MacBook Pro Supplies Tightening Ahead of Potential Refresh

[paintballswimgu]

Here's macmall's stock list. for anyone who is interested.

http://www.macmall.com/n/Mac-Computers-Accessories-Apple-Warehouse-Blowout/macCustomPages-3508

 

[darkeartg]

For reasons few would care about I *had* to buy a machine last week. I new of the coming SB updates and was holding out for that but my hands were tied.

Is there a reference anywhere to this 30 day return policy when a new model drops? I like my new 15" i5 but I'm contemplating returning it for a refund and just using my ipad until the SB hits the shelves. Some link to this 30 day policy would be awesome as I can't find mention of it on Apple's return policy website.

Yes could you please show me this as well, i've been looking for this 30 day return policy
i just bought my 15" i7 last friday so i'm wondering if i should return it as well =(

 

[altecXP]

Wow, 1? Starting to look like refresh will be early next week.

Microcenter have very little of any Mac laptop except 13in Pro. It has over 20 in stock.

 

[blue22]

For reasons few would care about I *had* to buy a machine last week. I new of the coming SB updates and was holding out for that but my hands were tied.

Is there a reference anywhere to this 30 day return policy when a new model drops? I like my new 15" i5 but I'm contemplating returning it for a refund and just using my ipad until the SB hits the shelves. Some link to this 30 day policy would be awesome as I can't find mention of it on Apple's return policy website.

Dude, I feel your pain. My 17" PowerBook G4 logic board just died two nights ago so I'm in a similar predicament as you were recently regarding the *dire need* to secure a replacement ASAP, but despite this I'm trying to hold out another 2-4 weeks before I drop cash on a new system so I can still have a chance to upgrade to Sandy Bridge -- worse case scenario I'll eat the cost of this purchase and sell it off to raise monies for an upgrade to Ivy Bridge when it debuts, which is scheduled for end of 2011/early 2012 release. So, even if I'm stuck with an April/Oct 2010 MBP that's still not a bad holdover until IB, considering where I'm currently upgrading from

As for the "link" regarding the 30-day buy-back policy, I don't see it listed on the Apple website either, but I've asked several Apple store staff in person at several different locations about this and they all confirm it's true. But don't take my word for it, just call up your local Apple store and inquire about it with them; call multiple ones just to cover your basis. Good luck!

 

[blue22]

... So for that reason, I'm skeptical that, if it came to the white MacBook or the 13" Pro, the white MacBook would be the one being discontinued. ...

We're in agreement about the future fate of the white MB, we just differ in opinion on how Apple will implement their soon-to-be refreshed laptop line up offerings based on our respective best educated guesses.

 

[blue22]

30 day buy-back policy

Yes could you please show me this as well, i've been looking for this 30 day return policy
i just bought my 15" i7 last friday so i'm wondering if i should return it as well =(

As well as what I just posted above to Veedubdrew there's also a MacRumors link on this issue from the summer worth reviewing, just FYI:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/894160/

 

[Yebubbleman]

We're in agreement about the future fate of the white MB, we just differ in opinion on how Apple will implement their soon-to-be refreshed laptop line up offerings based on our respective best educated guesses.

More or less, though I would probably be less surprised if the white MacBook stuck it out indefinitely. I may be a little more firm about my notion that the 13" Pro is gone sooner rather than later. But otherwise, yeah, we're more or less in line with each other.

 

[animatedude]

who ****** cares about 15' & 17' MBPs?! give me the new 13 inch MBP please...

 

[fpnc]

probably gonna get new laptop in least 5 years


mid 2010 mbp is good for me

this revision will have bit improvement than the last.

who gonna cares to able encode 10 sec faster than last gen can?

Actually, the new Sandy Bridge CPU includes a technology called Quick Sync that can dramatically speed up video encoding. If Apple makes use of Quick Sync you might see encoding times reduced by a tremendous amount. AnandTech did a review on Sandy Bridge using Quick Sync optimized encoders and they got encoding speeds of up to 280fps on a 720p conversion. In fact, they encoded a one minute and thirty-thee second long video clip to 720p H.264 in only ten seconds.

Check out this link is you want to be truly amazed: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/8

The above link covers the desktop version of the Sandy Bridge processor, but the mobile version includes the same HD3000 graphics core at a somewhat lower clock and I'd expect that the mobile version would still offer really great encoding performance. In fact, here is a review on the mobile Sandy Bridge CPU using Quick Sync:

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i72820QM-Mobile-Sandy-Bridge-Processor-Review/?page=4

In this test the Quick Sync hardware was about 4 times as fast as a software-only technique (also on Sandy Bridge) and it was about ten times faster than when using a Core 2 Duo. It was even 4 times as fast as the hardware-accelerated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M encode.

 

[cmaier]

who ****** cares about 15' & 17' MBPs?! give me the new 13 inch MBP please...

Who cares about tiny little toys. Give me the new 17 inch MBP please.

 

[The Samurai]

Nice one OP for putting this list together

 

[altecXP]

Who cares about tiny little toys. Give me the new 17 inch MBP please.

Not to start a fight... but I have never seen a 17in in use in public.

 

[veedubdrew]

Thanks for the updates everyone!

I just checked Best Buy's inventory at the stores in my area via their website. Keep in mind this is Los Angeles where every Hollywood nitwit uses a Mac and stocks are usually healthy to accommodate said folks.

No 17" models in stock anywhere with "backordered: usually leaves our warehouse within 1-2 weeks" listed.

Several stores depleted of 15" models with 3-5 day wait times.

Something's coming!

 

[vipergts2207]

who ****** cares about 15' & 17' MBPs?! give me the new 13 inch MBP please...

Anyone who does something on their computer aside from checking email and facebook. Run along now kiddo and let the big boys talk about real computer hardware.

 

[ee4life]

Actually, the new Sandy Bridge CPU includes a technology called Quick Sync that can dramatically speed up video encoding. If Apple makes use of Quick Sync you might see encoding times reduced by a tremendous amount. AnandTech did a review on Sandy Bridge using Quick Sync optimized encoders and they got encoding speeds of up to 280fps on a 720p conversion. In fact, they encoded a one minute and thirty-thee second long video clip to 720p H.264 in only ten seconds.

Check out this link is you want to be truly amazed: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/8

The above link covers the desktop version of the Sandy Bridge processor, but the mobile version includes the same HD3000 graphics core at a somewhat lower clock and I'd expect that the mobile version would still offer really great encoding performance. In fact, here is a review on the mobile Sandy Bridge CPU using Quick Sync:

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i72820QM-Mobile-Sandy-Bridge-Processor-Review/?page=4

In this test the Quick Sync hardware was about 4 times as fast as a software-only technique (also on Sandy Bridge) and it was about ten times faster than when using a Core 2 Duo. It was even 4 times as fast as the hardware-accelerated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M encode.

I don't believe it is explicitly specified which CPU encoder library it is being compared against in those articles (at least I didn't see it on a quick scan, just the software application being used for the encoding). Not all CPU encoders are equal in terms of speed or quality. There is no doubt that Quick Sync will be useful for encoding for temporary videos (i.e. for mobile devices) but I could never see myself using it for anything in a permanent collection due to the quality trade-off compared to CPU encoding. I would be very interested to see how much faster it is than say Handbrake (using x264 lib) when x264 settings are adjusted to deliver quality similar to QS.

But back to the topic, I hope the update drops soon. I told my brother the updates would probably be coming in the next couple of months, which means he can either get the latest and greatest or get a discount on the previous gen. Either way he wins because he will no longer have to use a netbook as his primary computer and he'll be switching to Mac!

 

[meatballs]

Anyone who does something on their computer aside from checking email and facebook. Run along now kiddo and let the big boys talk about real computer hardware.

I like what you did there

 

[Yebubbleman]

who ****** cares about 15' & 17' MBPs?! give me the new 13 inch MBP please...

It's certainly one of the more intriguing bits about this next refresh as the 15" and 17" models are pretty much guaranteed to have Sandy Bridge and an upgraded discrete GPU, but those machines are, by no means insignificant.

Thanks for the updates everyone!

I just checked Best Buy's inventory at the stores in my area via their website. Keep in mind this is Los Angeles where every Hollywood nitwit uses a Mac and stocks are usually healthy to accommodate said folks.

No 17" models in stock anywhere with "backordered: usually leaves our warehouse within 1-2 weeks" listed.

Several stores depleted of 15" models with 3-5 day wait times.

Something's coming!

Damn, now I have Westside Story stuck in my head (or at least that one song).

Anyone who does something on their computer aside from checking email and facebook. Run along now kiddo and let the big boys talk about real computer hardware.

Lulz.

 

[fpnc]

...They're not going to kill the optical drive in the next couple of refreshes so your above point is pretty much moot to begin with. Were it likely, sure, that'd give Apple a means of differentiating the 13" Pro from the other two 13" machines. But that's not even remotely likely. This is why I should've just dismissed your point to begin with...

Well, we will see. I think we just have to agree to disagree, we're pretty much just pushing our own opinions anyway and there are points in both of our favors. In any case, I'm fully convinced that the internal optical drives will be gone from the MacBook Pros within the next year, so your claim that they won't be gone "in the next couple of refreshes" seems to indicate that you believe that it won't happen until we're well into 2012, which is a long time to wait (for you to be proven "right" or for me to be totally wrong).

As a final word on this matter, I'd suggest that everyone take out a CD jewel case and place it on the top of their MacBook keyboard. Note that it takes up almost 1/4 of the surface area and nearly that much of the volume of a 13" MacBook. Do you really think that having that much space taken up by a device that you seldom use is a good thing? And it makes even less sense for a mobile device that will most likely never have a need for a CD/DVD when away from the home or office.

As far as differentiating the current line of 13" MacBooks, the Sandy Bridge processor is going to do that. The MacBook Pros will have Sandy Bridge, the white MacBook and the MacBook Airs will have the Core 2 Duo. That's going to represent a huge gap in performance between the products. You're not actually believing that Apple is going to put the Sandy Bridge CPU in a soon-to-be-released version of the white MacBook? We're not going to see a processor change in the white MacBook until both the Mac mini and MacBook Airs are ready to do the same. That will be the telling event, if Apple comes out with a Sandy Bridge-based white MacBook then you can be fairly certain that the white MacBook will be here for several more years. Otherwise, it's axe-time for the white MacBook. As for the MacBook Airs, they will probably transition to a low-voltage Sandy Bridge part within the next year, but that won't happen before the latter part of 2011 or maybe not even until early 2012 at which time Ivy Bridge might be the logical choice.

 

[B. Hunter]

This refresh will be revealing. Might tell us a lot about the future of Mac pro apps.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Well, we will see. I think we just have to agree to disagree, we're pretty much just pushing our own opinions anyway and there are points in both of our favors. In any case, I'm fully convinced that the internal optical drives will be gone from the MacBook Pros within the next year, so your claim that they won't be gone "in the next couple of refreshes" seems to indicate that you believe that it won't happen until we're well into 2012, which is a long time to wait (for you to be proven "right" or for me to be totally wrong).

As a final word on this matter, I'd suggest that everyone take out a CD jewel case and place it on the top of their MacBook keyboard. Note that it takes up almost 1/4 of the surface area and nearly that much of the volume of a 13" MacBook. Do you really think that having that much space taken up by a device that you seldom use is a good thing? And it makes even less sense for a mobile device that will most likely never have a need for a CD/DVD when away from the home or office.

As far as differentiating the current line of 13" MacBooks, the Sandy Bridge processor is going to do that. The MacBook Pros will have Sandy Bridge, the white MacBook and the MacBook Airs will have the Core 2 Duo. That's going to represent a huge gap in performance between the products. You're not actually believing that Apple is going to put the Sandy Bridge CPU in a soon-to-be-released version of the white MacBook? We're not going to see a processor change in the white MacBook until both the Mac mini and MacBook Airs are ready to do the same. That will be the telling event, if Apple comes out with a Sandy Bridge-based white MacBook then you can be fairly certain that the white MacBook will be here for several more years. Otherwise, it's axe-time for the white MacBook. As for the MacBook Airs, they will probably transition to a low-voltage Sandy Bridge part within the next year, but that won't happen before the latter part of 2011 or maybe not even until early 2012 at which time Ivy Bridge might be the logical choice.

I don't use the optical drive every day, but when I do, I'm grateful it is there. Most computer users (PC and Mac alike) are with me on this one, they just don't lurk on these forums. You'll have to trust me on that.

Second, the white MacBook and the 13" MBP are the same computer, save for port differences and enclosure. It makes no sense to give one a new chip and withhold it from the other. If one gets it, then if the other one is still around, it gets it. That's the trend. Get it?

In the meantime, the 13" Pro isn't being refreshed. The incoming sources of low stock on the 15" and 17" MBPs are also indicating that the stock isn't low on the 13" and it's pretty consistent. So either it'll merge with the white MacBook or it'll disappear. Leaving whatever the non-Pro "MacBook" is at that point to run Core 2 Duo and the 320M until Ivy Bridge. I'd bet actual money on it at this point.

This refresh will be revealing. Might tell us a lot about the future of Mac pro apps.

I wouldn't go that far. It'll be telling of Apple's take on NVIDIA's mobile discrete GPUs and it'll be telling about the fate of the 13" Pro. Otherwise, it'll be pretty ho-hum save for the speed boosts.

 

[fpnc]

I don't believe it is explicitly specified which CPU encoder library it is being compared against in those articles (at least I didn't see it on a quick scan, just the software application being used for the encoding). Not all CPU encoders are equal in terms of speed or quality. There is no doubt that Quick Sync will be useful for encoding for temporary videos (i.e. for mobile devices) but I could never see myself using it for anything in a permanent collection due to the quality trade-off compared to CPU encoding. I would be very interested to see how much faster it is than say Handbrake (using x264 lib) when x264 settings are adjusted to deliver quality similar to QS...

Three points, those reviews say that the Quick Sync technology supports up to main profile H.264, which is just about all that people will use since that's the top of the spec for the Apple TV and all of the mobile iOS devices (including the iPad). Second, they say that Intel worked very hard to match the encoding quality that was produced when using strictly software-based techniques (that relied on previous generation Intel CPUs). Lastly, they said that the encoding quality when using Quick Sync was very close to the existing software-based encoders and much superior to the results you get when using hardware-accelerated encoding using a top-end NVIDIA GPU. I'm fairly certain that they also suggested that the quality and performance of the Quick Sync encoding might improve once the drivers are more fully optimized.

The only profile that would beat H.264 main would be the so-called "high." But frankly, I think you would only use high if you wanted to be absolutely certain that you were getting visually lossless encodings from a source like Blu-ray or maybe a very good DVD (as a form of backup, I guess). Besides, most people are going to be re-encoding for their mobile devices (and maybe the Apple TV) so I suspect that Quick Sync would be fine for those applications. Personally, I do multiple encodes anyway, some for streaming over 3G and others for my Apple TV.

Your points are well taken, however, since we really won't know until a Sandy Bridge MacBook ships with Quick Sync enabled (i.e. Apple will have to supply the drivers, which they may not do in the initial release). It's worth pointing out, however, that even the software-based encoding on Sandy Bridge was twice as fast as on a Core 2 Duo.

 

[skiltrip]

In the meantime, the 13" Pro isn't being refreshed. The incoming sources of low stock on the 15" and 17" MBPs are also indicating that the stock isn't low on the 13" and it's pretty consistent. So either it'll merge with the white MacBook or it'll disappear. Leaving whatever the non-Pro "MacBook" is at that point to run Core 2 Duo and the 320M until Ivy Bridge. I'd bet actual money on it at this point.

Maybe the Pro and Whitey will both just get the 2.66 C2D as base and only model and call it a day. Base gets a little speed bump, and they move on. People will still buy 'em. Maybe they'll refresh the 13" later in the year when they go ahead and get C2D out of the Air as well.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Maybe the Pro and Whitey will both just get the 2.66 C2D as base and only model and call it a day. Base gets a little speed bump, and they move on. People will still buy 'em. Maybe they'll refresh the 13" later in the year when they go ahead and get C2D out of the Air as well.

I'd more likely say that Whitey will get a 2.66 Core 2 Duo and the 13" MBP will get the axe. Poor little guy.

 

[skiltrip]

I'd more likely say that Whitey will get a 2.66 Core 2 Duo and the 13" MBP will get the axe. Poor little guy.

I do admit the 13" is the Pokey Little Puppy in the Pro lineup. Because of it's size, it'll just never measure up, and is probably a thorn in Apple's backside, because now every refresh they have to have a "WTF are we going to do with the 13" THIS time?" meeting.

However, it's purpose is a very good gateway drug to Macs. I wanted a Mac last year for audio. I needed firewire. I also needed a laptop. So the iMac was out, and the 15" MBP was out because I simply couldn't afford it. And Whitey was out obviously because of no firewire. So the 13" MBP got me hooked.

I'm now planning on buying a 15" this year and am a Mac user for the rest of my forseeable music career. Without that gateway drug I probably would still be cursing and kicking my PCs and just dealing with it.

That's why I think the 13" is important to Apple and will stay, even if it continues to lag behind the 15 and 17 in specs and capability.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I do admit the 13" is the Pokey Little Puppy in the Pro lineup. Because of it's size, it'll just never measure up, and is probably a thorn in Apple's backside, because now every refresh they have to have a "WTF are we going to do with the 13" THIS time?" meeting.

However, it's purpose is a very good gateway drug to Macs. I wanted a Mac last year for audio. I needed firewire. I also needed a laptop. So the iMac was out, and the 15" MBP was out because I simply couldn't afford it. And Whitey was out obviously because of no firewire. So the 13" MBP got me hooked.

I'm now planning on buying a 15" this year and am a Mac user for the rest of my forseeable music career. Without that gateway drug I probably would still be cursing and kicking my PCs and just dealing with it.

That's why I think the 13" is important to Apple and will stay, even if it continues to lag behind the 15 and 17 in specs and capability.

Oh agreed, it was my gateway drug twice (with the 12" PowerBook G4 and with the 13" MacBook Pro), but if the 13" Pro didn't exist, people would flock to the MacBook instead.