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New MacBook Pro series

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111–120 of 359 posts

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#112
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They never had events for speed bumps.

I've never seen a more beautiful laptop. What can they really do besides include faster components and add features to software?

Ditch the two spinning drives and build in a SSD by default? That would allow for a redesign as well as a larger battery and would certainly warrant an event.

After the MacBook Air, it’s only a matter of time until they do just that, maybe next year. (I can only hope. I’m actually seriously considering schlepping my 2007 MacBook Pro around another year.)

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#113
Thunderbolt is the coolest thing here to me. The way I read this, Intel at least partly owns the IP on it, so it should be available on PCs in the future, too? (I hope so, because that will create a bigger peripheral market.)

UPDATE: Answer appears to be "yes."

"...the fastest way to get information in and out of your PC and peripheral devices..."

http://www.intel.com/technology/io/thunderbolt/index.htm

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#114
post #78

Didn't get as much coverage, but there are also new ThinkPads this week: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/22/lenovo-trots-out-new-thin... The 14" models look good: 30 hours (claimed) battery on the T420, 0.83" ultrathin T420s with discrete graphics. Edit: Here's the official announcement, which took a bit of digging around to find: http://news.lenovo.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1421 . synacksynack has posted a…

I'm pretty happy about the resolution bump for the T400 series, even if it means going to a less square screen.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#115

hmm - you need to go to 1799$ before you end up with a half decent graphics card and 2199$ for a decent card. Compare it with a Dell XPS 15 Sandy Bridge - $1049 for i7 2620M, 1920X1080 display, nVidia GT525 Optimus card, HD Camera. For a first time possible mac buyer (me) - is it well justified ?

Yes.

I was a first timer on the first unibody. I still LOVE it. I've never loved a PC, Dell, Sony, HP, ACER, Lenovo or otherwise. Part of that is OSX. I find it so much better than Windows, even after having using Windows most of my life.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#116

I never understood why the 13" version is such a second class citizen? Is it that different of a footprint that Apple can't fit the same technology in it... or is this Apple's plan?

Probably because of overlap between it and the MacBook and the MacBook Air? Frankly, I'm amazed they still offer a 13 inch MBP (which is not to say that it isn't a good little machine, but that Apple likes to segment their market clearly) I can't see the prices and options at the moment, but it may be that the MBP is just a couple of hundred bucks more than the top end MacBook, which means that some people might stre…

There is indeed this overlap and clutter on the 13". I think this is because much within the Air is still pretty new stuff for most people: SSD, ditching optical drives. So if people want to pay for performance as they now know it, they'll go for the Pro version. But I doubt there will be a next generation of 13 inch Pros.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#117

hmm - you need to go to 1799$ before you end up with a half decent graphics card and 2199$ for a decent card. Compare it with a Dell XPS 15 Sandy Bridge - $1049 for i7 2620M, 1920X1080 display, nVidia GT525 Optimus card, HD Camera. For a first time possible mac buyer (me) - is it well justified ?

Have you used OS X before?

I pay the Mac premium for two reasons: (1) my laptop is supported by tons of Apple Stores across the country, and (2) OS X is awesome (and since it's Unix-based, I can work in the terminal without a problem). There's also a great reselling market for Macs.

If (1) and (2) don't really matter to you, go with the Dell. I'll pay the extra price to get exactly what I want in my computer.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#118
post #78

Didn't get as much coverage, but there are also new ThinkPads this week: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/22/lenovo-trots-out-new-thin... The 14" models look good: 30 hours (claimed) battery on the T420, 0.83" ultrathin T420s with discrete graphics. Edit: Here's the official announcement, which took a bit of digging around to find: http://news.lenovo.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1421 . synacksynack has posted a…

30 hours (claimed) battery life?

That sounds ridiculous. How close (or far away) to the truth is that? Anybody know more?

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#119
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually the older generation of core i7 were quad core too but had less cache than this generation. L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB L3 Cache: 4 MB

My i7 says 2 cores in Device Profiler but says 4 in Activity Monitor, fwiw.

Hyperthreading. 2 physical core, 4 logical.

Re: New MacBook Pro series

#120

hmm - you need to go to 1799$ before you end up with a half decent graphics card and 2199$ for a decent card. Compare it with a Dell XPS 15 Sandy Bridge - $1049 for i7 2620M, 1920X1080 display, nVidia GT525 Optimus card, HD Camera. For a first time possible mac buyer (me) - is it well justified ?

Do you need Apple specific software? If not, go with the gear at a good price that lasts long. I had a Dell business grade laptop, Compaq, and a 13" macbook pro. Dell died twice and was repaired on their dime, Compaq lasted 8 years and still works except the sound card burning out, and my 3 year old macbook, is a-ok as well. Compaq was $1150, Dell was $1500, and the MBP was $1350.

For my software dev, all of them worked well. For gaming, they all sucked.

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