Apple Intros 2011 Macbook Pro, First Taker for Intel Thunderbolt

[btarunr]

Apple today introduced its 2011 Macbook Pro, the company's premium line portable computers. Available in 13.3-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch sizes, the Macbook Pro binds the latest notebook hardware with the Apple Mac platform. The 2011 version makes use of Intel's second-generation Core "Sandy Bridge" processors, AMD Radeon HD 6000 series graphics, a minimum of 4 GB of DDR3 memory, and Intel's newly introduced Thunderbolt 10 Gb/s "Light Peak" interface. The new Macbook Pro also features a new Facetime HD camera that allows Facetime conversations with three times the video resolution, and a revamped glass-based multi-touch surface trackpad that gives pointing with the precision of an iPhone 4. Mac OSX "Snow Leopard" is the OS of choice.

The lineup, with available hardware configurations is split according to screen size. The 13.3-inch are the entry-level, starting at US $1,199. The base model features dual-core 2.3 GHz Core i5 with 320 GB HDD, topped by a dual-core 2.7 GHz Core i7 driven model with 500 GB HDD at $1,499. The 15-inch pair includes a quad-core 2.0 GHz Core i7 powered model with AMD Radeon HD 6490M graphics and 500 GB HDD priced at $1,799, followed by a quad-core 2.2 GHz Core i7 model with Radeon HD 6750M graphics, and 750 GB HDD at $2,199. The series is topped by a 17-inch model with quad-core 2.2 GHz Core i7 processor, Radeon HD 6750M graphics, and 750 GB HDD, priced at $2,499. They are available right away from the Apple Store.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Hmmm typical Apple you get mid range components for desktop replacement prices.

 

[TheMailMan78]

For that kinda money Ill just get a Levono.

 

[Easy Rhino]

if i ever wanted a laptop this would be one to get.

 

[pjl321]

Mini SSD's????

What happened to the 8GB/16GB SSDs that were going to house the OS so load time were cut and everything launched instantly?

Such a shame, i thought that a really good idea.

 

[Completely Bonkers]

I'm surprised Apple didn't "one-up" the PC industry by increasing resolution/pixel density. After all, their iphone/ipod screens and pixel densities are a benchmark for others to follow. Shame. Missed opportunity

 

[NC37]

Eww the lowend 13inch sucks even worse now. What idiot thought it was smart to return Apple to Intel craphics? This means the Macbooks will likely return to that too. Sigh...get ready everyone for another flood of Mac users complaining about why they can't run what they want on their machines all because Apple went back to Intel.

Well, the Macbooks will probably be all Sandybridge so, might be better. I dunno. I guess I'm the only one not impressed by that tech, specially after seeing the performance of it. But on another Mac forum I check its like Sandybridge is the holy grail. Their fanaticism always makes me feel like hitting them over the head with a blunt object.

 

[sy5tem]

whahahaa overpriced piece of tech.,... even more since i can buy pretty much any laptop and install mac os x on it lol

 

[timta2]

Yet another Mac first.

For that kinda money Ill just get a Levono.

What happened to the 8GB/16GB SSDs that were going to house the OS so load time were cut and everything launched instantly?

Such a shame, i thought that a really good idea.

Macbook Air, or a Macbook/Pro with SSD? Those are current options.

Sigh...get ready everyone for another flood of Mac users complaining about why they can't run what they want on their machines all because Apple went back to Intel.

I think you are blowing the Intel graphics issue out of proportion, what are these things you can't run on Intel graphics? Games? lol. Seriously who is going to buy a lower end machine with low end graphics for gaming on Mac? Get real.

Their fanaticism always makes me feel like hitting them over the head with a blunt object.

Their hate always makes me want to laugh at them! lol

whahahaa overpriced piece of tech.,... even more since i can buy pretty much any laptop and install mac os x on it lol

Not legally and not reliably you can't. Have fun with updates and drivers!

 

[TheMailMan78]

Yet another Mac first.
:

I don't know what your laughing at. Levono makes several models that blow this out of the water for the same price. I've used macs for years. I still use one for data entry. The Apple bubble burst years ago my friend. The last decent one they made was the "quicksilver". Now its just marketing and hype and Ill be honest with you, the more you defend them the more you show how little you know.

 

[Easy Rhino]

I don't know what your laughing at. Levono makes several models that blow this out of the water for the same price. I've used macs for years. I still use one for data entry. The Apple bubble burst years ago my friend. The last decent one they made was the "quicksilver". Now its just marketing and hype and Ill be honest with you, the more you defend them the more you show how little you know.

sure thing

 

[TheMailMan78]

sure thing

Why's everybody always trollin' on me?

 

[Soylent Joe]

With the 17" you can get a 128GB SSD for no extra cost over the standard 750GB 5400RPM HDD. To me, that's reasonable. I like the new MBP's.

Also, poor Munki. His grandpappy bought him a brand new 15" MBP not even 3 days ago. Hopefully he can return it for a newer version

Eww the lowend 13inch sucks even worse now. What idiot thought it was smart to return Apple to Intel craphics? This means the Macbooks will likely return to that too. Sigh...get ready everyone for another flood of Mac users complaining about why they can't run what they want on their machines all because Apple went back to Intel.

The 15" and 17" models have the Intel 3000 graphics chipset as well as an AMD 6XXX chipset. I suppose it switches to the Intel when GPU use is low, in order to save power.

The new Macbook Pro also features a new Facetime HD camera that allows Facetime conversations with three times the video resolution...

So that puts it at what resolution now? It's about time we see some improvements in the integrated webcams of laptops.

 

[Wile E]

Nice laptops, but overpriced.

 

[NC37]

Games are one but there were more apps which had faults on the Intel graphics. I remember sitting on MacAddict (I refuse to recognize MacLife as a legal corporate entity), reading all the whining posts from people who bought the first few models of Macbooks with the GMA chips. Glitches galore, bout all they could do well was HD video. You wouldn't believe the number of users who bought those junk piles then expected them to be able to run things later which required an actual GPU.

Course Apple's OpenGL drivers are so ancient that only true Apple fanatics would even attempt to game on one. Even then, performance and features are horrid. Thank Steve for insisting to do everything in house and merging it with OSX.

I wouldn't get all excited about GPU switching. Haven't seen a Mac yet actually do it the way its advertised. The original NV models with the 9400M and 9600M were real problematic on this. I heard the next gens fixed it some but then people still seemed to have issues. Plus the user doesn't need switching. Just throttle the main GPU and your fine. The only reason Apple is using the gimmick is to get battery life longer. Its not like Mac people can brag about their laptop having 2 GPUs...the proper response to that would be "yeah well can you SLI/Crossfire them?" "Ah ha! Can't do it can you!!"

I'm a Mac turned PC. And I agree with you Mailman...*hugs Quicksilver tower*...gotta love those days! If I gotta be trolled with you, so be it!!

 

[Gregsm]

What lenovo makes so good? They make typical notebooks like 90% of manufacturers out three. All of thier notebooks using either intel gpu or some low range series discrete. Not even mid-range. Casing is ugly, thick, boxy, low quality plastic, like most of the notebook, that bends and creeks everywhere. Low res screens like standard 1366x768.
Overall apple yet still highly overpriced, but their build quality and design unmatched. Which give you high quality assembly, metallic thin case, with large optic pad, high res screen, and nice specs overall. The only notebook I know that come close to them is hp envy series, which also in addition have a numpad for the 17" models.

 

[HalfAHertz]

I'd prefer if they included a low end nvidia or ati graphic in the 13'' MB because intel gfx still lack support for openCL. After all Apple is one of the main pushing forces behind openCL. They should have manned up and stood behind it all the way...

And seriously the 6490 in the 15" comes with only 256MB ram? Are we back to 2005 standards? Even on a low level model I' expect at least 512mb ram.

 

[phanbuey]

I'd prefer if they included a low end nvidia or ati graphic in the 13'' MB because intel gfx still lack support for openCL. After all Apple is one of the main pushing forces behind openCL. They should have manned up and stood behind it all the way...

And seriously the 6490 in the 15" comes with only 256MB ram? Are we back to 2005 standards? Even on a low level model I' expect at least 512mb ram.

I wish it included discrete as well, but as someone said it probably nixes it because of the battery life and as mentioned before, the problematic switching... the screen resolution is a let down though.

Either way, the 13" is less than an inch thick. Its friggin tiny. It is in the thin and light category, where a) a sandy bridge, b) 7+ hrs of battery life with that size and weight and c) an optical drive, never mind a slot-load.

The only makers that come close are lenovo, HP, toshiba and sony, and when you match the performance of their same sized model to the macbook pro (HP envy is bigger) you're looking at the same price, more in the case of sony, and cheaper build quality.

 

[dg85]

Pc Fanboys

its quite funny how obvious pc fanboys are ha! altho most of them are missing the point its not all about just spec even though apple isnt that poor speced and comparable to dell price/speed! and probably a little better but the one thing pc fanboys are missing is OS X! and everything else apple bring like, best build quality the fact that everything just works! if you have the money go mac and you wont go back

 

[dg85]

Games are one but there were more apps which had faults on the Intel graphics. I remember sitting on MacAddict (I refuse to recognize MacLife as a legal corporate entity), reading all the whining posts from people who bought the first few models of Macbooks with the GMA chips. Glitches galore, bout all they could do well was HD video. You wouldn't believe the number of users who bought those junk piles then expected them to be able to run things later which required an actual GPU.

Course Apple's OpenGL drivers are so ancient that only true Apple fanatics would even attempt to game on one. Even then, performance and features are horrid. Thank Steve for insisting to do everything in house and merging it with OSX.

I wouldn't get all excited about GPU switching. Haven't seen a Mac yet actually do it the way its advertised. The original NV models with the 9400M and 9600M were real problematic on this. I heard the next gens fixed it some but then people still seemed to have issues. Plus the user doesn't need switching. Just throttle the main GPU and your fine. The only reason Apple is using the gimmick is to get battery life longer. Its not like Mac people can brag about their laptop having 2 GPUs...the proper response to that would be "yeah well can you SLI/Crossfire them?" "Ah ha! Can't do it can you!!"

I'm a Mac turned PC. And I agree with you Mailman...*hugs Quicksilver tower*...gotta love those days! If I gotta be trolled with you, so be it!!

mac pros do sli/crossfire also these macbooks have 2 gpus intel and the ati but macs are not about games, buy a mac for the grown ups and a pc for the kids has always been the way! but OSX is exactly why macs for me are by far the best value for your money and by far provide the best and most complete package.

 

[TheMailMan78]

its quite funny how obvious pc fanboys are ha! altho most of them are missing the point its not all about just spec even though apple isnt that poor speced and comparable to dell price/speed! and probably a little better but the one thing pc fanboys are missing is OS X! and everything else apple bring like, best build quality the fact that everything just works! if you have the money go mac and you wont go back

Take a set. Let me tell you something. A lot of us use Macs. Some of us own Macs and guess what. We like our PC's better. Its not about money as some of the PC rigs on TPU will devour any Mac ever made. OSX is decent but dated. Win 7 is in fact more secure and better optimized. You need to start looking past the apple marketing and look at the facts. I used to be a Mac. Now I'm a PC.

mac pros do sli/crossfire also these macbooks have 2 gpus intel and the ati but macs are not about games, buy a mac for the grown ups and a pc for the kids has always been the way! but OSX is exactly why macs for me are by far the best value for your money and by far provide the best and most complete package.

Yes......if you run windows unless somethings changed.

 

[dg85]

Take a set. Let me tell you something. A lot of us use Macs. Some of us own Macs and guess what. We like our PC's better. Its not about money as some of the PC rigs on TPU will devour any Mac ever made. OSX is decent but dated. Win 7 is in fact more secure and better optimized. You need to start looking past the apple marketing and look at the facts. I used to be a Mac. Now I'm a PC.

im rather intrigued as where you get your facts about win 7 being more secure? its pretty much a poor imitation of the thinkings behind osx and in every way osx is the most modern os out there by far!! i do own a pc and a mac and my pc runs linux mint and win 7, actually posting this from windows 7 machine and its ok spec, ati 5770 i7 950 and yea on games its great but everything else the windows experience lacks in every way.

 

[TheMailMan78]

im rather intrigued as where you get your facts about win 7 being more secure? its pretty much a poor imitation of the thinkings behind osx and in every way osx is the most modern os out there by far!! i do own a pc and a mac and my pc runs linux mint and win 7, actually posting this from windows 7 machine and its ok spec, ati 5770 i7 950 and yea on games its great but everything else the windows experience lacks in every way.

OSX was hacked in under two minutes in 2009. Every year OSX is hacked before other OS's and Win7 has yet to lose user control. This happens year after year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4THyVOyGJL4
http://fraudo.com/2009/03/21/browser-hacking-competition-results/

 

[dg85]

OSX was hacked in under two minutes in 2009. Every year OSX is hacked before other OS's and Win7 has yet to lose user control. This happens year after year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4THyVOyGJL4
http://fraudo.com/2009/03/21/browser-hacking-competition-results/

security isnt just do do with hacking what about virus? mallware? the likely hood of data errors? also which are people most likely to go for? windows or mac? this is security! plus since then snow leopard has been released which is safer yet also i came across this and it backs my point totally as which is going to actually be affected windows machine or a mac. dont get me wrong im not windows hater! like i said i use them often but its insane as to how people who aren't educated on both platforms can come up with rubish like mac being overpriced and slow and so on, just because apple do not make cheap computers they seem to have the opinion they are expensive!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10444561-245.html

 

[TheMailMan78]

security isnt just do do with hacking what about virus? mallware? the likely hood of data errors? also which are people most likely to go for? windows or mac? this is security! plus since then snow leopard has been released which is safer yet also i came across this and it backs my point totally as which is going to actually be affected windows machine or a mac. dont get me wrong im not windows hater! like i said i use them often but its insane as to how people who aren't educated on both platforms can come up with rubish like mac being overpriced and slow and so on, just because apple do not make cheap computers they seem to have the opinion they are expensive!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10444561-245.html

OK so you are more secure only because less people use Macs? Thats not security. OSX doesn't even have its firewall on by default.

As for being better built I hate to break it to you but Foxcon mobos are not what you call top of the line. You do understand Apple doesn't make anything don't you? Macs last great piece of hardware was the Quicksilver. Ever since then they have been evolving into a PC. I remember them spitting the megahertz myth and then the very next year jumping to Intel. Or the fact they abandoned PowerPC users within a few years. They EOL perfectly capable hardware just so they could push the lasted service pack.......um OS. What they do well is marketing. I'm not going to turn this into an Apple bashing thread so I wont post anymore in here but I REALLY SUGGEST you stick around the forums.