing about the benefits of Mac, but when you go overboard into "Mac is perfect/Windows is satan" territory, it's hard to take it seriously, the truth usually lies somewhere in between.

edit: this is a general reply, not directed at AidenShaw :)
 
schubes said:
I’m quickly becoming less and less optimistic about a timely (ie pre September, in time for college) laptop refresh.

With all the iphone frenzy and the challenges they’re having with iphone and mobile me software, things don’t look promising for them piling on another hardware release soon…
Click to expand...

The other thing to consider is that they would obviously have another team working on the MBP. The entire company isn't all exclusively focused on iPhone.

A slightly unrelated example, but the development for the Wii started right after the Gamecube's launch- they've probably been planning this update since March.
 
I don't know if this information can give a clue about when we can expect a new MBP or MB.
But for the last couple of days is hasn't been possible to order a MBP or MB with danish characters on the danish web shop. You can only get US or british layout.
Don't know if is just the site malfunctioning or that they are out of stock...

I keep my fingers crossed for an update soon...

My first post... Whee :)
 
BullMooseFilms said:
The world is much more interesting when we don't all agree though...

So long as you keep the discussion civil.
Click to expand...

Agreed. My response was a little...aggressive. It's just that here we are, all waiting for the Macbook Pro and in a forum to discuss it, and then you entered complaining about having to buy one. Do you kind of see where I'm coming from?:eek:

...Just don't slap any stickers on it, it will lower its resale value which is generally pretty good.:)
 
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