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Gadgets Apple Updates MacBook Pro Lineup
Brandon Hill (Blog) - June 5, 2007 8:34 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 39 comment(s) - last by michael2k.. on Jun 6 at 6:54 PM
Apple's MacBook Pro jumps to Santa Rosa

Last month, Apple made some rather forgettable upgrades to its MacBook lineup. Apple failed to upgrade the machines to Intel's new Santa Rosa platform despite the fact that it had launched a week earlier.

This time around, however, Apple is making more drastic updates to its MacBook Pro lineup. The company announced that its new MacBook Pros are now built on the Santa Rosa platform and features the latest GeForce 8 series mobile GPUs from NVIDIA and LED backlighting on 15.4” models.

“With Intel Core 2 Duo performance, more memory and state-of-the-art graphics, this MacBook Pro is a portable powerhouse for creative and professional users,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Apple’s notebooks have always led the industry in innovation with features like built-in 802.11 and the MagSafe Power Adapter, and now the industry’s first 15-inch LED-backlit display is another step toward completely eliminating mercury from our displays.”

The $1,999 entry-level MacBook Pro features a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of DDR2-667 memory, 120GB 5400RPM HDD, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT (128MB) and a 15.4" 1400x900 LED-backlit display.

If you fork over $2,499, you'll be greeted with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 160GB HDD and a 256MB version of the NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT -- all other specifications remain the same. Another $300 will get you a 17” 1680x1050 display (sans LED backlighting). An option to boost screen resolution to 1900x1200 is also available.

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Time for a trip...
By ksherman on 6/5/2007 9:02:29 AM , Rating: 4
To the Apple Store! I have been eyeing these laptops when they were still called PowerBooks. Now it is time!




RE: Time for a trip...
By ksherman on 6/5/2007 9:09:06 AM , Rating: 3
PS- I just saw some preliminatry benchmarks for the GeForce 8600M GT here:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards...

And compared with the AT 3DMark Benchies here:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2675&p=3

It seems the graphics card is on-par with the 7800GT that currently resides in my decktop... THAT I find sweet!


RE: Time for a trip...
By tuteja1986 on 6/5/2007 9:30:23 AM , Rating: 1
ASUS G2P is what i would get if i were to spend 1.8K. its got so much more feature loaded and has a pretty awesome design.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mobile/display/as...


RE: Time for a trip...
By ksherman on 6/5/2007 9:52:29 AM , Rating: 2
Seems an interesting laptop. Except that the resolution is the same as the MacBook Pro, but in a 17" size... Odd. Personally, if I went to a 17" screen I would want WUXGA, but thats just me. Ant only a glossy screen?! Maybe I am just really picky with my displays, but that doesn't sound very good to me.


RE: Time for a trip...
By solgae1784 on 6/5/2007 10:00:51 AM , Rating: 2
Apple has a santa rosa platform whereas the ASUS still has the merom. Plus, it also has a DX10 graphic card.

Nonetheless, that ASUS G2P is indeed a great notebook. If you're looking for something lesser than Apple's entry price, G2P is definitely one to consider. I only wish the G2P has a smaller screen size available.


RE: Time for a trip...
By jido on 6/5/2007 10:05:52 AM , Rating: 3
Sure, the Asus is loaded.

It also weighs 4.4kg and is 47mm thick. Its advertised battery life is two hours.
It does not have MacOS X support.


RE: Time for a trip...
By danz32 on 6/5/07, Rating: -1
RE: Time for a trip...
By zaki on 6/5/2007 2:01:31 PM , Rating: 2
well if you look at the asus g2p, you get a free mouse, a bag, esata port, hdmi. for a lot less.

apple will always be more expensive. what i dont get is why dont they put the nvidia mobile quadro in their notebooks, after all the whole point is a notebook for the "creative" professional.


RE: Time for a trip...
By OblivionMage on 6/5/2007 7:29:52 PM , Rating: 1
Apple laptops and computers are novelty items for the most part. People buy them because it is the 'cool' thing to do and proves that you are 'better' then people who buy 'inferior' laptops and computers. Like any overpriced brand name product.


RE: Time for a trip...
By michael2k on 6/6/2007 1:50:05 AM , Rating: 2
Uh, so does that mean you only buy generic stuff?

I mean, what does that make all the producers, directors, film makers, and art staff that use Macs?

Or those who happen to buy XServes to make clustered supercomptuers?

Or those musicians who use Macs to make music?

Macs are PCs, with a different OS. They cost more than some, and cost less than others. They have software unique to the OS, and the interface is supposed to be easier to learn than Windows. Why isn't that enough to validate their 5% US marketshare? Do you have to say it is a novelty? You say it like they are going away... when they've been part of the market now for 30 years.


RE: Time for a trip...
By plinden on 6/6/2007 1:09:42 PM , Rating: 2
Oh man, you fell for it. Now he can crow about flushing out another Mac zealot. Just click the "Not worth reading" link in future (I would have only I've already posted to this story).


RE: Time for a trip...
By michael2k on 6/6/2007 6:54:40 PM , Rating: 2
You can call me a zealot if you wish... I hold Apple stock (nice profit too) and legitimately think they will be hitting 10% market share in the next two years.


RE: Time for a trip...
By solgae1784 on 6/5/2007 9:31:14 AM , Rating: 2
Comparing only the synthetic benchmarks doesn't exactly tell the whole story with the real world performance. 8600 might trail behind at higher resolutions or higher AA and AF.

Having said that, I'm pretty impressed with the update. I wonder if it's worth trying to sell my core duo macbook pro and get this.......


RE: Time for a trip...
By ksherman on 6/5/2007 9:41:43 AM , Rating: 2
Right, but since the resolution is only 1440x900 (which I have to say is the biggest thing holding me back, but its not looking like that will be changing soon) it should perform admirably and I should have no probelm playing the games that I do now.


RE: Time for a trip...
By themadmilkman on 6/5/2007 11:18:00 AM , Rating: 2
Amen to that. I wonder what I can get for my MacBook on eBay... Time to upgrade? Absolutely.


Great news for Canada!
By Aprime on 6/5/2007 10:55:22 AM , Rating: 2
Apple seems to be one of the rare companies that now takes into account the strenght of the Canadian dollar! :D

What does that mean? It means that the Macbook Pro retails for the same price in both CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES!

Finally!

But I still find importing several other goods to be more advantageous.




RE: Great news for Canada!
By jla0 on 6/5/2007 11:49:20 AM , Rating: 2
Did you ACTUALLY check the apple online stores? Canadian priced MacBook Pro's are still more expensive.

+200, +300, +300 for all 3 models.


RE: Great news for Canada!
By Pirks on 6/5/2007 11:53:22 AM , Rating: 1
plus gst/pst which is about +15% for most part of canada


RE: Great news for Canada!
By Aprime on 6/5/2007 6:53:27 PM , Rating: 2
Um, weird.

I assume it was one of the morning glitches (along with the $150 price drop on the glossy model that was fixed).

Sucks I wasn't able to get it quickly enough. :(


Hey look - a SUBJECT.
By Visual on 6/5/2007 8:51:30 AM , Rating: 3
Why don't they make a tablet convertible? I really want one with such good dedicated graphic card.
It is high time they added a blu-ray burner and ssd drives too... at least then they'll have an excuse for the extreme prices.




RE: Hey look - a SUBJECT.
By FITCamaro on 6/5/2007 8:58:32 AM , Rating: 1
Well at least two grand now gets you a decent laptop. In the past you'd get 512MB of RAM, integrated graphics, and a smaller hard drive for that much with a Mac.

Blu-ray burners are still in the $800-1000 range. And SSDs aren't cheap either. And until they've been proven to last for 4-6 years, I wouldn't want an SSD anyway.


RE: Hey look - a SUBJECT.
By plinden on 6/5/2007 3:24:53 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Well at least two grand now gets you a decent laptop. In the past you'd get 512MB of RAM, integrated graphics, and a smaller hard drive for that much with a Mac.


iBooks, PowerBooks and MacBook Pros have never had integrated graphics, and MacBooks have never cost $2000.

And define "in the past" ... although you're right about getting 512MB RAM and a smaller HD for $2000, that goes for just about every computer if you go back far enough (two years ago my Dell D810 cost > $3000 for 80GB HDD/2.26GHz P-M/2GB RAM)


128GB of VRAM?
By ricera10 on 6/5/07, Rating: 0
RE: 128GB of VRAM?
By Chadder007 on 6/5/2007 12:13:44 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed....im going to order one and buy a copy of Vista to run on it for games. :D


RE: 128GB of VRAM?
By Mojo the Monkey on 6/5/2007 1:18:09 PM , Rating: 2
Can bootcamp support vista yet?


RE: 128GB of VRAM?
By plinden on 6/5/2007 3:15:01 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Can bootcamp support vista yet?


Yes, BootCamp has supported Vista since March.

In fact you could install Vista with BootCamp from the first releases of the Vista RCs back in August or September 2006 (I can't remember exactly when) ... but you had to install the hardware drivers manually.


Crap... now I'm going to be broke....
By Goty on 6/5/2007 10:28:15 AM , Rating: 2
I've been waiting for Apple to upgrade the MBPs, and I couldn't be happier with the upgrades they made. The only thing I could wish for now would be a 7200 RPM HDD, but one of those might be a bit hot considering the size of the laptop.




By incompleteunit on 6/5/2007 11:10:28 AM , Rating: 2
Actually, it's available as a custom option (same capacity drive - more expensive of course).


Finally
By corduroygt on 6/5/2007 1:33:40 PM , Rating: 2
They had the sense to offer WUXGA on their 17"

Now if they just offer WSXGA+ on the 15.4, it'd be perfect.




RE: Finally
By ksherman on 6/5/2007 2:27:46 PM , Rating: 2
Amen to that! That is the only feature that Apple hasn't upgraded from my 'wish list'


Resolution
By Yawgm0th on 6/5/2007 5:13:40 PM , Rating: 3
Shouldn't those monitor resolutions be 1440x900 and 1920x1200, instead of the listed 1400x900 and 1900x1200, respectively? Let's keep the aspect ratio right here. This is almost as bad as when people talk about running their 4:3 CRTs at 1280x1024.




I really hope....
By cheetah2k on 6/5/2007 11:31:03 AM , Rating: 2
I really hope that Apple fixed the damn battery warping issue.




By GoodBytes on 6/5/2007 11:34:47 AM , Rating: 2
I forgot to say,
I know that some people will say that it's more for doing 3D editing, CAD, and such. But won't an Nvidia Quatro make more sense?!


By incompleteunit on 6/5/2007 11:44:54 AM , Rating: 3
Yeah, but the 8x00 features have been available via OpenGL extensions ever since the chips were released last November. Since Apple does support OpenGL, implementation of those extensions will give access to the same functionality.

Plus the same argument was made when G80 cards were first available for PCs - 'what good is a DX10 card without Vista?'. And the answer was that since they play DX9 games so much better than previous cards, they're worth it just for that. So this is a good thing just for people who want better performance out of their current OpenGL games on OSX.

Not to mention that the computers can boot Vista anyway, thus giving immediate DX10 access for all those non-existant DX10 games out there.


By Pirks on 6/5/2007 11:51:24 AM , Rating: 3
you're obviously unaware of ppl running windows on their mbp's, with all the fancy windows games who'd looove this 8600gt thing


By psychobriggsy on 6/5/2007 1:37:51 PM , Rating: 2
How can I run Vista on a Message Authentication Code? Do I install it via Media Access Control?

I think you've forgotten about OpenGL, which is what Mac OS X and Linux utilise. It has extensions to expose these new features, and now that OpenGL is under the control of a more proactive group these will be standardised in future releases far more quickly.

There have been stories going around that due to the low adoption rate of Vista, games will only be able to utilise "DirectX 10" features if they use OpenGL on Windows XP.


By Shlong on 6/5/2007 3:02:10 PM , Rating: 2
Well most people I know with Macbooks dual boot Vista / Mac OS X using bootcamp.


By GoodBytes on 6/5/2007 5:15:08 PM , Rating: 2
To all, I stand corrected. :)


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