MacBook Pro Upgrade At Photokina?

[ChickenSwartz]

Completely nailed it. Spot on, fellow. Some added pressures:
1) I have to call Applecare back and explain to them why i've been taking so long to get back to them on what configuration i want to replace this tibook, and i imagine their patience isn't limitless (though so far it has been shockingly plentiful).
2) This computer is dying fast.
3) The other side of the coin: when i bought this computer it was juuuuuuust before the aluminum powerbooks were released, so i know first-hand the misery of being immediately obsolete.

Here's to staying strong...one...day...at...a...time.

Edit: i'm starting to feel like apple is just a lousy, alcoholic step-dad.

You should call AppleCare and tell them you are waiting for the C2D chips to be put in the MBP. See what they say.

 

[cerberus]

MBP update in Germany not to be soon?

Hello @all, its my first reply here in this forum (I know, you you don't care about it *gg*).

I made 2 interesting obersavations here in Bremen, Germany, yesterday:

First the good one:
"Gravis" has special offers for MBPs, saying they are "remainders", starting at 1550€. For those who are not common with Apples price politics in Germany: just change the $ into € and vice versa. Do not convert it. In fact, Apple has therefor 20-30% higher prices in Germany than in the US.

Next the not so good one:
M&M (Another Apple-only reseller in Bremen) published new brochures. The first new brochures this year! With the new iMacs, the New Mac Pro, new iPod, BUT with the "old" MBP! Does that mean, we shouldn await an update very soon?

 

[Am3822]

Sopranino

Interesting read, indeed. I wonder, though, where does it leave all the would-be purchasers who had hoped that a new MBP release would be less problem-prone. Are we to expect more silent hardware revisions of the MBP, then?

 

[ChickenSwartz]

Welcome, and good post!

I too believe they may miss out on Merom, and wait for Santa Rosa.

If you remember, the PowerBook was behind for a long time in terms of power with the G4 chip, when even the iMac which is a consumer product, had the G5.

People still bought the G4 (Me included).

Apple are comfortable with the money they're making on the current MacBook Pro, i see them waiting for Santa Rosa, giving them something to really shout about.

Rich.

If this is true I will be completely happy if, in some way, Apple could let us know. Yeah, I know, not going to happen.

If this is true, they have to drop the price. At the lowest, $1999, is not competitive with other notebooks, not even close. I remeber back in July it was easy to run over to Dell's website and build a comprable machine and it would cost maybe a couple hundred less than the MBP. Now, not even close.

 

[pjo]

1) Apple is a quality conscious company and for the most part releases great product. This may mean that their development branch is not geared for fast release cycles at this point.
...

3) With the Santa Rosa platform coming out sometime around April of 2007 it is possible that Apple has elected to skip the Merom chip upgrade and focus on getting everything ready for the Santa Rosa release. It must be realized that any chip upgrade or change to a board layout can cost several million to implement and with the issues that are known to exist with the current MB/MBP there may be a financial reason behind making a decision to skip one upgrade cycle.

Nice points, but the Merom is pin compatible with Yonah. Switching between them (besides the bulk orders) is about as difficult as changing the speed of the Yonahs - and we have seen a few speed bumps...

5) Considering that there is a Major Platform upgrade in April, Apple may be saying that too many purchasers would skip a simple Merom update and opt for waiting until Santa Rosa appears before parting with their cash.

Interesting.

If you remember, the PowerBook was behind for a long time in terms of power with the G4 chip, when even the iMac which is a consumer product, had the G5.

People still bought the G4 (Me included).

The furnace called the G5 couldn't (and still can't AFAIK) be put in a laptop. The Merom is reputed to be "cooler" than the Yonahs... a totally different situation. In fact, one of the reasons we have Intel Macs is because we didn't get mobile G5s et al.

 

[aidan60657]

Delivery Today

Well, I ordered my off-the-shelf MBP yesterday morning. Apple site said it wouldn't be mailed out until next Tuesday. That got my hopes up but I saw today that UPS is out trying to deliver my MBP right now (but I'm at work).

Anyway, I bought a bloody great machine, Merom or not. This will do me fine for several years to come, I imagine. Or until Santa Rosa comes along!

It's been fun, but two months of waiting for Merom and I wish I'd just bought the damn machine to begin with.

See you all early next year for the Santa Rosa rumors!

 

[famusc]

I really think it's almost impossible that Apple's waiting for Santa Rosa: Core 2 Duo is here while Santa Rosa is still in the dreams world. If there will be no official 802.11n approval, they will be forced to redisign the platform and this means that the launch date of March/April 07 will be put off to April/May.
Can Apple afford this risk and leave their laptops as they are for a so long time?
MBP were launched in January and waiting till next Spring is surely too long to stay competitive.
It's obviously necessary a mid-time upgrade before the Spring major one.

 

[reflex]

Do not convert it. In fact, Apple has therefor 20-30% higher prices in Germany than in the US.

I think you'll find that VAT accounts for most of the difference.

M&M (Another Apple-only reseller in Bremen) published new brochures. The first new brochures this year! With the new iMacs, the New Mac Pro, new iPod, BUT with the "old" MBP! Does that mean, we shouldn await an update very soon?

This is probably not really significant, since most retailers won't know that Apple will release new versions of a computer until everyone knows.

 

[Am3822]

There's more to the price differences than VAT:

Here are the pre-VAT retail prices in Israel (basic models, without any extra mem/hd/etc):

MBP 15.4, 2.0Ghz: 2471$
MBP 15.4, 2.16Ghz: 3065$
MBP 17, 2.16Ghz: 3268$

I am told that they are somewhat comparable with the european prices.

 

[absurdio]

You should call AppleCare and tell them you are waiting for the C2D chips to be put in the MBP. See what they say.

The thought has occurred to me, though I'm not sure how fond of that they'll be. "Hey guys. I'm really going to push your generosity to new thresholds by refusing to take advantage of it until you release an even newer product...you don't mind, do you?"

 

[lolsdaka]

I'm tired of people telling it's stupid to wait for new technologies...
Why do they come in this thread anyway ?
People who couldn't wait and recently got the Yonah should be doing their "life" with it now and let us waiters discuss how cruel Apple is !
Unless they are secretly hoping to use the x days retract possibility...
Anyway I'm not waiting for Merom just to hang on forums...
I'm a content developper in music so I'm very concerned by this update !
I've been PC user since then and really aware on why Mac is better...
I was willing to switch but after reading all I can everyday about a possible update and having discovered the world of macrumors, appleinsider, macbidouille, macgeneration, etc... I don't think I'll ever become an Applehollic (and the stupid new TV ads won't help at all...).
My point is that if they don't release it very soon or at least give information, it's not an MBP Yonah I shall buy, but a nice new Core 2 Duo Sony laptop !
I know I'm just a pawn down there but...

Another thing I'd like to add; people say merom has pour improvements compared to yonah but people almost never talk about RAM...I was thinking Merom let the possibility to have more than 2GB of RAM... Am I wrong on that ???

Anyway, after coming here everyday since two months, this is my first post ! Nice to meet you !

Oh btw, I read somewhere that the new Mobility Radeon X1700 is out ! Could it make its way to the new MBP ?
I don'treally care since I'm more into sound but could be a reason of the delay...
I will never buy a Yonah because it's nowadays really too expensive for what its worth and I don't wanna accept that I've waisted my time waiting for so long...

 

[shadowlander]

3) With the Santa Rosa platform coming out sometime around April of 2007 it is possible that Apple has elected to skip the Merom chip upgrade and focus on getting everything ready for the Santa Rosa release. It must be realized that any chip upgrade or change to a board layout can cost several million to implement and with the issues that are known to exist with the current MB/MBP there may be a financial reason behind making a decision to skip one upgrade cycle.
Sopranino

It just seems to me that if this was the case, the same logic would have applied to the iMac as well...but Apple went merom with it.

 

[absurdio]

And there's almost no way Apple won't put out SOME new portable before the holidays. MBP sales may be fine now, but it's still september. By the time we reach Thanksgiving (i.e. another couple of months), the current MBP is going to seem not outdated but archaic. It'd be insane for Apple to do anything BUT release something for the holidays. I don't want to wait until November, but I would be shocked if Apple decided to bypass Merom completely.

 

[generik]

3) With the Santa Rosa platform coming out sometime around April of 2007 it is possible that Apple has elected to skip the Merom chip upgrade and focus on getting everything ready for the Santa Rosa release. It must be realized that any chip upgrade or change to a board layout can cost several million to implement and with the issues that are known to exist with the current MB/MBP there may be a financial reason behind making a decision to skip one upgrade cycle.

Wow this is the most far fetched reason I've seen.. so it costs millions to swop a processor? Why did the iMac get it then? Besides how much is 1 million? Surely 2000 MBP sales will score it right back? How many supposed million will it cost then? Because I am pretty sure Apple makes at least $500 on the Macbook Pro.

 

[33scottie33]

It just seems to me that if this was the case, the same logic would have applied to the iMac as well...but Apple went merom with it.

The iMac did not need a case redesign; the MBP and possibly MB does. If all Apple wanted to do is just insert C2D, the MBP would have been made available the same time the iMacs were. To my knowledge, I do not know of a redesigned laptop with C2D.

I do not think they will wait for Santa Rosa, but I'm sure the new design will take that into account. If they were waiting for Santa Rosa, I think Apple would have somehow made that known that there were not going with C2D. That would keep us in anticipation and at the same time promote sales of the current MBP, which by the way is the absolute best laptop available, including new C2D models.

 

[HecubusPro]

I'd just like you all to know that I am typing this on my very own MacBook Pro that I've had for a few months, and I've loved every minute of using it.

Including today.

Boy it sure is fast. Runs great. Slick graphics. Great machine. What a beast.

Does it bother me that some dude probably only a couple miles away is typing away on his Core2Duo machine right now? Um, not really. It's not even a wants vs needs thing. It's about the fact that the Meroms ain't that big a deal, especially for a laptop.

Man, this machine is fast...

Post-note: the funny thing, the angriest people in this forum are also the diehard people who will buy a MB/MBP at some point no matter what (or not at all). The actual impact on Apple's sales outlook of waiting for Meroms is actually quite small. That's the irony of having a niche market like Apple's: the angrier your customers, the more those same customers are loyal to a fault. Haha!

You're so wise, and un-angry.

 

[suwandy]

It just seems to me that if this was the case, the same logic would have applied to the iMac as well...but Apple went merom with it.

well said, although iMac's updates were almost a month ago. (or was it more?) Now that it's ticking closer to the Santa Rosa, the argument seemed more and more valid. Still, on the other hand, I believe this update is imminent upon us, and there's no reason why Apple should decide to wait that long. After all, forums like this can be a clear reason that Apple will be getting a lot of money from people waiting ... like me

 

[suwandy]

gave up on the wait.. needed a computer.. just ordered my MBP 15" 100GB/7200RPM with 2GB Ram...

Sigh........................... so wanted the core 2..................................

dont' worry, we'll keep going for you.
Not to mention, you still get a very very decent computer

 

[Sopranino]

Wow this is the most far fetched reason I've seen.. so it costs millions to swop a processor? Why did the iMac get it then? Besides how much is 1 million? Surely 2000 MBP sales will score it right back? How many supposed million will it cost then? Because I am pretty sure Apple makes at least $500 on the Macbook Pro.

Hi generik.

Thanks for your response, as almost everything in this thread is pure speculation the best that anyone can do is apply a little logic and hope that the outcome is reasonably consistent with the real world.

Allow me to address some of the points that you bring up:

1) In the world of the publicly traded company any costs are carefully analyzed and weighed against potential outcomes so yes the cost of the upgrade in the notebook line may be a contributing factor in the apparent upgrade delay.

2) The iMac getting the upgrade to Merom may have been nothing more than a marketing decision based on the fact that Apple would be moving a large volume of notebooks (regardless of what chip they had) due to the back to school rush, therefore giving the iMacs an upgrade allows Apple to make the iMac a more appealing purchase (due to the new chip) and thus able to sell more of them at the same time.

3) Circuit board design, drafting, and development is very expensive and more so when the space constraints of small form factor notebooks need to be addressed. Here again there are several issues that Apple is probably looking to address, prior to releasing any updates, which will involve changes to the circuit boards in the notebook line. As I recall there were no issues to address with the iMacs so in those machines a simple chip swap was probably fairly straight forward.

4) Sorry I can't address your assertion regarding the profit of 500 dollars per sold machine, I don't have access to that kind of information.

Sopranino

 

[Neuroguy]

If you all reall want one...

Okay, I am thinking about biting the bullet for everyone in the MBP Merom support group.

The way my luck goes, 15 days after I buy an MBP, the new one will come out. So, if you really want it in 15 days, I can go and buy one now.

Neuroguy


PS. Talk about a fantastic business model. Microsoft gets excited when a bunch of teenagers are waiting for the $500 XBOX 360 to come out. Here, Apple has over 2000 posts by people begging to spend *at least* $2K on one of their notebooks. As some projected, even if Apple makes $500 per MBP, there's about a $Million in profit sitting right here, watching this board...

 

[generik]

Hi generik.

Thanks for your response, as almost everything in this thread is pure speculation the best that anyone can do is apply a little logic and hope that the outcome is reasonably consistent with the real world.

Allow me to address some of the points that you bring up:

1) In the world of the publicly traded company any costs are carefully analyzed and weighed against potential outcomes so yes the cost of the upgrade in the notebook line may be a contributing factor in the apparent upgrade delay.

2) The iMac getting the upgrade to Merom may have been nothing more than a marketing decision based on the fact that Apple would be moving a large volume of notebooks (regardless of what chip they had) due to the back to school rush, therefore giving the iMacs an upgrade allows Apple to make the iMac a more appealing purchase (due to the new chip) and thus able to sell more of them at the same time.

3) Circuit board design, drafting, and development is very expensive and more so when the space constraints of small form factor notebooks need to be addressed. Here again there are several issues that Apple is probably looking to address, prior to releasing any updates, which will involve changes to the circuit boards in the notebook line. As I recall there were no issues to address with the iMacs so in those machines a simple chip swap was probably fairly straight forward.

4) Sorry I can't address your assertion regarding the profit of 500 dollars per sold machine, I don't have access to that kind of information.

Sopranino

 

[spercharged69]

4) Sorry I can't address your assertion regarding the profit of 500 dollars per sold machine, I don't have access to that kind of information.

Information? This is Mac Rumors, it's entirely acceptable here to just make things up... As long as you do so with a touch of outrage that they haven't updated $product_line yet.

 

[rvcontre]

I don't think the 2GB RAM would come standard... Apple's RAM is expensive and I'm pretty sure they get a lot of custom configurations upping the RAM ( = $$$).

However, I think the Frenzied Midget is definitely a go. THAT's why we've been waiting so long...

I'm starting to wonder about Apple. It just doesn't seem like it's in the cards anymore. Although the Photokina event has made me less rampant in my rumor hunting. I can sustain a nice even fervor for the C2D MBP if I'm expecting them before Christmas.

 

[Sopranino]

Information? This is Mac Rumors, it's entirely acceptable here to just make things up... As long as you do so with a touch of outrage that they haven't updated $product_line yet.

Ahhhh now I understand, thanks for clarifying that for me. Hmmmm touch of outrage then......HEY APPLE, WHERE IS MY !@#% MEROM NOTEBOOK.

I feel much better now.

Sopranino

 

[ct-scan]

Time?

So, *if* Apple decides on a silent release (today?), what time would they do it? 9am PST? 10am PST?
I never tracked that sort of thing before...just wondering when I need to "call it a day" and stop hope