Macbook refresh rumours....?

I will be picking up a base spec 13" tonight hopefully. It will be replacing an old MacBook thats been on its way out for the past few months. :)
 
Rainmaker said:
For all those interested in the performance of the 13" model's integrated Intel HD 3000 gfx... I went to the Apple Store as promised, and had a good long play on their base model 13" MBP.

Very, very nice! Externally it's just the same, apart from the addition of the Thunderbolt port of course. But you can definitely feel the system is 'livelier' with the new SandyBridge internals.

As promised earlier in the thread, I'd uploaded to my server a 5 minute clip taken from my highest bitrate movie: Avatar, 1920x1080, x264 variable bitrate @ 22Mbps average (19 to 24Mbps). So that's a big, big file with a nice high bitrate to test the integrated gfx with.

The result? It opened instantly in QuickTime, played flawlessly, and seeking (even rapid, purposefully 'difficult' seeking like start to 75% way through to 25% in a second lol) was absolutely seamless. Literally it performed better than my Windows 7 x64 desktop (which has an E8600 and GeForce GT250 on board). :eek:

I couldn't "catch it out" for trying, and if it'll handle a > 20Mbps HD rip in 1080p then it'll certainly handle anything I want from it. YouTube Flash 1080p worked fine too, btw.

Here's an actual size screenshot taken inside QuickTime:

[img.]http://www.rainmakerkennels.co.uk/images/Screen shot 2011-02-25 at 12.53.06.png[/img]

So while I didn't test any games (bit tricky on a demo machine in a busy Apple store lol) I can confidently say there are no worries regarding HD movie playback on the new gfx, and it shouldn't really worry anyone!

As for me? I'm definitely getting one! :)
Click to expand...

Thanks, I think thats probably the first useful bit of information I've heard about the new MBP's. I was weighing the new 13" against the MBA but I think I've decided that I'd go for the pro based on this. I don't really need anything more than your test, graphically.
 
Rainmaker said:
For all those interested in the performance of the 13" model's integrated Intel HD 3000 gfx... I went to the Apple Store as promised, and had a good long play on their base model 13" MBP.

Very, very nice! Externally it's just the same, apart from the addition of the Thunderbolt port of course. But you can definitely feel the system is 'livelier' with the new SandyBridge internals.

As promised earlier in the thread, I'd uploaded to my server a 5 minute clip taken from my highest bitrate movie: Avatar, 1920x1080, x264 variable bitrate @ 22Mbps average (19 to 24Mbps). So that's a big, big file with a nice high bitrate to test the integrated gfx with.

The result? It opened instantly in QuickTime, played flawlessly, and seeking (even rapid, purposefully 'difficult' seeking like start to 75% way through to 25% in a second lol) was absolutely seamless. Literally it performed better than my Windows 7 x64 desktop (which has an E8600 and GeForce GT250 on board). :eek:

I couldn't "catch it out" for trying, and if it'll handle a > 20Mbps HD rip in 1080p then it'll certainly handle anything I want from it. YouTube Flash 1080p worked fine too, btw.

Here's an actual size screenshot taken inside QuickTime:

http://www.rainmakerkennels.co.uk/images/Screen shot 2011-02-25 at 12.53.06.png[img]

So while I didn't test any games (bit tricky on a demo machine in a busy Apple store lol) I can confidently say there are no worries regarding HD movie playback on the new gfx, and it shouldn't really worry anyone!

As for me? I'm definitely getting one! :)[/QUOTE]

Thanks for testing that :)
Click to expand...
 
No worries. :) I just wish I'd thought on and opened the system monitor (whatever it's called in OS X) and measured CPU usage during playback. It ran cool, the fan didn't kick up, and I was able to open Safari, take the screenshot in QuickTime, save it in the image viewer dealie, and post it to my server... all while playing the HD clip though.

So in absence of any hard numbers, I'd still have to say the gfx offloading was doing its job as the rest of the system remained as responsive as ever while I was playing the clip. I'll try to do a more thorough test (with CPU details etc) next time I swing by that way, if nobody else beats me to it.
 
Just to stoke the thread a bit, I've seen no real mention of the Mini yet. Have you all noticed it's now a unibody aluminum 1.4" thick slab with a nice Apple logo on top, instead of a polycarbonate cube? :D Is nice! It also has an easily removable large access 'hole' underneath so that you can easily upgrade RAM.

It also now has 'next generation' (?!) GeForce 320M gfx though it keeps Core2Duo as its CPU.

http://www.apple.com/uk/macmini/design.html
 
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I'm gonna spaff some cash on a high-end 13" soon.

I cannae wait! My first Mac it will be :D.

As long as it can run Football Manager 2011, I couldn't careless about gaming performance.
 
Rainmaker said:
Just to stoke the thread a bit, I've seen no real mention of the Mini yet. Have you all noticed it's now a unibody aluminum 1.4" thick slab with a nice Apple logo on top, instead of a polycarbonate cube? :D Is nice! It also has an easily removable large access 'hole' underneath so that you can easily upgrade RAM.

It also now has 'next generation' (?!) GeForce 320M gfx though it keeps Core2Duo as its CPU.

http://www.apple.com/uk/macmini/design.html
Click to expand...

Mate it's been like that for ages, at least 4-6 months.
 
Rainmaker said:
Just to stoke the thread a bit, I've seen no real mention of the Mini yet. Have you all noticed it's now a unibody aluminum 1.4" thick slab with a nice Apple logo on top, instead of a polycarbonate cube? :D Is nice! It also has an easily removable large access 'hole' underneath so that you can easily upgrade RAM.

It also now has 'next generation' (?!) GeForce 320M gfx though it keeps Core2Duo as its CPU.

http://www.apple.com/uk/macmini/design.html
Click to expand...

lol - this comment is from the time of the dinosaurs! :eek:
 
idd, great review mate.

I'm torn between 15 and 17, can't decide and it's doing my head in.

Out of interest did you get the anti glare or did you stick with the glossy? having had a mbp before I'd be interested in your opinion.
 
One quick thing you may find interesting - now supports SATA 6:

7cb050b7a1885ee977c47174490bfbce.png
 
IS it just the MBP's which have been ugraded or have the Macbooks as well? I want a macbook but no point in buying one now if there going to be upgraded soon.
 
Has the price of the base spec 15" MacBook Pro changed or is that just the VAT increase? I can't remember when I last saw the price of the 15" but I can't remember it being £1549.
 
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