Penryn MacBook Pros: Performance Comparable, Battery Life Greater

[Digital Skunk]

Im no expert on graphics cards, but im hearing a lot of people put the ones in the current macbook pro down a lot, i see it has the onboard memory i was looking for, but i guess its missing some shaders or clock frequency does not meet everyones standards.

My main problem is that i have enough money for either a MBP or AlienWare, i cant buy both but i want beauty/elegance, works out of the box, OSX Leopard, iLife, iWork etc etc, what i dont want is windows, when you know Alienware is only for games you know where i am going with this, i want to play games on my mac, sure there is consoles out there but not every game is available on consoles and some games on consoles are hard to play like C&C Tiberium Wars, RTS games are best on computers, not consoles. This is where my conundrum comes from, i want MBP but want to play decent games with high settings (should expect high settings for the price it costs for a MBP) and smooth FPS. With only enough for one machine or the other i only wish Apple would take gaming more seriously and stop jerking off gamer customers.

I have seen the same thing. I hope that it proves to be at least better than the previous model... haven't searched for the benchmarks yet.

As for games... I would probably grab the MBP and a PC tower of some kind. I like the Alienwares but they are a HELL of a lot bigger in person than on their site. If that type of weight doesn't bother you then go for it. I like OS X and such just the same, but if I am a gamer than Windows is the way to go.

I play C&C3 Tiberium Wars on my fiancee's iMac 24" extreme and it's honestly amazing, fast, clean, etc until NOD drops a nuke and my FPS rate drops to like 5 or something... everything else if fine from the ION cannon to the Scrin Rift generator. Only the Nuke causes problems. I don't think the MBP would be able to cut it like the iMac even with the same parts. You might want to go for a real desktop running Windows.

 

[Radio Monk33]

The goofiest thing about Mac right now is Universal Binary... I shaved 4gig off my MBP's HD just by eliminating the bloat of non Intel PPC code.

Not only the space saving but the apps launch almost instantaneously now. Even 80% of the Apple apps still have PPC code in them.

It's been a couple of years guys time to let the PPC days go and upgrade!

Hey how do you get rid of the PPC Universal Binary stuff? Is it an option when you put in the OS X discs to reinstall?

 

[SMT21]

this makes me happy

Hey all, long time lurker, 1st time poster.

So when the new MBP's came out, I went to the Apple Store online and noticed the last gen MBP's refurbished priced at $1450 USD - they are normally $1700 USD. I figured 'what the hell' and ordered one (non glossy screen). Now that I've read some reviews, doesn't seem like there is a $550 difference between old and new; I'm happy with my purchase - I think, it hasn't been delivered yet.

This will be my first Mac since a Performa running OS 8.x. I'm glad to come back to Mac, and excited to learn OS X.V

Considering this same machine was $1700 refurbished just a week ago, I feel like I got a pretty good deal. I almost got the refurbished BlackBook (previous gen). They were selling that for $1100, down from $1300. However, for $350 more, I thought it was worth it for the MBP.

 

[dante@sisna.com]

was it really worth the wait?

That's great. Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Stridder44]

That's great. Thanks for the laugh.

Do you like trolling every thread on the new MBP's or are your panties still in a bunch because you didn't have the patience to wait?

 

[dante@sisna.com]

once programmers start using sse 4 the penryn MBP's will be worth the wait.

i'm assuming that sse 4 is a step up like altivec (G3 to G4). Is that correct?

By that time the Penryn will seem slow compared to the next best thing.

 

[dante@sisna.com]

Do you like trolling every thread on the new MBP's or are your panties still in a bunch because you didn't have the patience to wait?

I find the ranting funny, including yours Stridder, and I love Macs and have been posting about them for years.

Oh, and by the way, we just got our Third 17" MBP for the Studio and this one is the New Penryn.

I have no Skin in this Game: We own three 17" MBP's.

We buy based on projects and need. We rarely wait. For us it is about making money, not about patience.

I like posting about the Mac, sharing experience with others, and will continue to do so.

Peace


** PS -- I don't wear Panties. Prefer Thong.

 

[Ranchdip]

was it really worth the wait?

Heck yeah... You can't cook eggs on the newer model (may or may not be a plus for some). It's much cooler and is actually usable as a "lap" top.

 

[cyberjunky]

I have seen the same thing. I hope that it proves to be at least better than the previous model... haven't searched for the benchmarks yet.

As for games... I would probably grab the MBP and a PC tower of some kind. I like the Alienwares but they are a HELL of a lot bigger in person than on their site. If that type of weight doesn't bother you then go for it. I like OS X and such just the same, but if I am a gamer than Windows is the way to go.

I play C&C3 Tiberium Wars on my fiancee's iMac 24" extreme and it's honestly amazing, fast, clean, etc until NOD drops a nuke and my FPS rate drops to like 5 or something... everything else if fine from the ION cannon to the Scrin Rift generator. Only the Nuke causes problems. I don't think the MBP would be able to cut it like the iMac even with the same parts. You might want to go for a real desktop running Windows.

Yes but i will make up part of the cost of buying a MBP by selling my C2D Macbook (Tiger). One day id like a Mac Pro, and make good use of my 37" high def tv screen real estate, i bought a good few months back for my xbox 360, but i saved up for that, takes longer to reach enough for the MBP. Id like to go to my friends LAN parties and join in, even bring it into uni and play it on my breaks (my uni has huge 1-2 hour breaks at times and plenty of WiFi throughout campus and places to lounge about and plug in my laptop so i figure why not). Guess im looking for the flexibility of the MBP and enhancing its gaming ability.

On a side note i heard that the Tiberium wars was choppy on the iMac even with the C2D extreme...you using max settings?

Heck yeah... You can't cook eggs on the newer model (may or may not be a plus for some). It's much cooler and is actually usable as a "lap" top.

Will the iWok only be available in the oriental countries? Does the iWok come with iTunes?

[EDIT: the quote changed before i used it and i didnt see..., it did say something about an iWok, thought it was a typo and id crack a joke but now its gone]

 

[Digital Skunk]

Yes but i will make up part of the cost of buying a MBP by selling my C2D Macbook (Tiger). One day id like a Mac Pro, and make good use of my 37" high def tv screen real estate, i bought a good few months back for my xbox 360, but i saved up for that, takes longer to reach enough for the MBP. Id like to go to my friends LAN parties and join in, even bring it into uni and play it on my breaks (my uni has huge 1-2 hour breaks at times and plenty of WiFi throughout campus and places to lounge about and plug in my laptop so i figure why not). Guess im looking for the flexibility of the MBP and enhancing its gaming ability.

On a side note i heard that the Tiberium wars was choppy on the iMac even with the C2D extreme...you using max settings?

I see, the same for most college students. I would say that your decision is based on what you want to do more... if games are very very important to you and you want to run the latest and greatest then go for the PC only because games come out for it 6 months ahead of Mac (as of now) and the Alienware (thick as it may be) gives you SLI and dual GFX cards. If you deck it out it will blow away the 17" MBP even with SR.

I don't know what others say about C&C on an iMac Extreme being choppy, but it's the smoothest thing I have seen, and I used to play C&C (all flavors) on the PC. It's just as smooth, and much smoother than the SR MBP and previous model iMac. The Graphics are set to as high as I can get them and there was not a single problem sans the nuke from Nod. I turned the settings down to medium and the problem was still there, but if anyone has ever seen the nuke it's very VERY GFX intensive and fills even the 24" screen. edge to edge.

I honestly swore to never play C&C on anything less, hence the reason for wanting the specs in my signature on a MBP. I piss my fiancee off quite a bit with that since it's her computer.

If you need Mac OS X and you know that your work/schooling will be easier with Mac OS X and Apple apps and you can deal with the 6 month wait or virtualization to play games then go for the MBP.

The dual HDDs and dual GFX cards on many 17" PC laptops makes it hard to justify the price of the MBP... but the 17" MBP is the only 17" that is under 7lbs.

p.s. for me the software integration of the Mac with its consumer and pro apps was enough for me to switch from Windows, there is nothing like it and Windows and other software devos just hasn't gotten the point. Going from Final Cut Pro Studio apps to iWork apps, to iLife apps, to Adobe apps seamlessly without pain and suffering is what will continue to keep me a Mac head. Now if Apple just improves their hardware offerings (mini tower & 17" desktop replacement) they will gain much more market share.

 

[michaelsviews]

WWDC 2009 is more likely, I think. By then Intel will have released the Calpella platform which will include the Clarksfield and Auburndale variants of the Nehalem CPU. Mac OS 10.6 should also be ready by WWDC 2009. WiMax is also 4G technology. By 2009, there are likely to be more hotspots available for this than in 2008.

Also, by then the iPhone and AirPort could also be bumped to 4G/WiMax to provide the next generation of something like this.

What a great opportunity to commemorate the Mac's 25th anniversary by bumping the OS to the next level, and completely refreshing the Mac line (by eliminating the front side bus, which Calpella makes possible).

AT&T has enough problems with 3G and getting that up and running , let alone more bars in more places. 4G long ways away. Verizon will have it up probably by end of 2009

 

[EagerDragon]

Heck yeah... You can't cook eggs on the newer model (may or may not be a plus for some). It's much cooler and is actually usable as a "lap" top.

Darn it, its going to be hell making scramble eggs if these babies do not run hot.

 

[boobooq88]

Ah, yes. 7-15% percent is 17-36 minutes – assuming a batteri life of four hours. And who can honestly say they're getting 4 hours on a MBP pro? More realistically, you get 2-2,50 and with the latter, it's a mere 10-22 minutes.

Now, don't get me wrong, _any_ enhancement is great. But worth the wait?

Nah …

on my SR MBP 2.2 GHz I easily get 3 hours and fairly often 3.5 hours out of it while on the web. If all I do is type stuff up and turn off wifi I get around 4 hours.

An I bought this the first week these came out.

 

[Stridder44]

I find the ranting funny, including yours Stridder, and I love Macs and have been posting about them for years.

Oh, and by the way, we just got our Third 17" MBP for the Studio and this one is the New Penryn.

I have no Skin in this Game: We own three 17" MBP's.

We buy based on projects and need. We rarely wait. For us it is about making money, not about patience.

I like posting about the Mac, sharing experience with others, and will continue to do so.

That's fine and all but, for the rest of us, our purchases aren't correlated with the amount of money we receive from them nor do we work in a studio. If we all did I have no doubt things would be different, but we don't.

It's not all about you, dante. So stop bashing the waiters who are planning on making their purchase a long lasting one.

 

[Analog Kid]

Guys, hardware is well ahead of software.

I do not believe that the software is there to exercise the ss4 instructions and the code has not been optimized to take advantage of the cache.

A few months from now you may start seeing some significant different numbers for both OSX and applications.

Apple might start using SSE4 relatively soon. Adobe on the other hand? SSE4 falls under "groundwork for the future". It needs to be shipping before anyone will compile to it. By the time apps are using it, the next gen processors will already be on the market.

 

[Digital Skunk]

AT&T has enough problems with 3G and getting that up and running , let alone more bars in more places. 4G long ways away. Verizon will have it up probably by end of 2009

Both Verizon and Sprint are currently putting up WiMax and 4G variants around heavily populated areas for testing. Sprint is doing it in downtown Baltimore City as we type. I still don't know why Apple went with AT&T given that both Sprint and Verizon were working on this tech while AT&T was just finishing EDGE. EVDO is already much faster, and makes web browsing a breeze even with my crappy IE Mobile.

In the metro areas, 4G and WiMax will be very prevalent. Don't know what AT&T is doing right now.

That's fine and all but, for the rest of us, our purchases aren't correlated with the amount of money we receive from them nor do we work in a studio. If we all did I have no doubt things would be different, but we don't.

It's not all about you, dante. So stop bashing the waiters who are planning on making their purchase a long lasting one.

I can agree to that. When everyone, including myself, was screaming about the Mac Pro update my school bought a lot of them.... like 40 or 50 or so from what they tell me. 3GHz quad core, 1TB drives, mid range GFX card, 23" ACD for each one.

They had the cash and it was going to disappear by year's end, so they pulled the trigger. I on the other hand wasn't in that much of a rush. I waited... and may continue to wait since my portable needs are much higher than my tower needs, for now... I wouldn't condemn anyone for waiting unless they didn't really need the latest and greatest. There are some waiting for the next revision of the MBP so they can surf the web on a better looking machine....

For me. I had a much older machine and waiting was good. Not only do a get a battery friendly, faster chip, but MT and a better display as well... for the same $3000 that I would have paid for the SR model.

While it’s certainly interesting to compare new models to the most recent releases to gauge the progression of Apple’s offerings, most people who bought a new MacBook Pro just last year are probably not looking to upgrade. Rather, it’s owners of even older laptops who have a stake in seeing just how much performance has improved with this latest release.

To provide a point of comparison, we also ran Speedmark tests on a 2GHz MacBook Pro Core Duo, a two-year-old machine that was among the first to ship with an Intel-built processor. The new 15-inch, 2.5GHz MacBook Pro scored around a 50-percent improvement over that older laptop in both Speedmark 5 and our Compressor tests. We also found the newer model to be 36 percent faster than the 2GHz MacBook Pro in both our Photoshop suite and Cinema 4D tests.

Users still holding on to their PowerPC-based PowerBooks have even more impetus to upgrade. Even the low-end 2.4GHz MacBook Pro had a Speedmark score twice as fast as the PowerBook G4. In other tests the 2.4GHz MacBook Pro finished tests in about a third of the time.

 

[jpturner]

Xslimmer

* Remove unnecessary code from fat binaries. Xslimmer determines which code your machine needs and removes the rest. This is achieved by removing the code inside the Universal Binaries that does not fit with your machine's architecture, a code that never gets executed and just wastes your disk space.

* Strip out unneeded languages. Safari is available in more than a dozen languages, Adium in more than 20. This is great, but how many of those do you need? Xslimmer allows you to select how many languages you want to preserve in your apps and will remove the rest, recovering lots of precious free space from your disk.

This prog is good because it not only removes the dead PPC code but language bloat as well. It also makes a backup of everything (just remember to put the backup on a USB removable drive or you don't save HD space) and has a great wizard (genie) that is well updated to know what is safely trimable.

 

[operator207]

"Was it worth it?"

I guess I shall chime in.

In my position, yes.

My "current" Mac, is a G4 15" powerbook, second to last generation. 1.67, but low res screen. Though in Nov 07, it lost its logic board. So I went to my old backup, a POS Compaq laptop. Worked ok for a few months, and is still working for the moment. Its battery life can be gauged in seconds, its missing the 't' key, and randomly, the hard drive locks up (bad sectors, and getting worse daily). I did not want to purchase a MBP from 2007, as I was laid off 15 days before my PB died. I just got a new job, that requires a laptop, and this update, how ever small, was just in time.

Just because its not a great big huge update/rework, or its not "revolutionary" or "evolutionary" does not mean that its not a good thing for everyone. This gave me what I wanted, something penryn and newer. It will also help me in my new job.

 

[cyberjunky]

I see, the same for most college students. I would say that your decision is based on what you want to do more... if games are very very important to you and you want to run the latest and greatest then go for the PC only because games come out for it 6 months ahead of Mac (as of now) and the Alienware (thick as it may be) gives you SLI and dual GFX cards. If you deck it out it will blow away the 17" MBP even with SR.

I don't know what others say about C&C on an iMac Extreme being choppy, but it's the smoothest thing I have seen, and I used to play C&C (all flavors) on the PC. It's just as smooth, and much smoother than the SR MBP and previous model iMac. The Graphics are set to as high as I can get them and there was not a single problem sans the nuke from Nod. I turned the settings down to medium and the problem was still there, but if anyone has ever seen the nuke it's very VERY GFX intensive and fills even the 24" screen. edge to edge.

I honestly swore to never play C&C on anything less, hence the reason for wanting the specs in my signature on a MBP. I piss my fiancee off quite a bit with that since it's her computer.

If you need Mac OS X and you know that your work/schooling will be easier with Mac OS X and Apple apps and you can deal with the 6 month wait or virtualization to play games then go for the MBP.

The dual HDDs and dual GFX cards on many 17" PC laptops makes it hard to justify the price of the MBP... but the 17" MBP is the only 17" that is under 7lbs.

p.s. for me the software integration of the Mac with its consumer and pro apps was enough for me to switch from Windows, there is nothing like it and Windows and other software devos just hasn't gotten the point. Going from Final Cut Pro Studio apps to iWork apps, to iLife apps, to Adobe apps seamlessly without pain and suffering is what will continue to keep me a Mac head. Now if Apple just improves their hardware offerings (mini tower & 17" desktop replacement) they will gain much more market share.

For me its more of a hypothetical question, as i would never go back to a PC, has to be a mac, my gripe isnt with being faced with a hypothetical decision but rather Apples continued defiance in regards to listening to what customers really want.

Theres a lot of mac users who dont care, thats all very well for them, they have what they want, what ticks me off is when then knock you for wanting more just because their wants/needs have been met they care not about what anyone else wants, and it seems to me that every time Apple releases some new trendy mac variant and more PC users switch the more people want to see games on the mac. When those who are content with what they have cant be happy with it and let those who strive for more alone its possible apple marketing sees sites like these when people say "its not for gaming", "get a console" and so fourth Apple no doubt thinks "ah well, seems more people think they are getting a good deal as apposed to the others who want to play games, let them have what they got, and if they dont like it they go buy a console, screw them everyone else is happy".

It was said before in another post and i guess im just reiterating that point that if you let them believe your content to pay top brass price for sub standard hardware then they will continue to deliver that rather than trying to keep people happy. If they only serve to keep the Professional users and the old grannies and grandads happy then i think things like the power of their OpenGL engine is wasted on them.

Whats SR btw??

 

[sk8monkey]

"Was it worth it?"

Of course it was, particularly if you've never had a Mac before. I think I jumped in right around the best time for me...I needed a new system and didn't want to wait at least another 5-6 months at least. It might not be worth it if I already had one, but for those that didn't, this is great.

I'm happy with the small performance updates. It's allowed me to join the Apple realm!

Thank you!! you couldn't be more right!
im getting my first mac in 2 days.. and its the new 17inch macbook pro.. and i can not wait!!

 

[mongoos150]

Cyberjunky - I could barely read your post. Use more punctuation.

 

[cyberjunky]

Cyberjunky - I could barely read your post. Use more punctuation.

Sorry. I tend to use commas a lot where i should be using full stops, just read it in your head as opposed to out loud. It will save you running out of breath.

I can read it just fine, but thats just me.

 

[vixapphire]

More and more this feels like an update to smooth over Intel's Merom phaseout (it's not massively difficult to spin a modified motherboard and the old and new ones are fairly similar), and an all new design in the not-too-distant future (which does take longer). It really feels like the last-generation Powerbook G4 update.

funny you say that; it's exactly what it feels like to me.

i got tired of waiting so a few weeks back bought a $300 1GHz Tibook from ebay. happy the man!

it'll be a great tide-over to the next generation's top of line, which is going to retire both the laptop and my 2gig G5 powermac.

the next upgrade had better be good!

 

[vixapphire]

What I'd really like to know is:
How hot is the Penryn MBP...?

Anyone?

Dave

ask paris hilton

 

[skiesforme]

I had mine on last night w/ the adaptor for about 3 hours and then let it run w/o the adaptor until it died. It was in my lap for most of that time and never noticed the heat from the bottom. I stuck my hand under there to see if was producing heat and it was barely noticeable. Big difference from the old ones.

+ i freaking ran for hours! I ended up having to turn on every application i had and loop a quicktime movie for it to conk out. When the battery said it had 5 hours left i was surprised, But when an hour had gone by and it still said it had 4:45 hours left.. yikes

I love my new MBP so far.

I agree !! same observation here. Battery life is better. It remains to be seen if its so because its a brand new battery. And while ripping using Handbrake it didnt seem to heat up as much as I anticipated.