New Apple Macbook Pro Features

[Go4Long]

So the macbook pro is essentially getting a 15" version of an ipad as it's monitor (minus the touch, and the bulletproof glass), screen resolution will be 2880 x 1800

http://www.apple.com/ca/macbook-pro/features/

Also going to flash storage.

I'm a little bummed that it seems like they've gotten rid of the 17" and the 15" doesn't have an expresscard slot :-(

[LongCity]

Know anything about an upgraded Air?!

[-relk-]

$2200+ for one with the Retina display

And the old ones are still shipping with a 5400 RPM drive, I see what you did there Apple

That screen makes me drool though

[kvg]

I'm glad I didn't buy one 2 weeks ago

[Go4Long]

Originally posted by -relk-
$2200+ for one with the Retina display

Yeah, considering I only paid $2700 for my 17" fully loaded MBP (two years ago)

And the old ones are still shipping with a 5400 RPM drive, I see what you did there Apple

you can get them with the 7200 rpm drives too.

That screen makes me drool though

indeed....IPS panel for a MBP...I love it...I'd imagine it will still be WAY to bright, but ah well

[kevie88]

Macbook air is refreshed.

http://www.cnet.com/laptops/apple-ma...-35330105.html

Too bad I got an old one TWO DAYS AGO for my wife for her birthday. Gonna return it and get the new one..

[blitz]

I ordered one of the new retina ones. Finally pushed me over the edge to switch from PC. i7, 16gb Ram, 512 Gb HDD. Can't wait!

No express card slot, but dual USB 3.0, so that's something.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Price will come way down on non-apple stuff when everyone else starts putting "retina" displays on their laptops soon. If its successful for Apple, everyone else will follow suit.

You could buy a pretty sweet laptop + a 24-27" IPS monitor for the same money, but you'd have to live with slightly less resolution on the go.

I did play with a macbook air yesterday at Staples and I think the 13.3" one is the sweet spot. No retina for the Air though, even though other companies like Asus have much higher resolution screens on their 13 inchers.

[Go4Long]

The 13" macbook air actually has a better screen that the old macbook pro 13" oddly.

I just don't think it's worth it to have a computer with no optical drive...to much of a pain in the ass for software and the likes, and while I'm sure they've been resolved, I know when they came out they had massive security issues.

I love my expresscard reader, it's really fast, so I'm sad that that's gone

[Mitsu3000gt]

I haven't used an optical drive in ages. Nearly everything is downloadable from manufacturer websites (or you can torrent the software and still purchase a cd key if you want), and most software companies are now doing the download + cd key thing. New mobo's can also boot from a USB stick.

I was disappointed to see the SSD's in the Macbook Air's are attached right to the mobo so you can't upgrade it yourself, and no HDMI is extremely weak IMO. My 2 year old now obsolete netbook has HDMI out and this $1300 Macbook doesn't? Might be able to do it with an adapter, not sure.

[arian_ma]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
I was disappointed to see the SSD's in the Macbook Air's are attached right to the mobo so you can't upgrade it yourself, and no HDMI is extremely weak IMO. My 2 year old now obsolete netbook has HDMI out and this $1300 Macbook doesn't? Might be able to do it with an adapter, not sure.

Don't worry, they will revolutionize everything with the next version.

[kevie88]

HDMI isn't an issue for me, I have an Apple TV, and airplay works awesome.. I stream all my stuff through the ATV.

[AccentAE86]

I'm a little mixed on a "retina" display for a photo laptop. On one hand, resolution is awesome. But on the other hand, when the pixels are so damn small, you can't see pixel level detail well at all. I work at 100% a lot when retouching. I think if I had that screen, I'd be zoomed in to 600% just to work at a zoom I'm comfortable with. Which essentially totally negates the super high resolution benefit. In fact, I even find 2560x1440 on my 26" NEC to be a bit too fine and I have to work at 200%. And honestly, I totally have no issues whatsoever reading text at 120ppi.

So if you have to zoom in to edit photos, and you have to zoom in and upscale to render website graphics and text at a readable size, and you even have to upscale 1080 videos, the only real benefit I'm seeing is that it renders text smoother, and it displays high resolution photos nicer in a non-editing environment. At least, that's the only thing I could see when using the latest iPad.

So yeah, totally mixed. Love the idea on one hand, but on the practical hand, in reality, I'd probably just use the non-retina display and have absolutely zero issues.

Also, is that screen LED backlit? In typical Apple fashion, it will probably be too ridiculously bright. LED backlit panels have a lot of trouble colour calibrating as the minimum brightness of LED panels is still WAY too high for accurate photo editing. It then pulses the LEDs to achieve lower brightness levels. For some people it seriously disturbs their vision and gives them headaches, and it wreaks havoc on calibration accuracy. Which is why Eizo CG series and NEC PA series do NOT use LEDs.

[blitz]

+1 on not caring about optical drives, I can plug one in the odd time I might need it.

I saw it supports 2 extra monitors alongside it's built in screen. 27" Thunderbolt display + Wacom Cintiq 24 HD

I'm excited about a Thunderbolt raid drives too, although they're pretty pricey.

[Go4Long]

yeah...but you're baller like that

[AccentAE86]

Holy crap, just found out that RAM is NOT upgradable. So if you do plan on buying one, get 16GB, because if you choose 8 and it isn't enough, then you're SOL.

[Go4Long]

I'm really starting to think of just getting one of the Lenovo's or something. The price is just rediculous.

[blitz]

Yup, RAM and HDD are not upgradable. Being a PC guy that made me do a second take. But I figured it isn't a big problem for me. Traditional 7mm HDD's top out at 320 GB and it maxes out at 16 GB of RAM, so I wouldn't be wanting to do anything to it anyway.

Steve, you're welcome to try out my Lenovo laptop if you want.

[Go4Long]

mmm...I'd like to see it...you have the x220t right?

[kenny]

Just saw the post on Anandtech that clarified the whole resolution thing. The highest resolution exposed to the end user at the desktop is 1920x1200, and 1440x900 is the default resolution (4 physical pixels driving each pixel represented on the screen)

That makes sense, 2880x1800 on a 15" screen would be nearly unusable but I'm sure someone will release a patch to enable that option.