MacBook Pro Speed Bump

[MacBookDJ]

OK, it is finally time to replace my Pismo.

Same here. My Pismo is 6 years old and still runs like a champ... I hope the MacBook comes close to the same longevity.

As for the MacBook Pro, it took every ounce of willpower I have not to order one. The only thing that saved me is the fact that most of my DJ and music apps aren't universal yet. Couldn't justify the cost without them being available.

 

[cwoloszynski]

dedicated video + bigger screen + backlit keyboard (although minor, it come out handy, using it right now)

Don't forget the 7200 RPM drive vs. the 5400 RPM drive.


The PRO is just that....

 

[entropy1980]

Don't forget the 7200 RPM drive vs. the 5400 RPM drive.


The PRO is just that....

And don't forget the Express Card slot, FW800, and extra USB port.

 

[assscat]

Not happy that I've only had my MBP17 for 5 days and already the price has been dropped by £100...

Ditto – I ordered mine the day after they were announced. Because of problems with the first 17" MBP Apple sent me and I am sending back, with the replacement not arriving yet, means that I am £100 worse off withou having had a day's computing with my MBP! Bad Apple!

 

[law guy]

Reading this. I think I prefer the standard (not glossy) screen.

Yes - the glossy does seem to be an interesting concept (deeper blacks for movies and games they say), but given that anti-glare screens exist for a reason (glare) I'd go that route for more versitility when (one day years in the future) I update my 15" G4 anti-glare PB.

 

[milo]

but still no FW800 or DL DVD burner support on the 15"

That's because a 9mm DL drive doesn't exist yet.

People who think they are going to play games on this are very wrong.

You mean people who think they are going to play high end 3d games. Casual games will run fine.

Ditto – I ordered mine the day after they were announced. Because of problems with the first 17" MBP Apple sent me and I am sending back, with the replacement not arriving yet, means that I am £100 worse off withou having had a day's computing with my MBP! Bad Apple!

They do have price protection, it's something like 10 or 14 days. You should contact them and ask about it, especially if you had a DOA machine.

 

[DimFlicker]

Guys, I'm telling you the glossy screens are not that bad and the pros are better than the cons. If your sitting in front of it, and its a laptop for its likely you will be the glare isn't that bad. And it does WONDERS for photos, games, and movies.. WONDERS.

 

[qtip919]

And don't forget the Express Card slot, FW800, and extra USB port.

Digital audio out as well...

the backlight keyboard is one of my favorite features period...

 

[belovedmonster]

It's nice to see that Apple is stepping up the pace with respect to its updates now that they are an Intel shop. Hopefully we will continue to see frequent speed bumps, etc. like this. To compete with the likes of Dell, etc., Apple pretty much has to - updates every 6 months simply doesn't cut it anymore.

I think this update today is more to do with Apple needing to keep their Pro machines better than the consumer machines. I expect we will see the Macbook Pros updating fairly often until there is some clear space between them and the lower Macbooks. I certainly wouldnt expect the new Macbooks to update anytime soon...not at the rate the Pros do anyway....

 

[dpaanlka]

I am so pissed off right now. I was really counting on this thing to be my future computer that was powerful and I could afford.

GLOSSY SCREEN?????

I will never buy this product.

 

[mkrishnan]

Nevermind...

No, I think you were right... it says optical digital + analog for both in and out, doesn't it? In fact, I can re-use this picture. (EDIT: Line in, but not Line out -- it's still headphone out only, apparently...)

It seems that this combo mini-jack is another standard that Apple is trying to push, as a lot of Apple devices have had this, since it started appearing on the Airport Express (I think that was the first application?). Nice.

 

[iSee]

I know Apple has come up with "creative" ways of right-clicking. However, when you have a 55 year old millionaire who has finally learned how to use PowerPoint and Outlook, switching to a new computer is scary enough, without having to be told, "Okay, to right-click, you hold both fingers down and then click." Why does Apple insist on spending precious R&D money coming up with new ways of right clicking? How about putting a right mouse button and there and then everyone knows how to do it and you can go on to invent something else cool?

Thanks for pointing out the double-finger right-click, but, it's not acceptible for Apple to think that it's a replacement for a right mouse button.

Your 55 year old millionaire was going to have to get used to a lot more than a different way of right-clicking. (You can also hold down the control key as you click). It's just as well he stick with his old computers. Don't upgrade him to Vista, though

 

[macbookAPRIL1]

So here I am, along with many others, in the situation where I have bought my 1.83 MBP and am getting a bit of a buzz kill with price drops and the new lineup etc. My question is what can I do about this ??? Is there a way to upgrade my MBP to a 2.0 or 2.16 ??? I don't want to post a complaint but I feel like Apple owes some of their customers who paid huge premiums for their MBP. Anyone else in this boat???

 

[dpaanlka]

I know Apple has come up with "creative" ways of right-clicking. However, when you have a 55 year old millionaire who has finally learned how to use PowerPoint and Outlook, switching to a new computer is scary enough, without having to be told, "Okay, to right-click, you hold both fingers down and then click." Why does Apple insist on spending precious R&D money coming up with new ways of right clicking? How about putting a right mouse button and there and then everyone knows how to do it and you can go on to invent something else cool?

Thanks for pointing out the double-finger right-click, but, it's not acceptible for Apple to think that it's a replacement for a right mouse button.

I think Apple has done more than their share of implementing a right click into Mac OS. Remember, back in the day, there wasnt even anything to right click on.

Did you ever stop to think that maybe some people who have been using Macs for years don't want a right click button? I'm talking about as far back as the System 6 and 7 days. On my Mighty Mouse, right clicking is disabled, and I am glad to see that it is disabled by default. Although getting Windows converts is a priority, long time Mac users are still more important. It has always been an Apple tradition to not have a right click button. So stop complaining about how much you wish Macs were like PCs (so you would be as comfortable as possible) and take four minutes out of your life practicing how to right click with two fingers on the trackpad, or by holding down control, and learn to appreciate elegance (and 23 year tradition) of having only one mouse button.

 

[dbassett]

I have to commend Apple for another round bumps with no charge. I do however feel for those who have already purchased MacBook Pros.

Why? The only bump I see is the glossy screen which probably has more chance for glare. At least for the 17" anyway.

 

[neutrino23]

Not a problem. Just remember to wear a jacket whenever you take your computer out, and you can drape it across your head and the screen while you work!

I spent quite a bit of time with the 17" MBP at the Apple store yesterday and didn't notice any glare or reflections.

 

[milo]

Digital audio out as well...

Nope. The MB has digital audio in and out.

I spent quite a bit of time with the 17" MBP at the Apple store yesterday and didn't notice any glare or reflections.

That's because you were looking at the matte screen. The glossy screen was just released today.

 

[rt_brained]

Any live MB photos available? I assume the black is glossy, like previous white models and iPods however, the MB's on Apple's website appear more satin. Clearly, this would be 1) due to soft box or tent lighting or, 2) the "photos" and QTVTR were 3D-rendered, rather than actual photos.

Comments?

A satin exterior might look cool, but would be out of place with the existing roadmap.

 

[SiliconAddict]

My MBP is obselete already I'm really intrigued by those Black MacBooks this thing might go on eBay soon once i read some reviews!

I really wish people would stop treating the word obsolete like its some Mac swear. The only reason people care about if their wares are obsolete this soon after launch is if they have some sort of inferiority complex where they need to be special by having the latest thing on the block. The MBP does what it did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. It’s no slower today then it was yesterday. When they come out with the Core 2 Duo it will still be as fast as the day you purchased it. Nothing changed other then bragging rights and I don't know about you guys but I don't buy a computer, car, or anything else for bragging rights.

Sorry berkleeboy I wasn’t focusing on you specifically. Just the general sentiment in general that goes around when something newer comes out.

 

[retroz311]

So here I am, along with many others, in the situation where I have bought my 1.83 MBP and am getting a bit of a buzz kill with price drops and the new lineup etc. My question is what can I do about this ??? Is there a way to upgrade my MBP to a 2.0 or 2.16 ??? I don't want to post a complaint but I feel like Apple owes some of their customers who paid huge premiums for their MBP. Anyone else in this boat???

Well Apple did the unthinkable - - they dropped their prices on their current line of production. This is a trend that MAC users MUST get used to, and it's a good thing - this is why PC users wait as they know there will be price drops with new processors, expect more price drops when Intel comes out with newer chips in June!

There was no way they could keep the MBP at the same price, it was un-feasable and stay competitive!

With hackers using a generic Intel motherboard with intergrated GMA950 (intel) and running final cut (seeing how it has Quartz Extreme) for a few hundered dollars, expect APPLE to reduce prices even more down the road which will turn into savings for users plus expand the user base.

The macbook will eventially become the MBP with FW800, backlit keyboard, etc at a low price point and the MBP will become the dual/quad core laptops and newer CPU's from Intel and perhaps AMD.

People are building mac systems from scratch and getting them to work, so apple is responding - if they gain some market share, only a matter of time (when they reach 20~30 % someday, which will come true when .exe files can run inside of OSX), then the OS will be released to the massses.

 

[neutrino23]

2nd mouse button...2nd mouse button...2nd mouse button.....

Apple...when are you going to put a second mouse button on your laptops? You're shipping Mighty Mouse with computers, why not put something like that on the trackpad? If you are going to promote that you can run Windows natively, you can keep your stubborn, head-up-your-anus philosophy and not include a second mouse button.

One of our main clients was ready to switch everything over to MacBook Pros last month. They bought one to test it out and one of their biggest compaints was the lack of a second mouse button. They've decided to hold of and stick with ThinkPads. I don't know when they will give Apple another try now.

I use a windows laptop occaisionally and I have to say that one of the things I hate most about it is that damned second button. I often find myself repeatedly clicking on something with no result then I look down and see that my thumb happens to be slightly off center and clicking on the right clicker instead of the left clicker. I much prefer the single button approach that Apple takes.

 

[retroz311]

Split Screen?

Notice on this screen?

http://www.apple.com/macbook/design.html

errr, page, ...

can you expand your viewing or is this just mirroring?

If split screen then isn't this a much better upgrade than a mini seeing how it's portable - - also, what are the difference vs. the mini? I see they are still using intel graphics so....what else differenciates the two? mini vs macbook?

 

[dpaanlka]

Notice on this screen?

http://www.apple.com/macbook/design.html

LOL its funny that Apple put that split "demonstration" of how the glossy compares to matte... because thats how a glossy LCD looks in real life, all kinds of glare and shadows and crazy reflections!

 

[mkrishnan]

can you expand your viewing or is this just mirroring?

Expand (span). The external screen can have resolution up to 1920x1200, while the internal shows a separate 1280x800 image.

It's on the specs page. Don't need a hack anymore. Also, Apple officially supports clamshell mode (having the MacBook closed and still on), which was not supported on the iBooks.

 

[fowler.]

I'm sure it's been posted already, but if you've purchased a MacBook Pro or whatever in the past 10 days, you're entitled to a refund of the difference.

I purchased mine 13 days ago and have a refund waiting for me on my credit card.