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MacBook Pro Gets Santa Rosa Chipset, LED Screen
frdmfghtr writes "TechNewsWorld is reporting that Apple has updated the MacBook Pro line with the Santa Rosa chipset from Intel. In addition, Apple is also introducing mercury-free displays with some models. 'When Apple presented new editions of its MacBook line last month, the company excluded the latest Intel Centrino chips, dubbed "Santa Rosa," which had been released just days prior. The chips have found their way into Apple's new high-end MacBook Pro notebooks, which the company revealed Tuesday. Certain models use mercury-free displays, falling in line with the company's recent ecological promises.'"
I'm incredibly excited at the prospect of an LED display. Not only would the lighting be easier on the eyes, but lower-power and safer.
As some one who's concerned with color correction, though, I wonder how accurate and vivid are the colors on these new screens. I'm not ordering one to find out.
The biggest news IMO is that the 17" MacBook Pro now comes with a 1920x1200 screen option. I've got that on my 15.4" Sager now, and it's wonderful. I'd rather have another 15.4", but I'd rather not step down to 1440x900.
and allow for most variety in configurations so that there would be "Pro" level laptops at more affordable prices.
I like the discreet video, I do not need the 2.4, the monster drive, the large memory....
so what about 1.66 or 1.83s with similar features, chipset, and such at a lower cost. 1gb memory, discreet graphics, for around $1500?
Are they trying to protect the value of the previous generation still on the shelf?
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
...the 2 button trackpad thing could conceivably be retro fitted. you'd have to take your macbook apart, but i could imagine some enterprising 3rd party coming up with a click button the same physical dimensions as the standard apple one, but divided into two. on laptops these things are pretty simple mechanical switches and they normally plug in via simple ribbon connectors. if nothing else, it'd stop people moaning...
If you normally use tapping with touchpads, you should note that the touchpad for the MacBook Pro allows right clicking by tapping with two fingers. The touchpad can also detect three-finger taps, but for some reason, OS X ignores them; Ubuntu, on the other hand, allows full use of the touchpad as a three-button mouse, though the driver is currently rather poor. I would actually almost prefer that the laptop not have the one actual mouse button that it does - it generally just gets in the way and generates spurious clicks when there is the slightest hint of shear force on the frame.
The old fluorescent backlit displays begin degrading immediately and lose their brightness in a non-linear way. After one year they are noticeably dimmer and difficult to use in brightly lit environments and by year 2-3 they are almost unusably dim. I hope the LED backlights do not degrade so quickly or at all. Lower power consumption is most welcome, of course.
Santa Rosa still has problems addressing a full 4GiB of RAM. This is a limitation of running the processor in 32bit mode. In this mode a maximum of 4GiB can be addressed, but some of that space is mapped to system devices such as the dedicated video memory.
Why the dichotomy between "hardcore" gamers and people who just play a couple "simple games?" Can't a casual gamer play games that either require a good GPU or just plain look better with a good one? I'm thinking of Oblivion here. Or maybe LOTRO.
One of the main reasons I got a MacBook Pro vs. a MacBook was the ATI X1600. I'm not a hardcore gamer by any means, but there are times when I like to tinker with a game here and there. Sure, it isn't upgradable and will probably be obsolete in a year or two, but until then...
-matthew
"THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death
I thought Jobs did a pretty good job at the last shareholder's meeting of calling Greenpeace out. His comments about how others promise while Apple does are fairly true. Apple _does_ a lot more. They just don't promise the moon and then not deliver.
You didn't get the point of my question. A two button interface is not "portable" across different UI schemes. Two+ button interfaces are great when you have a mouse. But if you plan on building an OS with applications (Safari, hello?) that works in a mouse driven UI and a touch driven UI (iPhone) you can't build around 2 buttons.
And if you build 2 button hardware, then developers will build around 2 button interfaces.
You're better off with 1 button anyway.
I was hoping that the new Macbook Pro would feature the same new keyboard as the new Macbook, but alas, it seems as if hasn't been changed (aside from being more brightly backlit now).
I'm a former Apple Engineer, and I'm really getting a kick out of these replies.
From talking with my former co-workers, Apple had been working with engineering sample LED backlight systems for almost a year when Greenpeace made their attention whoring report. Apple didn't choose LED systems only because they were mercury-free, they were also looking at lower power, brighter, longer lasting, and far cheaper to mass produce than cold cathode.
Clearly Greenpeace had learned Apple was working on migrating their whole lineup to "greener", so they beat them to the punch with a completely bogus report. At that point, anything Apple did would seem as if it was a reaction to Greenpeace. Engineering lead times are far too long for these new backlights to have been brought in after the Greenpeace slander job.
No, you're quite wrong.
Look for the Rolling Stone interview with Steve Jobs, back when iTunes was originally launched. You'll find a quote from him about how DRM won't work and how they don't want to stay with DRM forever.