The new Macbook and Macbook Pro - Hate it or love it?

What you guys think?
what you expected?


Good thing i waited!. Here i come MBP
Im going to school right now so Ill complete this better later ;D

 

These updates aren't a big deal at all. I'm glad there was no design change or I would probably be wasting a lot of money right now.

 

Yeah, not a huge update, just nice little changes. New USB port and trackpad were good.

They upped the processor too didn't they?

 

I think for those who waited, it wasn't in vain. You get 4 things and lose 2 in the base model update for the same price.

Gain:
200GB HDD
256MB VRAM
2.4GHz 45nm CPU
MultiTouch pad

Lose:
Remote ($19)
1MB Cache

And they kept the Keyboard and case the same which IMO is a good decision. I really like the KB and current form factor.

 

I really would have liked to have seen a LED back-lit display on the Macbook and an option for dedicated graphics on the Macbook, like the 8400GS or something with just a little more power.

I was almost expecting a blu-ray drive option on the MBP, especially with the recent collapse of HD-DVD. But I guess APPLE would rather you download HD movies from iTunes.

Not very major updates really...MBP in black sure would be nice.

 

I should have figured theyd bump to 512 vram..By the time Best Buy gets them in ill prob be past my 14 days, and now im at the point most of my programs are installed, and I got a perfect LCD first time around that I dont think its even worth it for the bump to take it back. oh well

 

Didn't realize you lost the remote and cache. Nor did I realize they moved to 45 nm. Thats a nice addition and the 256 vid card is awesome.

 

I think it's only worth the exchange for you for cost reasons. The base model now is very similar to the higher end model of the old with the addition of multi-touch.

 

I CANNOT believe the lowest end Macbook at $1099 is STILL using a combo drive, I thought those died out long ago, this is 2008 Apple!

 

Finally more than two USB ports! I will say loosing 1MB of cache is disconcerting though. But the bump in VRAM is also way overdue.

**EDIT** Almost forgot. They should have included the MacBook Air keyboard. It is by far the best keyboard Apple has put out. Much better than the current MacBook Pro.

 

Pretty much exactly what I expected.
Penryn with a slight speed bump over the old ones, doubling of the VRAM on all models, multitouch (although they didn't change the size or shape of the trackpad at all... hmm, I wonder if it is software or hardware change.. lets hope its software!), a hard disk size boost etc.
If you guys looked closely I think you'll notice that the 1920x1200 17" display is now LED-Backlit too, which is nice.
Removing the Apple remote is an odd thing to do, and I do use mine for Front Row at parties and things to control my music, so they're a useful addition for me.
But yeah, not a huge update, and I am glad that they didn't change the look of it at all, it was totally unnecessary.
@hollownail - What new USB port? The specs still show the 15" models as having two and the 17" model as having three...

 

its a nice update, although i expected a tiny bit more as was mentioned above. they could have made the trackpad a bit smaller... my wrists keep grazing it on my MBP when I type on the keyboard. Speaking of the keyboard, it would be cool to give an option to use the MacBook's keyboard layout where the keys are spaced out a bit. Thats one of the reasons i went with the aluminum keyboard for my desktop.

 

You're right. That sucks.

 

Looks like you are all set for MBP. You don't have to look any further now. This is a dream come true. Which config are you thinking of?

 

There is 3 USB ports now?

 

what is everyone talking about more USB ports? there are 3 on the 17" model and 2 on the 15".

I must say I am a little jealous, more gpu memory, updated keyboard layout, LED backlit screen, basically all my minor complaints I could have have been fixed.

hey, 4GB of ram is only $400 from Apple now too

 

What can I say...I love the new MBPs. The slower 15" ain't that slow now. Good move.
OK, I see something I don't understand: in the US the models have 256, 512 and 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM, but in Italy they have 128, 256 and 256 MB of RAM (page order). Is it a mistake?

 

I'm debating if I should exchange my new MacBook for the updated model at the Apple Store. I called up just before and was told all I would have to pay is a 10% restocking fee, which would come to $119. Is that cost worth the upgrade to a 2.4 ghz penryn over the 2.2 ghz memron I have, as well as an additional 40GB of hard drive space? I would get 2 gigs of RAM over the 1 gig in the model I purchased (even though I purchased 4 gigs from newegg). A few of my friends said it's worth doing, any suggestions here?

 

I personally think so. I'm interested in seeing the battery life and performance difference of these new MPBs vs the last ones.

 

I am kind of interested in the possibility of getting this updated keyboard, the new layout is so much better, but replacing a keyboard in a MBP doesn't look like a very easy task.

not to mention an LED backlit display.

it is always tough when the next model comes out, haha.

 

Well i am still happy with my macbook. A 2.2ghz and a 2.4 isnt that big of an improvement. Still a very very nice and fast machine but the performance isnt really that noticeable. The macbook pros are a very nice upgrade to.

 

this is a nice upgrade and i am also glad the kept the design the same. i would have loved if they had these specs back in june when i purchased my mbp!

 

Well I'm happy they didnt redesign it, cause it would make my MBP i bought in September look old ;p

But the upgrades are pretty nice, the base computer now has decent specs compared to other laptops out there.

 

Hmmmmm... If I can get another 17 inch for $2000 again I'm considering eBaying this one and using that money to get the new one... 250GB HDD and 512mb VRAM is very tempting.

 

What?!? 17" for $2000?!? WHERE?

 

I know people... lol.

BTW did anyone notice the expected battery life didn't change? Guess penryn is pretty much as efficient as the previous C2Ds.

 

Now I've been swayed into not "exchanging" by three day old MacBook for the updated model. My wife told me this MacBook is more than adequate for her. We had planned to purchase a MacBook Pro once they are remodeled, hopefully in the Fall. $119 is $199 (restocking fee wise). I'm loving this machine and this is compared to my Dell XPS M1330 with 128 MB nVidia 8400 (when it actually "worked" that is). I think I need to be practical here. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very happy with making the switch, just stinks that I was caught with the Apple upgrade issues right off the bat! It's the way of things for me, what can I say?

 

Would be version of the MacBook even be sold anymore. Could I receive a price adjustment on my model, assuming it would be a lower price?

 

Just checked, doesn't seem to be sold anymore. Lovely, lol...

 

do you think that 512 card in the 15 inch would generate heat more so then the 256 to the point that there may be issuse?

 

Was really hoping for a 1680x1050 option on the 15" screen.

Is the 17" 1920x1200 an LED screen?

 

Very decent update. I would expect the heat would be about the same maybe even a tad cooler with the 45nm C2D. I think I'll wait though.

 

i thought they added 3 usb ports to the 15inch model, which made me really sad, but then i found out they didn't. hooray for not being that outdated.

 

Really disappointing!

No design change, no keyboard change, no extra USB, no 8800m gtx, no 1680x1050 on the 15".

 

Nice updates. I too was hoping for a 3rd USB port on the 15 inch model and for a 1680 x 1050 resolution option for it. But the changes aren't all that bad. I am still going to wait for a much bigger change before I buy one.

 

lol, thats all I can say.

 

Optional.

 

Have they ever had a 1680x1050 resolution option for a 15"? Why would they change now? It would be cool but I didn't see any rumors about it.

 

To offer a higher res screen on the 15" form factor?

I def find the 1440x900 a little bit constraining. Of course I spend most of my time in CS3 and Cinema4d and FCP Studio.

I have my current 15" sold to a co-worker, so, reluctantly, I'll get a 17" with the 1920x1200 option. I really don't want to go to a 17" laptop though.

 

I would hook that bad boy up to a 24" LCD to get 1920.

 

Any chance apple will drop the prices for the MBP again during the next update? 1899.99 (edu discount) is great but if it was 1499.99 - 1599.99 it would be even better!

 

No. Very Unlikely.

 

I'm on my new macbook pro right now. Just got it an hour ago. I got $1999 one. Now its time to figure out how to use this thing.

 

i love the release because the older 2.2 MBP refurb is just $1449 it's ready for shipment, can't wait to get my first mac! woohoo!

 

I actaully placed an order for the high end 15 inch macbook Pro on Sunday and the store I ordered it from were kind enough to call me this morning and offer me the chance to get one of the newer ones. I ended up going for the new base model as it's the same as the older high end version but with a bigger hard drive plus I get a refund of $600! (Australian). Apparently the store's Apple rep told them to let everyone know that's ordered one in the last 2 days and give them the option. That's pretty good service!

 

It's not really accurate to call these "new", but rather upgraded.

 

I can't believe that the middle level macbook has 2GB of RAM that's so much better than when I got mine. But even more enticing is the update on the macbook pro's I'm really considering selling this over the summer and buying a macbook pro

 

I think that if you truly expected Apple to shoehorn an 8800m-GTX into the MBP then you were kidding yourself, Apple don't make gaming computers and I can't really see them going for a part which produces heaps of heat, and sucks of stacks of power in a laptop which already gets almost too hot to touch when gaming with an 8600m-GT.
An extra USB would have been a nice thing to have, but I'm glad they didn't change to the MBA style keyboard or change the design of the chassis at all, I like it just the way it looks now.

 

Just ordered the 15" MBP with the 2.6 processor this afternoon. I'm hoping the 45nm processor will increase the battery life just a little because I need to squeeze as much non-AC time as possible out of the battery.

I kind of wish they would have gone with the chicklet keyboard like the one on the MBA, but I'm pretty happy with the current keyboard. Definitely better than the Macbook's, but not as nice as the Air.

I plan to void the warranty as soon as I get it by replacing the hard drive with a 320 gig so that I can install Parallels and WinXP and Vista. I need to be able to run both.

Can I install the Leopard copy that comes with it on a new hard disk or do I need to purchase another copy for the new hard drive?

Also purchased iWork08 and Aperature 2. Wish I could spend more time in OSX and less time in Windows, but when you write desktop software for Windows what can you do?

 

Yeah you can use your original disks to install it on another drive. I think it's fine as long as you limit it to one computer. (Fine as in legal).