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Apple unveils upgraded Macbooks

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http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/3580012/Apple-unveils-new-MacBooks

Apple has updated its line of high-end laptops with faster processors, better graphics and longer battery life, as the company continues to take share in the personal computer market.
Apple said its 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro notebooks were refreshed with more powerful Intel processors and new graphics chips from Nvidia.
The 13-inch model, which starts at NZ$1,999 (for a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 250GB hard drive), boasts up to 10 hours of battery life, Apple said.
The 13-inch model with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 320GB hard drive costs NZ$2,599.
The company said its new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models, which start at NZ$3,099 and NZ$3,999 respectively, are up to 50 per cent faster than their predecessors, with eight to nine hours of battery life.
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Forgive the NZ-centric pricings.

I'm a little disappointed by this. I was hoping they'd wait a little longer and outfit them all with USB 3.0.
 
I got the base line 15" with a 500Gig 7200RPM HDD and the HD Anti Glare screen.

What I wished for was a BD drive instead of DVD.
 
They didn't "unveil" anything. The specifications were quietly updated on their online store.
 
Yep, If there's no picture of Steve Jobs holding it on a stage, it doesn't count as an unveiling. That's in the official MacGeek handbook.
 
The only real things of note are the graphics.

First, the Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics chips in the 13" models are a custom job made specifically for Apple.

Second, the 15" and 17" models which have dual graphics chips (Intel HD for low power usage and Nvidia GeForce 330M for performance) won't be using Nvidia's Optimus technology, which allows the user to switch between them on the fly, just yet.
 
The 13" is a joke... it needs to have a Core i5. There's no way you can call a Core 2 Duo a "pro" model in today's market. And Intel is going to stop production of the Duos this summer, apparently, so the fall refresh is guaranteed to have a pretty big upgrade.

As to the graphics switching, they don't use Optimus for graphics switching because Apple has apparently developed their own similar system, though they haven't given any details on it yet.
 
Meh. A fairly quiet, typical update. Nothing earth-shattering that makes me feel like my 1-year-old 17" MacBook Pro is useless.

My brother just ordered the new 15" model last night so that he can... get this... watch DVDs and surf the internet wirelessly (he's going off to Georgia for 12 weeks of training and wanted a computer to take with him). Yup, he really just spent $2,000 just for that. (I should mention that my brother can be quite the moron)
 
WHY did they not go with a current AMD GPU which are currently more feature rich?

I guess Macs don't use DX though heh, so DX11 would be useless, but how is OGL support on macs?
 
Brent said:
WHY did they not go with a current AMD GPU which are currently more feature rich?

I guess Macs don't use DX though heh, so DX11 would be useless, but how is OGL support on macs?
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OpenGL support is just fine. In general, if a card is said to support a particular DX version, all GPU features associated with that DX version may be expected to be available via OpenGL as well. (It does depend the GPU vendor implementing those features in its OpenGL drivers, but they're both pretty good about that.)
 
This 'upgrade' is pathetic at best.
Not to mention the fact it's a complete rip-off concerning the hardware they house.
 
Hermiod said:
...won't be using Nvidia's Optimus technology, which allows the user to switch between them on the fly, just yet.
Click to expand...

It's because they came up with something even better.

The trackpads keep gaining features from the iPhone each time, too. These MacBooks now have momentum scrolling which I would have thought was a software feature, but it's sure sounding like its a feature only on these new models, so perhaps the hardware does have something to do with it.
 
Warp Coil said:
My brother just ordered the new 15" model last night so that he can... get this... watch DVDs and surf the internet wirelessly (he's going off to Georgia for 12 weeks of training and wanted a computer to take with him). Yup, he really just spent $2,000 just for that. (I should mention that my brother can be quite the moron)
Click to expand...

Someone needs to tell him what a netbook is. :lol:
 
Canadave said:
Warp Coil said:
My brother just ordered the new 15" model last night so that he can... get this... watch DVDs and surf the internet wirelessly (he's going off to Georgia for 12 weeks of training and wanted a computer to take with him). Yup, he really just spent $2,000 just for that. (I should mention that my brother can be quite the moron)
Click to expand...

Someone needs to tell him what a netbook is. :lol:
Click to expand...

Trust me, I tried to talk him out of it. He refused to buy anything with a smaller screen (which is why he didn't look at the 13" MacBook or MacBook Pro) and will not buy a PC. Granted, he got into the whole Mac thing because of me, so I can't blame him for not wanting a PC netbook. But he really just wasted a ton of money on a computer that he did not need. He's already got a 24" iMac at home that he only uses to surf the web and do school work on, and he didn't need that, either.
 
Warp Coil said:
Meh. A fairly quiet, typical update. Nothing earth-shattering that makes me feel like my 1-year-old 17" MacBook Pro is useless.

My brother just ordered the new 15" model last night so that he can... get this... watch DVDs and surf the internet wirelessly (he's going off to Georgia for 12 weeks of training and wanted a computer to take with him). Yup, he really just spent $2,000 just for that. (I should mention that my brother can be quite the moron)
Click to expand...

That's really just brilliant advertising. Most people don't realize that they can buy a netbook, skip the OS, run Ubuntu and have a machine that does everything they need or will ever use for well under the $500 mark.

I need a machine that can run multiple Adobe CS4 applications simultaneously at high speed. Even then, better to do the desktop/netbook pairing than to get a high powered laptop of any kind (IMO).
 
Warp Coil said:
Trust me, I tried to talk him out of it. He refused to buy anything with a smaller screen (which is why he didn't look at the 13" MacBook or MacBook Pro) and will not buy a PC. Granted, he got into the whole Mac thing because of me, so I can't blame him for not wanting a PC netbook. But he really just wasted a ton of money on a computer that he did not need. He's already got a 24" iMac at home that he only uses to surf the web and do school work on, and he didn't need that, either.
Click to expand...

He should of gotten an iPad.
 
Bisz said:
Warp Coil said:
Trust me, I tried to talk him out of it. He refused to buy anything with a smaller screen (which is why he didn't look at the 13" MacBook or MacBook Pro) and will not buy a PC. Granted, he got into the whole Mac thing because of me, so I can't blame him for not wanting a PC netbook. But he really just wasted a ton of money on a computer that he did not need. He's already got a 24" iMac at home that he only uses to surf the web and do school work on, and he didn't need that, either.
Click to expand...

He should of gotten an iPad.
Click to expand...

Give it time...
 
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