I waited for this day to come, impatiently, for quite some time now. I remember last January, when Apple introduced the highly anticipated MacBook Air. I was so disappointed with the specs it took me months to recover.
Today, it’s a different story “my friends” (to quote John McCain) 
Apple confirmed almost all speculations and rumors out there. “The Brick” has been demystified as a new manufacturing process in which Apple’s new and future notebooks are to be created out of one solid slob of Aluminum. This process while very cool to watch, also creates a lot more sturdier notebook bodies (dubbed unibodies), and it reduces the extra parts needed for making the notebooks’ construction solid by as much as 45%.
While MacBooks are now available from $1299 and $1599 price points, MacBook Pro’s starting prices are $1999 and $2499. The smaller price is a base start price, and the higher price is the “better” model.
Instead of repeating the whole Apple’s website in words below, I will try to give you the skinny on couple of configurations which really make sense when buying these notebooks.
While HDD and battery are easy to access in the new MacBooks I do not know about RAM, therefore, to be on the safe side and not bother with upgrading this later (for less money) I went with 4GB in all of my configurations below even though it is a $150 USD premium in some cases. MacBook Air can’t have more than 2GB so it’s the only exception.
#1 The New MacBook (configuration priced @ $1,469) - The Overall Best Choice!
Here are the specs for my recommended configuration (starting form $1,299 model and upgrading):
- 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (2GHz is just too low for the future)
- 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2×2GB (you’ll need 4 gigs come Snow Leopard)
- 160GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm (basics for now, keeping the price low)
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM
- SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- Apple Remote (sadly you gotta pay for it now, but it’s worth it)
= $1,469 before taxes but also before your student discount 
The good: price, speed, RAM, nice and shiny new Nvidia graphics card
The bad: No FireWire port, only 3MB L2 cache on CPU… Even MacBook Air has 6MB 
Links: Apple’s MacBook Page, Hands on Gallery, UBOXING PICTURES
#2 Revamped MacBook Air (config priced @ $2,149) - Not ready for prime time, yet…
- 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (w/6MB L2 cache! I like this!)
- 2GB 1066MHz DDR2 RAM (sadly can’t fit more)
- 120GB Serial ATA Drive @ 4200 rpm (SSD is still expensive)
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM (read gotchas below!)
- MacBook Air SuperDrive (gotta have an external drive)
- Apple USB Ethernet Adapter (I don’t know about you, but I like having a backup network connection)
- Apple Remote (need one)
= $2,149 before taxes and before student discount
The good: Boy is it sexy! Small form factor, thin as air, faster (6MB L2 cache is a very nice touch)
The bad: price too high?, only 2GB of RAM, 4200 RPM HDD, hardly has any ports, no integrated optical drive, battery lasts a bit less than on MacBook and MacBook Pros
Gotcha: the integrated Nvidia GeForce 9400M had to be slowed down a bit due to thermal issues, so while it’s not 5 times faster than Intel graphics, Steve swears it’s at least 4 times as fast.
Why not ready for prime time? I just think it’s still overpriced. I love seeing it a bit faster, but is it really that impossible to put in an optical drive? Did you see Sony’s TT Series? That’s one PACKED and Tiny machine so no one can tell me it can’t be done .
Links: Apple’s MacBook Air page
#3 New MacBook Pro (config priced at $2,169) - MY #1 CHOICE!
MacBook and MacBook Pros are now not that much different any more. MacBook finally grew up, got it’s act together and is following in the footsteps of it’s big Pro brother. I really like what I’m seeing, but for people like me who need a little bit more of screen real-estate, and a bit more of graphics power - MacBook Pro is the only choice.
Here’s the best configuration in my opinion:
- 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2×2GB
- 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 (
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM
- SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- Apple Remote
= $2,169 again, no tax and no student discounts accounted for
The good: it’s a MacBook Pro!, 15.4″ screen is very nice, dual hybrid graphic cards - something Sony has done for a while now — but still nice
The bad: this is a MacBook PRO and it has only 3MB of L2 Cache on this 2.4GHz CPU. If you want to get 6MB of L2 cache you can’t build on a $1,999 machine. You have to go with a $2,499 model as a base which will upgrade you to a 2.53GHz CPU. While the $2,499 model ups the HDD to 320GB, RAM to 4GB and secondary Nvidia 9600M GT card to whopping $512MB of dedicated memory and in itself is a well justified price bump, I would’ve liked to see an option on the $1,999 model to up just the CPU. That would make a sweet spot for a perfect MacBook Pro in my opinion giving people an option of just a faster CPU. If you want a 2.8GHz option - then you gotta add another $300 to that $2,499.
Links: Apple’s MacBook Pro page, Hands on Gallery, UBOXING PICTURES
#4 New MacBook Pro (High-end config @ $2,519) - if you really got to have it
- 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (with 6MB of L2 cache)
- 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2×2GB
- 320GB Serial ATA @ 5400
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor with 512MB of DDR3 SDRAM
- SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- Apple Remote
= $2,519 before taxes and any discounts
The good: same as the above - this is the machine
The bad: at this price point, I wish I was getting a BluRay DVD Burner instead of just an 8X Super Drive, HD resolution (and not 1440 x what ever) or at least a back rub, massage, tour of Apple’s HQ and some cookies to go with it too.
Links: Apple’s MacBook Pro page, Hands on Gallery, UBOXING PICTURES
Other thoughts
Overall, I really like the new notebook lineup. To answer some questions that some of you may have:
- Why did you choose the lowest sized Hard Drives Apple offers?
- Quite simple really, since we can now easily access the Hard Drive and not void the warranty (or so I assume), it makes no sense to spend $100+ USD on upgrading couple of gigs up.
- A smart person will immediatly go to NewEgg.com and get the $500GB WD Scorpio Notebook Drive for $149 USD and keep the one MacBook came with for emergencies or even better, an Ubuntu installation. Another cool thing one could do with the old MacBook HDD is to upgrade that lausy PS3 HDD we all have in there. - Where’s BluRay?
- BluRay drives are NOT a “Bag of Hurt” as Steve Jobs mentioned. If Dell, HP and other manufacturers can offer them with their notebooks - Apple should be LEADING the pack with HD. Sincerely, I don’t think licensing is their issue - but wanting to sell crappy quality shows via iTunes and dubbing them as HD is the real meat of the story. Don’t get me wrong, iTunes has great quality movies -but hey are Not HD. - What did they miss?
- While 1280×800 is a “standard” for small laptops right now, I think MacBooks should’ve been upgraded to a 1440×900 and MacBook Pros to at least 1680×1050 resolution. Ideally, MacBook Pros should come with 1920×1080 - but I’ll gladly accept that on 17″ if nowhere else. 1440×900 in my opinion is too small for a web developer / photographer on MacBook Pro. It’s not life and death situation, but we can always use more pixels - WHAT COULD BE THE BIGGEST GOTCHA?
- In the event, Steve says that base MacBook model (2.0GHz) configurations DO NOT have the Backlit keyboard (by saying that the higher model comes with it as an extra)… On Apple’s Web Site, both MacBook configurations have Backlit keyboard in the specs. Which one is it? - Who are you?
- I am a web developer, happy 64bit Windows Vista user, unbiased geek, Apple lover, recent MacBook Pro owner, and soon-to-be New MacBook Pro hugger. In short - similar to you?
You might be interested in seeing the whole “Notebook event.” It’s available right here: http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0810rtdws876/event/index.html
Any questions, comments, thoughts? Please feel free to drop a line! I’d really appreciate it!
Apple users/developer? Check out http://iBetaTest.com and register!
12 Comments
The 256MB vs 512MB video RAM will not make a slight difference. The 128 bit interface limits the card to utilizing only 256MB of VRAM. You won’t even notice a 1% bump in performance. This kind of reinforces your Macbook Pro pick. I believe Apple kept the 6MB cached processors off the table obviously to entice buyers into the next bracket Macbook Pro. I’m not sure if I’ll skip this round of Macbook Pros to go for a cheaper (and better specced) W500 Thinkpad. :[
Interesting point you make in your comment Eric. Why would they put 512MB RAM if 128bit interface cannot address it? Where are you getting this info from, I’d love to know
I think I will be getting the MacBook Pro tomorrow. Still thinking if I need the extra 3MB L2 cache (i.e. should I go for 2.53 or stay with my own, most likely smart, recommendation)… I’m also thinking about a year or two from now when the time comes to sell. Tough decisions that’s for sure
Let me know about memory issue, I’d really appreciate it
As for ThinkPad - yea, that’s a nice one. If I had a lot of money to burn, I’d go for Sony Vaio TT, but $4,500 is a lot of money.
P.
I know about the card because I run in . . well . . geeky circles. I’m a senior (graduating in December) Compute Science major. While I’m not a hardware guy, I do have quite a few friends who are obsessive. I’m sure if you googled the card, you’d find something that backed up what I said.
BTW . . job searching sucks . . especially at 2:30AM.
I’ll look into it
I searched for a job when I graduated for a longest time ever. Many times had people who knew less than me tell me “no”, so I ended up starting my own company
Peconi Group, LLC (www.peconi.com).
What kind of job are you looking for?
I checked around the net a bit to see what’s going on with this. While some people argue that 128bit interface cannot address full 512MB of memory, others argue this only affects bandwidth. 25 or so GB/s vs double (50 GB/s).
I’d have to agree with my common sense on this one. While having a 256bit interface should have been a priority for a MacBook Pro - it seems they skimped out on it thus giving us in turn a slower graphics card. The VRAM and how much of it will be used will depend in how big chunks does the application work with and if at that bandwidth it can easily move in and out the data quickly enough.
Also, some people mentioned that going to GDDR3 makes up for some speed loss with a thinner memory interface.
I wish Apple could comment on this
I suppose, until it’s cleared, going for the #4 config up there should be done with caution. If going just for the 512MB graphics jump - one should reconsider. If going for CPU, L2 cache and bigger HDD jump - then it’s a no brainer. I, for one, am solely going for the L2 cache… wish it was 12MB and not 6 
Really I’m looking for a job doing anything computer related. I’d rather program or do web design, but I’d settle for IT or something else temporarily. We’ll see how the career search goes. I’ve applied across country to about 57 corporations so far, but most of my applications were for ‘immediate openings’. I’m really trying to secure a job BEFORE I graduate, so we’ll see what happens.
Well smart of you to think ahead, especially with this economy. I asked just so I could suggest something. Get yourself a book on iPhone programming, Objective C is really not all that hard - and start coding apps.
More and more people will be needing iPhone apps. The maker of Trism (a popular Bejeweled like game), made over $250,000 within first 2 months. So which ever way you go with the knowledge you acquire (making apps for companies, or making them yourself for pure money via AppStore) it’s something that will last for some time.
Also, Apple’s community loves good looking useful apps - and rewards are juicy
Posted right on top of me, so I’ll say what I have to say.
Yea, of course the card has more memory . . but it’ll never have more actual throughput than the 256MB version. I’m pretty sure both versions are DDR3, as both the 8600m GT are, so no advantages there either. Technically speaking, the 512MB version is only going to outperform the 256MB version when the 256MB version when an app is taking up more than 256MB of currently used objects (textures, mapping, etc.). You can think of it as a gumball machine with a claw arm that can only carry 4 gumballs at a time. The 512MB version might be able to hold . . 512 gumballs, but it can still only grab 4 at a time to process them (at the same speed of the 256MB). When it comes to the point where there are more than 256 gumballs needed to be on the sale floor, the 256MB version is going to have to restock or replace the current gumballs, where the 512MB won’t. Unfortunately, there aren’t many applications (including games) that are going to be using more than 256MB of gumbal . . err . . . graphics memory at any one given time.
Posted over me again!
Anyways, I actually already know Objective-C (taught myself the syntax and framework last summer). I can confidently create applications on the iPhone pretty easily. Games are a different story. I’ve just never done one outside of Microsoft’s C# framework with Visual Studios (which is awesome btw). I’m not even sure what graphics engine it CAN use.
Well, comes to movie editing in Final Cut Pro - that 512 will at least keep from going back and forth to HDD too often I suppose.
As for iPhone - what are you doing man!? Get onto making some cool iPhone apps and you wont even have to look for a job! Stop posting comments, go code something cool
As for games - I think they use some mobile version of Open GL. I’m waiting to save up about 3 grand so I can go to Aaron Hilegass’ class and learn there… I don’t have much time to do it on my own
Hah, I probably would code something . . but the problem isn’t the coding. I’d have to think of something useful to code.
Go through App Store reviews. See the apps which have a lot of negative reviews - and make a better one
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