Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Intel iBook (MacBook) Arriving in May? and 17'' MacBook Pro?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
dongmin said:
You said it, I agree 100%. Another thing to consider is that the G4 iBook is already at $999 and $1299, so it would be very hard (but not impossible) for me to see Apple lowering the pricepoint for the Intel counterparts. That said, I sure hope they do. Their status has to be worth something, wouldn't you agree?
I think we can bank on integrated graphics considering that Dell's laptop offerings in the $900-1000 price range have integrated graphics. Personally, I think this is just fine because it will be more important for Apple to hit the right price points on the MacBook than it will be to have the best graphics performance.
Rod Rod said:
Typical Dell. I checked the home user department. A Core Duo laptop is slightly under $1000; but once you add Windows XP Pro (nowhere near MacOS X), the entertainment package (nowhere near iLife), Bluetooth, and a two year antivirus subscription (don't need that on the Mac), you are more at $1300. All that after 25% rebate; more than $1600 regular price. Anyone here with experience how difficult it is to actually get that rebate?
two distant MacBook 13" prayers; support for at least 2 gigs of ram and a good dvi driver for external displays. i don't need a killer processor and don't want a 15" screen but i do like to have enough ram to bust through a photoshop doc or a FCP project when I need to. 1280x720 makes for a great little portable (much better than my tibook), i just want to be able to whip out a bluetooth keyboard/mouse and plug into the 1920x1200 display on my desk when i get back home. my laptop is deader than dead and i really want to replace my G5 with a decent external hard disk and something mid-sized i can carry around.
on a side note, i'm sorry but the constant talk about video games is getting absurd. i pray for the day the macbook hits the market so i don't have to scan through 15 pages about Open GL, on board graphics, ati versus nvidia, and graphics acceleration in order to figure out whether the MacBook might suppoort a feature a non-gamer might want. i appreciate how exciting it is to be able to run a video game on your intel mac but i can't believe how much buzz this is generating. maybe you folks should've gotten together back in the day and put in a competitive bid to stop microsoft from buying bungie.
on a side note, i'm sorry but the constant talk about video games is getting absurd. i pray for the day the macbook hits the market so i don't have to scan through 15 pages about Open GL, on board graphics, ati versus nvidia, and graphics acceleration in order to figure out whether the MacBook might suppoort a feature a non-gamer might want. i appreciate how exciting it is to be able to run a video game on your intel mac but i can't believe how much buzz this is generating. maybe you folks should've gotten together back in the day and put in a competitive bid to stop microsoft from buying bungie.
gnasher729 said:
Dell's rebates work pretty well, six to eight weeks later you have a check with your name on it. Their tech support, on the other hand, is happy to transfer you to five different departments in three different countries to troubleshoot the fact that they shipped you an un-refurbished refurbished printer out of the warehouse by accident. Thanks, Dell, for making my home office that much harder to set up.
dr_lha said:
Oh I'm sure they'll run, definitely. GMA 950 uses PCIe and the latest shaders.
But the sad truth is that GMA 950's performance (based on graphics chipset alone) brings us back to October 22, 2003 with the 12" iBook G4/800 and Mobility Radeon 9200. Adding insult to injury, the 9200 actually performs better.
Yes, friends... 2003.
Moshiiii said:
It means the machine has graphics processing on a chip on the motherboard instead of a graphics card in a slot. In most cases, the integrated isn't quite as good, but with the latest ones you'll only see a difference in 3D apps (games).
Moshiiii said:
It means that the graphics are integrated. Or in other words that it doesn't have unintegrated graphics.
Better?
What it really means is that if you have 2 GBs of RAM some of that RAM doubles as Video RAM. This number is usually not user selectable and is also, usually very small.
Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
Let me predict the following:
The redesign will sweep you off your feet so whatever they put in it you will want it anyway.
They will not keep the 999 price point.. every intel product they released went up in price. So why wouldn't the macbook ?
People screeming for a core duo and hating on integrated graphics and want a x1300 or x1600 in and want to keep the price point should stop dreaming..
The only duo's as far as I know are 1,66 1,83 2.0 and 2.16 ghz.
We know the macbook's come in 1,83 an 2.0 with option for 2.16.. so there could only be a 1,66 used in the macbooks to not exceed the macbook pro's...
A 1.66 Core Duo with X1600 would just be way to close to the MBP.. so either expect the price to be close to 1999 or don't expect those specs
I as a MacBook Pro owner (just upgraded from a latest gen iBook G4) feel that at a 999 price point you should not expect more then a intel integrated graphics chip. If you however go for the more expensive model you should be able to count on a dedicated graphics chip. Maybe they have alot of spare 9700 stock
I don't know..
but I forcast not to big of a deal.. The Macbook pro's can't be upgraded anymore (only make the 2.16 a standard instead of BTO) untill the Memrom comes out which will be at the end of the year early next year. So neither can the Macbooks. So they WILL start at a core solo low end and core duo 1.66 high end.
So to sum it up
MBP : 1,83 and 2.0 ---> upgrade 2.16
MB : 1.5 1.66 --> upgrade 1.83 when MBP's upgrade
That only seems logical to me :S
And yes I do think they will have integrated graphics..
Don't really get the 17 inch MBP hype. The specs will be the same as the MBP obviously except for some slight changes. (the CPU, Ram and HD will be the same atleast). Why do you want such a huge thing ? just get the 15 inch and hook it up to external if you want bigger imho..
thats just my 2 cents..
The redesign will sweep you off your feet so whatever they put in it you will want it anyway.
They will not keep the 999 price point.. every intel product they released went up in price. So why wouldn't the macbook ?
People screeming for a core duo and hating on integrated graphics and want a x1300 or x1600 in and want to keep the price point should stop dreaming..
The only duo's as far as I know are 1,66 1,83 2.0 and 2.16 ghz.
We know the macbook's come in 1,83 an 2.0 with option for 2.16.. so there could only be a 1,66 used in the macbooks to not exceed the macbook pro's...
A 1.66 Core Duo with X1600 would just be way to close to the MBP.. so either expect the price to be close to 1999 or don't expect those specs
I as a MacBook Pro owner (just upgraded from a latest gen iBook G4) feel that at a 999 price point you should not expect more then a intel integrated graphics chip. If you however go for the more expensive model you should be able to count on a dedicated graphics chip. Maybe they have alot of spare 9700 stock
I don't know..
but I forcast not to big of a deal.. The Macbook pro's can't be upgraded anymore (only make the 2.16 a standard instead of BTO) untill the Memrom comes out which will be at the end of the year early next year. So neither can the Macbooks. So they WILL start at a core solo low end and core duo 1.66 high end.
So to sum it up
MBP : 1,83 and 2.0 ---> upgrade 2.16
MB : 1.5 1.66 --> upgrade 1.83 when MBP's upgrade
That only seems logical to me :S
And yes I do think they will have integrated graphics..
Don't really get the 17 inch MBP hype. The specs will be the same as the MBP obviously except for some slight changes. (the CPU, Ram and HD will be the same atleast). Why do you want such a huge thing ? just get the 15 inch and hook it up to external if you want bigger imho..
thats just my 2 cents..
My last rebate never arrived. It was only for $15 and I was too busy to call them and stay on hold at the time. Now it is too late. I know a lot of people who had no problems, but still it is not perfect. Why don't they just offer a limited time discount? It is their own website, it is not like we are buying it through some middlemen such as Best Buy or Circuit City. They could easily do it. They are just hoping you'd miss the deadline or they would make a mistake (!) and you'd be too busy to look into it.gnasher729 said:
What gets me is Dell's tricks with prices. Every now and then, there is a really good deal and I think I'll just add a DVD writer for $50, the rest I could live with, but then the rebate dissapears, because is either the rebate or customization. All of a sudden that DVD writer is costing me $250. Besides, they have free shipping, but charge $60 for handling. Give me a break...
I prefer HP/Compaq. On their site, I can also find out the number of Firewire and USB ports or screen resolution without going through a lot of web pages. If Dell prefers to hide details, it is a good bet they'd rather you don't know.
What is so bad about wanting dedicated graphics on a consumer laptop? Or a Core Duo? Or any of the other *hopes* listed? IMO there is a reachable and reasonable solution:
MacBook Low option (think mini with a screen)
1.5 (or 1.66) Core Solo
512MB memory
60GB hard drive
Combo Drive
Airport Extreme/Bluetooth/Remote/iSight
Intel GMA950 graphics
BTO Options:
1.66 Core Duo
up to 2GB memory
up to 120GB hard drive
Super Drive
dedicated graphics (64MB or 128MB)
Standard Low option priced @ $999
Options bump price as desired.
I dont think its out of reach, and would be in line with some other available counterparts in the PC world. I, for one, would be more than willing to pay for the options I want. Those wanting dedicated graphics aren't wanting them for free, just as an OPTION.
MacBook Low option (think mini with a screen)
1.5 (or 1.66) Core Solo
512MB memory
60GB hard drive
Combo Drive
Airport Extreme/Bluetooth/Remote/iSight
Intel GMA950 graphics
BTO Options:
1.66 Core Duo
up to 2GB memory
up to 120GB hard drive
Super Drive
dedicated graphics (64MB or 128MB)
Standard Low option priced @ $999
Options bump price as desired.
I dont think its out of reach, and would be in line with some other available counterparts in the PC world. I, for one, would be more than willing to pay for the options I want. Those wanting dedicated graphics aren't wanting them for free, just as an OPTION.
Hoping
Appleinsider seems to think Apple can create a dual-core, brilliant 13.3 widescreen, and separate graphics card system for iBook prices. This doesn't make sense: The cheapest MacBook Pro is $1999, about twice as much with pretty similar specs. You can't find a notebook PC with those specs and a $999 price point, and Apples are rarely cheaper than PCs.
Realistically, though, Apple will need to fill in the pricing between the $999 and $1999 price points. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
Appleinsider seems to think Apple can create a dual-core, brilliant 13.3 widescreen, and separate graphics card system for iBook prices. This doesn't make sense: The cheapest MacBook Pro is $1999, about twice as much with pretty similar specs. You can't find a notebook PC with those specs and a $999 price point, and Apples are rarely cheaper than PCs.
Realistically, though, Apple will need to fill in the pricing between the $999 and $1999 price points. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
dr_lha said:
Good point. I assume the 2003 iBooks can't play back hi def, can they?
dferrara said:We want our FireWire 800 back.
Give it up. Never going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if even the towers don't have it.
ready2switch said:
Nothing, except it raises the price. Even if they make in an option, they have to include the slot on the motherboard and leave the space for it on the models that don't include it. Considering they have the duo in one of the minis, I don't think there's any doubt we'll see duos on the higher configs.
Me too.. I've said a number of times here that I need a smaller power(mac)book, not a larger one. No attached optical drive please, thanks.
devilot said:I really do prefer for it to be smaller and even more portable.