Apple MacBook Pro 15" with Intel Santa Rosa Review Discussion

Time for me to perhaps jump on the Mac bandwagon... but what holding me back is 2.5kg

 

This review has sealed it for me. Looks like I'll be heading to the Apple Store tomorrow.

 

I can't agree with this more.

I've used OSX/9/8/7/6, Windows, Linux, Solaris, AUX, AIX, HPUX, Irix concurrently for years, so bopping back and forth between OS's is no big deal for me. The fact that OSX is unix based is a huge plus for me.

The other advantage for me is the 1440x900 resolution. It is simply easier for me to read, although I do miss the extra 150 pixels of vertical resolution. Most folks probably rate that as a negative though.

 

I definitely rate that as a positive as well. I had a 1680x1050 15.4" screen before and text at native resolution would give me eye strain so I'd switch to 1280x800 and then everything would be blurry but at least I could read for much longer periods. 1280x800 is a little too big on a 15.4" screen, however, but 1440x900 sounds perfect to me.

 

How do you calibrate a battery? I have never used OSX, and considering the new MBP, so curious . Man, if only it had 1680x1050 resolution, it would have been a sure thing!

 

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh2339.html

 

I agree with zadillo, the pricing for the MBP is very reasonable. An LED screen adds roughly $300 to the price of a notebook:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3617

 

I don't think so....On the Sony SZ (the only notebook which currently has both LED and CCFL backlight options) going for the premium (LED) version as opposed to the regular (CCFL) version adds exactly $100.00 when both machines are identically specced (Its usually more because the Premium has unecessary junk like WWAN and Vista Business standard). Knowing that Sony charges [rips people off] as much as they possibly can for every upgrade...

 

True, although note that is a 13.3" panel, not a 15.4" panel.

Until more manufacturers start using 15.4" LED panels, it will be hard to compare.

Having said that, I think the actual cost of LED-backlit panels will only come down as they become more mainstream so it isn't going to be a major expense.... will just become the norm across all product lines.

Even Sony used to charge a lot more for the LED-backlit premium models, although some of that cost is also the difference in the carbon fiber vs. the regular SZ models.

 

Problem with waiting for something is that u would always be in the same situation. By the time one waits for leopard, penryn would be round the corner(in 3-4 months). By the time u consider penryn montevina would be round the corner. Then it would become nehalem and cycle would never stop.

At least once leopard releases Apple would not release any new OS for atleast 2 years (probably OS XI)

 

Still quite a ways to go before we get to OS XI, or whatever they'd call it. 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9.....

 

Best price you'll get on this is as a student wtih the Student Developer membership. $99 one time, but you get an even bigger discount on the MBP. Drops it to $1599 (+$99 for membership)...still cheaper than student prices.


Good review, though you need to fix those benchmark numbers ASAP, they're very misleading.

 

Somewhat, although you don't get the $199 off iPod deal. As long as that promotion is going, the best deal is $1799 + $199 for iPod.... - $199 after rebate.... - around $199 by selling the new iPod = Around $1599.

Also worth noting that the ADC Student deal is a once in a lifetime thing - once you use your hardware discount, that's it....... you'll never get another in the future.

-Zadillo

 

Unless you're going for the 2.4 ghz version with 256mb vidram. Then, the developer discount is probably best, if you can get it. Does any one know if there's a limited range of majors that apple will approve for the discount? By the time all the paperwork is completed and you're eligible to buy, it seems Leopard will be out.

 

I believe it is available to all students, though if they're restricting it by your degree, probably computer stuff (MIS, computer science, computer engineering, etc).

 

The 256MB VRAM model would cost you a total of $2099, essentially, so it would essentially be equal to getting the normal educational discount of $2299 and subtracting $199 assuming you could sell the free nano for close to full price.

Any college student can get the normal educational discount. They just want to see proof you're a student, they don't care what your major is.

I'm not sure about the ADC Student membership; I think actually high school students might be eligible too, so technically it might provide a good way for a student to get it.

-Zadillo

 

what is misleading about the benchmarks? he clearly states that the windows benchmarks are the 256mb model.

 

I think the issue, as discussed a number of posts back, is that the Asus G1S numbers were run at a different higher resolution. It makes the MBP look significantly more powerful than the G1S when in fact the numbers are very close together when the benchmarks are run at the same resolutions.

As discussed, it's not their fault; the numbers in the chart are just what was published in the G1S review.

The bigger issue I think is that NBR probably needs a standard policy on resolutions to use for benchmarks across the board, so the side by side comparisons in these charts are not too confusing.

 

Apple used to have 18 (or less) month cycle of updating OS X. They are just late with leopard(really late). Maybe they would release next os (Lion?) on time.

 

Yeah. Hopefully next week we'll see whether the delay was worth it.

The big hope I have is that it is going to be a pretty major release; in particular that it does include the much rumored and hoped for new/overhauled Finder.

EDIT: Actually, just looked through the timeline of previous releases:

Mac OS X 10.0: March 21st, 2001
Mac OS X 10.1: September 25th, 2001
Mac OS X 10.2: August 24th, 2002
Mac OS X 10.3: October 24th, 2003
Mac OS X 10.4: April 29th, 2005
Mac OS X 10.5: ~ October, 2007

So the release dates have been getting farther and farther apart...... although arguably, each major release has been more and more significant (with 10.4 being a pretty significant advance over 10.3, and so on).

But yeah, the over 2 year difference between 10.4 and 10.5 at least possibly indicates some pretty major things. Just can't wait to find out more during WWDC.

 

Any predictions or even real benchmarks for the 128MB 8600GT version? Considering it for light gaming (Company of Heroes, Oblivion, etc), but don't want to get burned in 6 months when it doesn't play anything new.

 

CoH and Oblivion aren't what I'd classify as light gaming, personally.

I think you'd be safer with a 256MB 6800M GT.

 

I really wanna see how these cards handle Oblivion...

 

Oblivion seems to like cards with gobs of memory for all the textures. My desktop's 7950GT KO (512MB) has no issues.

 

Really? At what resolution? Everywhere I read I get the (false?)impression that to run all the goodies at 1600x1200 it takes the 8800GTX, preferrably in an SLI setup, and even then the outdoor scenes can be taxing. I'd love to know that this game will run well on the MBP at 1440x900...

 

I'm wondering the same thing. Has anyone heard of the website that trades in your Mac laptop? I used to know the name of it. If they still buy your laptop when you buy a new one from them I may be interested in the 2.4 Ghz MBP.

Obliv screenies 2.33 MPB which runs kinda jerky at times at 1280x768
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o41/AshleyT99/Flight2.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o41/AshleyT99/Flight1.jpg
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o41/AshleyT99/Flight4.jpg

 

I can't imagine that whatever price they would give you as a trade-in for your old MBP would be anywhere close to as good as what you could get selling it yourself in the forums, on eBay, etc.

 

I can almost max out everything, enable 4xAA and hold 30fps at 1680x1050, even in busy outdoor scenes.

(2.4 C2D, 2GB DDR2-800, 320GB SATA2, X-Fi w/XRAM, 7950GT KO)


Anyways, back on topic.

 

I am very much excited abt the new MBP.
but the only thing holding me up is that i dont wanna spend for leopard when it come out in oct.
also i have heard that intel will be upgrading the new santa rosa chipset by same time to include wimax and some other capabilities.

so i think its better to wait if apple also upgrades its MBPro line to the new chipset.

Also MBP is costly, i think i will buy a hp or dell for $1200 and then during holiday season get a MBP.

 

Great review. I like switcher point of view that you potrayed. I am absolutely sold. The only thing that is holding me back is price. Not that I think it is priced to high, on June 5th-6th when I looked on my school's student site I could get the $200 discount and $200 rebate on any ipod. Still, $2100 plus tax is more than I can afford at the moment and I need a laptop now. So I bought a nicely equipped $900 Dell and will re-examine my situation around Dec-Jan-Feb. Congratulations on your new laptop!!

 

I am definitely going to buy one soon, hopefully a 256mb card one, my question is this though. Through the website you can set up a payment plan "pay 55$ a month" or whatever, can you do that walking into the store? Can they set up the payment plan and still have you walk out the door with a new toy?

Thanks

 

I bought one, and they are putting everything from my 5 year old HP lappy on it. I will be getting Oblivion, and will hopefully have a smile on my face!

 

Hey Nicholie what program was it that you used to monitor all those temps in OSX?

 

You could do this, it's just the Juniper Visa Card. I'd highly recommend against this though; it's like any credit card, and it's a really expensive APR (like 23%). The low monthly payments sound attractive, but you're basically looking at spending an extra $1000 or so over the life of the repayment term.

If you do it, try and plan on paying it off sooner.

 

I hate to sound like a broken record but I'm very interested to see what the difference between the 128 and 256mb cards will be! anybody?

Also, from many other forums the initial results stgben got are being refuted as unreproducible for most users? Any insight? I'm looking at you zadilo

 

The results he got seem in line with what others at MacRumors have been reporting.

It does seem like there are some pretty wide differences though in what different people are getting though (with both versions of the MBP), so it's hard to say.

-Zadillo

 

well luckily for me it's my parents who are buying it for me as a college graduation gift. I need to get a replacement car too though so this whole thing my fall through in lieu of getting help paying for a car... who know.

 

Marcel Bresink's Temperature Monitor. Bresink's got a plethora of little apps for the OCD user like me. You may have heard of TinkerTools? That's Bresink's work.

 

Cool thanks.

 

Instead of benchmarks, I'm more interested to see how the fps are in certain games.

 

As an FYI, on my desktop (2.4 oc'd to 3.0 with oc'd ATI 1900 XT ) I run Oblivion at 1680x1050 with max settings (and even some higher textured mods) without any issues.

 

Hi guys,

I just bought a 15.4" 2.4GHz Macbook Pro with 256MB 8600 M GT and 2GB DDR2-667. I've installed Bootcamp 1.3 and 32 bit Windows Vista Ultimate.

Run some preliminary 3DMark06 runs.

Here are my scores at 1280x800 resolution:

Apple default vid card speed 375 / 502: 4065 3DMarks
nVidia default vid card speed 475 / 700 : 4248 3DMarks
Overclocked vid card speed 500 / 720 : 4451 3DMarks

Clearly Vista is slower than XP SP2, but even so, this machine runs quite well. I'll probably look at a few 3DMark05 runs later and try to OC a little bit more. Sorry I can't offer any game benchmarks, I'm on vacation so I don't have access to any of my games.

The only downside to this notebook for me is the 5400 rpm hard drive. I really wanted to get a 7200 rpm drive, but I couldn't wait for the 6 weeks that Apple's website is indicating for a 7200 rpm build. Oh well, I guess I'll just change the HDD once the unit's out of warranty. =)

Take it easy!

 

I had thought the performance of 160GB PMR drives at 5400RPM was still quite good, so it wasn't quite so bad not being 7200RPM?

 

I would like to thank everybody on this forum for all the excellent info. I am going to order a 2.4 MBP, my first mac.

thanks!

 

Yes I should clarify...the 160GB 5400 rpm is not slow, it's just that I am used to my 10,000 rpm Raptors, so...

As a matter of fact this is my first Mac as well! Small wonder that Apple's share price is at an all-time high, with ever increasing numbers of PC buyers making the switch to Mac, thanks in no small part to Bootcamp / Parallels. This thread really is a great thread, and I too was influenced quite heavily by it. In fact I was looking to buy the Asus G1S myself, but was contemplating waiting for the new VX2S Lamborghini edition, when I decided to go with the Macbook Pro! So thanks guys, this really is a great thread! =)

 

OK, here are some more benchmark numbers.

CPU: 2.4GHz C2D
VID: 8600M GT @ 527 Core, 755 Mem (not maxed out at all)
RAM: 2GB DDR2-667
OS: 32 bit Vista Ultimate

Bootcamp: 1.3

Scores:

3DMark 03 (default settings) : 12,666
3DMark 05 (default settings) : 8,389
3DMark 06 (1280 x 800 res.) : 4,587

 

CPU: 2.4GHz C2D
VID: 8600M GT @ 526 Core, 750 Mem (not maxed out at all)
RAM: 2GB DDR2-667
OS: 32 bit Vista Ultimate

Bootcamp: 1.3

PCMark05 Score: 5,553

 

Thanks, this gives me some confidence that I don't need to sell my boyfriend's kidneys when I upgrade my desktop.

 

2 things, Vista is an real OS, XP is not an real OS, so you can't compare or maybe you're right, XP is a toy for gaming or Vista drivers supplied by Apple aren't right nowadays;P

2nd one - I can change my HDD many times on my HP Compaq notebook, without loosing any warranty. 7200 rpm hard disks from the new and progressive Hitachi-200 series rocks hard, in speed and price is very nice...So can you please specify more about this:

"In Apple cases, all its sheeps are locked with inner specs, like RAM or HD, otherwise they will loose warranty."

personally I wouldn't buy it, waiting for 800Mhz RAM and Leopard. ZFS will be nice and Time machine...I heard it can go to the days where Lisa was announced, so I can give some informations to Steve (like how to shoot a movie Kill Bill etc

 

On the MBP, upgrading RAM yourself will not void your warranty.

The issue is with the hard drive. The one real "flaw" in the current MBP design is that the hard drive is not easily user replaceable. It essentially requires almost completely disassembling the machine to get at and replace the hard drive. To see what's involved, see this video:

http://www.macsales.com/clicks/fclick.php?id=96

It's not so much that Apple WANTS to lock people into the internal specs; with the MacBook, for example, they did do a redesign of the earlier iBook chassis and made the hard drive easily user replaceable.

When you hear MBP owners wishing for a chassis redesign, one of the big things they are waiting for is Apple to update it so the hard drive is easily user replaceable.

For what it's worth, the issue of whether your warranty will ACTUALLY be voided by upgrading the hard drive yourself is up in the air. I was researching this topic, and looking at a number of threads where people discussed this issue.

Essentially, it seems like plenty of people have upgraded the HD themselves and then later sent their machine to Apple later for some other service, and haven't had Apple come back and say "Oh, you upgraded your hard drive yourself, your warranty has been invalidated".

So it seems like essentially, as long as you successfully replace it yourself without causing any problems, Apple probably isn't going to void your warranty. The big risk would be that if, in the process of disassembling your MBP and upgrading the hard drive, you would probably be screwed, as you would essentially have to admit to Apple that it got damaged while the machine was taken apart to try and upgrade the hard drive.

But that's basically why upgrading the HD in the current MBP design is officially a "warranty voider"; because it requires some pretty intense "surgery" to actually do, and probably shouldn't be undertaken by the faint of heart.