Macbook updated

Starting a new topic for this since it is now confirmed, not just a rumor.

The Apple Store went up and now seems down again, but on Apple.com you can see the announcements of the new Macbook.

The news:
Faster CPU (models start at 2.0 and go up to 2.16 GHz)
More HD options (same as the MBP, up to 200GB)

Those were the only things that I saw at a first glance, will look at it closer now...

System bus is still at 667MHz so it doesn't look like Santa Rosa? SR has 800MHz, right?

Well, looked at it closer now... no Santa Rosa, in fact it only seems to be the cpu and hd updates. Pretty lame as far as updates go.

Apple Store still hasn't decided whether to stay up or not (the Irish one loaded for a minute, then went back down again), so chances still exist that something else was updated - but Apple.com only mentions the Macbook.

 

Wow....an upgrade to CPU...something I can do myself in every other model of laptop...woo hoo

 

Ah, kind of a let down. I was expecting something huge. Oh well! This is great news for my future MB purchase! Hopefully this will case the refurb pricing to go down a bit.

 

Now the 2.16Ghz Macbook should be exactly as fast as the 15" 2.16Ghz Macbook Pro.

 

What in the world is your point? It is just an increase to the stock specs (memory, hard drive, CPU speed).

No-one said this was going to be a major update. It's just a spec bump.

 

The MacBook Pro will see a major update first, not the MacBook.

This is more along the lines of Apple's mid-lifespan product updates, where they simply boost the specs a bit.

 

Same here I was expecting some big news.

 

Its actually a pretty decent boost in specs. Nothing groundbreaking, of course, but Apple really needed to stop putting 256MBx2 into all of their computers. I think that at 1049, the boosts are pretty nice, but they aren't the kind of things to make me rush out and buy a MacBook.

 

Agreed, 1GB of RAM is minimum for any modern computer. 2GB would be the sweet spot.

 

Well i like cpu upgrade. I wanted a GPU but this is nice. And yeah 2 gigs should be enough for anyone with either a mac or vista for that matter.

 

I'd have to disagree with a discrete GPU. If the Macbook had a dedicated GPU, battery life would be down at least an hour or two, which is not acceptable IMO.

I wonder if Apple made any comsetic chages, like the fake screws on the left side, or if they just threw in a faster Core 2 and called it a day.

 

Almost positive no cosmetic changes. These aren't new models, just spec updates.

 

Fair enough, minor adjustment to the spec although typically Apple like we get a big splash on their site.

I still fail to see why they didn't just stick Santa Rosa in. The current platform is two years old now.

I guess Apple felt they needed to be seen updating like most other manufacturer's this week and just took the cheapest root.

 

Apple usually puts new technology in their MBP line up first, then in their MB a little bit later. That's probably why.

 

Fair enough, I'm just a bit disappointed as I was planning to buy a Macbook this week and just wanted get the latest spec.

 

Very saddening for me to boot. I just can't justify the price when comparing the current MacBook hardware to equally priced Windows laptops. Santa Rosa would have made the difference in my decisions, but onward to WWDC for the possibility of MCP's getting the boost.

 

I guess this shows that the MacBook will not get Santa Rosa anytime soon, but perhaps it is a sign that the MBP will.

 

Indeed. That's really what this boils down to; Apple likes to keep heavy distinctions between their consumer line and pro line, but they choose different areas to emphasize.

So yeah, it seems like all signs still point to the MBP's getting the major update, with the MacBook following. This MacBook update is more about modernizing the default specs a bit, while keeping the price points the same (so more hard drive capacity, faster CPU's, etc.) so that they don't fall so far behind.

I honestly just can't get that worked up about the lack of a Santa Rosa MacBook because from what I've seen of other Santa Rosa consumer laptops, it just isn't that big of a difference.

 

Amen. The Santa Rosa advantage lies mainly in the better integrated graphics, and even that isn't that great.

I'm not interested in Macbook anyway, I am however interested in seeing an ultra-portable Macbook Pro... whether that's a pipe dream or not remains to be seen. I'm not even sure why I want to see that, because I wouldn't buy one - I'm happy with what I've got

An update to the Mac Mini, however, is of interest to me. But that can come anytime this year, I'm in no hurry on that front. Take your time, Apple - get it right instead of rushing things

 

bollocks! I just bought a macbook not 5 days ago...lol. Oh well, I guess 40gb and .16ghz is not gonna make that much of a difference.

 

I want the LATEST technology so that in 3 months I can sit and worry about it some more.

What the heck do people do on a 13" screen that requires a discrete GPU?

Did I mention that it's a 1280x800 screen?

Not exactly a CAD Machine...if you want to play games buy a PS3

 

So does this mean that the MacBook isn't in for an another update till next year?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this new upgrade for the MacBook means that is now has the T7200 and t7400 ( http://www.intel.com/products/processor/core2duo/specifications.htm) meaning the jump isn't just in the clock speed but it doubles the Cache from 2MB L2 to 4MB L2.

Can anybody confirm this for me? For some reason, Apple never put the model # of the Intel chip with its specs!

 

That'd be a logical assumption.

 

Good deal if that the case.

 

90% of users could get by with a laptop of 4 years ago. I have running a Java based development environment, debug tools and and another 15 windows running on a laptop that's now over 2 years old with a DBMS and Messaging software .....

I have a dancing links Sudoku solver that solves them in milli seconds in unoptimized Jav

It's a minor update that most people won't notice. VERY few people need a top o the line laptop. I understand far more people wanting a portable etc....

 

But I bought one anyway A small baby for my big papa machine...woohoo!

 

No, but the countdown to the next Macbook update will really begin when the Macbook Pros are updated, which should be sometime in the summer. I'd say it's likely the Macbook gets updated again sometime before or at the release of Leopard. Apple wants to keep it behind the MBP curve, which is fine - that's the way it should be.

 

Makes sense to me.