Montevena / Graphics card Questions

[Kurios91]

Questions;

1) What will the Mont. refresh bring (if there is one)
2) If there is going to be a refresh, will it be announced at WWDC?
3) The graphics card; 512mb vs 256mb. I've heard that VRAM doesnt matter? Then why bother having 2 different mods tho? I'm confused about this.
4) Worth waiting for the next update? (*In General*)(Presuming it is within August)

Thanks,
-K

 

[Etrain]

I found this rather telling and interesting:

http://anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3246&p=2

 

[Kurios91]

excellent site. thanks

anyone else have any input?

 

[m85476585]

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino#Montevina_platform_.282008.29

2. I don't think they will announce a <strike>refresh</strike> EDIT:redesign at WWDC. It was a month between Intel releasing Santa Rosa and Apple releasing the SR MBPs, and that's without a redesign. If they redesign it, it will be announced at Macworld '09. It's possible that they will also add Nehalem by Macworld '09 since it it's just a processor change.

3. 256 vs. 512 doesn't matter with the 8600 because it isn't fast enough to really take advantage of the extra memory. With a faster GPU, 512 should be faster than 265.

4. see #2. I'm going to wait until summer, but I need to get a laptop by the beginning of August so I can get it set up for school, which starts mid-august. If I knew for sure that there would be no update, I would get a MBP now since all my computers are relatively old, but there is no way to know for sure, so I'll wait.

If there is an <strike>update</strike> EDIT: Redesign sooner than Macworld '09, my guess is that it will be August or September, which is unfortunate for me.

 

[Etrain]

I don't see why people are questioning an update in June. I think it is rather obvious given the fact that Intel will begin to phase out SR.

"Apple yesterday launched revised MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks that incorporate Intel’s first run of Penryn processors. Apple insiders confirmed the company will refresh its notebook lineups in June, which comes as no surprise since all Centrino partners indicated they will announce notebooks based on the new Montevina Centrino 2.

Don't expect just the same old notebooks from January this June. The upcoming second-generation Penryn mobile processors require the new Socket B motherboards. However, since the thermal envelopes will not change between Penryn revisions vendors will be able to keep the existing form factors, like that found on the ultra-compact Lenovo X300, with minimal changes to the motherboard design."

That is from Daily Tech.

I don't think we are giving Intel enough credit here. Intel is actually now dictating Apple's revision timetable because they are so aggressive in new chip development and deployment.

 

[m85476585]

I said refresh above, I meant redesign.

There could be a refresh in the summer if Apple doesn't need to make major changes to the motherboard (I assumed Montevina would need some redesigning when I wrote my previous post). If it would only take small changes, it should be easy enough for them to do by July (maybe June, if they get prototypes early enough).

 

[madmartigan]

I don't think we will see a redesign till mid 09, Apple recently sent out an ad looking for specialist to help them with some alloy "can't remember exactly" but it looks like that might be the cover of the next mbp.

however that ad went out a couple of months ago which means apple is in the very early stages of development on the new laptop.

also remember that apple is on the rise, and I bet you that if polled, most people would say that they love the look of the mbp's and that they are synonmous with apple. If apple screws up the next model even just a little bit their stock could fall.


So you can bet that apple is taking their time with their next model design, I mean it has to carry a very, very high standard. The mbp that we have right now is and has been the epitomy of business laptop designs: smart, sleek, sexy, and most important powerful.

 

[m85476585]

I don't think we will see a redesign till mid 09, Apple recently sent out an ad looking for specialist to help them with some alloy "can't remember exactly" but it looks like that might be the cover of the next mbp.

Carbon fiber.

 

[alphaod]

Questions;

1) What will the Mont. refresh bring (if there is one)
2) If there is going to be a refresh, will it be announced at WWDC?
3) The graphics card; 512mb vs 256mb. I've heard that VRAM doesnt matter? Then why bother having 2 different mods tho? I'm confused about this.
4) Worth waiting for the next update? (*In General*)(Presuming it is within August)

Thanks,
-K

1) The hardware will have Peryn CPUs with 1066MHz FSB and 800MHz DDR3(?)
2) Probably, but everyone expect Peryn to be announced at MW2008, but it wasn't.
3) Because some people don't want to spend $500 extra or don't need the extra 100MHz nor 256MB VRAM. It's a market and if someone where to buy a Macbook but wanted dedicated video, they might get the base model MBP. Also it cuts costs on Apple's side.
4) It's never worth waiting. If you wait and it's no good you'll regret it. If you get one now and the update is spectacular, well that's what computers are about, so it'll always be like that right?