Hold off on buying a new macbook / macbook pro for just a bit (1 Viewer)

[Craig S]

Dual graphics in the 15 & 17 inch models are Intel integrated and NVidia GT 330M. As rumored, the MBPs now auto-switch between the 2 graphics adapters depending on the application. No more rebooting to switch.

Claimed battery life has been boosted. 10 hrs for the 13 inch; 8-9 for the 15 & 17 inches.

The 15" model gets a high-res option (1680x1050) for $100 - I've been hoping for this. If you want anti-glare on the 15" (a $50 option), you have to take the high-res also.

No anti-glare option on the 13" model. The specs page doesn't show the anti-glare option on the 17", but if you go to the store you can indeed configure it.

Other than the above (and the Core i5/i7 CPUs) there don't appear to be any other changes.

My 15" Core i7 w/ High-Res screen is on order! Should be here early next week.

 

[DaveF]

Wow. They're finally offering a 1680x1050 15" screen. Welcome to 2002, Apple!

Are the 8-9 hr battery life claims the typical fake numbers -- take 60% to get real life -- or iPad-real times?

Looks like a nice, but not major, upgrade in the line.

 

[Sam Posten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig S

My 15" Core i7 w/ High-Res screen is on order! Should be here early next week.

Congrats! So you chose to not get Anti-Glare then? I'd have ordered the same thing (with AG) had they just included a BD-R drive in it.

 

[Craig S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Posten

Congrats! So you chose to not get Anti-Glare then? I'd have ordered the same thing (with AG) had they just included a BD-R drive in it.

Sue me, I like the glossy. But my main uses of the MBP are (1) in my home, where I have light control to avoid glare, and (2) in a darkened theater (I do sound design for a few Houston-area theaters), where glare is not even the slightest issue.

I keep hoping Apple will come through with the BD love for you, Sam, but at this point I don't know if we'll ever see it.

 

[Carlo_M]

Well I guess I should thank Apple for saving me $2K on this refresh. I don't think Blu is as important to me as it is to Sam, but it's just the principal of the thing. Most other notebook makers are less than MBP prices have BD in them, and the MBP should be no exception, especially at the $2K price point I'm likely to buy.

Also, I didn't realize the i5/i7 mobile CPUs were dual core only (granted they support HT). Since I run Pro Tools and Logic, I was hoping for at least a true quad core option. Now my waiting for the Mac Pro upgrade begins. I'm more likely to buy a Mac Pro refresh if it doesn't have BD since it's fairly easy to swap out drives in that enclosure, vs. on a MBP.

 

[Sam Posten]

I've sent a polite note to sir Steve letting him know of my frustration. =)

I seriously will buy a MBP the day Blu goes into one and not a day before, until then I have no compelling reason to upgrade past my secondhand 3+ year old machine. Until then I'm happy to keep saving. But it's also something I will ding Apple on every time someone asks me about buying an Apple lappy.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/ptech/04/13/apple.macbook/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Sam, don't you think it's time to give up on Blu for a while?

Apple has never been fond of the format. I am not saying
it will never happen, but I'd personally never bet on it. I would
bet that perhaps they will enable their OS to accept external
Blu-ray drives.

 

[Sam Posten]

Like I said Ron, I have a Mac Pro and a Macbook pro that suit me just fine, but I'm willing to pay cash money for this feature. Apple is on the board of directors (ie not just a member) of the BDA. For 5 years and 1 month now. And they have the nerve to call Adobe lazy for not keeping up? We all know it's a move to protect their streams. If that's the case say its not gonna happen and quit the BDA and explain to the real pros out there that they don't need high definition recordable media.

Edit: I tweeted this earlier: Not one single tech blog busted Apple's chops over no Bluray, not @engadget @techcrunch @arstechnica or @gizmodo none even mentioned it.


Finally this afternoon Jason O'Grady at ZDnet weighed in:

@Gart http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=6591

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by DaveF
Are the 8-9 hr battery life claims the typical fake numbers -- take 60% to get real life -- or iPad-real times?

Install "click-to-Flash" in Safari and yes, the battery life figures are totally real. When Apple switched to the sealed batteries, battery life doubled/tripled.

Unfortunately for Apple's competitors, they've invested so much in attacking Apple for having non-removable batteries, that now they can't take advantage of Apple's breakthrough (which involves making the battery thinner, larger, oddly shaped and spreading it throughout the device).

 

[Ted Todorov]

El Jobso's last statement on Blu-ray (Feb. 2010) (my translation - until BD overtakes DVD, no BD, and if downloads overtake DVD before BD does - no BD ever):

During the meeting Mr. Jobs reiterated his attitude towards Blu-ray high-definition video format. According to the chief executive officer of Apple, Blu-Ray software is a mess, and Apple will wait until sales really start to take off before implementing it into their personal computers. Still, the new Macintosh systems in 2010 would take Apple to the next level, indicated the CEO.

Sam, also keep in mind that external BD drives are cheap and internal ones cheaper, and Mac OS X playback via MakeMKV/Plex is possible.

 

[mattCR]

I may be the only one who finds it laughably funny that we've seen/heard numerous apple people... even some who work for Apple, discuss in forums that Blueray isn't that big, because, you know, you can rip it to MKV so easy on a PC and watch it that way... wha wha what?

So, to enjoy BD on a Mac, you need to use ripping software and an external drive or have a PC nearby that can re-encode it for you or at least decant to MKV.

Now that is a rebel posture.

Apple's position on BD is really at this point foolish. Yes, I realize their opinion, but come on. The drives themselves are now insanely cheap. You can grab readers, or even combo drives on the PC for $80-$100. And that's end user costs. Writers are about $150.

Blueray, at this point in it's existance, has better adoption then DVD did at the exact same point in it's timeframe. And, people who edit video are looking for easy means by which to produce Blueray. I mean, how often do you hear people saying "man, I'm really eager to use Final Cut Studio 3, and my goal is to go out to DVD" what? Oh yes, that's what we need these high end machines for, to encode MPEG2. Something a PentiumII could do. And yes, FCS3 will now do BD.. if you have an external drive, or preferrably just folders to go out to. And no, it's menuing system still isn't correct and the inlays are still messed up. But FCS hasn't dropped support for HD-DVD, who knows, might make a comeback.

Apple doesn't like Bluray. For whatever reason, maybe tons of reasons. Fine. There are lots of things that have happens in the production world I hated. But it doesn't mean I ever got to say "well, I dislike it, so I won't do it". Apple originally really wanted ADC to prevail. It didn't, DVI interface did. And, Apple jumped on board.

The longer apple waits on this, the more of a disservice it is to their clients who find bluray is now the output format that they are looking for.

Capture video from a $150 HD 720P "Flip" camera, and output it to.. DVD? Or just convert to a web video that a big part of them will see highly compressed and in crap quality? Or, do you go out and get an external BD drive, deal with folder creation, image makeup and output.

*shrug* who knows. Maybe in another year or two.. or maybe apple just intends to pass it all by. Hell, it's not like a PC user with $40 bucks can't go out and buy basic Bluray Burning software that works point and click. (or, several, actually, there are three decent ones on the market). Maybe not as classy as FCS. But then again, FCS doesn't get it right, either. Toast manages to actually figure it out. Kind of strange that.

I have an older MacBook pro. I'll keep hold of it. It's an Intel series so not that old But we don't use it as much. I really think Apple has to look at the high end laptop game and do something different and I'm not sure what they did. The stats just aren't as impressive and there isn't a real wow feature. Bluray would have been a wow feature. I admit, I also held out hope for a Netbook type model, a very small but fully functional laptop in the 8.9/10 marketplace.

These are nice processor bumps, but since they are all Clarksdale (Dual core with HT) then it's not a big advantage.. and if past benchmarks are right, then unless OSX has some sort of change of heart then HT doesn't help it nearly as much as on the PC side.. its just not the nature of how the processors handle the predictive branching.
These aren't bad offerings, I think I was just expecting something to come out with Wow factor. Love or hate the iPad, it has "wow" and hot debate factor. This doesn't.

 

[DaveF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattCR

Capture video from a $150 HD 720P "Flip" camera, and output it to.. DVD? Or just convert to a web video that a big part of them will see highly compressed and in crap quality? Or, do you go out and get an external BD drive, deal with folder creation, image makeup and output.

That's your fundamental disconnect: you're still thinking "output". From the Apple perspective (and mine, now) there is no "output". Record with your Flip camera. Edit in iMovie. Watching on the computer. Or upload to YouTube or Vimeo -- both of which support 720p. Or Connect your computer (or AppleTV or iPod or iPad) directly to your TV and watch the video there.

There is no interest in output to DVD or BluRay.

I now ascribe to this: I've been recording speeches from my Toastmasters meetings. Originally, I'd edit, title, and create a DVD. But I realized that was a waste. I'm never going to watch this on TV, with the nuisance of fiddling with a DVD in the HT. It's easier to just watch the few minutes on my computer. If someone else wants a video, I can email it to them or post it online. DVD was too timeconsuming and overkill.

Certainly this doesn't describe everyone. But this is the "person" Apple has in mind to sell their products to. This is fulfilled with the iPad: In this day of 50"+ 1080p displays, 7.2 surround sound, and Blu Ray players, they're selling 9", sub-720p, stereo-sound, compressed-movie handheld playback device for movies. And this is a sure bet to crush the AppleTV as a content device.

 

[mattCR]

I think the problem with that idea, and I agree with you that's obviously how Apple feels, is that a big part of their base.. definitely the people who buy Final Cut Studio at $1,000 are most certainly concerned about output. If they thought output was dead, they'd just buy iMove and call it a day.

Most of the things I have I'm not that concerned about putting for output either. It stays in my PC. But I admit, once a month, I do worry about output, as I send out nice DVDs to my inlaws and parents, who are unfortunately a very long way away and like to see their grandkids. And, while Mac may be convenient, you try teaching a 72 year old chinese woman how to use the computer.. we're better off just sending a disc so she can pop it in and watch the kids.

And big events? Yes, I want output on those to. A hard drive can fail. Several copies of the Son's elementary school graduation? I'll take that.

But for other people, the reason to output Bluray is more serious. People who buy Final Cut Studio etc. are making those discs to use as presentations, promotional and advertising material. Blueray for some of them is great stuff. I know one who walks through all of their products (they design a special kind of product) and they create Blurays walking through the process of creation. And they do it in HD because at a lower resolution, it's really difficult to see a see-through plastic mold that's less then 3" big. It just hides. But they send those discs out to Target, Walmart, and every one of their clients so they can see them working on new products as part of their pitch.

So, the end home user, maybe less and less.. but it's still a feature they want. And saying "well, you can watch if you rip it via a PC or you use this software to rip it to MKV" is most definitely not the most studio friendly take apple can have (Even though, thankfully, it appears as though the studios have completely lost the valid argument on those point if the owner shows the prescence of legal first editions, which is all anyone asks)

 

[DaveF]

I can't speak to the professional side. Apple may well be failing to meet professional needs.

But as a consumer, other than parity in specs with Wintel, I see no value in Blu Ray in a computer. I only use my DVD drive to rip my movies for my iPod and the quasi-annual iWork / iLife / OS X upgrade.

As for backups: writeable discs fail too. Are DVDs & Blu Ray discs more robust than a hard drive as archive medium?

I won't say Apple shouldn't have Blu Ray. But I'll say that as a home user, I don't care. And I think I'm similar to many Joe Users in that regard.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

At the very least Apple should allow their OS to
have Blu-ray support so some of us can go out
and buy external drives.

I don't want a laptop or desktop with a built-in
drive because chances are Apple will charge an
exorbitant fee to add the hardware.

For me, I just want to be able to burn Hi-Def
camcorder footage to BD media. As of right
now any HD editing that I do on iMovie is
ultimately downconverted to DVD.

 

[Craig S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

At the very least Apple should allow their OS to
have Blu-ray support so some of us can go out
and buy external drives.

I believe this, not the hardware, is the big holdup. When Jobs called Blu a "bag of hurt" he was, I believe, referring to the work they would have to do to comply with Blu licensing requirements. Now, I'm not totally buying this excuse, but I think that's their position.

For me, I just want to be able to burn Hi-Def
camcorder footage to BD media. As of right
now any HD editing that I do on iMovie is
ultimately downconverted to DVD.

You can do this now with a copy of Roxio Toast Titanium and an external BDR drive.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Craig,

Can I actually hook up an external BD drive to my
Mac and expect it to work?


Will it work with iMovie/iDVD in addition to Toast?

 

[mattCR]

Ron:
You can. Within iMovie, you must export out as a HD File (1920x1080, if you use the lesser resolutions, you'll run into Toast issues that can be solved but require more hoops)

Then, important this file into Toast, Toast will conver this into a BD ready M2TS setup (usually H264) and burn out to an external BD.
It's not as "slick" as going straight from iMovie, but it does work.

 

[DaveF]

As a happy MBP owner (2007 15" model), I see the new MBP's and think, "I'd rather have an iPad". I'm curious if and how the iPad will change the buying habits of Apple customers. I spent about $2500 on my current MBP, and figured that come next upgrade, I'd again spend $2000+ on another Mac laptop.

But now, instead of a MBP upgrade, I could spend less and get two 64GB 3G iPads for my wife and myself. But maybe it's a wash? Because while I upgrade computers only every 5+ years, I can imagine buying less expensive tablets more frequently. And it will be easier to buy the less expensive software more frequently. So Apple might get from me a smaller, but more continuous revenue stream that nets out the same?

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by mattCR
Apple's position on BD is really at this point foolish. Yes, I realize their opinion, but come on. The drives themselves are now insanely cheap. You can grab readers, or even combo drives on the PC for $80-$100. And that's end user costs. Writers are about $150.

I agree, although as they have record quarter after record quarter it appears that their foolishness is inflicting minimal pain. Apple would never release a computer with read-only optical media at this point so you have to look at the writer prices and they still seem high (isn't an internal DVD-R drive something like $20 at this point?)

But ultimately that two shouldn't matter -- they can release the BDs as a BTO only option, thus not changing their standard config prices.

My guess is, as Craig suggests that it is a software issue. Possibly also a business issue -- Apple wanting to extract better terms from the BD consortium, etc. I doubt Jobs wants to kill Blu-ray -- as Disney's largest stock holder it would be very much against his own interest.