NVIDIA Powered MacBooks on October 14th?

The Tall One said:
One of the worst things about the Macbook is its integrated graphics card. Can't display EV nova? Come on. No World Of Warcraft??? USELESS.
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Well... maybe their iPhone App store finally told these pigheads at Apple that a considerable number of consumers enjoy some casual gaming. And they want it in an affordable package (MacBook), not some 1800$ monstrosity (MBP) - yet a GPU from one of the widely-supported suppliers (ATI, Nvidia) is almost a prerequisite.
ntrigue said:
...the board stated that their profits would be down this coming quarter due to a revolutionary product etc.
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Actually they stated that profits would be down in the 4th quarter... which has already ended..
mdriftmeyer said:
Firewire is being used more and more in critical control systems where Ethernet would be a fish out of water.
Auto-Industry, Aerospace, et.al.
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Granted, I haven't been clear enough. What I wanted to say was that FireWire 800 is not widely used in personal computing. Sure, there are a few narrow uses for creatives and some do use it for external storage... the latter being almost exclusively Mac users, for a lack of inexpensive alternatives (read: eSATA ports and expandability).
mattbannister said:
it is so frustrating for me, because i'm in australia and have no idea what time it is in the US, i guess all i can do is keep refreshing sites fervently.
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I gather you don't own a Mac yet?
Otherwise, you could just hit F12 to access dashboard.
There is this small widget which basically lets you put a cupertino clock in your dashboard.

I guess it's called "World Clock" or so.
Maybe you should check it out.
It's really awesome.

;)
 
AppliedMicro said:
I gather you don't own a Mac yet?
Otherwise, you could just hit F12 to access dashboard.
There is this small widget which basically lets you put a cupertino clock in your dashboard.

I guess it's called "World Clock" or so.
Maybe you should check it out.
It's really awesome.

;)
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good guess. i live a painful existence, two horribly outdated hewlett packards in my house. but hopefully...
 
andylyon said:
I was checking on three popular sites here in the UK (Comet, Currys and PC World) a couple of weeks ago and all macbooks (and pro's) bar the base model were out of stock. Now I have checked back and they are all in stock again.

Out of stock a couple of weeks ago suggested they were running their stock low and updates were imminent, but now it's not the case. Surely this isn't a good sign!

AnDy
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I second this. Comet, Dixons, Argos and Currys were all out of stock a week or two ago. This is no longer the case. Went to Argos this week and they seemed to have all the Macbook models alongside with the Macbook Pro models.

Am I the only one thinking nothing will happen on the 14th? :(
 
On the Currys and Dixons websites at the moment most Macbooks and Pro's are out of stock... Argos however have them all in stock.
 
AppliedMicro said:
Well... maybe their iPhone App store finally told these pigheads at Apple that a considerable number of consumers enjoy some casual gaming. And they want it in an affordable package (MacBook), not some 1800$ monstrosity (MBP) - yet a GPU from one of the widely-supported suppliers (ATI, Nvidia) is almost a prerequisite.
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I hate to break it to you but even the "1800$ monstrosity (MBP)" has shamefully poor performance in gaming when compared to other laptops of it's class and price range.

I'd pay any amount of money for a portable Mac with a high end GPU but APple just won't make one.
 
The Samurai said:
I second this. Comet, Dixons, Argos and Currys were all out of stock a week or two ago. This is no longer the case. Went to Argos this week and they seemed to have all the Macbook models alongside with the Macbook Pro models.

Am I the only one thinking nothing will happen on the 14th? :(
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any macminis?
 
Yixian said:
I hate to break it to you but even the "1800$ monstrosity (MBP)" has shamefully poor performance in gaming when compared to other laptops of it's class and price range.

I'd pay any amount of money for a portable Mac with a high end GPU but APple just won't make one.
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Actually, when they're updated, Macbook Pros are competitive. But a few weeks later, every other manufacturer has an update and gets the lead again.

Oddly enough, there's no computer with better Windows XP suppord than a current Mac. You get all the drivers you need in one batch without searching for each and every one and installing Windows via Boot Camp is pretty automatic. I wish PC laptops were as easy to re-install...
 
Dixons are still out of stock, which i think is a big indication of something happening and currys and pc world.

I know Argos shuffle stock around a lot.
 
MrCrowbar said:
Actually, when they're updated, Macbook Pros are competitive. But a few weeks later, every other manufacturer has an update and gets the lead again.

Oddly enough, there's no computer with better Windows XP suppord than a current Mac. You get all the drivers you need in one batch without searching for each and every one and installing Windows via Boot Camp is pretty automatic. I wish PC laptops were as easy to re-install...
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We were talking about GPUs. MBPs usually sport low mid-range cards and yet their competitors of similar price/class sport high end cards.

I'm not saying Alienware is any good and Toshiba Satellites aren't any match for MBPs in other aspects, but check out the optical drives, standard ram and GPUs on those bad boys, then check the prices... sometimes cheaper than the MacBook Pros.

Apple doesn't offer a high end notebook, simple as that.
 
Yixian said:
I hate to break it to you but even the "1800$ monstrosity (MBP)" has shamefully poor performance in gaming when compared to other laptops of it's class and price range.
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Welll I don't really think it's that poor considering the MBPs frame and weight and the fact that it was releases months ago. But of course it's no high-end solution, not even for notebooks.
The Samurai said:
I second this. Comet, Dixons, Argos and Currys were all out of stock a week or two ago. This is no longer the case.
Am I the only one thinking nothing will happen on the 14th?
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I am not really sure if this is any indication. At least I have seen this some time ago in the Apple store. Books went out of stock but reappeared a few days before a new product announcement. Which probably is not as illogical as it may seem, from a supply-chain perspective. Don't know anything about resellers or the situation in the UK though...
 
AppliedMicro said:
Welll I don't really think it's that poor considering the MBPs frame and weight and the fact that it was releases months ago. But of course it's no high-end solution, not even for notebooks.
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That's exactly it, it's frame and weight, Apple have a confused idea of what the MacBook Pro should be and sacrifice it's performance for overkill on thinness and lightness.

Nobody chooses a laptop because it's 0.3" thinner than a competitor with a video card over twice as powerful, a bigger HDD and that isn't plagued with heating issues.

Let's face it the only reason people buy MBPs is because it's currently the best we can get whilst sticking to Mac OS X. If Apple released a MacBook Extreme that was a tad thicker but with specs comparable to the competition it'd canabalise MBP sales into nothingness.

Especially because we're already paying more than what's necessary to beat the competition spec wise.
 
Yixian said:
That's exactly it, it's frame and weight, Apple have a confused idea of what the MacBook Pro should be and sacrifice it's performance for overkill on thinness and lightness.

Nobody chooses a laptop because it's 0.3" thinner than a competitor with a video card over twice as powerful, a bigger HDD and that isn't plagued with heating issues.

Let's face it the only reason people buy MBPs is because it's currently the best we can get whilst sticking to Mac OS X. If Apple released a MacBook Extreme that was a tad thicker but with specs comparable to the competition it'd canabalise MBP sales into nothingness.

Especially because we're already paying more than what's necessary to beat the competition spec wise.
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Exactly. The MBP is only powerful in comparison to the MB, which Apple have intentionally crippled with integrated graphics in order to make the MBP more attractive. You're essentially paying $1000 extra for an average GPU and a few extras (like backlit keyboard).

The MB could easily have a low-end GPU (like an 8400) even at it's current price. However that would obviously eat into the sales of the MBP so Apple won't do it.

Personally I think Apple should unify the MB and MBP line since they have to artificially distinguish them by ripping off consumers currently.
 
Yixian said:
Apple have a confused idea of what the MacBook Pro should be and sacrifice it's performance for overkill on thinness and lightness.
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But only on the GPU. The CPU can certainly be considered high-end.
Yixian said:
Nobody chooses a laptop because it's 0.3" thinner than a competitor with a video card over twice as powerful.
Let's face it the only reason people buy MBPs is because it's currently the best we can get whilst sticking to Mac OS X.
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I don't think so. I mean, 15" notebooks with dedicated graphics are usually way bulkier and heavier than the MBP, and / or offer less battery runtime. The latter being caused by the GPU! Personally, I don't really care that about GPU performance if it's a solid midrange one, yet I do care about CPU performance, weight and battery life. And I'd guess that there are other Mac users like me, who would still get an MBP. But of course there's little doubt that you can otherwise get way more (spec-wise) than Apple's offerings for the same or even lower price. RAM, GPU, ports, expandability, warranty.
 
Manic Mouse said:
the MB, which Apple have intentionally crippled with integrated graphics in order to make the MBP more attractive.

The MB could easily have a low-end GPU (like an 8400) even at it's current price.
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I don't think it's intentional crippling, like the (ridiculous) combo drive.
Integrated graphics are pretty common if not standard on notebooks like this.
And there are perfectly good reasons for that, even besides costs. A dedicated GPU would result in slightly more complexity and a greater potential of failure, and particularly less battery runtime. Which isn't a good thing.

Personally, I'd hope for a considerably lower price tag on the MBA. That would make it more affordable for customers who want greater portability and battery life, while willing to make sacrifices on performance. Then Apple could easily put a decent mid-range dedicated GPU in the MacBook, to cater to mainstream audiences. While that might not happen, I don't think it's too outrageous reasoning either. I think it make for a great, differentiated product line-up.
 
mdriftmeyer said:
Originally Posted by AppliedMicro
No way... almost nobody uses FW800, compared to Ethernet. Besides, Ethernet via USB is a great idea for the MacBook Air, where performance doesn't really matter. But for the current Gb-Ethernet it's a major (!) step back, performance-wise​
.

For what? Basic TCP/IP packet transfers? I sure as hell hope one uses Ethernet for what it was designed to do.
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What about NAS, and iSCSI? Even Time Capsule (especially if wired).

Are you claiming that Ethernet wasn't "designed" for storage? I have a bunch of GbE and 10GbE gear that will disagree with that ;) .

It's only if you cripple the Ethernet by adding the overhead and latencies of USB, and prevent the TOE from working, and couple it with WiFi -- then you'll claim that Ethernet is only for "basic TCP/IP packets".

Copper rules :) .


mattbannister said:
haha, thanks. 4:51pm or am? i'm completely clueless.
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Try http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc where you'll see that

23:05:05 Tuesday October 7, 2008 in Australia/Sydney converts to
05:05:05 Tuesday October 7, 2008 in America/Los_Angeles
Daylight Saving Time is in effect on this date/time in Australia/Sydney
Daylight Saving Time is in effect on this date/time in America/Los_Angeles
​


MrCrowbar said:
You get all the drivers you need in one batch without searching for each and every one and installing Windows via Boot Camp is pretty automatic. I wish PC laptops were as easy to re-install...
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Umm, the re-install disks from the Windows laptops have exactly that - one disk with XP with all the right drivers slip-streamed onto the disk. When you use the manufacturer's disc (which is what you're doing with dual-booting on an Apple), it's easy.

Some, like Lenovo, even have an manufacturer's software update application. This will automatically identify your particular laptop and download any updates as needed.
 
In my opinion, no invitations today points towards no release next week. I know the move from iBook to MacBook happened without an event, but the aesthetic changes between the lines was not that great and thus hard to get the mainstream media hyped up about it.

Plus, Apple is a different company today than three and a half years ago. If the rumors are true about the changes to the line, I just don't see how Apple 2008 would not hold an event. Apple 2005 wasn't mainstream enough (although it was close to getting there), but Apple 2008 definitely is.

If today comes and goes without invitations, I would love to be proven wrong, it just feels like Apple 2008 would hold an event for something like this.
 
Manic Mouse said:
Exactly. The MBP is only powerful in comparison to the MB, which Apple have intentionally crippled with integrated graphics in order to make the MBP more attractive. You're essentially paying $1000 extra for an average GPU and a few extras (like backlit keyboard).

The MB could easily have a low-end GPU (like an 8400) even at it's current price. However that would obviously eat into the sales of the MBP so Apple won't do it.

Personally I think Apple should unify the MB and MBP line since they have to artificially distinguish them by ripping off consumers currently.
Click to expand...


Personally I think the Macbook Pro 15 should simply become the Macbook 15, The only Pro model should be the 17" This should have its chasis enlarged to except 2 Hardrives (SSD's) a top line mobile Gfx and a top line iMac CPU, imho these days a 17" notebook is both portable to a point and a desktop replacement
 
:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: If Apple doesn't release new notebooks next week I am going to fly to Cupertino and slap them all in the face. And then I'll cry.
 
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