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Apple upgrades MacBook Pro line with faster processors, gfx cards, more storage
- rayhano 15y agoAny ideas on when we are going to get MacBook Pros that are Air-like skinny and have incredible battery life?
- dekz 15y agoI pray for it on the next tick cycle, but I can't say about how Apple would feel about merging their different products into essentially 1 line. I do wish for a 15" High-res Air though.
- sneak 15y agoApple taking logical steps to streamline and simplify their product line? Did you forget about the MacBook or the Powermac Cube or the CDMA iPhone already?
- demoo 15y agoExtending the MBA line was the first move. It will take at least 2 more overhauls (not CPU upgrades) for the product lines to merge completely.
- tl 15y agoWell, you could buy a MacBook Air. Actually, I'd like to see an external GPU over Thunderbolt possibly built into the next line of cinema displays, which would remove the need for the GPU in the Pro line.
- masklinn 15y ago> which would remove the need for the GPU in the Pro line. No it would not.
- sneak 15y agoIs the Thunderbolt bandwidth sufficient to run a modern GPU? AFAIK you'd only have one 10 gbit/s lane to use for it, and modern PCIe video cards use a lot more than that connecting directly to mainboards over multiple PCIe lanes...
- jsnell 15y agoLight Peak seems to have been sufficient for the Vaio Z.
- elithrar 15y ago> and modern PCIe video cards use a lot more than that connecting directly to mainboards over multiple PCIe lanes... Forgive my lack of a source, but was there not an article (maybe on Anandtech?) about high-end cards being 90%+ as performant on a 4x PCI-e slot?
- Artagra 15y agoYes. Thunderbolt bandwidth falls between a PCI-E 2.0 1x slot and 4x slot. Tests that have been done comparing the performance of relatively high end desktop cards on 1x, 4x, 8x and 16x slots have established that while there is a performance penalty, such a solution would still out perform most mobile GPUs. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_Scaling/25.html http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_S... http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_480_PCI-Express_Scaling/24.html http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_480_PCI-Expres...
- klausa 15y agoThey're already pretty thin, my MBP is thinner then I think all laptops I see every day, save for ultraportables. And it (theoretically, since update to Lion and/or the way I work now brought it down to ~3 hours) already has the same (13" MBA) or better (11") battery life. But are you asking about having so much computing power in MBA-like slim body? Then answer is - not for some time. Intel has Haswell [1] prepared for 2013 - that's the soonest I would expect things to change. There is also second possibility - with rumors of Apple going ARM-only - but even if (and that's pretty big if), we would see Macs with ARM around the time of Haswell introduction. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_(microarchitecture) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_(microarchitecture)
- masklinn 15y ago> But are you asking about having so much computing power in MBA-like slim body? Then answer is - not for some time. I don't know, removing the SuperDrive (whether they leave a second HDD/SSD rack or not) would make for a lot of room in MBPs, I'd say the drive takes more than 25% of the machine's internal volume, maybe up to 30%. Having an Air-like "bar" SSD with an HDD/SSD rack on top (empty on base machines for instance) and removing the Superdrive would likely pay for most of the slimming towards a wedge MBP shape. > There is also second possibility - with rumors of Apple going ARM-only - but even if (and that's pretty big if), we would see Macs with ARM around the time of Haswell introduction. That may happen for the Air, I don't see it happening for MBP.
- mmcconnell1618 15y agoIntel delayed their next mobile processor revision until March 2012. So I wouldn't expect a new MBP until the Spring.
- sneak 15y agoThe main differentiating factor between the Air and the Pro is two cores versus four. Is your question "when will we have a four-core MacBook Air with the same battery life as the current two-core version"?
- klausa 15y agoMy two-core 2011 MBP tends to disagree. i5 in MBA is still nowhere near power of i5 in my 13" MBP.
- sneak 15y agoWhy would you not just buy the Air at that point?
- klausa 15y agoBecause some people don't want 15" screen, but still need more power than Air gives you. If I were buying new computer now, it would be Air, but when I was buying my MacBook Pro, Airs were still using C2D - and since I'm using my computers for years - it wasn't really an option.
- mwexler 15y agoAnd price, weight, ports, and thickness, among many other features. Of all the factors, I don't think 2 vs. 4 cores is the "main" factor.
- technoslut 15y agoThe rumors say next year but they are just rumors.
- astrodust 15y agoI heard a rumor about a rumor coming out next year.
- sliverstorm 15y agoHow do you expect a high-performance laptop with high-spec parts to get incredible battery life? (Besides simply waiting for power management to continue to improve) It wouldn't make sense to ditch the high-spec parts, either- that's what the MacBook Pro is for. If you don't need the top-end bits, get an Air.
- 4ad 15y agoI find 1280x800 for 13'' and 1440x900 for 15'' pathetic. I have a 15'' ThinkPad R60 with 2048x1536, yes, you read that right. But today not even ThinkPad screens have a good resolution, X220 has a 1366x768 screen. I had a better screen resolution in 1995. I like MacBooks and ThinkPads from a hardware perspective but I won't buy a new one until they start using higher resolution screens.
- rprime 15y agoThat's the exact same reason I haven't yet bueyd an macbook, they're resolutions are utterly low. I hope Apple will start to innovate more rather than bumping to the newest CPUs/GPUs each year.
- 4ad 15y agoI think there was a drop in screen resolution with most laptop vendors, not only Apple.
- Udo 15y agoI like MacBooks and ThinkPads from a hardware perspective but I won't buy a new one until they start using higher resolution screens. They have higher resolution screens. My 15" MacBook Pro has got 1680x1050, at the store they'll actually ask you what resolution you want. The only thing I regret is not getting a glossy display (the non-glossy one is way uglier). 2048x1536 is not available though, as far as I know - I don't think I'd have opted for that even if they did, but that's a matter of preference (and eyesight I suppose). But you're right, 1440x900 shouldn't be the default config for the 15". I had a better screen resolution in 1995. Wow, you must have had so much better hardware than me in 1995! ;-) I vaguely recall my flickering 1024x768 workstation from that era, it was monstrous.
- 4ad 15y agoI didn't know that they have optional higher resolution screens. Is this true also for the 13'' model? In 1995 I had a massive 24'' Trinitron CRT (I think it weighted close to 100 pounds).
- jaxonrice 15y agoI am optimistically holding out for a 15" Macbook Air with 8GB RAM. Failing that within the next 6-9 months, my next Macbook will be the 13" Air
- nileshk 15y agoI'm personally hoping they redesign the MBP such that it loses the optical drive, keeps the 2.5" drive bay, and adds the flash storage from the Air (or something equivalent). A HDD+SSD combo in a laptop would be ideal. They should at least do this in the larger 17" model, if not the others. If that never happens, I'm just going to get an Optibay or equivalent.
- cridal 15y agoSame here... 15" MBA is what I've been waiting for for a long time. I'm on 2nd generation 15" MBPro, which can die any day now. Not sure why this is not considered a priority for Apple, since it would be a perfect work machine (13" is just too small).
- notatoad 15y agoi was holding out hope for the same thing, based on rumours flying around this summer that the next MBP update would essentially merge the air and pro lines. with todays refresh, it looks like that probably isn't happening. the first company to release a 15" 1080p "ultrabook", whether it's apple or one of the windows manufacturers, will get my money.
- bconway 15y agoIt seems that you still can't get a gaming-worth MacBook (upper model discrete GPU) for less than 2500 bucks when spec'd appropriately. A PC-based laptop with Core i5 and AMD HD6630M (also used in the upper model Mac Mini) goes for $950 and is smaller/lighter than the 13" MBP, or $850 with a GT 540 and similar size/weight.
- adamc 15y agoI noticed that you can't get a reasonable graphics card in the 13" model anymore. That was actually a feature that helped convince me to switch back -- I wanted a portable laptop with some gaming options. Intel HD Graphics 3000 doesn't really cut it. Ah, well. It may well return in a future model.
- malvim 15y agoYeah, I got the mid-2009 13-inch MBP, with the NVIDIA Graphics. Still waiting on newer 13-inch MBPs with NVIDIAs / ATIs, though. Very sad they decided to switch back to Intel... :/
- wmf 15y agoStill waiting on newer 13-inch MBPs with NVIDIAs / ATIs Those are probably never going to come; there physically isn't room.
- colin_jack 15y agoWas hoping they might have taken the chance to drop the price in the UK to bring it more in line with the US price (a bit above the US price due to VAT of course). Without that change I refuse to buy one.
- xiaoma 15y agoAFIK, their prices are pretty standard across the world excluding import tariffs, sales taxes and other state-imposed costs. I live in China, where imports are taxed heavily and as a result Apple computers cost nearly 25% more than in the US. In Hong Kong, however, there are no such import taxes and the prices are the same as in the US. I sincerely doubt Apple is the culprit here.
- colin_jack 15y agoI havent' done the math recently but even if you assume no sales tax in the US and factor in the 20% VAT in the UK the difference is still large. In fact lets do it quickly for an Air. In US its $1600 which is pretty much £1000. UK is £1349. US won't have sales tax whilst VAT is 20%, so thats part of the difference but there's an additional £150 overhead. It varies between products and has been documented online before. Other companies do it but I find it pretty blatant with apple products and so tend to avoid their computers.
- ewald 15y agoHere in Brazil the 15" base model costs $ 3,784.00. The same model in the US costs $ 1,799.00. Taxes are ridiculous around here.
- adestefan 15y agoSo that's why I was able to pickup a 13" for $999 a couple weeks ago. I figured an update was in order, but I don't really care that much about a modest CPU bump.
- geophile 15y agoJust got a 15" MBP, 8GB memory, 500GB 7200 RPM disk, with a Thunderbolt display. What a nice setup. I'm upgrading from a 2007 MBP that died, and the new machine is so much faster. I would have preferred a redesign without the optical drive but that's a minor complaint.
- mgkimsal 15y agosimilar here - had a 2008 white mbp. got a 15" refurb this summer that was a early 2011 revamp - came with the bumped up gfx chip (which is now standard) and also came with 8gig, even though the store site said 4gig. :) Would like to get an SSD but don't really want to spring for a 512 gig one, and 256 ones aren't quite enough space for me.
- thomasgerbe 15y ago"I would have preferred a redesign without the optical drive but that's a minor complaint." Thankfully there are ways you can install an extra HD drive bay in your MBP replacing the optical drive. But most people believe that the big redesign next year will not only include Ivy Bridge and a new form factor but also the removal of the optical drive.
- andreiursan 15y ago"also the removal of the optical drive" That will make me very, very,...very happy! I hate the idea that I have a thing in my Mac that I don't use and adds extra weight and complexity to the design :|. That will be my main reason to upgrade my 2010 15" hi-res anti-glare Macbook Pro. (I'm sticking with the Pro line because it has a 15" screen, bellow that I don't like).
- icefox 15y agoThere is a kit so you can pull out my optical drive, put it in an external usb enclosure and put in another HD in your macbook pro.
- icefox 15y ago
- dustinupdyke 15y agoI went to see if I could load one up with more than 8GB of memory, and alas, one still cannot get this for any amount of money. I may be the fringe, but a 16GB MBP would be very hard to beat.
- iramiller 15y agoYou can get 16GB upgrades from OWC... And as a related point maxing out memory directly from Apple has always been more expensive.
- dustinupdyke 15y agoYou're right, but the OWC upgrade is fairly pricey at $629. I was thinking that if Apple supported it right from the store, it would drive down third party prices?
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- hellrich 15y ago8GB modules are pricy, even for "normal" laptops. (Assuming the MB Pro has only 2 slots)
- astrodust 15y agoThe 4GB DIMMs were stupidly expensive about a year and a half ago, but they're stupidly cheap now. Give it a year and they'll be $80 each, not $310. There's just not much demand for them yet.
- sp332 15y agoJust curious, what do you do with 16GB that you couldn't do with 8?
- dustinupdyke 15y agoI normally always have a Windows VM running, leaving me only 4GB on either side. Oh, and Skype kills me on the Mac side.
- andrewljohnson 15y agoI'm never buying a computer that lacks an SSD again. SSDs make launching programs instantaneous, compiling code much faster, and rebooting and/or switching user accounts painless. These things save me so much cumulative time, and when I touch a computer without an SSD it's a shock to the system.
- jakeonthemove 15y agoHi Andrew, what about the reliability? It seems that SSD's are at least twice as prone to irrecoverable crashes as mechanical drives (excluding cases of physical damage like the laptop falling off the desk)? What is your experience? On topic - the quad core Sandy Bridge is already extremely powerful, these laptops will last for years to come performance-wise...
- gujk 15y agoI get the feeling Apple knows and uses extremely SSD upgrades to drive higher checkout prices with artificially depressed advertised prices. (Yes, I am bitter that my old MBP is not user upgradeable. I understand that the newer ones are, though.)
- pbrumm 15y agoThere are guides at http://www.ifixit.com/ http://www.ifixit.com/ You can look through the steps it would take to see if your comfortable doing it yourself. I have done many repairs on my MBP and they were pretty easy. just required patience.