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Apple Announced 17" MacBook Pro
Posted by
Hemos
on Mon Apr 24, 2006 09:17 AM
from the coming-at-you dept.
from the coming-at-you dept.
artlu writes "According to Reuters news, Apple has announced the launch of the 17" MacBook Pro. The new MacBook will retail for $2,799, come with iLife '06, and begins shipping next week. Details are not yet on Apple's website, but hopefully these notebooks will be triple booting as well!"
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Deliberately slowed graphics card... heat issue? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Deliberately slowed graphics card... heat issue (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Deliberately slowed graphics card... heat issue (Score:4, Informative)
Now, if you took some of the new features of the new chips and removed them, you'd have a smaller/cheaper chip that would take less power. I think this would be a great idea. The main problem is that the manufacturers think they wouldn't make enough money on them.
Intel makes ultra-low-power (ULV) CPUs, but they're not used all that much in mainstream laptops. I suppose people still want fast computers, even when they don't have that much need for the speed.
And don't forget the wireless and LCD backlight. Those are other major contributors of power utilization. Hopefully OLED will help resolve the latter. I'm not sure if there's any hope in reducing power used by radio transceivers.
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Ram is expensive too (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Deliberately slowed graphics card... heat issue (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Don't. (Score:3, Insightful)
There's a difference though:
The first situation is easily sortable. The second situation depends on whether the manufacturer will replace the machine under warranty. If they won't (which is rea
Re:Deliberately slowed graphics card... heat issue (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Deliberately slowed graphics card... heat issue (Score:3, Insightful)
I understand - what I'm saying is that the performance gain in hardware is pretty much canceled out by having to run the app through the code-morphing Rosetta foo. Since the only thing that I really have performance issues with is Photoshop, I don't yet have a compelling reason to upgrade.
That's not to say that I don't dro
Re:Deliberately slowed graphics card... heat issue (Score:3, Insightful)
Its just like working o
Re:Uhm. It's a MAC people! (Score:3, Insightful)
It is NOT an oxymoron. There are those whose primary recreation
is computer games. You don't have to like it.
Your complete dismissal of pc's and mac's as a gaming platform
shows your lack of regard and respect for others who are not as you.
While the mac may not be the greatest gaming platform (argued ad infinitum here)
the top shelf games are available: world of warcraft, UT, Sims, etc.
I personally have played on consoles and have way more fun p
Re:Uhm. It's a MAC people! (Score:3, Funny)
If you want to game, get a PlayStation. If you need a computer to get work done, get a Mac.
If you want to run the latest virus, get Windows.
And if you want to hear excuses for why you shouldn't want some feature X, read an Apple thread.
Some notes (Score:5, Informative)
- 3 USB 2.0 ports are included; 2 on the left, 1 on the right
- The left side ports are: power, 2 USB 2.0, analog and digital optical audio in and out, ExpressCard/34 [expresscard.org]; the right side ports are: DVI (supports VGA, S-Video, composite), 10/100/1000 ethernet, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, 1 USB 2.0, security port
- An 8x dual layer SuperDrive is included (unlike the 15" MacBook Pro)[1]
- While this is known by many, it bears repeating that the wireless chipset in all Intel-based Macs supports 802.11a/b/g, though Apple doesn't advertise 'a'
- The 1680 x 1050 resolution of the 17" display is the same as many desktop 20" widescreen LCDs such as the Apple 20" Cinema Display and the 20" Dell 2007WFP
- Retail $2799, Education/government $2599 with 2.16 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB 5400RPM Serial ATA drive, 256MB ATI Radeon x1600, and 8x dual layer SuperDrive
- For detailed specs, see here [apple.com]
I'd also note that for some people who might think that the 15" MacBook Pro looks like a bad deal next to this, the 17" is simply too large for many people, and many of those same people have no need for the faster dual layer SuperDrive, nor for FireWire 800.
And the Apple we site does not have to explicitly say it for us to know that, yes, of course the 17" MacBook Pro will support "Boot Camp" (and triple booting[2]), which is simply an umbrella marketing name for a collection of technologies that support booting Windows on Intel-based Macs:
- A Compatibility Support Module (CSM, BIOS compatibility layer) for EFI: this is already a non-beta, supported component of the recent rounds of firmware updates for Intel-based Macs, which the 17" MacBook Pro will ship with
- The ability to live-resize partitions on a GPT formatted volumes: this is already a non-beta, supported component of "diskutil" as of 10.4.6
- A collection of Windows drivers for the hardware in Intel-based Macs: almost all of these are non-beta, preexisting third party drivers
- A setup assistant that brings everything together: this is the only part of the solution, from a technical standpoint, that is "beta"
[1] Some may note that the new 17" MacBook Pro, at the same thickness of the 15" MacBook Pro (1.0"), includes an 8x dual layer SuperDrive versus the 4x single layer drive in the 15" model. It might be recalled that the reasoning for not including a faster, dual layer SuperDrive in the 15" MacBook Pro was because of the necessary space not being available inside the case; the 15" MacBook Pro could only use a 9mm tall mechanism as opposed to the 12mm mechanism currently required for dual layer capability and the greater speed. How, then, can the 17" MacBook Pro (or even the previous 17" PowerBook), at the exact same thickness, include this drive? Does this mean Apple was holding back? Is the 8x DL drive due in a 15" MacBook Pro imminently? The answer is no: the reason why the drive didn't (and still doesn't) fit in the 15" MacBook Pro is because the wider trackpad mechanism Apple chose to use encroaches internally on the space needed for a 12mm drive by about 1/8" laterally. However, this is not the case on the 17" MacBook Pro.
[2] Who wants to dual boot, much less triple boot? I'd rather have all of my environments running side by side in virtualization [parallels.com]. And yes, I know there are some specific reasons people may want to dual boot (such as games for native 3D graphics support), and that's fine...but other than for those specific tasks, who would really prefer dual/triple booting over virtualization, especially given the excellent benefits Intel VT [intel.com] now offers for virtual machines?
Re:Some notes (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Some notes (Score:3, Interesting)
Unfortunately, that does seem like a possibility. With dual-layer DVD and FireWire 800 both missing from the 15", it appears on the surface as though those features were reserved for the 17" model. Apple needs to realize that many of us cannot/will not buy the 17" because it is simply too large & bulky. And that fact is no reason to punish us by keeping features off of the 15" that both its PowerPC predecessor had and its 17" bigger brother has. So as much as I w
Re:Some notes (Score:5, Informative)
Then you'll probably be waiting a long time.
1.) I just explained exactly why the dual layer burner isn't present on the 15" MacBook Pro. It's a purely physical/technical reason. Until there is a 9mm 8x dual layer burner, you won't see one in the 15" MacBook Pro, period.
2.) FireWire 800 was also left out of the 15" MacBook Pro for space reasons (adding it requires additional support chipsets that aren't a part of any of Intel's standard chipsets, which means a comparatively considerable amount of space is required to implement it. Yes, it's still small, but every ounce of space counts.
Do you really need a dual layer DVD burner and FireWire 800 on a 15" Mac laptop so much that you'd forgo what is almost a perfect environment for virtualization of multiple operating systems, alongside Mac OS X?
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Massive nomination of Dave for a Grammy (Score:4, Funny)
In space, an ounce is weightless.
Turn up the volume!!
=)
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Can you read? (Score:4, Informative)
The trackpad interferes with the 12mm drive but not with the 9mm drive. I bet the edge of the trackpad, by his description, rests slightly over the 9mm drive, but the 12mm drive has no such leeway. On a 17" MBP there is no need for overlapping the devices because the 17" MBP is that much bigger than a 15" MBP
Again, read the post. The trackpad lies on top of the space the 12mm DL DVD-RW drive would sit, so they used the 8mm DVD-RW drive instead in the 15" MBP.
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Once Again (Score:3, Insightful)
Who again is NOT totally angered that Apple won't offer high resolution displays. Comparing the pixel count to their 20" Display is SAD, SO SAD...
I have a 2002 Toshiba Laptop with a 15" screen that does 1600x1200, and a 17" Laptop that does 1920x1200...
Why is Apple still the poor cousin when it comes to graphics? (Let alone the Video solution they are
Re:MacBook a/b/g WiFi card (Score:5, Informative)
Apple has so far used the Broadcom BCM4311 and Atheros AR5000 Series (AR5006EX) wireless chipsets, both of which support 802.11a/b/g. Don't know what the status with regard to Linux is for any of those chipsets.
Of course, I've used RHEL, Fedora Core, and CentOS happily with networking, in virtualization, on my MacBook Pro, so there's no need to worry about "Linux drivers".
Parent
Re:OT: Macbook and virtualization. (Score:3, Interesting)
Sounds neat; just out of curiosity, what are you using for the virtualization?
A friend of mine sent me a link to Parallels [parallels.com], which allows you to run different OSes under OS X. Haven't tried it yet, but the guy who sent it to me did. "It works", says he.
More than that I don't know. He's not exactly chatty. :)
Re:OT: Macbook and virtualization. (Score:4, Informative)
Parallels Workstation [parallels.com]. Takes full advantage of Intel VT [intel.com], too.
And perhaps I'm revealing my ignorance here, but how does the guest OS on a virtualized system handle networking? There must be some sort of psuedo-device driver that you install so that it can talk to the virtualized 'hardware,' or else the virtualization software must emulate some kind of commonly-supported networking hardware. I guess I'm just curious what you have to do to the guest OS, if anything, to get it to work inside the sandbox.
It can either be NATed behind the host OS, or it can have its very own IP on the same network as the host machine. The virtual machine has an emulated network interface with its own MAC address. You don't have to "do" anything in the guest OS. It's a very generic network card that has had drivers available (and in my case, always included) in every OS I've installed so far.
Right now all my equipment (Mac stuff, anyway) is PPC based; however I find the whole virtualization concept really intriguing and I'm hoping that by my next round of upgrades, it'll be sufficiently mature to make dual-booting (or having a separate PC for Linux connected with a KVM switch, my current solution) unnecessary.
Well, you'll likely be very happy then, because, even at this early stage, that's exactly what I'm using it for right now. All on one machine that I can carry around with me.
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Re:Some notes (Score:3, Interesting)
No, VT is here today, on the current Core Duo T2500 Apple is using in all Intel-based Macs. Parallels Workstation [parallels.com] takes full advantage of Intel VT, today. You don't have to wait to have your triple (simultaneously running) OS environment, since I'm looking at it on my MacBook Pro in front of me right now.
Re:Some notes (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, yes, if all you're using is games, you'd need to dual boot anyway, since you'd need native 3D graphics support. But ignoring that for a second:
There is nothing about virtualization that would make the Mac environment any more susceptible to anything in the Windows environment: the Windows environment is still completely sandboxed, and doesn't have ANY access to the Mac partition(s) unless you were to explicitly grant it. Theoretically, in order to even touch anything in the Mac environment, a piece of Windows malware would have to exploit a vulnerability in the virtualization software itself, that could be exploited via Windows, AND could also be used to affect the host's filesystem. Ironically, it would actually be EASIER in a dual-boot configuration: a hypothetical piece of Windows malware could include a rudimentary driver to recognize HFS+ volumes, at which point it could then install whatever it wished in the Mac environment, or otherwise alter the contents of the Mac OS X partition.
Of course, the likelihood of either of those things happening is extremely remote.
The funny thing is, that the "nuke any time I need to" is actually much, much, much easier in virtualization than anything else: the entire Windows "volume" resides in a file on the Mac OS X disk. You can keep a backup of it, and if anything were to ever happen, you could simply delete it, and duplicate your backup pristine Windows "volume" - since it's just a file - in seconds.
But that also ignores that, while Windows (or another x86-based OS) run on an Intel-based Mac could be subject to the vulnerabilities of that operating system, it is still typically:
- completely isolated from the network, operating "behind" the host operating system
- not used for traditional tasks typically used as attack vectors, like email, web browsing, and downloading files
- usually not used as the primary operating system
- able to be completely restored relatively easily and quickly from a default image, if compromised
Parent
You've got it backwards (Score:5, Informative)
It's exactly the other way around: if you want to be immune from Windows malware, then you should run Windows inside a virtual machine. Then you can restrict it to its own virtual disk (which would just be a big file on your Mac disk), restrict it from accessing the network if you want to, and so on. On the other hand, if you dual-boot into Windows, then a Windows program with sufficient privileges can destroy your Mac partition as easily as it can with the Windows partition: just run fdisk. So there is no fundamental level of extra security in dual-booting.
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Re:Some notes (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:A Machine For Suckers With Too Much Cash (Score:4, Funny)
1. Maintain a tenuous balance on the edge of total collapse for decades 2. ??? 3. Profit
Only in this case, instead of nobody being sure who knows what step 2 is, we all know that Jobs knows, but he won't tell anybody.
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Re:A Machine For Suckers With Too Much Cash (Score:5, Insightful)
What if I get a new Mac and after a few months decide that I actually like Windows better?
What if Apple goes out of business and I can't get software?
What if my employer requires me to use a particular Windows application?
What if a program or game that I want is only available for Windows?
Suddenly, all of these worries have vanished.
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Re:THREE USB PORTS!!!!!!1!! (Score:3, Funny)
You might want to get that sarcasm detector looked at.
No details on Apple's site? (Score:5, Informative)
12" (Score:4, Interesting)
1600x1050 LCD (Score:3, Interesting)
120gig SATA drive
2.16ghz Duo's
256meg ati graphics
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/ [apple.com]
12" PowerBook G4 remains... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:12" PowerBook G4 remains... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:12" PowerBook G4 remains... (Score:4, Interesting)
Desktop: Mac mini, iMac, Mac Pro (the G5 tower replacement)
Laptop: iMacBook, MacBook Pro
Maybe we'll see a 'MacBook mini' as well, if Apple decides to release one of those tiny 10" notebooks.
Parent
Re:12" PowerBook G4 remains... (Score:3, Insightful)
Laptop: iMacBook, MacBook Pro
They could also simply go with "MacBook" rather than "iBook" or "iMacBook". That would seem to fit the naming convention better, even though it doesn't have the "i" in it.
Where's the SMALL ones? (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't want a giant laptop. I want some features that the bigger ones have, like the illuminated keyboard and maybe a PCCARD slot. I definitely do NOT want the bulk.
Come on, Apple! Gimmie a 12" (or the not-even-rumoured-much 13.1") MacBookPro! And if it can use the same battery as my Powerbook that'd be nice!
Most important detail (Score:5, Informative)
Heat & noise problems solved? (Score:4, Informative)
Here's hoping that these issues are resolved this time around.
MacBook Pro (Score:4, Insightful)
If you have a significant other that isn't interested in computers, get one of these and then demonstrate Frontrow with the remote to go through your photos/music/video. You might find they suddenly take an interest...
Universal Version of Final Cut Studio (Score:3, Informative)
nice - how about the Mac Mini's fast OS switching? (Score:4, Interesting)
For me I'm really starting to fall for (or lean hard towards) a Mac Mini Duo -- not only can you triple boot on it, there's now video of it doing 'fast OS switching [fak3r.com]', much as it does its 'fast user switching'.
Damn, this is getting fun.
Re:Up to 5 times the performace of the PowerBook G (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Dell coupon codes from Ebay (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Dell coupon codes from Ebay (Score:5, Insightful)
every time there is an apple thread, someone comes out and says 'wait PC's are cheaper!! and here is a comparison!!' and then some apple fanatic comes back and refutes it and blah blah blah.
Look, my time is worth money. windows and linux take effort. I want my tools to work, so I can get to the business at hand. when my tools dont work, i have to spend time fixing them simply so i can get back to work. Having used windows previously (which made me even more of a mac fan) I can tell you that my mac 'just works' and windows does not (i mean, it works, kinda, if you know how to set it up right and keep it running, oh, and reboot every so often and.. and.... and...).
So, again, my time is worth money, if the mac were 5 times as expensive as the dell, it would still pay itself off in productivity in about a month in comparison. So, feel free to buy the cheaper machine, more power to yah. I would rather spend my free time with friends and family and my work time being creative. (as opposed to spending my free time fixing my computer, and my work time jumping through hoops to get shit done)
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Re:Dell coupon codes from Ebay (Score:4, Insightful)
The thing is, Apple's not really competing with Dell as Dell's laptop's are made inexpensiveley. Dell can't be beat on value but Apple's laptops are really nicely made with excellent keyboards and very solid cases. With IBM's laptop division gone to Lenovo, I think Apple laptops are poised to take the high end market, a great place for a company looking for large profit margins.
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Yes, but am I forced to pay the Apple Tax? (Score:3, Insightful)
Can I get bare-bones hardware to install Windows on, or do I have to pay the Apple Tax.
Just had to try it out: s/Windows/Apple/ s/Linux/Windows/
Re:Warning. (Score:3, Interesting)
Even so, it might be worth noting that Apple has the best track record across all computer manufacturers, in terms of "initial quality" (out of the box reliablity/usage characteristics), overall quality, lack of need for repairs, and technical support, consistently, and has for years, according
Re:Apple user interface? (Score:4, Informative)
I went to the apple site to look at the new powerbook... (excuse me, macbookpro) what did I see? Gray text on a black background! I'm not an old codger by any means, but I can't read that.
Maybe you should adjust the brightness and/or contrast of your monitor. Very light grey text on a black background is the ideal color scheme for monitors. Since the screen is emitting light, even for "black" colored items, it has a tendency to cause eyestrain. Staring at a light for extended periods is just not what our eyes were designed for. The highest contrast of colors is black and white. We're accustomed to black on white due to historical printing technologies, but while it provides the best contrast it also emits the most light and causes the most eyestrain. Reversing the color scheme to be white text on a black background keeps the contrast as high as possible but minimizes the light emission, and hence, minimizes the eyestrain. Darkening the white text to a very light grey helps to soften it a little and further reduce brightness, while only minimally affecting the contrast.
So Apple is using the color scheme that is exactly the ideal, as recommended by numerous independent studies and researchers and as recommended by every design and usability manual I have ever read. This leads me to two conclusions. One, if you're having a problem you probably have your monitor messed up. Two, some people will complain no matter what you do.
Was the Apple user interface group out back having a smoke when this page was being designed?
I doubt it. You'll note the interface tends to a medium to light grey. This provides the ideal contrast compromise with both grey text on black backgrounds (ideal for viewing on monitors and variations of which are the standard for terminal windows and other text interfaces for those of us who have to use them all day) and with black text on a white background, which is the standard printed text view, used by common text editors, word processors, and when viewing anything destined for print.
I can't find anywhere on the site where I can send them a quick email to point out their faux pas, so I have to satisfy myself with ranting here.
Hopefully they won't follow your recommendations, but there is a "contact us" link at the bottom of the page (and all their Web pages), which provides feedback links for the Web site and all the products. The one you want is This one [apple.com].
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Re:There's a little hole or spot just to the left. (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:1680x1050? That sucks! (Score:4, Funny)
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