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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.'"
...a link to the actual MacBook Pro web page and specifications, since that's what people here probably care about, as opposed to a "TechNewsWorld" article being the only thing linked in the summary?
Also, while Apple folks and other tech-savvy folks may know the Intel-based Macs run Windows, why does the news article not even mention that? For many people even considering buying a Mac, the fact that a laptop like this can easily run Windows natively or seamlessly alongside Mac OS X with packages like Parallels Desktop at least bears repeating.
30-40 minutes estimated additional real battery life for the 15". Although apple isn't saying if most of the additional power saving is coming from the LED-backlit screen.
Rubies and Pearls are not what you think.
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.
Macbook Pro's have been out for over a year now, and after Intel's flaw with the Pentium FPU, they've gotten very good about formally verifying their processors. It's hard to call it first-gen hardware by now.
We've upped our standards. Up yours.
Yeah, have fun taking your MacBook Pro to Boston :-)
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Apple didn't "surrender" to Greenpeace.
Apple simply issued a statement about its product environmental plans, among other things.
Numerous other vendors were "greener" by Greenpeace standards because they had a public "environmental plan", or even a "plan to have a plan", whereas Apple was silent on futures as it relates to future products, as it always is.
Perhaps Jobs thought it pragmatic to offer its plan publicly so that it would stop getting hammered by Greenpeace as having one of the worst environmental commitments in the industry, when in reality it has one of the best (sure, sure, cue the "but so-and-so is better/first/whatever than Apple is such-and-such category" comments). And besides, I thought it was actions, not lip service about possible future directions, that actually mattered?
But the bottom line is Apple didn't "surrender"; it just published what its already-existing environmental plans were. If you call that a "surrender", then, hey, wave the white flag, Apple.
I've got an early '05 Powerbook G4 (first-gen HD motion sensors represent!). It's a great little thing but as I do more photo editing and such I'm starting to feel it's lack of power. I've used Intel Macs with C2Ds and they are very nice. I decided that during the next refresh I would purchase one.
So when I checked the Apple store yesterday and saw it was down, I was thrilled. I had been expecting it (I follow rumors sites and Apple Insider had some detailed possible specs on Monday). When I got to work the store was back up and I ordered one immediately.
It's about time that Apple put 2 gigs in the MacBook Pros by default.
It's expected to come as soon as Friday, and I can't wait. Geek Sugar has pictures of the new one, and they that the display is noticeably brighter, despite the fact it's not supposed to be (according to Apple, there is a mini-interview on Gizmodo).
I can't wait!
Now I just need Leopard...
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
according to the marketing president, "Apple's notebooks have always led the industry in innovation"
yeah yeah, I *know* it's not funny...
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.
So when can I get a 2-button trackpad? Come on, Apple, that's just one mouse button per core. I want a real button, not a clever software simulation of two buttons. Just humor me, I'm dying to buy one of these babies.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
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.
I presume LED in this context means an LED based backlight, backlighting an LCD screen right is pretty difficult, whatever light source is used it must provide illumination with a suitable wavelength makeup and have its light spread evenly accross teh screen.
the normal way to do this is with a very thin mercury floursencent lamp that runs along the bottom of the screen and then some clever optics that spread the light vertically.
LEDs tend to concentrate thier light at a point rather than along a strip which i would imagine makes spreading the light much harder. White LEDs also tend to have an unusual spectrum which may be an issue too.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
The big thing is that it will let the macbook pro address a full 4gb of RAM. In the previous revisions only 3GB could be addressed. I'd imagine there are also other power/performance improvements.
11 was a racehorse
12 was 12
1111 Race
12112
Aaah, you must be an American. For it is only an American who is guided by his leader that could find anything wrong with people who dare to place pressure on corporations to be more environmentally friendly. The reason you're leader is so recklessly willing to endanger the environment is because his riches come from oil, a terrible source of pollution.
So continue on with your anti-environment trolling, I am sure your president appreciates` your efforts, consumer.
Using openSUSE instead of Windows since 9th of October, 2007 and liking it.
...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...
I've used Windows laptops many times, and the 2nd button is always a PITA. It's either too easy to press (in which case I was pressing it by accident all the time) or too hard, which made some right click operations annoyingly difficult.
That's why Apple has the perfect solution - chording. You don't need to use the double tap right click thing on the keypad. I have it off. All you need to remember is that "Control" in conjunction with the mouse button acts as the second button, in all applications. And since your hand is already on the keyboard it's a little faster than trying to hunt for that second button.
That's the benefit of having a system designed from the ground up to work with a single button when two were not to be had, because you always had a control key.
On a desktop I prefer mice of many buttons. But on a laptop, I greatly prefer they leave it as one button that's easy to chord into various uses.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
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.
It is not a bad choice. There is nothing wrong with the built-in Intel graphics (GMA950 etc) for 95% of uses. If you plan to play games such as World of Warcraft or Quake then you would want the dedicated ati graphics. It is only clueless whiny mac fanboys who have a hang up with the Intel graphics. I am sure someone can post a long list of benchmarks that show that the Intel graphics are slow, but they won't be able to show a list of how that actually effects the user. Unless you fire up WoW you aren't going to notice.
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.
I can find plenty wrong with a company that places pressure on corporations to do what they know they already planned to do just to score sonme political points.
Greenpeace stopped being about the environment years ago.
the terrorist orginization known as 'GreenPeace'
They're obviously terrorists because they target civilian populations with brutal weaponry.
Oh wait, they don't do that.
There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
For me, the best bit is that they ditched ATI for nVidia. I was planning on getting a regular MacBook in order to avoid ATI, but now I can go with the Pro.
(ATI's drivers are teh suck, on OS X as well as Linux.)
((Opinions mine, not IBM's.))
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
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.
The most expensive Apple product in any market segment usually has a very poor price/performance ratio. In the MacBook line, they are quite blatant about making it a status symbol to get the overpriced one, and make if available in 'look at me, I paid too much' black. I generally find the lowest-end model plus a few built-to-order upgrades is the best purchase.
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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).
You don't have to reach to the control key to do a right-click. Just click the trackpad button with two-fingers on the touchpad. Voila, there's your right-click!
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.
It is a BIG surrender to have apple to disclose any future plans whatsoever.
People ironically love to bash their own advocates. (Greenpeace being indirect advocates for our wellbeing.) Y2K people are now discredited because the end of the world did not happen - but their actions helped funnel billions into preventing problems especially on mission critical systems. They won but get no glory.
The only good public recognition a whistle blower gets is after the disaster when everybody gets to hear them say "I told you so." Even then, that still creates a large amount of resentment or people upset they didn't push hard enough to convince us before the disaster.
We wouldn't know how bad or good apple was without somebody taking the effort. Greenpeace was doing their job and were not trying to get elected to office.
Mull over that one.
You SysAdmins who must have had to advocate preventive measures to the bosses in your career; and who also likely have to remind people when your plans saved them from "disaster."
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
That's a very backward-looking comment. Going forward, more and more developers may rely on Hardware T&L that the GMA950 doesn't support but most other cards, including Intel's newer integrated graphics, do. 3D will not be "just for games" for much longer. (And a previous poster noted that already a 'casual' game from 2005 -- Civ 4 -- relies on Hardware T&L not for performance but just because the developers relied on its presence; if it's not there, it won't work. Developers are coming to expect its presence.)
A few examples of every-day applications that might expect Hardware T&L in a year or two: Better 3D mapping applications; Mocking up corporate display stands and being able to see what they'd look like assembled; designing your kitchen; 3D cooking animations to explain the method of a recipe, etc.
In fact, the 3D maps is going to be the killer: MS Research and Cambridge Uni have already developed systems that can calculate building geometry from photos taken at different angles; Google Streetview has an awful lot of photos of buldings taken at different angles. Care to guess how quickly a fully-walkable Streetview Map relying on some of the 3D features of your video-card will take? (A 'better' Google Earth or MS VirtualEarth that uses hardware T&L and photo data to give a less 'warped' view...)
So, if you want your laptop to be able to work with interesting non-game software coming out in 1-4 years' time, that GMA950 could be a right pain.
A two button mouse is great, but a 2-button trackpad is a bad idea, and always was--the result of trying to port a mouse interface to a trackpad without thinking it through. The fundamental problem is obvious; with a mouse, you use your hand to track, so your fingers are all available to click, but with a pad, you use your fingers to track, which means that your fingers are in the wrong position to push a button, so you end up using your thumb to click. Unfortunately, most of us only have a thumb on one side of our hand. So you end up contorting your hand into awkward and probably harmful positions to reach that second button with your thumb. Of course, you could use your other hand to click, but since that hand is probably already on the keyboard, it's actually more convenient to hit a modifier key. Apple's two-finger chording approach seems to be the best solution to date, with a system-standardized modifier key available if for some reason you find that awkward.
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.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=3106