[msuper69]

I'm tempted.

Discuss.

[msuper69]

I do not think that an upgrade from 2.2ghz to 2.3ghz is worth $250.

[Andrew88088]

I was looking to upgrade my MacBook to a 13", but I think I'm going to end up waiting it out until next year. I think if there was a BTO option to upgrade the display to 1440x900, I probably would've bitten. Oh well.

[generationfourt]

I'm tempted to!

refurb prices have dropped up to 26% so I may go that route instead (refurb price changes don't show until it's in the cart)

[lpkmckenna]

While the upgrade from my MB to the new version might be worth it, I'm not sure I really need a "modest" upgrade. I'll wait for the Anandtech and Barefeats benchmarks before deciding. If the new model is much faster, then I might bite.

[freudling]

I'm not tempted. More of Apple's marketing blitz to take the thunder away from the Motorola XOOM/Android 3.0 today.

What I see? Cool, faster processors and GPUs, but the same old, boring, sharp edged alumitub designs. Come on Apple, we need redesigns or forget it.

[P]

You do realize that this was biggest step forward performance-wise since the Intel switch, right?

[exca1ibur]

Originally Posted by P 

You do realize that this was biggest step forward performance-wise since the Intel switch, right?

I have to agree. Kinda lame on the video card options on the 15 (as usual) 256 vs 1GB. 512 vs 1GB is what is hould have been, but that's not as big an issue.

Quad core and the the option for the high-res display is a VERY good option, that might get me to bite, as I'm doing a lot more heavy photoshop and coding now.

[freudling]

Originally Posted by P 

You do realize that this was biggest step forward performance-wise since the Intel switch, right?

Yes, faster hardware. How many times does Apple come out with the 1.3x-2x-3x faster performance bit? Every time.

Lots of marketing. It's all about what you experience real world day-to-day. Any performance speed up is good for the pros, but more hype. They time all this stuff to counter other tech companies. Today is the day the M. XOOM goes on sale at best buy with Android Gingerbread 3.0. Ya, ya, I know, you don't like Android, just making an observation.

A compelling upgrade in my opinion are redesigns in addition to some under-the-hood stuff. MBPs... sharp edges, kinda clunky now. They need new designs. Tapered edges, lighter, options to lose the optical drive... better battery life. Remember the Blogs like a few days ago: 11 hours battery! LOL.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by freudling 

Yes, faster hardware. How many times does Apple come out with the 1.3x-2x-3x faster performance bit? Every time.

Lots of marketing. It's all about what you experience real world day-to-day. Any performance speed up is good for the pros, but more hype. They time all this stuff to counter other tech companies. Today is the day the M. XOOM goes on sale at best buy with Android Gingerbread 3.0. Ya, ya, I know, you don't like Android, just making an observation.

A compelling upgrade in my opinion are redesigns in addition to some under-the-hood stuff. MBPs... sharp edges, kinda clunky now. They need new designs. Tapered edges, lighter, options to lose the optical drive... better battery life. Remember the Blogs like a few days ago: 11 hours battery! LOL.

Jeez, you must be a different breed of "pro" from what I'm used to.

The kind I work with sees a completely new connection tech, HUGE performance jump in the 13" machines, but FULL compatibility with any existing mobile setup except those based around ExpressCard.

All the benefit, no risk, same low entry price.

i7 in a 13" 'Book? HELL YEAH.

The other kind (those that need the ExpressCard) still has the same options as before, but with more horsepower, and can now gingerly test out Thunderbolt as an alternative/replacement for FireWire/ExpressCard.

The whole Flash/disk hybrid thing was complete schmu - that would have to be supported at the OS level, and we've not seen any of that in 10.6 so far.

No - new form factor is for the next revision, when Thunderbolt has established itself and the other ports can begin to disappear.

[freudling]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

No - new form factor is for the next revision, when Thunderbolt has established itself and the other ports can begin to disappear.

I want a redesign. I've been dying for redesigns since... since the day the current MacBook Pro design was launched. That's right, never liked the design. Sharp edges, clunky, screen too reflective, hate aluminum (ugly and bloody hot), loud fan at times, etc. But that's my opinion.

[ibook_steve]

I have (now) last year's 2.66 GHz quad i7 15". I'm not too upset about the upgrades this year. I probably will be when I see the benchmarks, but I'm still quite happy with what I've got.

Steve

[Spheric Harlot]

Freudling: I see. That is, of course, something that no amount of argumentation can change.

I think the current machines are the sexiest I've ever seen (in 22 years on the platform).

[P]

Originally Posted by freudling 

Yes, faster hardware. How many times does Apple come out with the 1.3x-2x-3x faster performance bit? Every time.

1.3x? Maybe, but this is more than that. 2x/3x? Not really, no. They said it when they went Intel. They may have said it when the MP got the first Nehalem - or at least they would be justified to say so. They didn't really push the fact when the iMac went quad, although that might have been justified as well.

Originally Posted by freudling 

Lots of marketing. It's all about what you experience real world day-to-day. Any performance speed up is good for the pros, but more hype. They time all this stuff to counter other tech companies. Today is the day the M. XOOM goes on sale at best buy with Android Gingerbread 3.0. Ya, ya, I know, you don't like Android, just making an observation.

I don't believe I ever commented on Android in these forums. I don't particularly have a problem with it - I have one friend who has an Android phone, and it looks nice enough. I personally find iPhone 4 superior, but that's just me.

The Xoom seems to be comparable to the iPad in every respect except two - the CPU is faster but the display is a significant step down. Interesting, but I'd like to see what the iPad 2 looks like before making a call.

Originally Posted by freudling 

A compelling upgrade in my opinion are redesigns in addition to some under-the-hood stuff. MBPs... sharp edges, kinda clunky now. They need new designs. Tapered edges, lighter, options to lose the optical drive... better battery life. Remember the Blogs like a few days ago: 11 hours battery! LOL.

Those almost never happen - redesigns are almost always paired with minor updates of the hardware. There was the unibody introduction that brought a new chipset and there was the original Powerbook G4. There was the Powermac G5. There were a few borderlines: a display change on the iMac when it went to desktop chips, the Nehalem MP, and the mini, the iBook and the iMac have followed on to chips used by other Macs in a redesign. Not often, no mater how you slice it.

Originally Posted by freudling 

I want a redesign. I've been dying for redesigns since... since the day the current MacBook Pro design was launched. That's right, never liked the design. Sharp edges, clunky, screen too reflective, hate aluminum (ugly and bloody hot), loud fan at times, etc. But that's my opinion.

And here we have it. Refershingly honest for an online forum, kudos for that. You want a redesign because you don't like the current one. OK, fine - that doesn't make the current update a bad one.

[freudling]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Freudling: I see. That is, of course, something that no amount of argumentation can change.

I think the current machines are the sexiest I've ever seen (in 22 years on the platform).

Nah, that was the PowerBook Pismo.

[solofx7]

I figured I would just weigh in on this a little bit. I have a MBP 17inch core i7 clocking in at roughly 6415 on geekbench.
I saw on cnet where the new model is getting over 9000 or so, which is right inline with my iMac i7 quad core.
I must say that I love speed and will pay more to be right on the cutting edge.
I am all for all of the changes today.
Personally I have been on the fence about a new MacBook Air, but decided since the pro's were getting an update, I would see what was in store before deciding.
I thought that there would be a redesign for the pro, but I had no clue. I thought the redesign was highly possible because of what we saw on the Air recently. I really thought that they would bring over some design cues/tech. Meaning longer battery or SSD stuff.
I know there is a huge difference product wise between the Air and a 17 inch i7 pro. Once I saw and used the Air I decided there were things that I could do without for saving the space/weight. I was also impressed with the speed, but thought that I should wait to see if they upgrade the processor.

I do love the current pro design, but it is not perfect, the sort of sharp, but not really edge is not great, but livable. If anyone picks up the new pro, let us know what you think.

[freudling]

Originally Posted by P 

1.3x? Maybe...

It's just overhyped. Sorry, that's the way I see it. I've been around too long...

The person who said Apple's a marketing company first... was right. I see such patterns to them: it's all about disinformation and countering the competition.

Why doesn't Motorola, Sony, etc. do this more? They should. For instance, Motorola could have said they were launching their product on Thursday, and then, right before, pulled back to let Apple have their update day. Then, the following week, when no dumb Valentines Emails from Apple or modestly updated MacBook Pros were happening, the XOOM could really made its own splash. Not saying its a great product but we're talking marketing.

HP-Palm: go on a blitz on March 2. Oh ya, you won't be shipping till the summer... sigh.

[seanc]

I fancy one, would be a nice upgrade from this machine. I'm still not sure if I can cope without the separate trackpad button though.

[generationfourt]

Originally Posted by freudling 

I want a redesign. I've been dying for redesigns since... since the day the current MacBook Pro design was launched. That's right, never liked the design. Sharp edges, clunky, screen too reflective, hate aluminum (ugly and bloody hot), loud fan at times, etc. But that's my opinion.

my opinion is that the unibody is an awesome design. also my prediction is the "2012 redesigned mbp" will basically look the same as the current mbp. with a huge internal overhaul.

think I'm crazy? probably– but look how long apple has been using the aluminum mac pro desktop design. It's basically been the exact same for what? 10 years now? just saying

[indigoimac]

Originally Posted by generationfourt 

my opinion is that the unibody is an awesome design. also my prediction is the "2012 redesigned mbp" will basically look the same as the current mbp. with a huge internal overhaul.

think I'm crazy? probably– but look how long apple has been using the aluminum mac pro desktop design. It's basically been the exact same for what? 10 years now? just saying

I agree with this, they'll drop optical for good and thin out the rest of it MBA style.

[flabasha]

The first benchmarks are in, with the new quad-core compared to the last gen dual-core, and HOLY CR**!

2011 MacBook Pro -- first look

I use my 2.4 i5 15" for Final Cut and Photoshop, and if these numbers hold up, this is pretty much a must-buy for creative pros. May cut rendering time in half, especially with the imminent new Final Cut...

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

The kind I work with sees a completely new connection tech, HUGE performance jump in the 13" machines, but FULL compatibility with any existing mobile setup except those based around ExpressCard.

The thing runs PCI Express — it probably won't be long before someone comes up with an adapter that will even let you use ExpressCards with it. Thunderbolt looks like the Holy Grail of connectivity options.

[Spheric Harlot]

Yep.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by flabasha 

The first benchmarks are in, with the new quad-core compared to the last gen dual-core, and HOLY CR**!

2011 MacBook Pro -- first look

I use my 2.4 i5 15" for Final Cut and Photoshop, and if these numbers hold up, this is pretty much a must-buy for creative pros. May cut rendering time in half, especially with the imminent new Final Cut...

More here:

New MacBook Pro Benchmarks Show Massive Improvement - Mac Rumors

[solofx7]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

More here:

New MacBook Pro Benchmarks Show Massive Improvement - Mac Rumors

That's insane. wow. I was not expecting that much of a jump. I think mostly because of intels naming convention. It makes the consumer do all of the work and testing to figure out what the difference is.
Personally, I would not release a product with the same name, different generations, but no discernible differences to the consumer on the package.

[ibook_steve]

OK, I can officially be jealous now.



Steve

[Salty]

I'm super stoked about my i7 13 inch! The lack of good SSD options suck, but that's OK I've got a 7200 RPM HDD to put in already, and I'll replace the optical drive with an SSD soon enough.

This thing is going to freaking scream, and these processors are probably the best upgrade since the switch to Intel. (I don't know why everyone doesn't realize that.)

As for updated designs to the Pro, I highly doubt you're gonna see much other than a bigger track pad. The screens look amazing in them, the case feels super solid and I highly doubt Apple will move away from Aluminium. The keyboard is great. What exactly are you guys hoping for in a redesign?

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Salty 

I'm super stoked about my i7 13 inch! The lack of good SSD options suck, but that's OK I've got a 7200 RPM HDD to put in already, and I'll replace the optical drive with an SSD soon enough.

Just wait until the 25 nm SSDs get more prevalent, which should happen in a few months. The prices should get significantly lower.

[dmsimmer]

I'm annoyed with how heavy this thing continues to be. Dump the DVD-R and HDD, and make them BTO. I'm totally geeked up with the idea of quad-core, but who wants to lug around another skillet?

I was really hoping for an interim product that bridges to the MBAir updates. Putting a new connector is great, but hardly worth my time. (I'm still lugging around a 2006 Core-Duo...)

Throw an i3, i5, or an i7 in a MBAir package, and Apple has themselves a customer waiting at the door. (Though, if I'm wishing, give me 15")

[Phoible]

Ordered the low-end 13" MBP. Was originally going to get the high-end 13", but the performance of the low-end is so good (about 2x the previous gen 13") that I decided that it wasn't really worth it (the high-end 13" is only a bit faster for significantly more money). Will almost definitely upgrade the RAM to 8GB, and I may get an SSD at some point in the future (when prices drop a bit more).

[Spheric Harlot]

The 13" offers significant extra oomph for media processing.

The cache and clock are worth it to me.

[1] Still no 8-bit color display. No offense, but I'm offended that I can't lug around my iMac in my backpack.

[2] And can someone tell me what the best way is to keep keyboard smudges from appearing on the MacBook Pro screens? Having gone through 3 portable computers and using all the available keyboard/screen protectants, I still end up with marks on the screen that I can't clean. I'm planning to get the 15" or 17" this time. Suggestions?

[3] LOL the educational store claims 8 hours of battery life but the generic store claims 7 hours... great time to be a student!

[4] P.S. Throw Lion and a SSD in there and w00t HD speed!

[CharlesS]

Uncleanable keyboard smudges (or uncleanable anything, really) shouldn't be an issue with the unibody machines, as they have a layer of easily-cleanable glass protecting the screen.

[justinkim]

I picked up a 2.2GHz 15" machine yesterday to replace my C2D MBP. Haven't really put it through its paces yet, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. 32bit Geekbench gave me a score of 10053 just now. Still had a couple of windows open in Safari, too.

[snookie]

You need to review past models because you are way off in your assertion that this kind of speed jump is common. Thunderbolt is huge as well. I suggest you also review benchmarks of the new models proc, vid, and TB that you call hype.
Oh, and its LOL funny that you think any of this has to do with the Xoom or timed to "counter" other companies. Apple could care less. This is really evident to anyone at all familiar with Apple.
BTW I looked at a Xoom today. I expected to like it at least a little but was not impressed. Poorly fitted case. Terrible cheap feeling buttons and too many buttons. Poor quality washed out screen. The interface seemed like it was different just to be different.

Originally Posted by freudling 

Yes, faster hardware. How many times does Apple come out with the 1.3x-2x-3x faster performance bit? Every time.

Lots of marketing. It's all about what you experience real world day-to-day. Any performance speed up is good for the pros, but more hype. They time all this stuff to counter other tech companies. Today is the day the M. XOOM goes on sale at best buy with Android Gingerbread 3.0. Ya, ya, I know, you don't like Android, just making an observation.

A compelling upgrade in my opinion are redesigns in addition to some under-the-hood stuff. MBPs... sharp edges, kinda clunky now. They need new designs. Tapered edges, lighter, options to lose the optical drive... better battery life. Remember the Blogs like a few days ago: 11 hours battery! LOL.

[snookie]

I've had my 13" Ultimate Air for a couple months now. It's the best Mac I've ever owned and I've owned Macs since the 128k in 1984. I'd love the horsepower of the new 15" but they seem huge and heavy compared to the Air because of course they are. But they are actually better in this regard than 15" PC laptops with quad core. You can't fit this kind of horsepower into an Air sized package and I think its probably a little early for the general market to buy into no optical drive and small expensive SSD's that are not in a 2.5 inch form factor. My guess is that rumor about a Air with Sandy bridge in June is probably correct. Plus Thunderbolt and I'll be snapping one up. I would also like to go to 8GB of ram on the Air. One complaint I do have about this latest revision is you should be able to go to 16GB of ram on MBP models.

Originally Posted by dmsimmer 

I'm annoyed with how heavy this thing continues to be. Dump the DVD-R and HDD, and make them BTO. I'm totally geeked up with the idea of quad-core, but who wants to lug around another skillet?

I was really hoping for an interim product that bridges to the MBAir updates. Putting a new connector is great, but hardly worth my time. (I'm still lugging around a 2006 Core-Duo...)

Throw an i3, i5, or an i7 in a MBAir package, and Apple has themselves a customer waiting at the door. (Though, if I'm wishing, give me 15")

[AKcrab]

Originally Posted by dmsimmer 

I'm annoyed with how heavy this thing continues to be. Dump the DVD-R and HDD, and make them BTO. I'm totally geeked up with the idea of quad-core, but who wants to lug around another skillet?

If I took the HDD and the optical drive out of a 15" and handed it to you, you wouldn't even notice a difference. That's not where the weight is.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by dmsimmer 

Throw an i3, i5, or an i7 in a MBAir package, and Apple has themselves a customer waiting at the door. (Though, if I'm wishing, give me 15")

If they put even an i3 in the MacBook Air, it'd have to be downclocked so much there would be little to no advantage at all (look at the other i3 or i5 ultraportables on the market).

[PB2K]

If I would have waited two months I would have gotten the 15" i5 or i7, because of the 1 Gb videocard. But I didn't because this older macbookpro 2.8 ghz with SSD is extremely fast

I will make a thread about powermanagement later. cheers

[SierraDragon]

So I am buying a 17", CTO for the matte display and 7200 rpm drive. I will retrofit an OWC SSD in the optical drive slot later (kind of surprised Apple did not offer that option). I do regret that the new boxes still only access 8 GB max RAM, but overall I am thrilled by the LP and the spectacular performance. Strong graphics and Thunderbolt's i/o capability make these MBPs the first unequivocal desktop replacement boxes.

My question is, who do folks recommend to buy from for best price? As of now I will probably get it from SmallDog, from whom I have purchased many times.

Edit: Second question, is there any benefit other than clock to going from the 2.2 to the 2.3? No way the extra clock speed alone is worth $250.

TIA

-Allen

[davidflas]

Originally Posted by SierraDragon 

So I am buying a 17", CTO for the matte display and 7200 rpm drive. I will retrofit an OWC SSD in the optical drive slot later (kind of surprised Apple did not offer that option). I do regret that the new boxes still only access 8 GB max RAM, but overall I am thrilled by the LP and the spectacular performance. Strong graphics and Thunderbolt's i/o capability make these MBPs the first unequivocal desktop replacement boxes.

My question is, who do folks recommend to buy from for best price? As of now I will probably get it from SmallDog, from whom I have purchased many times.

Edit: Second question, is there any benefit other than clock to going from the 2.2 to the 2.3? No way the extra clock speed alone is worth $250.

TIA

-Allen

I just ordered a similar machine directly from Apple because I can get the edu discount. I got the 2.3 cpu because it offers a higher clock speed, more cache (8MB vs. 6MB), and I'm hoping it will help the resale value. I was wondering why Apple didn't offer a 7200rpm 750GB HD.

[Andrew88088]

Originally Posted by Andrew88088 

I was looking to upgrade my MacBook to a 13", but I think I'm going to end up waiting it out until next year. I think if there was a BTO option to upgrade the display to 1440x900, I probably would've bitten. Oh well.

I lied. I ended up getting the base model 13" with education discount. Coming from a 2007 C2D MacBook, this is a very welcome upgrade. I can deal with the same resolution since I do have a 23" LCD I plug into when I want more space. I'll probably end up maxing the RAM out and I've already swapped my 500GB drive in. I'd like to go SSD, but I'm going to wait until they come down in price. I figure I'll just sell this next year in the event of a redesign and upgrade. Definitely no regrets here!

[solofx7]

this is tough to know where to go from my 17-i7.
I really like the strides the air has made, but I love power and the specs of the new pros...

[Spheric Harlot]

Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) Review & Rating | PCMag.com

Bottom Line
The Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Thunderbolt) is the fastest, most technologically advanced laptop to grace our Labs benches.

Well then.

[TailsToo]

My 15" 2.2GHz with the High Res Screen will be here on Thursday!

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by solofx7 

this is tough to know where to go from my 17-i7.
I really like the strides the air has made, but I love power and the specs of the new pros...

Why would you get rid of it? You likely won't be blown away if you were to trade yours for a new model.

[solofx7]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Why would you get rid of it? You likely won't be blown away if you were to trade yours for a new model.

I am on the fence between the new 17inch i7 or an Air 11.
I am also waiting for a big jump for the iMacs.
It is just "time" for some upgrades for me.
It would be much easier if I had a general idea of where the Air would be going hardware wise.

[P]

That's easy: low-voltage dualcore Sandy Bridge, integrated graphics. Thunderbolt possible but not likely. Backlit keyboard possible.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by P 

Thunderbolt possible but not likely.

How do you figure? It has a Mini-DisplayPort now — I'd expect Apple to replace all the MDPs with Thunderbolt in short order. If they leave two identical-looking connection types in their lineup, it's just going to cause confusion.

Thunderbolt would also be an excellent way to compensate for the Air's spartan port complement.

[SierraDragon]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

How do you figure? It has a Mini-DisplayPort now — I'd expect Apple to replace all the MDPs with Thunderbolt in short order. If they leave two identical-looking connection types in their lineup, it's just going to cause confusion.

Thunderbolt would also be an excellent way to compensate for the Air's spartan port complement.

I agree. Once Apple commits to lead the world to a new connectivity method it is important to generate critical mass quickly before some other technology has a chance to get in the way. I expect them to implement Thunderbolt on all new Sandy Bridge boxes. Intel has similar motivation for including Thunderbolt on the low power CPUs.

I will be replacing my 17" with another 17" because I need full DTR graphics power and display for Aperture, but for anyone needing small-sexy rather than max portable power and screen real estate I expect the Sandy Bridge MBA to absolutely rock.

-Allen Wicks