Mac book pro 17"

[JeffsJeep04]

Definitely looking sweet.

Triumphant return of FW800 (thank god...I'll stick with my 15" g4 before giving that up for a MBP)

3 usb ports (very cool...won't have to unplug the keyboard to run a flash drive and my ipod/camera

I'm in no position to buy...but I'm sure when I am, I'll be looking pretty hard at this.

[PacAce]

I'm going to wait until they get that 17" package minus the 17" screen and put it back into the 15" laptop or, better yet, put it into a 11" or 12" laptop (I want a really compact laptop when I'm on the road). :)

[jbkalla]

I heard they're dumping the 12". Too bad. However, I'm really interested in a 17" or 19" laptop, so this one got my attention. Plus, hey, it's faster than my G4 desktop by far!

It would be interesting to see if Apple ever makes a tablet-type PC...

[Mathiau]

are they going to be using the Coe Duo in their new line up ? that would be nice, Apple gets dual core laptops! power and looks with a great O/S!

[jbkalla]

All the macbook pros are core duos. It is rumored that the replacement for the iBook will be called simply "Macbook" (no "Pro") and will utilize the core solo.

<edit> and by "All" I mean both!

[jbkalla]

I think the iMac uses the core duo and the mac mini uses the core solo, but I could be wrong about the iMac. It MIGHT use the solo also.. Can't remember and too lazy right now to check! :-)

[Mathiau]

Slashdot info...


+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Apple Announced 17" MacBook Pro |
| from the coming-at-you dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Monday April 24, @10:17 (Portables (Apple)) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/24/1258238 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]artlu writes "According to Reuters news, Apple has announced the
launch of the [1]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 [2]Apple's website, but hopefully these notebooks will be [3]triple
booting as well!"

Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/04/24/1258238

Links:
0. mailto:artlu@artl%5B%5Det%5B'u.n'ingap%5D
1. http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=PR&symbol=AAPL&storyID=140886+24-Apr-2006+PRN
2. http://apple.com/
3. http://onmac.net/

[JeffsJeep04]

I see this as a move to differentiate the 15" and 17" a lil. Before, the 15 and 17 were essentially the same. Now there is a reason to shell out the extra, outside the extra screen real estate.

The lack of ability to plug a CF card into the side (with or without adaptors) is still disappointing though...gotta use up a USB plug. I like being able to just stick the adaptor in the PCMCIA slot and not worry about it.

[PacAce]

I heard they're dumping the 12". Too bad. However, I'm really interested in a 17" or 19" laptop, so this one got my attention. Plus, hey, it's faster than my G4 desktop by far!

It would be interesting to see if Apple ever makes a tablet-type PC...
Bummer! So, not only did Apple "dumb up" the 15" (compared to the 15" G4 version) but they're also going to get rid of the 12" (if they haven't already)? That really sucks!

[bonzaisushi]

This just made my descision that much harder..... ive been debating between the dell xps laptop or the g4 17" MAc book pro 15" and now this.... DANGIT!

[Mathiau]

I dont see why they would ditch the 12" unless they made a 14" now, 12" is a perfect size for ultra thing portability that alot of people use.

personally i want a 14"but i want core duo and the only ones i have found have been subpar with what i want.

[JeffsJeep04]

I dont see why they would ditch the 12" unless they made a 14" now, 12" is a perfect size for ultra thing portability that alot of people use.

personally i want a 14"but i want core duo and the only ones i have found have been subpar with what i want.
Yup, I used to have a G4 12" and now have a G4 15"....I do miss the 12" for taking to class, it was awesome for notes and things like that. With an external monitor, it'd be a great all around machine. Battery life was pretty amazing on it too. The 15" is so much nicer for doing photo work though...better screen, higher res, wider...

I doubt apple will get rid of the little powerbook. Steve jobs has a thing for tiny hardware. I'm surprised they are taking so long in upgrading it though, the 12" has remained unchanged for 15 months.

[Jesper]

I think the iMac uses the core duo and the mac mini uses the core solo, but I could be wrong about the iMac. It MIGHT use the solo also.. Can't remember and too lazy right now to check! :-)
You are also wrong on the Mac mini, you can also get the Mac mini with Core Duo processor! http://www.apple.com/macmini/

[goatee]

The problem with the Macbook Pro right now is that because Adobe won't be releasing their universal binaries for some time, Photoshop, etc, run slower on the Macbook Pros, than on the G4 laptops. . . I had the dilemma of going Mac / PC when I got my new laptop, but since a) all my software is Windows based (although bootcamp alleviates that), b) The Macbooks are much more expensive (although they are decent build quality, and lovely design), and c) the problems moving to universal binaries, I got an Acer laptop instead - still got a lovely magnesium alloy shell, dual core CPU, 1GB RAM, ATI X-1400 VGA, and all sorts of other bells and whistles.

I'm surprised, though, at Apple differentiating between the 15" and 17" - for many people, they want as much power as possible, but just don't want the 17" display - it's a beast of a laptop (although not as much as one Rock Direct in the UK a 19" laptop with 2X Nvidia SLI cards, that weighs a massive 6.5kg - around 14 pounds!)

[JeffsJeep04]

Have you tried them to compare? I'm not calling you out, just wondering. I've heard slower, but still comparable to the 1.67 as far as speed. Even for a little loss...I'd be pretty pumped for the release of the universal apps. The MBP's are giving the g5 towers a run for their money in FCP...photoshop is gonna be cool :lol:

I'm running photoshop on a 1.25 G4 powerbook, and honestly, don't feel like it's holding me back. I'd bet that the MBP's running rosetta would spank my setup in terms of speed. We are talking in terms of seconds, maybe minutes on huge rendering (but how often does that happen?) Is that really an arguing point? You could do an unsharp mask, convert to grayscale, adjust levels....that's all pretty much instantaneous for me. I'd say go for the MBP, enjoy it, and then be pleasantly surprised when the universal apps come out.

Option B is to find a used powerbook on ebay that already has PS loaded on it...you'll basically get PS for free that way.

[goatee]

I didn't do any tests personally, and also ignored all the Mac good PC bad (and vice versa) type articles. I checked out the Mac forums, and sites, and found various tests that people had done comparing speeds of doing PS work - the MBP was slightly faster for some things, but for CPU intensive stuff was significantly slower than the G4 powerbook.

Ok, I only found a few of these, but I was looking with no pre-conceptions - I didn't mind either way if they were faster or not - I was more of an interested observer. Once universal binaries are out for PS, and other CPU intensive tasks, the MBP *will* fly - I just think Apple has really shot itself in the foot releasing a computer before its main commercial apps have had a chance to make use of the new platform - I only have the dual 1.66GHz core CPU, and it flies - it's easily twice as fast as my 2.4GHz P4 work machine at converting RAW to JPEG, (the non-optimised) Firefox opens up in a couple of seconds, and of course, because of the second CPU, I can set RSP to convert a batch of RAW files, and be working in PS at the same time :D.

[dedibevi]

im selling my powerbook 17 and picking up the macbookpro 17 later this month.

anyone interested in picking up the PB??

drdigamon@**********

thanks
deaN

[Double Negative]

I'm not buying anything until CS3 comes out.

Except for maybe a Quad G5. ;)

[Dandaman_24]

Apple are dumping thier 12" powerbook and are introducing the new macbook 13"

[bonzaisushi]

and the new macbook 13 is pretty sweet, you can get it in black.

[Double Negative]

and the new macbook 13 is pretty sweet, you can get it in black.
'Bout time!

Figures the black one costs $200 more than the white one, just because of the extra 20GB of HD space...

[Dandaman_24]

just get the white one an have 20GB more on the spec and it only costs £40 extra saving of £100-ish, than the black one.

[bonzaisushi]

Black is so much cleaner tho.


i know when i was lookin at buyin a XT, i got the 20d just cuz it was black, and obviously more solid. but Black is just cleaner. could you imagine if they made the 1d white? GROSS.

White lenses on the other hand with a lil red stripe.

sorry got offtopic

[Double Negative]

Ahh, the iCanon. It matches your iPod and other Apple kitchen appliances. :D

I bought a black iPod. ;)

[Mathiau]

:D black ipod nano here - i would definetly get the black mac, simply cause of dirty :D and it does look better, then toss Xp on it in a dual boot :D

and 13" seems like a nice size, not too small and not too big, i really want a small 12 or 14 laptop before to carry with me for photo stuff, and now a 13" :D

[Double Negative]

I have the 17" now (work, not personal) and while it's really, really nice... I wouldn't buy this size personally. Its size is both its strength and its weakness. Nice to work on but not terribly portable because of the dimensions. Sure, it's thin - but it's huge.

I'd go for the 15" perhaps. If the 12" was more on par with the bigger ones I'd consider that, but the screen is really just too small. Speaking of the older models, anyway. No 12" MBP as of yet...

[bonzaisushi]

im really enjoying the 17"..... but have yet to see how it fits on a drop down tray for airplane useablity.

[Double Negative]

im really enjoying the 17"..... but have yet to see how it fits on a drop down tray for airplane useablity.
Works great. A little large, but totally usable.

[bonzaisushi]

i like the HUGE space for my palms, lol i could put a glass of wine on one side, and a sammich on the other :D

[goatee]

I wouldn't mind a 15" (I have a 14" widescreen) but 17" is just massive - Rock Direct (in the UK) are marketing the ultimate gaming laptop - with dual SLI Nividia graphics cards, and a 19" display, it weighs a mammoth 6.5kg (14 pounds)!

[bonzaisushi]

I wouldn't mind a 15" (I have a 14" widescreen) but 17" is just massive - Rock Direct (in the UK) are marketing the ultimate gaming laptop - with dual SLI Nividia graphics cards, and a 19" display, it weighs a mammoth 6.5kg (14 pounds)!

I bet that thing makes your Lap toasty.

[Dandaman_24]

I'm considering buying the 13" macbook any one got one yet ?

[Dandaman_24]

No one has a 13.3" macbook yet have they ?

[bonzaisushi]

werent they just released last week? if so people would be recieving them friday or something

[Dandaman_24]

that sounds like a good answer

[Michaelmjc]

the macbooks definately look awesome, but I really dont like the intel idea. I know they say its just as safe, much faster, BUT, pcs are intel and I'm sure it will be no time before macs start getting viruses. I'll stick to my non intel mac :)

[goatee]

hehe fair enough - although the reason PCs get viruses is because of Windows - e.g. Intel Linux and Free BSD machines are just as safe from viruses as Macs (Power PC or Intel).

[bonzaisushi]

hehe fair enough - although the reason PCs get viruses is because of Windows - e.g. Intel Linux and Free BSD machines are just as safe from viruses as Macs (Power PC or Intel).

is it really windows? i would think it was because Windows PC's are sooooo much more used, like what 95% of pc users out there probably use windows. so their would be more problems with windows. Im sure if macs were just as widespread as Windows Pc's there would be just as many spyware/virus's out there. Kinda like a small car company having a few bugs to begin with when making cars, but once they go big and sell crazy amounts of cars they have more errors do to producing more and more people driving them? or am i just an idiot? is osx that badass?

[Double Negative]

It's primarily because of Windows. It sucks, and is an easy target. The fact that it's the widest used doesn't help. Unix-based OS'es are by nature much, much more resistent to malware. Not immune to everything as holes appear occasionally (nature of the computer) but definitely more robust.

Just because the Mac hardware is switching to Intel doesn't mean anything as far as malware goes. It's the OS, not the chip. I'm no fan of Intel either, but face it - the PowerPC was never really handled properly. Not by Motorola, not by IBM. Apple did what they had to do.

[bonzaisushi]

It's primarily because of Windows. It sucks, and is an easy target. The fact that it's the widest used doesn't help. Unix-based OS'es are by nature much, much more resistent to malware. Not immune to everything as holes appear occasionally (nature of the computer) but definitely more robust.

Just because the Mac hardware is switching to Intel doesn't mean anything as far as malware goes. It's the OS, not the chip. I'm no fan of Intel either, but face it - the PowerPC was never really handled properly. Not by Motorola, not by IBM. Apple did what they had to do.

well put

[denMAR]

Does anybody know anything about price drops/package upgrades coming up soon? I'm really excited to get a MBP in August, I just hope I don't get it and then the price drops two weeks later.

[cactusclay]

I was on the phone with Adobe, last friday, getting some help with CS2 on my G4. The person I was talking to, told me that they have been having quite a bit of compatability issues with the new machines and CS2. They didn't expand on that though.

[bonzaisushi]

ya cs2 doesnt run to hot on the mactels, just due to Rosetta Translating it. Later this year i believe november thye are looking to release cs3 with the universal binary so it will run like a bat out of hell. but you can always run parallels or bootcamp and use cs2. I doubt you will see a price drop, I know with a student disc and fully loaded my totall came right over 3k for my mbp17. and now i guess you can get a free ipod nano.

and i think Intel just released new chips last week, im not sure how thats going to affect apple.

[Double Negative]

CS3 will be out first or second quarter... Next year!

Which sucks, because the fastest way to run Photoshop on a Mac right now is on a G5 - not Intel. Not that the G5's aren't great machines, but it doesn't help owners of the latest gear. Rosetta runs it, and is okay for average users... But if you spend any real amount of time running batches or actions you'll be disappointed.

[Michaelmjc]

I found CS2 ran like poop on my mac, So I tried CS, and it runs great.. sometimes a little too fast.

[bonzaisushi]

I just installed bootcamp and am running cs2 off that untill cs3 is relased and i have 200000 dollars to pay for the program :)

[denMAR]

I might just use CS then and wait for CS3 to come out.

[jbkalla]

I might just use CS then and wait for CS3 to come out.

Good call.

[drews578]

I woould wait for the Merom chip in august or september.

[jbkalla]

I'm waiting for a desktop system. My old G4 is getting long in the tooth! Hopefully, the new systems will be quiet. :-)

[txdude35]

:D black ipod nano here - i would definetly get the black mac, simply cause of dirty :D and it does look better, then toss Xp on it in a dual boot :D

I was just browsing the "Apple v PC" thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=182599) and it seems like you were dogging apple pretty hard, yet here you are on the other side of the fence. Curious.
It seems you were especially contemptuous of dual OS system-"i think this could be a bad move because OS X users, perhaps ones who have not used windows, may find them selves using windows more often after a while realizing it can do all that OS X does, as OS X can almost do all that windows can....."
Hmmm.....

[goatee]

I was just browsing the "Apple v PC" thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=182599) and

txtdude - you gave me a shock, I thought for a moment you were going to say that you were browsing the Apple v PC thread, and found a rational argument ;).

[txdude35]

txtdude - you gave me a shock, I thought for a moment you were going to say that you were browsing the Apple v PC thread, and found a rational argument ;).

On either side:) This discussion generates more vitriol than any political or religious argument, I think.
It was a wise man who said "East is east and west is west, and never the twain shall meet."

[goatee]

Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of technology debate, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; (adapted from Psalm 23:4)

[Double Negative]

I'm waiting for a desktop system. My old G4 is getting long in the tooth! Hopefully, the new systems will be quiet. :-)
Tell me about it... I'm on a hopped-up 2001 867MHz Quicksilver w/2x250GB IDE RAID and 2x60GB drives, 1.5GB of RAM and an ATI 9800 Pro. It works, it does the job and honestly, I'm kinda happy still. But it's seriously old school at this point.

I wanted to go G5 (preferably dual dual-core, a.k.a. "Extreme") but never quite made it.

I'm hoping the desktop "Mac Pro" goes the same way (dual dual-core)... It will be nice to *be able to* run Linux/Solaris/Windoze on it but seriously doubt I ever will. Maybe Windoze for those occasional apps that aren't available for a Mac (few and far in between, but there are some unique ones out there).