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great - now for the AirTablet

Feb 26, 08 - 08:44 am Comment from: deepdish

crap. I thought I was safe buying my macbook a month ago.

oh well. my last ibook lasted 5 years. that is a good value.

glossy or anti-glare

I am surprised they did so little to the new MBPros. Not compelling enough to upgrade my 8 month old one.

Is it just me or is this kind of a yawn inducing product release?... err update. Nothing too significant/revolutionary really in my opinion. The weight is still essentially the same, same body style (other than the track pad with smaller more annoying button). processor speed is nominally different. And I dont have to pay extra for a few of the upgrades I would have done. Nothing that makes me say "DAAAAAMN!"

I was hoping for somethign more revolutionary to the notebook lines (like the iBook G4 to Mac Book update)

sorry to bring negative vibes :-(

Feb 26, 08 - 08:58 am Comment from: JAYGEE

Hoping to buy a Macbook Pro before September for Uni. Have a Macbook now, but would prefer a Macbook Pro for Uni.

Modest improvements. Thanks Apple.

One wish... is it too much top hope for 3 USB ports on the 15"? There appears to be enough room to support another.

Time to login and upgrade from my G4 that has held up rather well.

One thing I noticed about these, in case any one cares, is that, like the Mac Book Air, the Apple Remote is now a BTO option for $19 rather than being included as it has been for the last couple years.

I guess some focus group or something figured people didn't use them enough...or they want to squeeze another $20 out of you.

I don't really give keynote preso's or anything and really only use the apple remote for our (set top) Mac Mini.

I was praying they would change the keyboard to the MB or Apple Keyboard style but, alas, they did not and it still has the same crappy keyboard on it. I guess I'll be waiting for the full redesign before I get one.

Why no multi-touch trackpad on MacBook?

i think this is a good move, apple tries to stay competitive featurewise. (they should make these minor updates more often) i think there will be a new macbook pro formfactor/ more innovative update at wwdc. and a new macbook for the back-to-school season in july/august.

Feb 26, 08 - 09:27 am Comment from: John

Yay--now I can finally get one. I've been waiting for months!

Feb 26, 08 - 09:28 am Comment from: rahrens

Did anybody notice that there is a no cost choice between the standard, matte screen and an optional glossy?

All those who've been griping about glossy screens can now shut up...

No R/W Blu-Ray disk option?

YAWN...

Feb 26, 08 - 09:34 am Comment from: Sixvodkas

@Matt

I LOATHE the Macbook/iMac style keyboard.
Guess I'll not be waiting for that full redesign!

why no 300gb hd in the 15"? maybe I missed something

Feb 26, 08 - 09:44 am Comment from: jayburridge

Tom V, get your head out of your a$$,

Apple did not say this was going to be a 'revolutionary' product release, hence them just doing it as a quiet 'Store update'.

Rather than revolutionary, this is an evolutionary update, to bring all the MB's and MBP's inline with the current processor range, and to add the multi-gesture trackpad to the MBP (Which conversely is actually a revolutionary addition)

I remember not too long ago people moaning because the processor road map was too slow and updates to speed not often enough, now your moaning because they 'only' made it faster and added a genuinely revolutionary trackpad!!

Apple's product road map extends a little beyond what Tom V wants I'm afraid. If they changed the industrial design every time they ramped the processor speed, you'd be waiting a lot lot longer between updates, and be paying way more.

J

Feb 26, 08 - 09:52 am Comment from: MikeK

What's with the pricing on the MBP?

2.4 MBP = $1999
2.5 MBP = $2499

For $500 all you get is an extra 100 mhz processor and 50gb more HDD space?

Feb 26, 08 - 09:53 am Comment from: Scott

Notice the 4 GB RAM upgrade price is half of what it used to be? It was almost $800, now it's only $3XX. Still more than if I upgrade myself but that is a hell of a lot closer to real prices.

Anyone else notice that the base MBP now includes only 3 MB L2 cache, while its predescessor included 4 MB of Smart Cache. That can't be good. Unless we're getting a more efficient processor, the 2.4 will take more juice than the earlier 2.2, while we take a performance hit from the smaller cache. What am I missing?

Feb 26, 08 - 09:59 am Comment from: MikeK

@Raymond

The new 2.4 processor is part of the 45nm series, the old 2.2 was a 65nm series. So yes, the new ones are much more energy efficient.

Wow. My MBP feels snappier already.

I've been waiting for this to come out!

Feb 26, 08 - 10:14 am Comment from: MacSheikh

My iBook suddenly feels snappier! Probably its survival instincts kicking in...

@Mike
Besides the extra 50GB - $10
The 2.5 has 6mb cache vs 3mb - $165
The Video Card has 512MB vs 256MB - $85
MacHead dues - $250

What a bunch of whiners.

The MBP form factor needs no overhaul. The design is nearly perfect. The keyboard is one of the best ever IMO, rivaled only by the Thinkpad in terms of feel. The only thing I'd like to see is a magnetic lid closure system like that on the MB and MB Air (no stupid little button and mechanical catches) and little feet or something that makes it harder to deflect the LCD onto the keyboard when the lid is closed. The MBA design seems perfect in this regard. Very solid feel and no squishiness, unlike the MB and MBP.

As for the upgrades, this is a nice evolutionary speed boost combined with the more-than-evolutionary addition of multi touch on the MBP. It's true that $500 is a big premium for for the upper end 15" model, but note that you get more VRAM in addition to the bigger HD and nominal CPU boost. Base model still looks the better deal to me.

Note also that the MBP trackpad and button have not changed in size to accommodate multi-touch. Make the trackpad too big and you increase risk of accidental inputs when typing.

All in all, a nice set of upgrades and the whiners who want from factor overhauls must suffer from congenital boredom.

@ jayburridge

Hey no reason to make it personal. Please note that I said "in my opinion" - not "your opinion".

I would have liked to see the next step be a little more ambitious, thats all. It doesn't give me any reason to run to the apple store and upgrade personally. I do however understand it may for others like perhaps yourself.

Again, in my opinion... I believe Apple needs something big right now that is not only revolutionary, buy super appealing to the masses (feature wise and with price point) to get a fire lit under the stock again. The MBA simply isn't doing it. A notebook may not be the answer either. I just hope Apple does something to get investors excited again the way the iPhone did. Little "evolutionary" updates such as this wont do it. Hence my initial comment.

Feb 26, 08 - 10:20 am Comment from: MikeK

@Rob

Thanks, I just noticed the larger cache.. Still, seems like a stretch to charge $500 for such a minimal increase in specs.

@ no-no

"the whiners who want from factor overhauls must suffer from congenital boredom."

I agree. In addition I am suffering from Apple stock crash woes.

I agree with Mike.

What is Apple thinking with the 2.5ghz 15" costing $500 more than the 2.4ghz? Thats nuts. $2299 seems like it would be a better choice.

I don't know. I'm ready to upgrade my 17" Core Duo but I don't know what to do. I want to downsize to a 15" for better portability. But the 2.5ghz 15" costs too much in my opinion. Give me the 2.4ghz with the better video card and I'll take the low end one.

I'm also disappointed that the 15" has been given a hi-res display. I was hoping for at least a chance to run the 15" at 1680x1050.

I've got a few months to think about it before my developer $500 coupon expires. Hopefully the mid-level one will have its price dropped some.

Feb 26, 08 - 10:29 am Comment from: ken1w

> I am surprised they did so little to the new MBPros.

All the MacBook Pro models now have LED backlighting. That, and the new trackpads and better processors, are significant improvements, I think. As for the overall design, it's hard to improve something that is already perfect.

@ ken1w

"As for the overall design, it's hard to improve something that is already perfect."

Noticeably lighter and thinner perhaps?

Feb 26, 08 - 10:32 am Comment from: Chip

I would like to get a MacBook, but am very hesitant about breaking it. I've had at least a dozen people tell me how snappy they are.

Feb 26, 08 - 10:35 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

Overall, it's a very nice upgrade! It KEEPS the MacBook Pro on the TOP of the laptop heap. So what's not to like about it?

The new trackpad is great and shouldn't be underestimated! I played with a MacBook Air last week for a bit and really liked it. AND my girlfriend is interested in getting an Air to replace my old 1Ghz TiBook. Excellent.

The 2.5Ghz gets the 512MB VRAM graphics card. THAT'S a big deal if you do real work on it! I'd certainly be able to benefit from it.

I do wish the hard drives were FASTER, rather than just bigger, but that's no fault of Apple's. The HD can be swapped out any time, so it's no big deal.

I look forward to Apple breaking the 4GB RAM ceiling, increasing front-side bus speed and adding a quad-core processor... Intel is due to release notebook-class quads sometime this year.

I'll keep an open slot on my Xmas list.

"What's with the pricing on the MBP?

2.4 MBP = $1999
2.5 MBP = $2499
For $500 all you get is an extra 100 mhz processor and 50gb more HDD space?"

You also get double the video RAM (512MB GDDR3 memory instead of 256MB GDDR3 memory) Still a little steep for what you get. You'd think the card itself would be a better card for $500. That's a pretty good chunk of change for the same card.

Feb 26, 08 - 10:37 am Comment from: MikeK

"Noticeably lighter and thinner perhaps?"

-----------------------

They did that, it's called the MacBook Air..

You can't deny physics. Apple are without a doubt the best at delivering products with the most desirable, light and small form factors.. However, the components needed to equip and power the MBP will not allow anything thinner and lighter at this time.

Feb 26, 08 - 10:48 am Comment from: Tommy Boy

Hey Apple, how about updating those Cinema HD Displays already?

Feb 26, 08 - 10:49 am Comment from: dd

I'm as much a computer nerd as anyone, but I don't understand this need to upgrade an 8-month old MBP for a newer one. What amazing features were you expecting? I still have the first round of C2D MBP (Merom) and it is a beast. I don't expect a new MBP to really impress me until we get past Core2. Some people need Doc Brown's help to get tomorrow's technology a bit earlier...

Feb 26, 08 - 10:50 am Comment from: ken1w

> Noticeably lighter and thinner perhaps?

Yeah, if Apple took out the optical drive and used a smaller size (or solid state) drive. At some point, there will be a MacBook Pro "Air," but until then, the MacBook Pro design is about as perfect as it can get for a 15 and 17 -inch LCD notebook with a 2.5-inch hard drive and optical drive.

Wasn't the previous Macbook $999?

@ MikeK

"They did that, it's called the MacBook Air.. "

I knew it was only a matter of time before someone replied with the MBA... No they did not.

Tow completely different platforms with different capabilities (obviously).

I'm not asking for a MBA with MBP capabilites here. You would be completely correct in saying "the components needed to equip and power the MBP will not allow anything thinner and lighter at this time."

But if they could have shaved a single pound from the MBP it would be a HUGE thing for industry professionals like myself that need a workhorse that is lighter and easier to manage. Plus it would continue on the trend they are on with making everything thinner and lighter etc (i.e. MBA, Nano, Classic, iMac, keyboard etc)

I don't doubt the cost would reflect the weight savings, but for professionals (which the MBP is geared toward) it would be justifiable IMO.

Feb 26, 08 - 11:00 am Comment from: MikeK

"But if they could have shaved a single pound from the MBP it would be a HUGE thing for industry professionals like myself that need a workhorse that is lighter and easier to manage"

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The thing is, they couldn't shave a single pound from the MBP while delivering the same specs and performance.

Using smaller drives, removing the optical and ports, yes, it could be done. But then you have the MacBook Air.

@ MikeK

Sure I can agree with that if they are looking to create a solution using past proven ways of shaving weight. But Apple is notorious for finding a different way of doing what "can't be done".

Their approach to creating solutions to what "can't be done" is why I am such a fanboy and have such high expectations of them.

It's kind of a catch 22. Even though an update like this is great in comparison to everyone else in the industry, it isn't up to the level we have seen and have come to love about (and even expect from) Apple.

And I totally will agree that we can't be blown away every time, but its such an amazing thing when it does happen that I hate it when it doesn't happen.

Feb 26, 08 - 11:11 am Comment from: Gman

my Macbook has a 320Gb HD!!! and it's very snappy...

on another note, this site's performance sucks azz...I had to get my news from other portals this morning! what do you thinK?

Feb 26, 08 - 11:12 am Comment from: dd

"Wasn't the previous Macbook $999?"

Nope. It was only that with Edu pricing.

I'm glad to see people coming to the defense of the MBP form factor. Not only is it already the best of what's available, it's hard to conceive of substantive aspects of its design that can realistically be improved.

It's hard to make this computer meaningfully thinner or lighter without losing functionality such as by ditching an optical drive. The MBA respresents the big form factor change that's doable.

What realistic case material is substantively better than aluminum?

What's wrong with 15" and 17" screen sizes? (I'm not syaing there's anything wrong with the old 12" PB, but its merits don't mean the 15" and 17" MBPs need improvement).

The keyboard is already among the most comfortable and spacious feeling out there, and it looks great and has illumination.

Make the track pad bigger and you risk more unintended inputs when typing. It's a decent size for multi touch as is.

What's wrong with the speaker size and placement? Or the placement of the various ports and optical drive?

What other inputs and outputs do folks want (other than maybe an additional USB or two, which is hardly constitutes a form factor overhaul)?

As I said in an earlier post, the only part of this case design that really asks for improvement is the lid closure system. This has always bugged me (tiny little button, etc.). Open and close an MBA a few times, and feel how of-a-single-piece the notebook seems when closed, and you'll see the way this should work and feel on the MBP.

Feb 26, 08 - 11:24 am Comment from: MikeK

"Sure I can agree with that if they are looking to create a solution using past proven ways of shaving weight. But Apple is notorious for finding a different way of doing what "can't be done"."

---------------------------

Since, Apple do not make the components themselves, they are left to design and engineer their products using the technologies from the OEM's that they purchase from..

Look at the competition, the MBP is as good as it gets right now.. I haven't seen anything that even comes close to being as good as Apple's MBP design with it's high-end notebook performance, multi-touch input, LED display, built in iSight, mag-safe, illuminated keyboard etc. etc..

OS aside, you're certainly not going to get all those hardware features on an HP or Dell.

Feb 26, 08 - 11:26 am Comment from: Rich Apple person

This is an evolutionary transition to faster chips and continued improvement of the MBP line. Next up faster chips for the iMac's (3.17 Mghz) which actually are not much faster then the curent 2.8 Mhz in benchmark tests (Mac Pro). I don't see any REVOLUTIONARY new products this year at all.

Whew, thought I might have to get a Dell. At least the MBP still has matte screens.

I'm gone if Apple ever drops matte screens. HEAR THAT APPLE? GLOSSY SCREENS SUCK.

Feb 26, 08 - 11:33 am Comment from: mayday

Any chance the rest of us MBP owners will get a software update that will enable the multi-touch trackpad?

Feb 26, 08 - 11:34 am Comment from: MikeK

"HEAR THAT APPLE? GLOSSY SCREENS SUCK."

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I'm with you on that one.... But since the MBP DOES offer an option, there is no need to hijack this thread to another matte vs. glossy debate..