Comments on: Details, Details, Details. Why Apple’s MacBook Pro refresh matters more than you think

By: mark

mark — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:23:13 +0000

Jeff is right – this is the first time a 64 bit CPU is shipped on a portable Mac.
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Now, twenty more morons can show how smart they are :)

By: Alex Muller

Alex Muller — Fri, 07 May 2010 01:07:42 +0000

I heard somewhere that they’re not using Optimus.

By: Aaron Pressman

Aaron Pressman — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 02:37:13 +0000

No – I got he 13″ model and it’s most recent upgrade isn’t all that much better – no i5 chips!

By: Patrick Quinn-Graham

Patrick Quinn-Graham — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:27:24 +0000

Jeff Whitfield: You’re mistaken, the Core 2 Duo processors all have 64-bit instruction sets, all intel Macs (except the very first MacBook(Pro)/iMacs) have had 64-bit.

By: rsfinn

rsfinn — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:27:13 +0000

Um, what? MacBook Pros have had 64-bit Core 2 Duo processors for over three years now. I’m typing on a Penryn-based MacBook Pro right now. Or is there some other point you’re trying to make?

By: mamanabila

mamanabila — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:27:05 +0000

great information. thanks

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:26:56 +0000

There is a Swedish saying: “Många bäckar små gör en stor, stor å.” (“Many small creeks make a big river.”)

It is the same with features: Three features may not make that great a difference in this release; however, accumulated over the releases of ten years, the difference can be enormous.

By: remain.simple

remain.simple — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:26:46 +0000

Yeah, those Mac book Pros needed that upgrade to i5+i7 cause they r too far behind what windows pcs have. The prices for those macs are outrageous in my opinion as the branding costs even more than the hardware it takes to build itself. PC user for now and forever

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:26:37 +0000

.. and you are a complete idiot. It is not NVidia technology. In fact, someone at Apple cared so much they implemented it even better.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/04/14/apple_gpu_switching_macbook/

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:26:28 +0000

This thread is nothing but a clueless Apple fanboi party. Get real. The new macs are way behind the specs of a ton of PC’s.

By: SP Illnau Effretikon

SP Illnau Effretikon — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:26:19 +0000

The graphics processor switching of the new MacBook Pros isn’t NVidias solution. Apple developed it’s own with real advantages over NVidias. Read Daring Fireballs report on this.

By: Hebah

Hebah — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:26:10 +0000

The details are why apple computers are coveted. And why some people hate them. Apple haters tend to be people who go, “Wow, you’re retarded. Can’t you just do it yourself?” (there are some pretty whack websites by the neo-pc’s) It’s pretty cool that their obsession for perfection gives them so many loyalists and so many haters. I didn’t notice that.

By: Claude Suddreth

Claude Suddreth — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:25:57 +0000

Having bought my first Macbook Pro in December of 2008, I can tell you that I will never again return to the land of Windows and PC’s for my own computing needs. While I am forced to use those at work in the corporate world, for those with a choice a Macbook Pro is hands down the winner. And like this article says – it is not one thing. It is 1000 little things. Installing or uninstalling an application on Windows is overall more difficult than a Mac for example. Content driven help that takes you to where changes are made automatically as part of the help system. Security head and shoulders above windows in terms of malware and viruses. System stability – how many of you folks can leave your windows laptop on for weeks on end – cycling between sleep and operational? I can go MONTHS without rebooting my Macbook. Fit, finish, small features – the list is endless. People want to look at a spec page and say – oh I can buy a PC that has the same specs on paper. Maybe. But I have yet to see a PC that has the fit, finish, stability, integration, and overall solidity of a Macbook Pro.

By: Erick

Erick — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:25:48 +0000

They aren’t using Optimus actually.

By: Sigivald

Sigivald — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:25:39 +0000

Jeff: Uh… what?

Core 2 processors all have a 64 bit instruction set. Have since day one. So the MPB has been 64 bit at the processor level since the first generation after the Intel switch, when they moved off of Core to Core 2.

And the previous THREE generations of MPB (15″ and 17″) supported 6GB of ram.

The i5/i7 CPUs have significant advantages over the Core 2, but “being 64 bit” isn’t one of ‘em, and the 4 gig addressing limit hasn’t been there since June of 2007…

By: Mark Grimes

Mark Grimes — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:25:26 +0000

Don’t forget about the AES-NI instruction set either. Hardware accelerated AES crypto operations. Arrandale is not a nominal speed bump from C2D either… Apple long ago said 10.6 was optimized for Nehalem and we’re seeing the fruits of that in Arrandale in the mobiles. Big hat tip to Intel+Apple. I’ve been waiting for this chip for the better part of it being on the roadmap.

By: fffool

fffool — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:25:16 +0000

this doesn’t seem smart work.

* windows notebooks didn’t have to log out to switch video chips. apple’s disruptive implementation was clunkily behind the curve, making the fix necessary, not a detail.

* since apple switched to built-in batteries, long battery life is a crucial design component, not a detail.

* momentum scrolling is one of many UI gadgets moving from the touch OS to the desktop. maybe this is a detail like you’re saying, but i see it as part of apple’s OS architecture, which has its clumsy downsides also, with ‘details’ such as the incredibly poor alertbox-driven notifications system left unpolished on the iphone because there’s no in-house way to fix them.

By: Alan Claver

Alan Claver — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:24:44 +0000

The comments indicating that Apple’s graphics switching technology was developed by Nvidia is not correct. Perhaps the “idea” of dynamic GPU switching was described by Nvidia and implemented for Windows laptops, the GPU switching done by Apple in OS X for MBPs is completely different. While Nvidia works by using a “white list” of apps that require the discrete GPU, Apple uses a smart technology that watches low level graphics calls to determine when to switch on the GPU.

Please read this article for more info: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/04/inside-apples-automatic-gpu-switching.ars

By: Carlos

Carlos — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:24:33 +0000

Actually the solution to switch between integrated and discrete graphics seamlessly on the macbooks IS Apple’s implementation not Nvidia’s Optimus

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/04/13/nvidia_says_new_macbook_pro_graphics_switching_isnt_optimus.html

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:24:13 +0000

>>…the graphics switching in the new Mac Book Pro’s is a technology developed by Nvidia and is already implemented in a few Asus laptop models (e.g. UL50Vf & U30Jc). It is known as Optimus.

Well… no, it isn’t, apparently. Apple’s implementation is better than Optimus.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/04/inside-apples-automatic-gpu-switching.ars

“Apple’s approach in the new 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pros differs from Optimus in two key ways. The first is that the switching is all handled automatically by Mac OS X without any user intervention… The second way that it differs from Optimus is that the integrated graphics are powered down when the discrete GPU is active.”

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:24:00 +0000

@Jeff:

Uh, don’t know where you’ve been, but all of the Core 2 chips implemented the 64-bit ISA. I’m writing this in 64-bit Safari 4 on 10.6 on a second-gen (not unibody) MBP.

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:23:48 +0000

Ahh, No.
Per Nvidia, it is NOT Optimus. Details here.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/04/inside-apples-automatic-gpu-switching.ars

By: Me

Me — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:23:36 +0000

Yes not having a Blu-Ray will drive people to the iTunes store, but Blu-Ray may never take off because we’re downloading most stuff anyway. Blu-Ray is too late to the party. Maybe if they’d standardized a few years earlier, it would have gained more traction. Blu-Ray drives add cost.

By: derek bolander

derek bolander — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:23:09 +0000

Not true. Apple’s implementation is grown in-house and requires no user setting interaction to make the seamless change. Use any pro app and the MacBook Pro knows to switch over to the better GPU.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:22:57 +0000

What is your opinion of the cheap macbook which i just got i month ago?Which you sell it for the new i series pros or just keep what you have? thanks J