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Sounds good.

No trace of a rumor to "air out" the MacBook Pro performance for a thinner design.

The great screen of the last generation MBP will probably in this one as well (gladly no super thin, lower quality screen).

Curious about heat generation.

Very much considering upgrading to this baby (maybe I shouldn't call the MBP a baby. It has matured, grown up, and is now a full fledged computer with almost none of the downsides of earlier laptops - except storage space, of course).
 
I DO value performance. ...but a processor bump isn't going to make my computer faster in anything but a very few tasks. I don't do 3d, I'm an editor, and a photographer. Data access is always the bottleneck. That being said, I don't want an Air, because I need a CPU that's more powerful than my 4 year old 13" aluminum Macbook.

Uhhh... have you even looked at any of the Air's benchmarks?
 
Actually the 9400M is also an integrated onboard graphic controller, just older and from another company.
Aha. I had thought it was a mobile GPU. I stand corrected.
An OLD middle-range dedicated GPU would be a geforce 8600 (e.g. the dedicated GPU in 2008 MBPs) which back then you could find on "budget" PC gaming computers for about $700-800 which btw beats the crap out of the intel 3000.
The highest number I can find on Passmark for a GeForce 8600 is the GeForce 8600 GTS clocking in with a G3D Mark score of 520. However, I don't know which model was in the MBP, which reportedly used a variant with DDR3.
A GeForce 8600 GT scores 384, while other variants score lower, including the plain GeForce 8600, with a score of 233.
Intel HD3000 scores 521 on Passmark GPU benchmark
Intel HD4000 should score roughly 815 (~55% better).
That doesn't seem to "beat the crap out of the intel 3000". Am I looking at the right metrics?

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/mid_range_gpus.html
 
In general, discrete/dedicated graphics cards are faster, but are typically larger, use more power, and generate more heat (in addition to the expense).

On systems that have both, some have switching, either automatic or user selectable. For example, one scheme could use dedicated graphics when the machine is plugged in, and integrated otherwise.

Also, sometimes there are features implemented in integrated graphics that may not be otherwise available - for example in Intel's HD3000, there are routines for compressing video.



I'll come back for this.

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Update:
Intel HD3000 scores 521 on Passmark GPU benchmark
Intel HD4000 should score roughly 815 (~55% better).
A GeForce 9400M G (not sure if that's the same performance as yours, but should be similar) scores 303.

So the new integrated graphics should be about 2.5-3 times faster than your 4 year old discrete card.

Actually the 9400M is also an integrated onboard graphic controller, just older and from another company.
An OLD middle-range dedicated GPU would be a geforce 8600 (e.g. the dedicated GPU in 2008 MBPs) which back then you could find on "budget" PC gaming computers for about $700-800 which btw beats the crap out of the intel 3000.
It is confusing but believe it or not GPU power does not improve too fast, a 5years old Geforce 8800 (top of the line back then) could very well beat middle range gpus today.
Dont get me wrong, the HD3000 and HD4000 would be perfect for most people. Low heat, decent performance (yes you can actually play some games on it @ low settings and sometimes even medium settings) etc. But if you paying 1500-2000 for a computer it should really come with some kind of dedicated graphics, probably even medium-high dedicated graphics and not just entry level.


Ah, I didn't know it was an integrated graphics controller. Thanks for the clarifications and performance results!
 
These MacBook Pros are sounding good, but with Mountain Likn comi g later this year, would it be better to ge a wa machine with the new OS preinstalled, or to upgrade on its arrival? Although any new models would be more than capable of handling the new OS, it would be cleaner to wait it out? What are general thoughts on when releases of hardware and software shave happened in the past, is it worth waiting until not are updated? Thanks
 
These MacBook Pros are sounding good, but with Mountain Likn comi g later this year, would it be better to ge a wa machine with the new OS preinstalled, or to upgrade on its arrival? Although any new models would be more than capable of handling the new OS, it would be cleaner to wait it out? What are general thoughts on when releases of hardware and software shave happened in the past, is it worth waiting until not are updated? Thanks

Wait all you like

Only potential problem... Wait... Wait... Wait... Wait... oh ???... yes... Wait.... Wait... Wait... Wait.... OMG!.. Wait....Wait... Wait.. Wait... Car Accident.. Too Late! :eek:
 
re original article

cmon intel

your release date taking ages

Keep things in perspective. To design a new chip Intel has to do tons of work (each Intel CPU nowadays contains billions of transistors). All Apple has to do to release new Mac is to order new PCBoard from Foxconn.
 
Honest question (sorry if I sound like I'm trolling; not trying to): how about they get rid of all cords and do everything wirelessly? Have an induction pad and charge your computer, keyboard, mouse & external screen all on one pad.
I still think you're trolling... but here goes.

Mac computers need high-bandwidth data ports like Thunderbolt, and power ports like ... the power port. These cannot be effectively replaced by wireless connections. That's why it can't be done.

On the other hand, the next iPhone may very well be completely port-less. Since it's a low-powered device, it can be charged inductively. There's almost no need for a USB 2.0 connection anymore, since there's now Wi-Fi syncing, and 802.11n is almost as fast as USB 2.0.

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Keep things in perspective. To design a new chip Intel has to do tons of work (each Intel CPU nowadays contains billions of transistors). All Apple has to do to release new Mac is to order new PCBoard from Foxconn.
Oh yeah, that's a very objective and non-biased view. Apple definitely has it so easy, even you could be releasing new MacBooks.
 
Ho hum

Ivy Bridge is not a large increase in speed. That is disappointing.

A 20% speed increase is not big enough to upgrade your system by buying a whole new Macintosh.

The graphics speed in Ivy Bridge increase also means nothing since the 15 and 17 inch MacBook Pros have discrete GPUs that have much much faster speed.

Generally, I think a 100% increase in speed is worthy of buying a new computer. Perhaps next year we'll get an upgrade that reaches this plateau compared to the 2011 Macs.

Ho hum, indeed.
 
Is no one else interested in seeing if Apple could reignite popularity in PowerVR on the desktop?
 
Would a dedicated Graphics card improve the laptops performance of:
- Video Editing in 1080p content
- Playing 1080p content
- Powering an 1 external Monitor, or more
- converting video
- Running multiple intensive programs at the same time - i.e - iMovie alongside photoshop, & handbrake

Also what advantages do the quad-core processors give over the dual-core?

These 2 factors, will decide if I am to upgrade my current 2010 13" MBP, with a new 15" MBP or 13" MBP
 
1. Thinner and Lighter body
Why? If you want light and thin, get the air.
2. Dedicated GPU for 13"
Where are you going to put it?
3. 8GB Ram 1600Hz by default, upgradable to 16GB Ram
4GB is fine for the base model. 1600MHz is almost no benefit over 1333MHz but if that's what Ivy Bridge comes with as a default, we'll take it.
4. 256 SSD default (even the 2010 MBA has had 128GB by default) with option for upgrades to 516GB or 772GB or option for HDD at 7200rpm
Fat chance. 256GB is a $250 drive retail. How much do you think Apple pays for the 320GB or 500GB HD they use now? Probably $30.
5. Get rid of optical drive, firewire and ethernet. Add USB 3.0 and one more TB
Some people still want ethernet and firewire, especially those who don't want to spend $400 on a single Thunderbolt hard drive.
7. Ivy Bridge (the Intel HD 4000 is again, useless)
It's fine. Not everyone is using 3D Studio or Call of Duty on their Mac.
 
When are we looking at seeing a generation of chips with ZERO chance of integrated graphics?

Good question, I wager never.

The logical reason is that a low-end (think low-end MacMini,low-end laptops and most servers) computers that don't need a dedicated GPU, will get along just fine, as these devices aren't marketed as gaming rigs.

The trouble is that line of thinking should have gone away 2 years ago when Adobe started to use GPU acceleration. That leaves only office suite software as the only software that doesn't take advantage of a dedicated GPU. Everything graphics and video related does.

So either laptops are heading towards becoming useless "email machines" that can easily be supplanted by a iPad+keyboard, or one giant leap in graphics performance must be put in laptops to keep them relevant.

Intel for it's part, is barely keeping up to 5 year old graphics performance, and it's a joke. It's been a joke since the i810 chipset in 1999, when integrated graphics started in the southbridge. It's been a joke ever since. But only with the i3/i5/i7 has it become an outrageous joke because it wastes die space, and with it battery life.

In a desktop it's less of an issue because you can always drop in a PCIe video card and the only thing you have to complain about is the "onboard GPU tax" and maybe some power being wasted if you count all your watts.


Honest question (sorry if I sound like I'm trolling; not trying to): how about they get rid of all cords and do everything wirelessly? Have an induction pad and charge your computer, keyboard, mouse & external screen all on one pad.

Induction wastes power, I don't have the numbers in front of me, but you're looking at only around 30% efficiency. Induction only makes sense on devices that aren't large enough to have a charging connector and are low-power. Think bluetooth headphones, hearing aids, and implantable devices.

A Laptop is not a good candidate for induction charging. If a 95 watt charger is used normally for charging a quadcore laptop, then this suddenly goes up to 250+ watts, which is more power consumed than my two dual core desktop's running and their monitors.

Induction power is mostly a scam for people who don't want cords, I don't know about you, but I don't want hundreds of watts of radiated power bouncing around a concentrated area of a room that also has people on in it. There is a reason why our cell phones, wifi routers, and such radiate less than one watt.
 
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So interface elements would be rendered at the present day resolution but with a larger DPI and the display would scale the elements automatically. That way they retain their current size versus getting smaller (which is what happens currently).

Exactly!

Ivy Bridge is not a large increase in speed. That is disappointing......

It was never supposed to be a huge gain. Ivy Bridge is a tick, not a tock. It's a re-tooled version of the Sandy Bridge (Moving to 22nm, 3D transistor technology, lower TDP and much faster IGP)

Also, it's not about speed anymore, it's about efficiency or performance per watt. The speed war has died a short while ago when the heat was getting to be too much, same reason that Apple switched away from PPC Gx series from IBM.

With that in mind, we're talking about 20% increase while also decreasing the heat and power being used. If they can add 30 minutes to an hour to the current battery life, it's a killer upgrade.

For some laptops, they can lower the battery weight to keep the same battery life while reducing the weight of the laptop.

Ivy Bridge low-power CPUs are going to be great in MBAs.


Is no one else interested in seeing if Apple could reignite popularity in PowerVR on the desktop?

I don't think that's going to happen for a while. I think it has to do with patents and licensing. PowerVP probably can only do mobile stuff.
 
If the HD4000 does not significantly improve the graphics performance over the 320M in my 2.4 C2D I'm not upgrading this time around either. The HD3000 is a joke.
 
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