Macbook Pro gets Core 2 Duo!

No joke: http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=245236
http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/10/24/macbookpro/index.php

Looks like they made some other small changes...look forward to reading more. Post info if you have it. No update to the Macbook sadly this morning.

 

WOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,not only does it have core 2 duo but a 120gb hardrive and a gig of ram for same price,yipee.sorry for caps i am freaken excited now.

 

Finally! The wait has payed off! Goodbye 4 year old Toshiba with a missing "t" and "]" keys, screen that falls down when not held up by something and sucky power plug that does every time I move the computer!

 

DL writer... finally. Now I can only hope my wife won't find MBP much bigger than MB...

 

Finally, we can put an end to all these "Should i wait for merom" threads.

well at least for a short time, next week we'll be hearing "should I wait for the santa rosa platform?"

Heck wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing it today along side with the "Should I wait for merom to come to the MacBook?"

lol

 

This has been a long time coming. One thing, who will pay $500 for 1GB more RAM slightly faster CPU and 128MB more VRAM. The $2500 option looks very overpriced.

 

Really nice to see the upgrades. I bought a new MacBook, but I'm going to be returning it for one of the new MBP's.

 

I think it still seems reasonable. The video memory can't be upgraded, so if you do need it, that's an incentive. The faster processor and extra 1GB of RAM is also a nice option.

I remember from configuring on Dell's site that the price difference between a 2.16 Core 2 Duo and 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo was significant, so it isn't as much of a rip off, per se.

Compared to the previous MBP at the $2499 price point, it seems like you get a bit more bang for your buck, relatively speaking.

Basically, for people who do need the extra video memory, and want to have 2GB of memory and the faster CPU, I think the $500 difference isn't completely over the top. And for those that don't, the $1999 MBP offers a pretty nice package as well.

 

Next up, Santa Rosa... i ll wait for it since i dun hav enuf $$ now... haha

 

That was my point. The old versions had the same differences, except that the 2499 had a larger hard drive. So, they have actually taken some value out.

 

Well, it depends how you look at it. On one hand they've taken some value out, but that's also because they've added more value to the $1999 model. Especially with 1GB standard on the low-end model, if you want 2GB you don't have to spend the money on 2x1GB sticks and have a 512 meg DIMM go to waste. And you don't have to pay a bunch of money extra if all you care about is more HD space, since b oth models now come standard with a reasonable amount of HD space.

I think what you're ultimately paying the extra $500 for is the extra video memory, the extra RAM standard and a 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo. Especially considering the upgrade pricing I've seen to get 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo on various PC notebooks, it seems like the overall pricing is pretty reasonable.

I think the value here is that for a lot of people, the $1999 model now will do the trick, whereas before there was more to sort of 'force' you into buying the $2499 model if you wanted more reasonable hard drive space or for memory to not go to waste.

I definitely can't complain about that.

 

I agree, Zadillo, I would say the 1999 is a much better deal than before. The 2499 just seems to steep a jump for what you get. To me none of those are compelling upgrades for the price.

 

Of course most people fail to remember that there are three major levels of customers out there in the world.

1. Consumer
2. Prosumer
3. Professional

Naturally, the majority of the people here are number 1, with a few being number 2, even know I have a MacBook I'm considered more 2 than 1. Now clearly the MacBook Pro is targeted for professionals in the business, so naturally they will pay any price for something.

An example would be a 64GB usbstick which is in the thousands currently, a professional would indeed pay the price. Even if its nothing more then a stick of memory.

 

Man! Thats so awesome! I want to upgrade for the DL drive and that bit extra speed on the C2D.
lol, wonder if I could convince apple to take mine back and give me a new one
Think it's about time to call apple and tell them about my MBP acting up.

 

You and like a couple other thousand people thinking the same thing right? lol.

 

One thing I am curious about is the real world performance difference between the 128 and 256 meg X1600's in the MBP's. I wonder if it would be beneficial for someone planning to game with their MBP, or if the difference would be negligible.

-Zadillo

 

You think that maybe they improved hte heat dissipation and the x1600 may be fully clocked?
I wonder at what point, we could send in our CD MBP and get a C2D unit back... I'm sure the processor or logicboard would have to go bad... but.. 1 year? 2 years from now?

 

I believe there is about a 200-300 point difference in 3dMark05, which will translate to about 2 or 3 fps in most games. In other words, if the other features are not compelling enough, the extra VRAM probably would not push you over the edge.

 

Poor iMac and Mac Pro, even their silent update isn't getting any attention. Now you get the option of 750GB harddrives.

 

wow...my luck (well...sort of..) the day after i buy the macbook from amazon..the macbook pro comes out with C2D
hopefully the macbook's upgrade will come soon enough that i can have a full refund...if not..im sure i'll be happy sticking to the CD

 

Finally. I was expecting within 30 days from the Sep 12th event, but anyway good to see the new CPU and double layer burner.
The bad thing is there is no more 7200RPM HD option.
Just check the ADC store and they still have 20% off for the new models.

 

You're not missing much between the C2D and CD. Slight speed increase... 64bit...
I'm not sure what else they'll upgrade with the MB. I'm surprised by the level of ugprades they did with the MBP really. It's amazing. It's now a much more competitive machine. 120 GB HD is almost unheard of as a starting HD in a laptop.

And finally FW 800 and DL DVD burner. ****, i really wish i could trade mine in for those two things alone.

 

Just orderded a Macbook Pro with C2D...however the estimated shipping dates seem kinda far off. Is it because I ordered my notebook with a glossy screen instead of matte? Does anyone know if macs come like a week earlier than the estimated delivery date?

Estimated Shipped By: OCT 30, 2006
Estimated Delivered By: NOV 06, 2006

 

Thats not a bad ship date. Did you customize anything else?

 

will there be a 13inch version of the core 2 duo???

 

Eventually. Could be before Christmas, but it may not be until Spring.

 

I believe it is a good deal for avid gamers: games like Oblivion do benefit from the extra RAM. Avid games tend to install windows anyways, and Vista will need 128MB to run AeroGlass alone... so I guess a 256MB GPU is a good deal and provides quite a good value for this kind of consumer.

 

I ordered from a University website so I could save 200 bucks. Would that be a reason?

 

That may have something to do with it, if it's not a direct form apple order.
I got my MBP direct from apple in 5 days, and that was after handling a problem with my bank.
You do know that Apple has a site for University discounts right? The MBP on there is 1799. Same discount as yours i'd imagine.
They used to give ipod discounts too...

 

I knew it was today....best buy's website seems to be doing a good job at hinting at the future recently...
I wish they updated the macbook too though, I still wouldn't get a macbook likely unless they decided to stick in...say...a X1300 as well as a C2D...
I may just have to get a job at best buy for the holiday season, then use the employee discount for a new MBP...

P.S.- Oh, coincidence, best buy's website is undergoing changes too...

 

Whoops...I guess I worded it badly. I meant to say that I ordered it from the Apple.com with the University discount.

 

Sorry, but that wont get you a discount on any apple stuff. I work at best buy and we don't get discounts on apple products because of apple's price protection. Oh, and we don't get discounts on stuff that we buy online.

 

The only chance you have of getting a discount is either being a student and purchasing through Apples online store, however if you're not a student, there is only one option left.

Go send in your resume to Apple, I'm quite sure THEN you will get an employee based discount.

 

Yea, I keep hearing nothing but bad things about working there anyway.
O well, not yet a college student, but I've got friends who could hook me up...what was it with the university discount? around $1800 or so?

Also, I wasn't planning on buying online, I live in Alaska where there is no sales tax, so it's cheaper to buy it in store because then you don't pay shipping...well...not obvious shipping charges...everything has to be trucked up here on a 3000 mile drive, or 2nd day'ed via plane.
But no, I wouldn't expect you to be able to get an employee discount online at just about anywhere anyway...

 

Bad things about working at Apple? Man, you sould hear the stories about IBM and MS. Basically, you can't have a family with them. A lot of the IT jobs (SW dev, database dev, r&d) require 60+ hours a week. My profs have all warned us to stay away from them unless we want to work there a few years, bust our asses, and make a good amount of money.

But I've heard apple is great, but a bit strenous as the products have to meet a high standard, and that can be quite frustrating. I'd love to get a job with them, but I don't want to move to the west coast.
**edit**
btw, anyone know what the apple employee discount is?

 

He meant working at Best Buy (he was talking about working there for the holidays and using the employee discount, which is why someone else then pointed out that the employee discount doesn't include Apple hardware).

Regarding Apple Employee discount, I'm not sure what it is for people who work at the main headquarters. Here is some info about the retail discount benefits though (from http://www.ifoapplestore.com/stores/hiring.html )

 

If you work for your state like me you can get a government employee discount:

http://www.apple.com/r/store/government/state/epp.html

Get a Sony Card from Sonystyle and you get $100 off with your first purchase as well as 0% APR for one year.

 

Well, heh, I technically work for the state as well. That is, if you consider working for a pubic university working for a state.

Yeah, Zadillo, I thought he was responding to your thing about working for apple for a discount.
whoops
Those look like some nice benefits for working in the retail part. Especially since they allow discounts for 3 friends.

 

I actually like the bonuses part.

We all know how Mac sales have been increasing, those people who work at Apple Stores must be getting some nice bonuses lately.

 

Sorry but I just want to know do laptops from Apple.com ever come a week earlier than it's expected? I really need a new laptop since my finger is burning everytime I touch the keyboard circuitboard to type "t" (the key popped off and can't be fixed).

 

Sometimes, sometimes the shipping dates are estimated to give some wiggle room..... a number of people who already ordered and were quoted shipping dates of November 7th have reported them already shipping.

 

My mighty mouse is coming in tomorrow so I guess I'll just play around with that. I really do hope my order is shipped soon...Thanks for the info though!

 

Just to make you feel better: people are suffering from a sick hysteria called Core 2 Duo. And for what, 10% performance increase, woooooptydoo.

 

Actually, looks like the next MacBook will be a 15.4" one.

I'd say, hang on tight to your MacBook. I can't understand the hysteria over the measly 10% performance increase.

64 bit... pff, need more bytes to describe the 64 bit instructions, and the CPU is moving the information through the same data bus. 64 bit will NOT "kick ass" over the 32, UNLESS they widen the databus, and they didn't.

The hype must end now. People are NUTS I tell you.

 

That would most likely be a 15.4" version of the regular MacBook in addition to the 13.3" one; just like the iBook, when they made both 12 and 14" models of it.

On the Apple side of things, the hype actually isn't so much about the Core 2 Duo itself as much as some of the other improvements people are discovering.

Namely, it looks like the rear vents on the revised MBP's are wider, which seem to contribute so far to cooler performance, and a lack of problems like whining, mooing, etc. noticed in the first revision. This also seems to have allowed Apple to not have to underclock the X1600 so much.

With the people who were waiting for the MBP revisions at least, it basically had a lot to do with hoping that aside from the spec upgrades, that it would also include some improvements to some of the problems of the first generation MBP's.

 

I'll probably join the ranks of those who do not buy first generation products again, now I'm not saying I had a bad experience with my first gen MacBook but I can just see what many others see.

Then again it depends, if a first gen product came out and it totally blows me away in specs, I might get it anyways.

 

so there will be a 15.4inch macbook core2duo version and no 13inch core2duo version???

I don't have a macbook yet, I plan to buy one soon and i'm wondering if there is a new 13inch core2duo version coming out. Just for the fact that if a new version comes out, whether I buy the new one or not, the current macbook 13inch price will decrease so its a win win situation

 

The current one won't be around anymore anyways when the new core 2 duo is out anyways, unlike the Mac mini I don't think Apple is gonna have two different processors for their consumer notebook line.

 

A 15.4" MacBook would be an additional product; they would still make a 13.3" MacBook as well.

And it's most likely that both will have C2D's. Apple didn't upgrade the MacBook to C2D because they didn't want it to take attention away from the MBP upgrades.

 

Hopefully the larger size and the higher price range, I presume it'd be between the current 13.3" MacBook and the MBP will allow Apple to put in a discrete GPU. Maybe something like a Go 7400 if they are going to begin avoiding ATI/AMD. I wonder if the 15.4" MacBook will just maintain the same WXGA resolution to avoid overlap with the MBP?

About the new 802.11n wireless card, has anyone tried to see if it can still do 802.11a? There are 2 different Atheros cards that are PCIe and 802.11n, one has 802.11a support and the other doesn't.