New Macbook Pros

[ThatGuitarGuy]

They just launched today. 13in still Dual Core 2 Duo (in 2010?!)

The 15in and 17in have Core i5 and i7's with that Optimus/scaling graphics thing everyone wanted. The processors are dual core and not quad core like a lot of the PC's out there.

Overall though...I'm kind of let down. This is quite a bit weaker than the PC counterparts. I was hoping that Apple would have something comparable or better than the competition so I can finally take my jump into the world of Apple. Now I'm hesitant and considering waiting until ANOTHER refresh.

Any thoughts?

Oh yeah, they got a price bump too...

 

[kev]

More info:

It's been a long time coming, but Apple has today finally refreshed its line of high-end MacBook Pro notebooks to include Intel's 32nm Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

At the top of the range, Apple's 17in model is available with a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5 processor and both an Intel HD Graphics IGP and an NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M GPU - both of which toggle seamlessly through the use of "Apple’s new automatic graphics switching technology," which to us smells a lot like NVIDIA Optimus technology.

The 15in MacBook Pro could be even more potent, with Apple offering a choice of either 2.4Ghz or 2.53GHz Intel Core i5 processors, or a more powerful 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 part. Your choice of CPU is again paired with Intel HD graphics and an NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M GPU, and Apple reckons the system will deliver between eight and nine hours of battery life from a single charge.

Whilst the 15in and 17in models get an Intel Westmere makeover, the smaller 13in alternative continues to make do with Intel's Core 2 Duo - albeit at higher speeds of up to 2.66GHz. That's joined by a GeForce 320M GPU, an entry-level £999 price tag and a built-in battery that Apple reckons is capable of providing 10 hours of use.

All three systems come equipped with Apple's Mac OS X Snow Leopard operating system, and feature a glass multi-touch trackpad that now offers support for inertial scrolling. Traditional hard drives remain the standard choice for storage, but solid-state drives are available as optional extras in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacities - though, the latter will add another £1,040 to the bill.

Interested? All three MacBook Pros are available now in six pre-defined configurations from the Apple Store, with UK prices starting at £999 for a 13in model, £1,499 for a 15in model and £1,899 for the 17in model.

Apple details the base configurations as follows:

The 2.4 GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of £999 (inc VAT), includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 320M integrated graphics;
250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
iSight® video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire® 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
SD card slot;
combined headphone/line in (analogue/digital);
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 63.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.66 GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of £1,249 (inc VAT), includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 320M integrated graphics;
320GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
SD card slot;
combined headphone/line in (analogue/digital);
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 63.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
Build-to-order options for the 13-inch MacBook Pro include the ability to upgrade to 8GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a 320GB 5400 rpm or a 500GB 5400 rpm hard drive, a 128GB, 256GB or 512GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of £1,499 (inc VAT), includes:

15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 with 3MB shared L3 cache;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
integrated Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete graphics with 256MB of VRAM;
320GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port;
SD card slot;
audio line in (analogue/digital);
audio line out/headphone (analogue/digital);
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 77.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.53 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of £1,649 (inc VAT), includes:

15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
2.53 GHz Intel Core i5 with 3MB shared L3 cache;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
integrated Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete graphics with 256MB of VRAM;
500GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port;
SD card slot;
audio line in (analogue/digital);
audio line out/headphone (analogue/digital);
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 77.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.66 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of £1,799 (inc VAT), includes:

15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 with 4MB shared L3 cache;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
integrated Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete graphics with 512MB of VRAM;
500GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port;
SD card slot;
audio line in (analogue/digital);
audio line out/headphone (analogue/digital);
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 77.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
Build-to-order options for the 15-inch MacBook Pro include the ability to upgrade to 8GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a high resolution 15-inch 1680 x 1050 display in glossy and antiglare, a 500GB 5400 rpm or 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive, a 128GB, 256GB or 512GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The 2.53 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of £1,899 (inc VAT), includes:

17-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1920 x 1200, glossy display;
2.53 GHz Intel Core i5 with 3MB shared L3 cache;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
integrated Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete graphics with 512MB of VRAM;
500GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
iSight video camera;
three USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
audio line in (analogue/digital);
audio line out/headphone (analogue/digital);
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 95WHr lithium polymer battery; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
Build-to-order options for the 17-inch MacBook Pro include a 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory, a 500GB 5400 rpm or 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive, a 128GB, 256GB or 512GB solid state drive, antiglare display, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

 

[iHate]

The prices are just absolutely fucking ridiculous. Only a GT 330m and they want $2200 for one with an i7.

 

[J the TyranT]

They just launched today. 13in still Dual Core 2 Duo (in 2010?!)

The 15in and 17in have Core i5 and i7's with that Optimus/scaling graphics thing everyone wanted. The processors are dual core and not quad core like a lot of the PC's out there.

Overall though...I'm kind of let down. This is quite a bit weaker than the PC counterparts. I was hoping that Apple would have something comparable or better than the competition so I can finally take my jump into the world of Apple. Now I'm hesitant and considering waiting until ANOTHER refresh.

Any thoughts?

Oh yeah, they got a price bump too...

Im with you. This is kind of lame. Where's the fucking quads?

 

[kev]

The prices are just absolutely fucking ridiculous. Only a GT 330m and they want $2200 for one with an i7.

I know, thats why I dont entertain white, worm eaten fruit.

 

[updog]

solid-state drives are available as optional extras in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacities - though, the latter will add another £1,040 to the bill.

oh man... I wonder when the prices of these babies will come right down... That's just ridiculous for 512GB, faster and more stable I know, but come on..

 

[updog]

I know, thats why I dont entertain white, worm eaten fruit.

 

[LydonB]

I would rather have a dual core than a quad in a laptop anyway. The dual cores, for the most part, are just as fast, if not faster than the quads. Clock speed is still way important.

I am more let down with this update because in order to get into the i7, I would have to get the upper end 15" or 17" laptop. At that price point, I may as well just get a Mac Pro once they are refreshed. That is exactly what I will be doing.

 

[iHate]

Im with you. This is kind of lame. Where's the fucking quads?

What are you guys talking about, what "quads" would you like to see in them?

The "quad core" named processors (q series if thats what you are thinking about) are out of date. The i5's and i3's act like quad cores with Hyper Threading. The i7 is a quad core and HT's to 8 cores.

But it doesn't really matter when they probably have RICOH firewire chipsets.

 

[AdamWathan]

Funny, the firewire port on my Macbook Pro functions flawlessly with all my firewire devices...?

 

[LydonB]

The i7 is a quad core and HT's to 8 cores.

Partially correct. :Smug:

Yes, there are quad core i7's and they will allow for hyperthreading, resulting in 4 physical cores and 4 virtual cores. The i7 chips that went into the new MacBook Pros were of the mobile variety, which are dual core and built on the 32 nm chipset. The mobile i7 has 2 cores and can hyperthread as well, resulting in 2 physical cores and 2 virtual cores.

 

[J the TyranT]

yeah.

 

[iHate]

No, I just didn't see that they decided to use the i7 620QM, my mistake. I assumed it was the 720qm because nobody really offers the 620qm, as its pointless when the i5's are available. WTF? EVEN shittier of a deal than I had initially thought, and that was pretty bad. Yet I'm sure they will sell these like hot cakes and feel no remorse for price gouging. 5400rpm drives, no blu-ray, and they want $2200 for that i7 model... that's just disgusting.

 

[slashvanyoung]

The i7s start at more than $3000 here... only $400 away from a Dual Rectifier ha ha.

 

[LydonB]

5400 rpm drives are better on energy, hence apple using them as the standard. Apple isn't going to sacrifice battery power for performance. At least it doesn't seem like it.

I am more pissed off that only one of the models has the i7 as standard. w t f.

 

[ThatGuitarGuy]

I would rather have a dual core than a quad in a laptop anyway. The dual cores, for the most part, are just as fast, if not faster than the quads. Clock speed is still way important.

I am more let down with this update because in order to get into the i7, I would have to get the upper end 15" or 17" laptop. At that price point, I may as well just get a Mac Pro once they are refreshed. That is exactly what I will be doing.

That'd be a great route for me except for the fact that I have to have a laptop instead of a desktop.

FFFFFFFFFFFF!!

 

[Ben Johnson]

I'm glad to see that the 13" now has FW800, but that won't be enough to win me over.

 

[Melodeath]

I'm not that let down by this update (maybe the graphics card sucks, but then again, I don't know how bad the 330M really is), because Apple already charges ridiculous prices. I'll be buying the 15" i7 model tonight. I'm not looking forward to spending over $2,000 when I could get better specs with a PC laptop, but I really want to try out OSX and see if it's all it's cracked up to be. I've been using Windows for years, and I just want to try something new and see if I like it, but it's going to cost me.

Speaking of which, with only one firewire port on the MBPs, do people just connect their firewire recording drives to their firewire interfaces? Is it fast enough?

 

[James Murphy]

you guys gotta be kidding me.. the prices are WAY down... the new version of what i want... 17" w/ 8GB ram is only $3K... was closer to $5K with the last batch... i simply cannot believe that no one is commenting on this fact.... good grief.

also, wah wah wah about this or that PC has more blah blah blah.... buy one of these MBPs and i'll bet you'll still be using it in 5 years with little to no problems and able to sell it for several hundred to a grand when you're ready to move up... and it'll still be working fine.... just like my PB G4, that i still use everyday with no problems.

giving it to my little brother soon to move up finally... but i still regularly kick ass with that thing... and it's just a single 1.33 G4 processor. meanwhile in that same 5 years all your PC lappy buddies will have gone through 2 or 3 laptops and tons of problems.

i say all this, because it HAS been my experience.... like it or lump it, the MBP will last... and last... and last... if you take remotely good care of your shit.... PC laptops, GENERALLY SPEAKING, just don't last as long, and quite often even when the specs read far better, they just don't outperform the macs.... everyone hates to hear it, but it's been my experience.... tough shit.

 

[arv_foh]

you guys gotta be kidding me.. the prices are WAY down... the new version of what i want... 17" w/ 8GB ram is only $3K... was closer to $5K with the last batch... i simply cannot believe that no one is commenting on this fact.... good grief.

also, wah wah wah about this or that PC has more blah blah blah.... buy one of these MBPs and i'll bet you'll still be using it in 5 years with little to no problems and able to sell it for several hundred to a grand when you're ready to move up... and it'll still be working fine.... just like my PB G4, that i still use everyday with no problems.

giving it to my little brother soon to move up finally... but i still regularly kick ass with that thing... and it's just a single 1.33 G4 processor. meanwhile in that same 5 years all your PC lappy buddies will have gone through 2 or 3 laptops and tons of problems.

i say all this, because it HAS been my experience.... like it or lump it, the MBP will last... and last... and last... if you take remotely good care of your shit.... PC laptops just don't last as long, and quite often even when the specs read far better, they just don't outperform the macs.... everyone hates to hear it, but it's been my experience.... tough shit.

+1 for James, my experience too... everyone bitches that macs are more expensive blah blah blah, but you really get what you pay for.