Why won't Apple put 9800M GS type card in the Macbook Pros

They are selling for a lot of money...
9600mGT is a joke

others have put 9800m GS into 15.4" laptops.

Is it greed? (more money for them)
tricking the average person, who doesn't know much about computers?

or seriously impossible...

just wondering
b/c a macbook pro 15" with 9800M GS and 9400M hybrid power would really be one of the best notebooks out there. (considering the capability of running OS X and Windows and Linux (all legally of course))

 

MBPs have a reputation of being crazy thin. With the 9600 in there they are having high temps, 9800m gs would simply be out of the question considering the heat it gives off.

 

First off, it wasnt until last year that higher end GPUs were put into 15.4" laptops ( I believe it started with the M15X ), due to space and cooling. Whats more is, MBPs aren't really meant for gaming. If you really want to game, get a PC. If you want OS X, make the compromise.

And like Bhat said, the MBP is thinner than the average 15.4" laptop, which makes it harder to put a GPU like the 9800m in one.

 

It's because they don't need to. People don't buy Macs with the intention of gaming. Gamers (mostly) go for Windows because there's more bang for the buck.

 

That's a major factor, although some graphics designers working on Macs would find a more powerful GPU useful.
I think probably the 2 biggest factors are
1.- Thinness. It won't be thin with a giant cooling fan and heatsink necessary for the 9800 GPUs.
2.- Battery life. Apple loves advertising insanely long battery life (which in many cases is wildly inaccurate, but that's beside the point), which will not happen with a 9800 in the laptop.

 

They have hybrid 9600/9400 for that already, the 9800 wouldn't effect battery life if it's off...

But yes, it's basically because Apple markets thin and lights with decent power. There is no direct competitor for their 1 inch thin 17" with 9600 GT...

 

^^Agreed. Apple does this because they want to maintain that 1" thick design parameter. The average person isn't going to miss the 9800gs, and those who aren't 'average persons' realize that a 9800gs is not going to work in a 1" thick laptop - even if it's made entirely of heat-dissipating aluminum.

 

what about ATI cards?
haha just speculation...
thanks for the info/input guys.

i guess i'll just have to get a 15 windows gaming laptop and a macbook or something like it for work. they can be pretty cheap in the refurb section. hopefully 2 laptops will equal to one 15" macbook pro in price lol.

any speculation on what gfx card apple will put in its next macbook pro revision? would that be coming this summer before school starts?

 

Probably something mid-range like they normally do. If they were to use ATI, then I think they would use the HD 4600 series at the most. If they used Nvidia then the GTS 160M at max ( unless something else comes out ). For the date, I would ask someone more familiar with Macs.

If you really want a gaming laptop, since you seem to feel like your 7900GTX isnt cutting it for you, the Asus G50 has my vote.

 

yeah the 7900gtx is way old. i can only manage it to pull a 5000 3dmark06 just as a reference. and the laptop is broken right now.

I have a 4870 radeon on my desktop. but i m not planning to bring that (antec 900 case is huge) to grad school with me...

 

*Looks at my G1S' score of ~3500*

Wanna trade?

 

Ah, that's true. Didn't think about that

Apple rarely changes its hardware partners, at least for its computers. But ATI cards of the same caliber generate similar heat as Nvidia cards (although I think ATI is slightly ahead on the architecture game, so logically their cards would be slightly cooler), so that would not work either.

Hahaha I get a bit more than 4000 on 3DMark06... and this is my primary computer (actually it's also the most powerful computer in my house).

 

what's wrong with the 9600M GT?

I'm playing UT3 at 1920x1080.

If you want to play Crysis, get a desktop.

 

Well i dont need that high res. 1440 x 900 is fine.

the problem is that Id like to max out the graphics on my games. I paid for them, might as well as get its fullest (for those games that tout good graphics). Not playing crysis or anything, but I do play CoD WaW and such.

Even with my 4870, my frame rate dips to 50s when playing BF2 (FH2 mod) and Red Orchestra. This is at 1440x900. With the 9600mGT and its 128bit bus, that would mean stutters. Which I do not wish to have.

but 9600mGT is a good mid range card, just not really good for gaming i believe.

The reason i thought about macbook pro is b/c i can have an all-in-one machine, running any type of OS i need.

Maybe specialization with multiple computers would be better in my case

 

I'm assuming that you still keep AA off when maxing right? Because AA is a massive resourse drain on any system. If you want the Macbook I say go for it. I cannot speak for you self but too me if you really want access to the OS X then I'd venture to say that utility from that would be more than worth a few minor graphical settings.

 

Can't speak to CoD, but play WoW almost daily and it runs brilliantly in the 1400x900 native resolution of the late 08 MBP...

 

Crysis ran fine on medium on my laptop but my temps jumped to crazy 85 degrees celcius!!! This laptop has eaten anything i have thrown in it till date and i'm highly satisfied with it. It feels good having the "top of the line" apple notebook!!!

 

From what I've heard, WoW is not as graphic intensive as CoD, especially the newest one.

and 85C?! that is crazy. maybe you should consider a notebook cooler

 

I like the 9600... never have liked high end video cards.. too costly and graphics super detailed never have added anything to a game for me... i enjoy the game for much more than every little graphic detail that can be put in it.

I'm glad they stick with stuff like the 9600... to cool something better they'd have to make it like other brands that use 9800s... and be twice the size... honestly.. I've sat my old MBP and my new MBP on top of eachother next to someones "gaming" laptop that actually had a 9800 in it... and his laptop was still slightly bigger than these 2 put together... ouch...

 

Imagine the price? Over $3000 i bet. Along with that enjoy yourself a nice aluminum heat box too.

 

global warming will accelerate and icecap will melt to an unprecedented level if apple ever decided to put in anything bigger than 9600mgt

the chassis(not calling it heatsink as the whole thing is, for giving a smaller "actual" heatsink) is insufficient for anything.

 

Apple uses a lot of passive cooling and small, quiet fans for their active cooling. Those things don't go well with high end graphics cards.

Although, one could also ask why HP previously would but nothing higher than an 8600M GS or 9600M GS in their 17" laptops which were far thicker and had larger fans. It's mostly because they didn't think it would sell enough to justify it. I'm sure Apple feels the same way.

 

^^ you mean a 9600m gt. They did at one point on their first 17 inch laptop the zd7000. It had the top end fx5700 and it over heated due to poor design in that laptop. I think that scared them away from high end parts.

 

That was before my fans kicked in and brougth the temps down to ~76 degrees celcius!!

 

Besides the unibody, can you please tell me what those passive cooling feature are??

 

So that your hands do not get fired while playing crysis on your notebook!! Lol!!

 

there isn't a lot in quantity, but the whole thing is a heatsink...

efficiency under right condition is helpful, but when the material touching the notebook isn't well in heat transfer(material of the desk, your hand/lap, close condition, etc); the design can become a flaw(somewhat) since without a good place where heat get out, macbook's design will build up heat faster than say a plastic case(with heatsinks inside) since they will have a much bigger fan for circulation.

in terms of quiet fan, i don't reckon that as i have the fan at least at 3krpm and will go beyond that when summer comes. and i have to be honest that some other notebook might not need to ramp that up as high under same condition...

 

apple should then make a macbook pro with 9800m GS and include a notebook cooler. Only when the notebook cooler and power adapter is plugged in, can the 9800m GS be used. Otherwise, the integrated 9400M would be.

haha that sounds too much like a gaming enthusiastic mac notebook.
and it has to run windows LOL

 

A MacBook Pro with a Pro graphics card would be 2" thick. Name me any PC laptop with a high end graphics card that's just 1"... in fact there isn't even a 1" 17" PC laptop out, with any gfx card...

Not because they can't do it. I assume it's because PC manufacturers see the 17" category as desktop replacement category. E.g. gamers or professional 3D people who want some mobility.

They don't think anybody would buy a thin/light/small 17"... or yeah maybe they just couldn't figure out how to do it

It's an interesting point that battery life would be taken care of by the hybrid solution. Does the 9800M GS support that? Do any PC laptops have this card in hybrid mode?

 

They won't put a 9800m gs because they don't need too. People don't buy macs for gaming. A better question is why don't they put something like a Quadro NVS 320M, less power consumption and based on the 9600m gt it supports many multiply display set ups and other features that would make the Macbook Pro a good business/office computer as well, or maybe a Quadro FX 770M, optimized for 3d rendering and things like 3d graphical design. I guess apple just can't afford these cards.