Intel Update: MacBook Airs Get Penryn, MacBooks and Pros Get Montevina Benefits

[digitalbiker]

This is the latter I just sent to Apple's MacBook Pro feedback:

"I am an architect who has logged thousands and thousands of hours on design work, 3D modeling, rendering, graphics and presentations on two generations of Powerbooks for the past 7 years, and have been anxiously waiting for the new 'brick' MacBook Pros to come out. I'm also a professor of architectural design at a large college of art and design that has many Mac Pros running Cinema Displays in their computer labs, and that sells hundreds of MacBook Pros to the students. Additionally, I constantly use my Apple laptop to give weekly lectures at my college and presentations of my design work at venues around the globe (with the glowing Apple logo proudly displayed to the audience from the lectern).

But I can tell you first hand that I and almost anyone I know among my many colleagues, and most of the hundreds of students I teach PREFER MATTE screens for design/graphics work. By abandoning matte screens in your pro laptops and displays, you are making a potentially grave error, shutting out a huge element of Apple users. It was extremely disheartening to have heard from Jobs and Ives that "a vast majority prefer glossy" and that 'you can just change positions to compensate for glare', as responses to this issue. Just because glossy screens became a fad among PC (consumer) laptops and are popular with SOME consumers including iMac users in no way makes a convincing argument for the elimination of a matte option for all the existing and future pro Apple users -- on the contrary it seems downright disrespectful of the very user base (in both professional and academic design disciplines) that stuck with and strengthened Apple all these years. Please reconsider the elimination of matte screens, or it seems plainly clear Apple will lose many customers in these arenas, and lose respect as makers of true professional computer hardware!"

- probably will fall on deaf ears (if not blind eyes)...

I would expect that you are right with that last line.
But I ask you, no one else is releasing new laptops with matte displays either. So where are all these "Apple Pros" going to turn once they drop Apple.

My suggestion to you is to buy a new MBP and use it for awhile. It is heads and shoulders above your PB in almost every respect. Not only is performance, build, fit, and finish much better but the display is much better as well.

The new MBP displays are LED backlit and much brighter, clearer, have more contrast, and better black levels. After using the new MBP for awhile you will completely over look and not even notice any undo problem with the glare.

It's like putting on a new pair of shoes. Initially they takes getting used to but eventually they will feel just right.

Of Note: Even though the MB & the MBP look similar. Gizmodo did a review of the new screens and the MBP is much better than the MB. The black levels were tremendously different and wide angle viewing was like night and day. So if you are going to use a display in the classroom, the MBP will be much better.

 

[ageha]

I would expect that you are right with that last line.
But I ask you, no one else is releasing new laptops with matte displays either. So where are all these "Apple Pros" going to turn once they drop Apple.

My suggestion to you is to buy a new MBP and use it for awhile. It is heads and shoulders above your PB in almost every respect. Not only is performance, build, fit, and finish much better but the display is much better as well.

The new MBP displays are LED backlit and much brighter, clearer, have more contrast, and better black levels. After using the new MBP for awhile you will completely over look and not even notice any undo problem with the glare.

It's like putting on a new pair of shoes. Initially they takes getting used to but eventually they will feel just right.

Of Note: Even though the MB & the MBP look similar. Gizmodo did a review of the new screens and the MBP is much better than the MB. The black levels were tremendously different and wide angle viewing was like night and day. So if you are going to use a display in the classroom, the MBP will be much better.

Where do you live? Of course other makers do release professional notebooks with matte and non-reflective screens. They even release notebooks with superior RGB LED backlit screens with 100% color gamut compared to the inferior white LED screens from Apple.

 

[Adjei]

Where do you live? Of course other makers do release professional notebooks with matte and non-reflective screens. They even release notebooks with superior RGB LED backlit screens with 100% color gamut compared to the inferior white LED screens from Apple.

Please show as all these notbebooks please.

 

[ageha]

Please show as all these notbebooks please.

Just a few:
Dell Precision M4400 Mobile Workstation with 15.4" WUXGA RGB LED Back-Lit display (1920x1200), 100% Gamut
Dell Precision M6400 Covet Mobile Workstation with 17" WUXGA RGB LED Edge To Edge Back-Lit display (1920x1200), 100% Gamut
Sony Vaio AW series with 18.4" WUXGA RGB LED Back-Lit display (1920x1080), 137% Gamut

 

[heisetax]

Apple's repair times.

I hope Apple provides an upgrade path for the current struggling Macbook air users:

I hope this new chip, that consumes 17W instead of the current 20W will finally fix the heating problem that many Macbook Air users are struggling with, like mine. We first had several months of core shutdown and in August apple finally tried to fix it with a patc, but that just slowed the system down more quickly to avoid the core shutdown. But this makes the Macbook Air useless for video playback/iChat Video.

I can simulate the issue in the following way:

a) room temperature is warm (to be specific more then 76 Fahrenheit/26 Celsius)
b) I use iChat Video and after xx minutes.
c) Kernel_task (NOT PANIC) jumps in (this is process that Apple added in the specific Macbook Air System update) After a few minutes it takes over 100 to 150% of the cpu and then cutting my iChat Video. I can't do anything. Before this update my system was having core shutdowns.
d) I went already 3x times to Apple Store Genius and they told me several times (also with his super visor) that Apple knows about this issue and that Apple is working on a fix.
This was about 2 weeks ago.

I had a bad ATI x1900 video card in my Intel Mac Pro that Apple said they knew about the problem but did not know how to fix it. That was Oct-Nov of 2007. They would not fix the problem by replacing the video card until about July of 2008. So good luck about your problem that Apple is aware of. Many other problems were fixed with the video card change. So who knows what other things will work or work better when they find the fix for you. Good Luck. I hope to hear about a good & more timely repair than I had.

 

[heisetax]

Refurbished means Used!

I don't understand how apple would sell a refurb macbook pro with a 2.5 ghz processor and 512 mb of discrete video ram for only 1499 and a new macbook with 2.4 ghz and no discrete video card for 1599? How does there pricing system work? Also, it seems the refurbished last gen macbook pro is a better or as equally good machine as the current low end macbook pro.

Some refurbished models may be models with no use time that need to be sold as used ones like Open Box. Other refurbished models may be nearly worn out ones that have had the components tested & maybe none changed. So the choice is new or used. Sometimes used models are so high that new makes more sense. Other times it's the other way. Intel MacBook Pros have card slots that can be used for expansion purposes.

 

[iMacmatician]

So when they say "Nehalem is expected to offer a dramatic performance boost over existing processors", how dramatic are we talking exactly?

About 15%~20% core-for-core.

I would expect Nahalem in a Mac Pro this year or in January 09. And in the rest of the line around July of 2009.

Actually, I would expect Nehalem in the rest of the Macs in 2010 or maybe late 2009, since that's when Clarksfield and Auburndale are coming out.

You can already buy a 6 core Nehalem processor right now. its just a bit expensive http://www.pcsforeveryone.com/Product/Intel/BX80582X7460

That's Dunnington, which is a Penryn-based CPU, not Nehalem.

Just a few:
Dell Precision M4400 Mobile Workstation with 15.4" WUXGA RGB LED Back-Lit display (1920x1200), 100% Gamut
Dell Precision M6400 Covet Mobile Workstation with 17" WUXGA RGB LED Edge To Edge Back-Lit display (1920x1200), 100% Gamut
Sony Vaio AW series with 18.4" WUXGA RGB LED Back-Lit display (1920x1080), 137% Gamut

Now those are true pro notebooks, not the enhanced consumer notebook the MacBook Pro is.