New MacBook and MacBook Pros now available

[Kaido]

TUAW has the scoop

MacBook Updates:
-Penryn CPU now available (2.1 to 2.4ghz)
-Larger drives and more ram standard (120-160b, 1-2gb)

MacBook Pro Updates:
-Penryn CPU now available (2.4 to 2.6ghz)
-17" now has an LED screen option (yay!)
-200-250gb now standard
-8600GT (starts at 256mb, up to 512mb)
-Multi-touch trackpad

I think my biggest gripe is no LED update for the 13" MacBook. After having an LED-backlit 15" MacBook Pro, I can never go back to a non-LED screen. Also no Multi-touch on the 13" models...guess it's too early for some Air competition :evil:

I am extremely happy that the 17" models have an LED screen option, I've been waiting for this option for my work machine. Plus Multi-touch is a nice touch. I'm curious to see how the Penryns perform...the Santa Rosa update made the laptops nice and cool compared to the previous Core/Core2 Duo versions. Also, it made me laugh that the 17" CPU upgrade option was from 2.5 to 2.6ghz for $250 (.1ghz for an extra $250!! lol).

 

[JzL]

We need a 12/13.3" Mac Book Pro.

I was secretly hoping.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: JzL
We need a 12/13.3" Mac Book Pro.

I was secretly hoping.

Honestly...as much as that is my dream machine...I don't think it will ever happen. They already have a 13" fully-featured notebook (DVD, Firewire, etc.) and a 13" ultraportable notebook. A 13" professional notebook would cannibalize sales and confuse the general consumer population. The only thing a 13" MacBook pro would add would be an ExpressCard port and a real graphics card, and a Firewire 800 port I guess. It would have to sell for $2500 though...$1000-$1500 for the MacBook, $1800 for the Air...$2000 would be too close to the Air. This is why I was disappointed that the 13" MacBooks didn't get the LED update this time around. Plus a lot of their Pro apps now require higher resolutions because of HD requirements, which physically aren't going to be very readable on a 13" screen.

Steve, if you're reading this - put all those drawbacks aside and build us a 13" MBP, please please please please!

 

[kalster]

why cant they make a 12" macbook , I use a 12" thinkpad x31 and that size/form factor is perfect for me, the old 12" powerbooks were cool, they should have created a 12" mac book air mini

 

[Goosemaster]

I was expecting so much more

 

[bearxor]

I totally called the 2.4/2.5ghz speed on macrumors.com

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
I was expecting so much more

Like what?

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
I was expecting so much more

And you my friend sum up exactly what happens on teh intarwebz when apple rumors go around.

In this instance we had the people champing at the bit, just foaming at the mouth for Penryn, even though IMO, there was no need to jump to Penryn yet, and instead they should have waited for Montevina and the new graphics chips (but that is for another day). So, they are going crazy, screaming for Penryn, demanding it more than sex.

Apple releases new ones with Penryn, sort of like the Core Duo to Core 2 Duo transition. Not a whole lot changed, new processor, and some other new feature(s). They gave us LED backlighting on the 17", world's first. Multi-Touch on the trackpad... i haven't used it yet, so I have trouble getting excited.

But now that they have released it, it isn't good enough. They wanted 8800GTXs, a redesigned shell, dual CPUs, higher res screens, an aircard, expresscard 54, BluRay, HDMI, fingerprint readers, card readers, touch screens, and so much more. And they wanted it for $1500.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: JzL
We need a 12/13.3" Mac Book Pro.

I was secretly hoping.

Honestly...as much as that is my dream machine...I don't think it will ever happen. They already have a 13" fully-featured notebook (DVD, Firewire, etc.) and a 13" ultraportable notebook. A 13" professional notebook would cannibalize sales and confuse the general consumer population. The only thing a 13" MacBook pro would add would be an ExpressCard port and a real graphics card, and a Firewire 800 port I guess. It would have to sell for $2500 though...$1000-$1500 for the MacBook, $1800 for the Air...$2000 would be too close to the Air. This is why I was disappointed that the 13" MacBooks didn't get the LED update this time around. Plus a lot of their Pro apps now require higher resolutions because of HD requirements, which physically aren't going to be very readable on a 13" screen.

Steve, if you're reading this - put all those drawbacks aside and build us a 13" MBP, please please please please!

The black macbook pro should not exist IMO. Unless it was simply a color option. make room for a 1599 13" macboko pro. Or.. alternatively, just give us a low end real video card, 128MB 8600.. c'mon! I'll do the 7200rpm drive swap myself...

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

The question now is: Do you wait for the Centrino 2 chips coming out in June/July or do you just buy these MBPs with Penryn? Is this just an incremental update before the big redesign?

 

[MrTransistorm]

I just ordered the midline 15" (matte) MBP 2.5GHz 2GB RAM.

I went for the 7200 option. I know I could have upgraded myself, but it was only $40 extra. I want to get used to the new machine before I start taking it apart.

Ships by Feb 28 - Mar 3
Delivers by Mar 3 - Mar 7

Sweet.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
I was expecting so much more

And you my friend sum up exactly what happens on teh intarwebz when apple rumors go around.

In this instance we had the people champing at the bit, just foaming at the mouth for Penryn, even though IMO, there was no need to jump to Penryn yet, and instead they should have waited for Montevina and the new graphics chips (but that is for another day). So, they are going crazy, screaming for Penryn, demanding it more than sex.

Apple releases new ones with Penryn, sort of like the Core Duo to Core 2 Duo transition. Not a whole lot changed, new processor, and some other new feature(s). They gave us LED backlighting on the 17", world's first. Multi-Touch on the trackpad... i haven't used it yet, so I have trouble getting excited.

But now that they have released it, it isn't good enough. They wanted 8800GTXs, a redesigned shell, dual CPUs, higher res screens, an aircard, expresscard 54, BluRay, HDMI, fingerprint readers, card readers, touch screens, and so much more. And they wanted it for $1500.

Um...nice post, dude.

The reality is that people have no choice but to take what Apple gives. "Expecting" much more is probably foolish, but one can always hope. The point is that Apple hasn't done a major redesign since they gave back the MBP all the ports it lost when they switched to Intel chips. I mean, if you look at it (and this is going by memory, so forgive me if it's inaccurate) you've got something like this....

• 
  Second to last G4 rev. I think this gave us the backlit keyboard.

• 
  Last G4 rev: This was, what, November 2005? In reality, this was the last "major" revision. And it was TWO AND A HALF years ago. This gave us the expanded resolution (1440 from 1200), expanded battery life, DDR2 memory and a Dual-layer DVD burner. I could also be forgetting something.

• First Intel rev: This machine was crap. They took all the ports off the last G4, took out the dual-layer, lowered the resolution, but tried to distract us by gaving us a webcam, Magsafe and Front Row. That's actually not a bad haul, if they hadn't otherwise crippled the machine.

• Second Intel Rev: Core2Duo. They added all the ports back, acted like they were doing us a favor, and upped the speed. Still nothing "new".

• First Santa Rosa Rev: Don't think anything was new here other than speed increases and LED LCDs, which are nice, admittedly.

• Latest Rev (Today): Multi-touch, Penryn. We'll see how battery life/performance compares. Apparently it's a bit lighter. But where did the Apple remote go? It's a $19 option now. Didn't it used to be standard?

In reality, the only "updates" worth anything were the last G4 (which, as I said, was they last time they really "added" new stuff), the first Core2Duo (where they brought the new Intel toys -- iSight and whatnot -- to the older G4 ports) and this latest machine.

The reality is, in 2 years (the first Intel revision came out what, Jan 2006?) unless I'm missing something, we've added exactly TWO things: Multi-touch (today!) and LED backlighting. What have other companies added in the meantime?

So people wanting "more" is probably them commenting on the fact that Apple's been selling the "same" machine for two years now. That's not an unreasonable complaint.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: randomlinh

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: JzL
We need a 12/13.3" Mac Book Pro.

I was secretly hoping.

Honestly...as much as that is my dream machine...I don't think it will ever happen. They already have a 13" fully-featured notebook (DVD, Firewire, etc.) and a 13" ultraportable notebook. A 13" professional notebook would cannibalize sales and confuse the general consumer population. The only thing a 13" MacBook pro would add would be an ExpressCard port and a real graphics card, and a Firewire 800 port I guess. It would have to sell for $2500 though...$1000-$1500 for the MacBook, $1800 for the Air...$2000 would be too close to the Air. This is why I was disappointed that the 13" MacBooks didn't get the LED update this time around. Plus a lot of their Pro apps now require higher resolutions because of HD requirements, which physically aren't going to be very readable on a 13" screen.

Steve, if you're reading this - put all those drawbacks aside and build us a 13" MBP, please please please please!

The black macbook pro should not exist IMO. Unless it was simply a color option. make room for a 1599 13" macboko pro. Or.. alternatively, just give us a low end real video card, 128MB 8600.. c'mon! I'll do the 7200rpm drive swap myself...

Yeah I agree...the black color should be more special - for $1499 it should at least have a dedicated video card, even if it's a low-end model. That way there would be more incentive to buy it!

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: scootermaster
So people wanting "more" is probably them commenting on the fact that Apple's been selling the "same" machine for two years now. That's not an unreasonable complaint.

Exactly what would Apple change? I don't see why people want "more" when there's really nothing else to give. All of the current options are either cosmetic or expensive - different design or paintjob, unstandardized Blu-ray drive (remember they probably went into design and production of these 6 months ago), uber expensive SSD drives - what are people looking for? They have the latest chips, the fastest drives, the most amount of ram, the newest LED screens, and even nifty multi-touch trackpads. What more do people want? I don't understand the complaining.

 

[KeithP]

If anyone cares, the Apple store has refurbs at good prices. For instance, the old model BlackBook (2.2Ghz, 3100 video) is $1049.

-Keith

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: scootermaster
So people wanting "more" is probably them commenting on the fact that Apple's been selling the "same" machine for two years now. That's not an unreasonable complaint.

Exactly what would Apple change? I don't see why people want "more" when there's really nothing else to give. All of the current options are either cosmetic or expensive - different design or paintjob, unstandardized Blu-ray drive (remember they probably went into design and production of these 6 months ago), uber expensive SSD drives - what are people looking for? They have the latest chips, the fastest drives, the most amount of ram, the newest LED screens, and even nifty multi-touch trackpads. What more do people want? I don't understand the complaining.

Well, I had this conversation two years ago -- when the last batch of goodies came in -- with a friend. And it's a valid point; "what else can they do?" But something tells me it wasn't exactly like you predicted Magsafe, you know? Or multi-touch? Or backlit keys?

So the answer to your question is twofold: One, I have supreme confidence in Apple engineers to come up with crap I can't even think of now. They've done it before. And yes, it does seem like they might be running out of ideas, but something tells me they'll come up with something. And two, I've offered two possibilities in other threads: TV tuning and Wimax/3G. Now, you can say "never going to happen", or "Apple doesn't care" or whatever, and perhaps that's true. But there are two MAJOR updates right there that a). apple doesn't have, and b). either one of which -- especially the Wimax -- would satisfy people as being an "update".

Assuming things are going okay with the Sprint rollout -- which is perhaps not a safe assumption -- I think MBPs will have Wimax with their next revision (which was hopefully going to be in June, but now looks more like August/September).

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: scootermaster
So people wanting "more" is probably them commenting on the fact that Apple's been selling the "same" machine for two years now. That's not an unreasonable complaint.

Exactly what would Apple change? I don't see why people want "more" when there's really nothing else to give. All of the current options are either cosmetic or expensive - different design or paintjob, unstandardized Blu-ray drive (remember they probably went into design and production of these 6 months ago), uber expensive SSD drives - what are people looking for? They have the latest chips, the fastest drives, the most amount of ram, the newest LED screens, and even nifty multi-touch trackpads. What more do people want? I don't understand the complaining.

Well, I had this conversation two years ago -- when the last batch of goodies came in -- with a friend. And it's a valid point; "what else can they do?" But something tells me it wasn't exactly like you predicted Magsafe, you know? Or multi-touch? Or backlit keys?

So the answer to your question is twofold: One, I have supreme confidence in Apple engineers to come up with crap I can't even think of now. They've done it before. And yes, it does seem like they might be running out of ideas, but something tells me they'll come up with something. And two, I've offered two possibilities in other threads: TV tuning and Wimax/3G. Now, you can say "never going to happen", or "Apple doesn't care" or whatever, and perhaps that's true. But there are two MAJOR updates right there that a). apple doesn't have, and b). either one of which -- especially the Wimax -- would satisfy people as being an "update".

Assuming things are going okay with the Sprint rollout -- which is perhaps not a safe assumption -- I think MBPs will have Wimax with their next revision (which was hopefully going to be in June, but now looks more like August/September).

TV tuning definitely won't happen for two reasons: one, the technology is muddy now (OTA HD, CableCard, etc.); two, they sell TV shows. Recording for free would destroy their business model.

As far as the other "what else can they do" things, they're all minor imo. The Magsafe is super nice, but multi-touch, backlit keys...those are pretty much just fluff. Although I do hope we can start creating custom gestures for the trackpad...that would be enough to move me to upgrade

 

[KeithP]

One improvement that I think is overdue is adding esata to the MacBook Pro. It is at least as common as FW800 and performs better. Another option would that would be nice to have is the ability to opt for an external optical and allowing the vacated space to be use for a second internal HD.

-KeithP

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: scootermaster
So people wanting "more" is probably them commenting on the fact that Apple's been selling the "same" machine for two years now. That's not an unreasonable complaint.

Exactly what would Apple change? I don't see why people want "more" when there's really nothing else to give. All of the current options are either cosmetic or expensive - different design or paintjob, unstandardized Blu-ray drive (remember they probably went into design and production of these 6 months ago), uber expensive SSD drives - what are people looking for? They have the latest chips, the fastest drives, the most amount of ram, the newest LED screens, and even nifty multi-touch trackpads. What more do people want? I don't understand the complaining.

Well, I had this conversation two years ago -- when the last batch of goodies came in -- with a friend. And it's a valid point; "what else can they do?" But something tells me it wasn't exactly like you predicted Magsafe, you know? Or multi-touch? Or backlit keys?

So the answer to your question is twofold: One, I have supreme confidence in Apple engineers to come up with crap I can't even think of now. They've done it before. And yes, it does seem like they might be running out of ideas, but something tells me they'll come up with something. And two, I've offered two possibilities in other threads: TV tuning and Wimax/3G. Now, you can say "never going to happen", or "Apple doesn't care" or whatever, and perhaps that's true. But there are two MAJOR updates right there that a). apple doesn't have, and b). either one of which -- especially the Wimax -- would satisfy people as being an "update".

Assuming things are going okay with the Sprint rollout -- which is perhaps not a safe assumption -- I think MBPs will have Wimax with their next revision (which was hopefully going to be in June, but now looks more like August/September).

TV tuning definitely won't happen for two reasons: one, the technology is muddy now (OTA HD, CableCard, etc.); two, they sell TV shows. Recording for free would destroy their business model.

As far as the other "what else can they do" things, they're all minor imo. The Magsafe is super nice, but multi-touch, backlit keys...those are pretty much just fluff. Although I do hope we can start creating custom gestures for the trackpad...that would be enough to move me to upgrade

Well, my point wasn't that those features were awesome...my point was that they were, well, features. And unpredicted features at that. So more than likely, they'll have further unpredicted features. It's just been 2 years -- short of the LED screens and multitouch -- since they'd added anything, as I said. I guess it is .2 pounds lighter, which is nice. (I guess I forgot the "huge" upgrade of making it only an inch thick. Which is something I never quite understood. Who cares about thickness? Isn't it about weight? I mean, it went from 5.6 pounds, and 1.5 inches thick to, um, 5.6 pounds and 1 inch thick. Sure, it's "sleeker", but has anyone ever, like, not been able to tote a MBP and then all the sudden bought the skinnier one and had their problem solved? I mean, I guess if you wanted to store, say, five laptops in your messenger back/briefcase, saving that .5-.75 an inch helps. Otherwise it's sort of meaningless).

In other news...really, am I crazy, or do they now charge $19 for the Apple remote, and didn't it use to come with MBPs? That's not nuts, right?

 

[dnuggett]

The remotes used to come with MBs and MBPs in the box.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: dnuggett
The remotes used to come with MBs and MBPs in the box.

So they really just skimped out for $19?

That's lame.

 

[bearxor]

I was kind of looking forward to it and if they would release upgraded screens for the 15" (1680x1050 PLEASE!!!) I couldf be convinced to upgrade. Until then I'll likely stick with my 2.2 for a couple of years.

 

[aphex]

Decisions Decisions..... Buy a new middle MB now or wait for LED LCD?

 

[aphex]

OOOOOOOOOO, they dropped the price on the refurbs already

15.4" MBP w/ LED for $1449

or

Refurbished MacBook 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
120GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Learn More
? Save 24% off the original price
Original price: $1,299.00
Your price: $999.00

Estimated Ship:
Within 24 hours
Free Shipping

Add
Refurbished MacBook 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - Black
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
160GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Learn More
? Save 31% off the original price
Original price: $1,499.00
Your price: $1,049.00

Estimated Ship:
Within 24 hours
Free Shipping

 

[Megatomic]

Dang, that refurb blackbook is $200 less than I got it for a week ago. :shocked: