Hey, the low end 15" unibody Pro is identical in specs to the high end unibody MacBook except for the slightly larger screen and the addition of the 9600 graphics card - I don't think that's enough differentiation between a standard and Pro model as it is, so I don't think there would be much damage done if this rebranding thing did happen...
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
waiting for wwdc vs. refresh/REBRAND vs. free ipods
- Thread starter mikejtl
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Hey, the low end 15" unibody Pro is identical in specs to the high end unibody MacBook except for the slightly larger screen and the addition of the 9600 graphics card - I don't think that's enough differentiation between a standard and Pro model as it is, so I don't think there would be much damage done if this rebranding thing did happen...
Totally agree with you on the branding issues, they should have done it from day dot cause most people can't tell the difference looking at them and as you've said the specs are not different enough to make a pro/consumer distinction.
I'm gonna be using whichever model I buy for all sorts of "pro" applications but the real thing for me is screen resolution and portability as performance is pretty standard over the whole range. I'd like at least 1024 pixels high (or deriveratives thereof) on all models.
same boat...
I'm sort of in the same boat as the OP... I will be a law student this fall, in the market for a new computer/laptop, not sure what to get. I'll post my thoughts and questions later on, but first ... umm... has anyone noticed on the best buy website... the low-end macbook pro for some reason is on sale. I noticed that yesterday when I was actually in a best buy store... confused as to why, on the apple site, it's still 2k, but on best buy, it's 1880, I just thought it was a bit odd. Now, the whitebook is 899, but for good reason, that one is the old one, so they're obviously trying to clear out stock of that, but why is that pro on sale? Could this signify something to do with new stock coming out soon? Or is best buy just doing a sale for giggles? Just honest questions guys, thanks!!
I'm sort of in the same boat as the OP... I will be a law student this fall, in the market for a new computer/laptop, not sure what to get. I'll post my thoughts and questions later on, but first ... umm... has anyone noticed on the best buy website... the low-end macbook pro for some reason is on sale. I noticed that yesterday when I was actually in a best buy store... confused as to why, on the apple site, it's still 2k, but on best buy, it's 1880, I just thought it was a bit odd. Now, the whitebook is 899, but for good reason, that one is the old one, so they're obviously trying to clear out stock of that, but why is that pro on sale? Could this signify something to do with new stock coming out soon? Or is best buy just doing a sale for giggles? Just honest questions guys, thanks!!
I'm going to be buying a new uMB/MBP soon and the only thing I'm hoping for in any refresh is higher resolution screens, the 13" is a good size but the resolution is not great.
Going back to 800 pixels high is not going to make working on it fun. But it will be easier to carry around than the 15" models.
What I'd like to see is 1920 x 1200 on the 15's and the 17's with at least 1050 pixels height on the 13". (feel free to point out if there's not this res on a 13" panel as I is too lazy to check)
Processor speeds seem ok to me at 2.4ghz, maybe the only other thing would be 4gb standard on both 15's and the 13" uMB as 2x 1GB means loads of people are going to be throwing away dimms which in terms of the environment and consumer waste is a bit poop.
1680x1050 on a 13" display is almost 150 PPI (pixel per inch) so your eyes would have to be popped out their sockets to be close enough to read it.
Bring it on... and keep going til we hit 300!
All about scalable UI and having supremely good looking images.
Edit to add:
you would always be able to run it at a lower res but it's better to cater for the high end and then have Core scale as required - imagine using it at lower resolution for office/net browsing and then in the words of Steve "Boom" open photoshop and the res automatically refreshes to some proper working goodness!
I feel you man. I'm in the exact same position. I think they're just doing it to clear out a few old models. I don't think that there'll be a major bump in the next months...
I"m in the exact same boat as you guys who want a 2.4GHz but want to wait for an update. The thing is I don't really want to be an early adopter.
Bring it on... and keep going til we hit 300!
All about scalable UI and having supremely good looking images.
Edit to add:
you would always be able to run it at a lower res but it's better to cater for the high end and then have Core scale as required - imagine using it at lower resolution for office/net browsing and then in the words of Steve "Boom" open photoshop and the res automatically refreshes to some proper working goodness!
Thing is, we haven't heard anything about resolution independence for ages (I'm assuming you just made up "Core Scale"). Leopard was supposed to have it, but it ended up getting canned at the last minute. Haven't heard anything about it in Snow Leopard or developer builds so we'll have to wait and see.
atticus18244fsa said:
Well it would be the second revision and they've had almost a year of silent hardware tweaks so it's unlikely you'll suffer from a problem.
If a was you just wait, Am in the same boat as you , Am waiting to see if theres any new update coming, theres really no rush in getting the new mac , the promo ends september 8
My thoughts...
Yeah, I'm definitely going to wait. I don't NEED a laptop, the one I have right now works just fine ... surprisingly. I'm using an old hp pavilion ze4805us, it's nearly 5 years old, but is still kicking. Running xp home. I'd say over the past 5 years I've had the motherboard/power supply replaced once under warranty (whew), then the power port replaced (not that expensive of a repair really), and had to reformat my hard drive multiple times. Like I said, I'll be a law student in the fall and I want a reliable computer. I've honestly gone back and forth, but after my last trip to best buy, I think my mind is settled. You guys are all fellow computerheads, so I'm sure you'll follow me here... but I was at best buy, seriously thinking about getting their toshiba blue lablel computer. In all honesty, the specs are quite comparable to the macbook. ...including the details down to bluetooth, webcam, etc., etc. It really was a beautiful machine to look at. And I tend to think that windows 7 will be a very good operating system, which I know probably annoys some macheads in this forum to suggest that windows could be very good. lol. But I try to be fair about things.
In all honesty, I've used windows all the way back to when I was kid... using windows 3.11. By necessity, I've just come to know and be comfortable with windows... registry issues, etc., etc., so I can fix any windows problems myself, I've never needed to send it to a tech. So windows just doesn't intimidate me. But I digress... so I was looking at that toshiba blue label at best buy... salivating and excited for 6/26 when msft supposedly will offer the free upgrade to windows 7 ... and then I went to play with it, pushing keys on the keyboard... and then I noticed... the keyboard buckles like it's entirely on a springboard!!!! Seriously, if you push a button in the middle of the keyboard you can see the entire keyboard flex in, and it's rather disturbing. I then went on to think... well... if they made such an important componenet (it's the KEYBOARD FOR GOD'S SAKE) that cheaply, then I wonder how the other components in that computer were put together. Maybe that's that shoddy engineering work you get for an $800 computer... but I believe when it came out it cost 1200. So I was just in shock.
I then made my way over to the mac display and looked at the macbooks. I don't think there's any disputing the build quality of the machine itself. The only thing I do want to see with a refresh is higher clock speed (which I'm sure will have to be done since the whitebook refresh makes the clock speed faster than on the alubook), a bit more hard drive, and 4gigs RAM would be nice, but that's a whatever since it's a $60 upgrade to get it. But an above poster is so right... apple should just put in 4gigs standard on all machines, RAM is that important. And like the poster said... apple cares about the environment, so stop having people throw out RAM chips en masse, as I suspect that many a macbook purchases does spend that $60 to max out to 4, just as I will, so it would be good business for apple to go that route, but as I said, not a huge deal. I'm not getting into arguments about nehalem, etc., etc., so I don't have those ridiculous expectations. Could care less about blu ray.
And I'll openly admit that I don't NEED anything beyond the current alubook. But if I'm going to spend 1300 on a new laptop, I think somewhere between 2.2-2.4ghz w/ 250gig hdd would be a more reasonable spec list for that price point. As I said, the RAM thing I could care less about. I just think Apple should throw in the 4gigs ram cuz it just makes sense, not only for good computing power but also for the environmental thing I talked about earlier.
And like I said, my laptop works fine for now, and I'll take it with me to law school (starts at the beginning of august) if I have to. I'm hoping, however, that apple does a refresh before that, if not, ya know, in 10 minutes? hahahaha. I am starting to get excited at the thought of getting a macbook. I'm still getting over that toshiba though to be honest. I liked that it was a 14" screen. My current laptop is 15, so I wanted a bit smaller, but I was worried that a 13 would be too small, but maybe not, I dunno. Just seems kind of a small screen to be typing papers on, but I wouldnt know since I've never done it on a computer that small. But anyways, I can wait, so if no updates come at the developer conference then I can just wait. Oh yeah, and also, I liked that toshiba cuz of the backlit keyboard, which the base alubook lacks, but then I got to thinking... I know the keyboard like the back of my hand. In fact I'm typing this sentence while looking at the wall and see? ... no errors. lol. So I hardly need to see the keys at night. But anyways, I've said a lot here. So please my new soon to be fellow posters and macbook colleagues (I'm already starting to feel the excitement!!! I feel like I should get a pocket protector, but wait, I'm moving AWAY from windows!! hahah) let me know what you think about this huge post. Tell me if you use the macbook to type papers on, how that is, if any of you feel my pain or can ease my disappointment with that toshiba blue label, and what your thoughts are on any refreshes. I'll definitely wait for a refresh, whenever that'll be, just because I don't need to dump this laptop quite yet anyways. But I'm excited for replies.
oh, and PS: I don't need this college deal for a free ipod, I already have an ipod classic and a shuffle, so I'm set with ipods. And I'd rather wait to buy the new refresh macbook than get an ipod and then have to go through the hassle of selling it on ebay to recoup the purchase expense (unless best buy just gives them to you? ... which is probably where I"ll get my macbook anyways), but who knows. If refreshes come out while this back to school thing is going on, then I guess I'm just luckier, although I doubt that'll happen. I don't have an MBA, but putting my business cap on... it doesn't make much sense to do a refresh. Probably best to use the college kids to clear out old inventory, macs and ipods, and then refresh after the gig is up. Alright, sorry for this outrageously long post. I hope I'll still get replies!!!
Yeah, I'm definitely going to wait. I don't NEED a laptop, the one I have right now works just fine ... surprisingly. I'm using an old hp pavilion ze4805us, it's nearly 5 years old, but is still kicking. Running xp home. I'd say over the past 5 years I've had the motherboard/power supply replaced once under warranty (whew), then the power port replaced (not that expensive of a repair really), and had to reformat my hard drive multiple times. Like I said, I'll be a law student in the fall and I want a reliable computer. I've honestly gone back and forth, but after my last trip to best buy, I think my mind is settled. You guys are all fellow computerheads, so I'm sure you'll follow me here... but I was at best buy, seriously thinking about getting their toshiba blue lablel computer. In all honesty, the specs are quite comparable to the macbook. ...including the details down to bluetooth, webcam, etc., etc. It really was a beautiful machine to look at. And I tend to think that windows 7 will be a very good operating system, which I know probably annoys some macheads in this forum to suggest that windows could be very good. lol. But I try to be fair about things.
In all honesty, I've used windows all the way back to when I was kid... using windows 3.11. By necessity, I've just come to know and be comfortable with windows... registry issues, etc., etc., so I can fix any windows problems myself, I've never needed to send it to a tech. So windows just doesn't intimidate me. But I digress... so I was looking at that toshiba blue label at best buy... salivating and excited for 6/26 when msft supposedly will offer the free upgrade to windows 7 ... and then I went to play with it, pushing keys on the keyboard... and then I noticed... the keyboard buckles like it's entirely on a springboard!!!! Seriously, if you push a button in the middle of the keyboard you can see the entire keyboard flex in, and it's rather disturbing. I then went on to think... well... if they made such an important componenet (it's the KEYBOARD FOR GOD'S SAKE) that cheaply, then I wonder how the other components in that computer were put together. Maybe that's that shoddy engineering work you get for an $800 computer... but I believe when it came out it cost 1200. So I was just in shock.
I then made my way over to the mac display and looked at the macbooks. I don't think there's any disputing the build quality of the machine itself. The only thing I do want to see with a refresh is higher clock speed (which I'm sure will have to be done since the whitebook refresh makes the clock speed faster than on the alubook), a bit more hard drive, and 4gigs RAM would be nice, but that's a whatever since it's a $60 upgrade to get it. But an above poster is so right... apple should just put in 4gigs standard on all machines, RAM is that important. And like the poster said... apple cares about the environment, so stop having people throw out RAM chips en masse, as I suspect that many a macbook purchases does spend that $60 to max out to 4, just as I will, so it would be good business for apple to go that route, but as I said, not a huge deal. I'm not getting into arguments about nehalem, etc., etc., so I don't have those ridiculous expectations. Could care less about blu ray.
And I'll openly admit that I don't NEED anything beyond the current alubook. But if I'm going to spend 1300 on a new laptop, I think somewhere between 2.2-2.4ghz w/ 250gig hdd would be a more reasonable spec list for that price point. As I said, the RAM thing I could care less about. I just think Apple should throw in the 4gigs ram cuz it just makes sense, not only for good computing power but also for the environmental thing I talked about earlier.
And like I said, my laptop works fine for now, and I'll take it with me to law school (starts at the beginning of august) if I have to. I'm hoping, however, that apple does a refresh before that, if not, ya know, in 10 minutes? hahahaha.
I am starting to get excited at the thought of getting a macbook. I'm still getting over that toshiba though to be honest. I liked that it was a 14" screen. My current laptop is 15, so I wanted a bit smaller, but I was worried that a 13 would be too small, but maybe not, I dunno. Just seems kind of a small screen to be typing papers on, but I wouldnt know since I've never done it on a computer that small. But anyways, I can wait, so if no updates come at the developer conference then I can just wait. Oh yeah, and also, I liked that toshiba cuz of the backlit keyboard, which the base alubook lacks, but then I got to thinking... I know the keyboard like the back of my hand. In fact I'm typing this sentence while looking at the wall and see? ... no errors. lol. So I hardly need to see the keys at night. But anyways, I've said a lot here. So please my new soon to be fellow posters and macbook colleagues (I'm already starting to feel the excitement!!! I feel like I should get a pocket protector, but wait, I'm moving AWAY from windows!! hahah) let me know what you think about this huge post. Tell me if you use the macbook to type papers on, how that is, if any of you feel my pain or can ease my disappointment with that toshiba blue label, and what your thoughts are on any refreshes. I'll definitely wait for a refresh, whenever that'll be, just because I don't need to dump this laptop quite yet anyways. But I'm excited for replies. oh, and PS: I don't need this college deal for a free ipod, I already have an ipod classic and a shuffle, so I'm set with ipods. And I'd rather wait to buy the new refresh macbook than get an ipod and then have to go through the hassle of selling it on ebay to recoup the purchase expense (unless best buy just gives them to you? ... which is probably where I"ll get my macbook anyways), but who knows. If refreshes come out while this back to school thing is going on, then I guess I'm just luckier, although I doubt that'll happen. I don't have an MBA, but putting my business cap on... it doesn't make much sense to do a refresh. Probably best to use the college kids to clear out old inventory, macs and ipods, and then refresh after the gig is up. Alright, sorry for this outrageously long post. I hope I'll still get replies!!!
Thing is, we haven't heard anything about resolution independence for ages (I'm assuming you just made up "Core Scale"). Leopard was supposed to have it, but it ended up getting canned at the last minute. Haven't heard anything about it in Snow Leopard or developer builds so we'll have to wait and see.
Well having an application change the screen resolution is definetly not impossible, how many games do this as standard? and for how long have they been doing this?
I'll wager it has nothing to do with Core but knowing that Apple are very, very good at making hardware and software work together it's a proper "pro" feature that could be implemented very well, even if there are profit margin implications they could get away with having a higher res screen as a BTO option.
I think a lot of people prepared to spend £1500-£2000 on a laptop would put an extra £150 or so down on a high res screen.
I'm just saying a lot of people who use pro apps on a pro machine need as much screen real estate as possible.
Well having an application change the screen resolution is definetly not impossible, how many games do this as standard? and for how long have they been doing this?
I'll wager it has nothing to do with Core but knowing that Apple are very, very good at making hardware and software work together it's a proper "pro" feature that could be implemented very well, even if there are profit margin implications they could get away with having a higher res screen as a BTO option.
I think a lot of people prepared to spend £1500-£2000 on a laptop would put an extra £150 or so down on a high res screen.
I'm just saying a lot of people who use pro apps on a pro machine need as much screen real estate as possible.
Changing the resolution in a game is easy compared to making sure every single application, third party, first party, whatever, can scale correctly under the entire OS. Apple had a crack at it with Tiger and Leopard, but still end up disabling it. See the picture below for the result when you try enlarge TextEdit by a factor of 2 using the disabled Resolution Independence. You end up with uneven gaps. Maybe Apple has fixed this for Snow Leopard, but the lack of news doesn't exactly make me confident about it.
