Apple has updated its line of MacBook laptops, equipping them with Core 2 Duo processors. “At just one-inch thin, the new MacBooks are up to 25 percent faster than the previous generation and feature a built-in iSight camera for on-the-go video conferencing, Apple’s MagSafe Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain, and the iLife ’06 award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications.”
I’m looking forward to when it’ll become mine :o)
I’m gonna get one too!
“Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory3”
This should be the first thing to upgrade.
– Radeon xpress 1250
http://www.atitech.ca/products/Radeonxpress1250mob/specs.html
– GeForce Go 7800
http://www.nvidia.com/object/go_7_series_techspecs.html
Who would shell out $1000 more for a MacBook Pro if the MacBook had decent discrete graphics?
Those who whant the better hardware , there is more to the MacBook Pro then just graphic , look at the specs.
The graphics are the only major difference in the specs:
$1299 MacBook
13.3-inch display
2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB
80GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port
$1999 MacBook Pro
15.4-inch display
2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 3GB
120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm
PCI Express-based ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory
built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display
ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot
two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port
illuminated keyboard
for some people, a larger display, a faster processor, 50% more RAM capacity, a larger hard drive, an expresscard slot, firewire 800, and an illuminated keyboard are very worthwhile upgrades. As for “major” differences, the larger screen, firewire 800, and the ExpressCard slot could also be seen as major.
It just depends on your point of view.
“The graphics are the only major difference in the specs:”
>> NO <<
The 1.83 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $1,099 (US), includes:
# 13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display with 250 cd/m2 brightness
# 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
# 667 MHz front-side bus
# 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB
# 60GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor
# a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive
# Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
# Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately)
# built-in iSight video camera
# Gigabit Ethernet port
# built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
# two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port
# one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog
# Scrolling TrackPad
# the infrared Apple Remote; and
# 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US), includes:
# 13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display with 250 cd/m2 brightness
# 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
# 667 MHz front-side bus
# 1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB
# 80GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor
# a slot-load 6x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive
# Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
# Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately)
# built-in iSight video camera
# Gigabit Ethernet port
# built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
# two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port
# one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog
# Scrolling TrackPad
# the infrared Apple Remote; and
# 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch black MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes:
# 13.3-inch glossy widescreen 1280 x 800 display with 250 cd/m2 brightness
# 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
# 667 MHz front-side bus
# 1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB
# 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor
# a slot-load 6x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive
# Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
# Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately)
# built-in iSight video camera
# Gigabit Ethernet port
# built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
# two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port
# one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog
# Scrolling TrackPad
# the infrared Apple Remote; and
# 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
—–
The 2.16 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:
# 15.4-inch widescreen 1440 x 900 LCD display with 300 cd/m2 brightness
# 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
# 1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 3GB
# 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor
# a slot-load 6x SuperDrive™ with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive
# PCI Express-based ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory
# DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately)
# built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display
# built-in iSight video camera
# Gigabit Ethernet port
# built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
# ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot
# two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port
# one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio
# Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard
# the infrared Apple Remote and
# 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.33 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:
# 15.4-inch widescreen 1440 x 900 LCD display with 300 cd/m2 brightness
# 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2Duo processor
# 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 3GB
# 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor
# a slot-load 6x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive
# PCI Express-based ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory
# DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately)
# built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display
# built-in iSight video camera
# Gigabit Ethernet port
# built-in Airport Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
# ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot
# two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port
# one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio
# Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard
# the infrared Apple Remote and
# 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.
The 2.33 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US), includes:
# 17-inch widescreen 1680 x 1050 LCD display with 300 cd/m2 brightness
# 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
# 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 3GB
# 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor
# a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive
# PCI Express-based ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory
# DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video out adapter sold separately)
# built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display
# built-in iSight video camera
# Gigabit Ethernet port
# built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
# ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot
# three USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, and one FireWire 400 port
# one audio line in and one headphone out port, each supporting optical digital audio
# Scrolling TrackPad and illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor
# the infrared Apple Remote and
# 85 Watt Apple MagSafe Power Adapter.
Just put something better than a X1600 in the macbook pro aswell.
100% agree … I can live with a single core CPU, but saring my RAM with the graphics card makes me sick !
OH, MY, GOD! my video RAM is using SIXTY_FOUR MEGS of my System RAM!!! THE HORROR!!
For most people, shared RAM is NOT an issue. Sure, its not quite as fast as dedicated Video RAM, and it does use up some of your precious system RAM. But unless you are going to be doing heavy duty gaming or video work or something, its not an issue. If people are going to be doing gaming, chances are they WONT be buying a Mac. And if they are doing video work, well then, thats what the higher-end models are there for.
As far as I know, the GMA950 supports all of quartz extreme and whatever in hardware, so except for the speed penalty for using system RAM, its really a nonissue.
Shared ram is an issue for the MacBook , people just think its the CPU that is slow when the ram is used extensively and that result dont come automaticaly on the screen.
What is also extremely sad in your case is your overblown emphasis on what you wrongly perceive to be a non issue.
There is a lot of people who 15″ screen is too big for them to carry around all day , they also do not want to pay the premium for the best and latest.
The GMA 950 should have been phased out with the introduction of Core DUO and its even worst with Core 2 DUO.
The GMA 950 should have been phased out with the introduction of Core DUO and its even worst with Core 2 DUO.
Now that would have been interesting, phasing out a component before it was actually introduced in the product line!
GMA 950 existed with celeron solution.
Shared RAM is *not* an issue for the MacBook. I’m using a dual monitor setup right now with the internal display in addition to a 1680×1050 external display. There is absolutely no lag during even heavy use. Things like Expose are very smooth. It’s as snappy as my PowerMac (which has a GeForce 6600), or my mom’s iMac (Radeon X1600).
Unless you’re doing 3D stuff, you don’t need anything more than the GMA 950. The GMA 950 sucks hard for 3D stuff, no doubt about that, but in a Macbook-class machine, I’d rather have the extra half hour of battery life from not using an extra GPU than better 3D performance.
You assume the newer faster GPU are more power consumming , when in fact they are less.
Also you blame the >> portable << *Battery* problem on the GPU. Batteries do not charge or recharge themself on there own.
No, but external GPUs are more power consuming than integrated ones. It’s a no-brainer, the 950, which is some extra space on the northbridge, is going to use less power than a full extra chip for the GPU.
You dont my points.
There are new GPU chipset who beat the GMA 950 in power consumption. Both independant GPU chipset and Integrated GPU chipset. Thats point 1.
You are wrong in thinking older chipset that do less will consume less power then newer chipset who consume less power due to there design but do more ( Like run Vista Aero , wich the GMA 950 dont do properly ). Thats point 2.
Battery life does not change if you put in a similar consuming chipset in power but do more in feature. Thats point 3 a.
Battery are a real portable problem , the technology suck and more progress are made on power energy consumption then on battery charge increase. Thats point 3b.
http://laptopmag.com/Review/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X60s.htm?Page=0
– Better Hard drive , Better GMA950 128mb for 9 hour battery life ( Inferior hardware for the rest )
http://laptopmag.com/Review/Sony-VAIO-VGN-SZ170P.htm?Page=0
– Dual GPU : Nvidia GeForce Go 7400/128MB and Intel GMA 950/128MB , Beter hard driver for 5 – 6 hour battery life ( inferior hardware for the rest )
What you also dont get is that there is 1.5 – 3 hour battery life missing and mediocre 3d performance forced on MacBook user due to the poor choice of that chipset alone and other design flaws. This means having to carry around something that power it up if you need it working for 9 hours.
…unless you are going to be doing heavy duty gaming or video work or something, its not an issue. If people are going to be doing gaming, chances are they WONT be buying a Mac. And if they are doing video work, well then, thats what the higher-end models are there for.
Well…you could make these exact arguments for the Core 2 Duo. If you can’t game or video edit, the only thing you might do with that fancy processor is…compress things, or…compile things. I guess the question is why include such a beefy and expensive processor if its paired with such a comparably crappy video card. Either fix the graphics, or step back on the processor and bring the price down.
There are a lot of uses for a fast processor that have nothing to do with gaming, and as the previous poster said, if you’re gaming, you’re not buying a Mac anyway.
Off the top of my head:
– Doing video renders
– Photoshop
– Encoding movies
– Decoding HD video
– Compiling!
And don’t forget that in Rosetta, even PowerPoint needs a beefy processor to run fast.
Why aren’t one buying a Mac if one plays games? It can run Windows and you get a decent OS for when you don’t play aswell.
Well…you could make these exact arguments for the Core 2 Duo. If you can’t game or video edit, the only thing you might do with that fancy processor is…compress things, or…compile things. I guess the question is why include such a beefy and expensive processor if its paired with such a comparably crappy video card. Either fix the graphics, or step back on the processor and bring the price down.
Well, Photoshop, InDesign, Flash, Lightroom etc. all benefit greatly from a faster CPU. On the other hand, I doubt any of them would benefit from a better video card since they don’t take advantage of CoreImage/CoreVideo.
Virtualization software would also benefit greatly from multicore. You can also enable Hotspot’s Parallel GC routine on a multicore machine, which would greatly reduce Java’s GC pause time.
On the other hand, a good GPU is really only good for games and a handful of Apple pro applications. However, for video editing, you also need good HD performance, which means you should be looking at a workstation with RAID instead of a laptop.
For an immersive gaming experience, you are better off buying XBox360 and/or Wii. The former will beat any PC when it comes to raw processing power, while the latter’s controller will beat any mouse/keyboard.
“For an immersive gaming experience, you are better off buying XBox360 and/or Wii. The former will beat any PC when it comes to raw processing power, while the latter’s controller will beat any mouse/keyboard.”
lol @ #1.
Or encode video, use Parallels, Backup and compress DVD’s, run lots of Rosetta apps, and the numerous other things that tax the processor and not the graphics.
“If people are going to be doing gaming, chances are they WONT be buying a Mac. And if they are doing video work, well then,”
Wait a minute I don’t want to do either and I just want to be able to watch my 720p and 1080i movies fine. and with the included graphics solution it sucks, Period!
This experience is driven from real life senario of watching .movhd and .ps and .wmvhd codecs-based videos.
I’d expect to see Intel’s GMA X3000 before that.
That should have been in those MacBook.
What? Why? Intel GFX cards are not as superior to ATI or NVIDIA. I care more about GFX power than I do going with the same company.
Resarch and Compare GMA950 ( 3000 base chipset ) to X3000 based chipset.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA
http://download.intel.com/design/chipsets/applnots/31334302.pdf
http://guides.macrumors.com/GMA_X3000
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/itnews.php?tid=675499&starttime=0&endtime=…
http://www.answers.com/topic/intel-gma
http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32534
no, I’m sure there would be a release of a macbook based on AMD + ATI before that happened
The proposed upgrade is only possible with the MacBook Pro since the lower priced MacBook doesn’t come with a PCI-express slot…
Even then, the MacBook Pro comes with an ATI Mobility Radeon x1600 with up to 256 MB G-DDR3 SDRAM, so at least the ATI Mobility Radeon Xpress 1250 would be a downgrade…
“ATI Mobility Radeon x1600”
there is the ATI X1800 now :
http://www.atitech.ca/products/mobile.html
No it comes with 128MB vram in the cheapest modell because Apple is retarded.
I think they’re shooting for a budget laptop here. Besides, it seems that the intel graphics are good enough as you don’t hear any reports of macbooks running horridly slow with OS X, clogging up with a number of windows open or anything nasty like that.
I don’t think anyone is gaming on one of these things.
Either way, the massive reduction in the cost of RAM has convinced me to buy one of these (I was gonna shell out extra for a macbook pro, but the RAM isn’t a ripoff on the macbook now).
What do you suppose they save by doing intel graphics anyway, $200, $300?
“I think they’re shooting for a budget laptop here”
I know they are trying to save money at the wrong place here. for 1100$ thats a mid range Notebook. Budget are 400$ – 850$ notebook.
“it seems that the intel graphics are good enough”
Good enough compared to what ? Does it do the job , yes , does it do the best job possible for the best Price/Sale increase interest , no. Its quite disapointing to see that GPU chipset in such a nice laptop and *no* possible upgrade.
GMA 950 or ATI 1600
“as you don’t hear any reports of macbooks running horridly slow with OS X”
Apple computer’s are the only notebook with Mac OS X …
“I don’t think anyone is gaming on one of these things.”
Cant do much gaming with that chipset.
“the massive reduction in the cost of RAM has convinced me to buy one of these”
Ram can be upgraded elsewhere not the GPU. But it still a very nice offer.
“What do you suppose they save by doing intel graphics anyway, $200, $300?”
25$ – 50$ Max
More importantly they loose sale and dont get people saying its a deal not to be passed up wich would have taken the holydays vista budget/pc budget :
http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/inspn?c=us&cs=19…
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m121…
You’re kidding right? I doubt that ATI/Nvidia can even build a modern graphics card for $50 including 128MB of GDDR3….
I’m sure that Intel can build one of these GMA950 chipsets for less than $50 though.
And no, $400 laptops are not budget laptops. They’re cheap junk that you get at after thanksgiving sales if you kill a man while waiting in line all night. You then buy one the next year after your “budget” laptop breaks.
The Intel graphics get the job done, and that’s what they want in these laptops. I see no reason to spend extra money on ATI/Nvidia graphics in a low end laptop.
Besides that, the power usage is generally better too
. (I have yet to figure out why, I suppose modern ATI/Nvidia chipsets are just really power hungry).
“You’re kidding right?”
No.
” I doubt that ATI/Nvidia can even build a modern graphics card for $50 including 128MB of GDDR3…. ”
Retail price and building cost is never the same. 3000% profit is not rare.
“I’m sure that Intel can build one of these GMA950 chipsets for less than $50 though.”
1 – 3$ probably , there cost not the price you pay for it.
“And no, $400 laptops are not budget laptops”
I said Budget are 400$ – 850$ notebook.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2030260032+4021&Sub…
“They’re cheap junk that you get at after thanksgiving sales if you kill a man while waiting in line all night. ”
Nope and last year they where at 300$ , this year there probably will be some at 250$ ( where discussing core 2 duo at around 1200$ all those before it dropped in price … )
http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/
“The Intel graphics get the job done”
Its an old chipset , getting the job done dont cut it anymore , look at there competition.
“and that’s what they want in these laptops.”
Listen to them ( Apple and clients ) after the holydays and that the sales are all acounted for and that they cant play basic FPS games on them.
“I see no reason to spend extra money on ATI/Nvidia graphics in a low end laptop. ”
Better battery life , better feature , better/faster result , for 2 – 5$ for them , also better value for the money perceive by the buyer and more competitive against Dell , HP , Gateway , it also run Vista Aveo premium. There is a range of ATI/nVidia cards and chipset that people dont have a clue exist.
“the power usage is generally better too”
GMA 950 128MB as 9 hour battery life , then the one in the Macbook wich is up to 6 hours :
http://laptopmag.com/Review/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X60s.htm?Page=0
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/…
“I have yet to figure out why, I suppose modern ATI/Nvidia chipsets are just really power hungry”
People look at the old currently selling GAMER GPU chipset , wich are not made for portability and energy powersaving.
look at Dell offering and tell me you will go and purchase a 1200$ MacBook with a GMA950 64mb shared :
http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/inspn?c=us&cs=19…
They dropped the Ball on this one , just for the choice of that GPU , this turn around.
> suite of digital lifestyle applications.
How exactly does for example a photo managing application qualify of being a “digital lifestyle” app?
Or, asked in a different way, what application does _not_ stand for a certain “digital lifestyle”? A browser? A text editor?
This Apple’s “digital lifestyle” has to be the dumbest marketing campaign i heard of lately.
This Apple’s “digital lifestyle” has to be the dumbest marketing campaign i heard of lately.
No,because Apple is a lifestyle itself.
“This Apple’s “digital lifestyle” has to be the dumbest marketing campaign ”
http://www.apple.com/ilife/
Personnaly , I would take something similar on Windows and GNU/Linux , I guess you just wrongly assume digital means photo only.
iLife is much more than a photo editing application…
I am personally waiting for a Mac Mini with a Core 2 processor and a 64-bit MacOS X. After owning a computer for 20 years, this will be the first time ever going Mac.
Welcome future Mac Zealot
jk. Seriously though, Macs are fantastic systems with a great OS and the Mini is no slouch. I bought two of them when they first came out (PowerPC’s), one for myself and one for my parents so that we could use iChat AV to video conference. They were the only systems around at the time with all the hardware and software capable of doing a full screen 30 fps video chat across 2600 miles. I’m sure that when they are running Core 2 Duo’s and 64 bit OS X they will rock even harder! And you can’t beat the price!
Macs are looking like a better and better solution every day.
I’ve been using a MacBook for a while now. The integrated graphics card really doesn’t hurt that much. It means that you aren’t gaming, but it is a Mac and a notebook. Maybe I am strange for thinking that a notebook should not be a gaming machine.
Also, I’m not sure about this, but wouldn’t a stand alone graphics card suck up more battery then an integrated graphics chip? If nothing else the additional 64+ megs of RAM on the card has to take a bite out of the battery.
Though I did rip out large chunks of iLife. I have no intention of dvd mastering or music remixing, and have you looked at how much diskspace iDVD and GarageBand uses?
But I would like to see from Apple a small form factor desktop, something like Dells Optiplex (for example..) (NO.. I don’t like mac mini..)
I’m typing this from a “goatway” with a 3ghz P4 and a gig of ram. It also has an Intel 845 graphics system.
Maybe Intel’s integrated graphics have improved (845 is a first gen product) but this computer is a frikkin sled.
Open up 5-6 programs (right now, it happens to be Innopac, Opera, Lotus Notes, Excel, Trillian, and iTunes) and the screen redraws slow to a crawl and often contain “leftovers” from other program windows. Seriously, if I were to bring any one of those other open programs to the fore right now, I’d have an incorrect screen draw.
And if you’re playing a DVD forget doing anything else.
I’ve never had this kind of “leftovers” with my OS X and Linux machines, even under heavy load. (All of them are G-series machines with ATI or nVidia and dedicated vram.)
For all I know, might be a problem of the OS (XP Pro sp2) but this whole miserable experience with the 845 series leaves a very bad taste in my mouth where Intel’s integrated graphics are concerned.
So unless somebody can point me to a video of their Intel 950 equipped computer seamlessly switching windows between known intensive programs (like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and a DVD player), I’m going to avoid anything with integrated Intel graphics.
From my experience, Windows will do the slow crawl redraw with virtually any hardware when under load.
From my experience, Windows will do the slow crawl redraw with virtually any hardware when under load.
Aha. It is the OS then.
Good to know. Thanks.
I have a computer with the the 845 series and the Mac Mini. Trust me, the 950 series is way better than the crap 845 series, and it has nothing to do with the OS because I get the same experience using XP in boot camp. Expose, Dashboard, yada yada yada all work fine.
I’m rather axious to know if and how they managed to improve the overall system cooling.