I am playing around with the idea of getting a new laptop. My mind wants the macbook pro, but my wallet wants the macbook. I will be using the laptop primarily for school, and maybe a little bit of playing around when I'm not at home (I will be using my desktop for all my muscle like video editing). This is also still a microsoft based world we live in, so I need the intel based macs so i can run bootcamp. my only problem with the macbook is that the graphics card is integrated *shutter*.... not to mention it's just a 64mb chipset anyway. My question is, is the macbook worth it because of the integrated graphics set? Isn't the macbook pro supposed to have a revision to it soon anyway?
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Is the Macbook worth it?
- Thread starter Jayrod
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It's fast laptop for encoding work and productivity. It just stinks at 3D and for the locked out higher end pro applications.
Eidorian said:
Do you say locked out literally or as a result as the poor graphics?
Last time I checked these review sites - Final Cut Studio (.inc Motion) installed without hitch on the MacBook or has this been patched and prevented by Apple?
The installers for some of Apple's Pro apps won't let you install it on a Mac with the GMA950. There are workarounds and hacks. Most people have reported good performance though. I believe the only one that you shouldn't try using a GMA950 is Motion.codo said:
Just for schoolwork the Macbook is fabulous. I have one and love it, and it performs very well. It's not like the bad old days with Celeron PC's with integrated graphics that crawled like a snail in a bucket of snot. The Macbook is seriously fast at everyday stuff. And I doubt it will be updated at WWDC, it came out too recently.
Beware that some mouse and keyboard functionality is not there under Window$. But M$ Office runs perfect under Rosetta.
Beware that some mouse and keyboard functionality is not there under Window$. But M$ Office runs perfect under Rosetta.
Eidorian said:
Yep. But http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=43717
It's not "supported" but it works, I gather.
Ah: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303782
while it cannot play games, it easily is just as fast for me for everyhting as a macbook pro was. very zippy. i think its the best deal apple has given to date. a shame about the gfx card though
andreas
andreas
Actually, the MacBook is great for using Final Cut Studio. I've been using it for the past month and it's blazing fast! It's just as fast, or sometimes faster than my dual 2.0 Ghz G5 at work! If you want some information on this, check out these benchmarks:
http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=43717
I got my MacBook for video/web work, so it works just as well as a G5! And even Windows runs BLAZING fast on it. It's faster than the Opterons that I have at work! But then again, they're single core 2.6 Ghz Opterons...Still though. Very amazing machine indeed! I don't regret buying this machine, it's my baby now.
Aside from a few minor issues...Discoloration...Unless you're getting a black MacBook. :-\
http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=43717
I got my MacBook for video/web work, so it works just as well as a G5! And even Windows runs BLAZING fast on it. It's faster than the Opterons that I have at work! But then again, they're single core 2.6 Ghz Opterons...Still though. Very amazing machine indeed! I don't regret buying this machine, it's my baby now.
Aside from a few minor issues...Discoloration...Unless you're getting a black MacBook. :-\fiercetiger224 said:
Does RT Extreme/Multiclips work on the MacBook? Multicam editing must take some clout, especially if you utilise all 16 clips.
codo said:
They do in fact work. Don't think that just because theres integrated graphics, the MacBook won't be able to handle it. It handles it just fine, because pretty much Final Cut Pro is CPU intensive, not GPU intensive like Motion is. Motion for the most part, runs well! I haven't run into any stability problems. It runs faster than my PowerBook G4 1 Ghz! And that has a Mobililty Radeon 9600! So even if Apple says they don't support it, it still runs!
fiercetiger224 said:
That is good to know - This has been my main reservation about purchasing one of these machines. Thanks for the tip.
i don't game much, but i do play Quake 3 bunches (in my XP partition), and it is just as smooth as my PB before this MB (the PB was 1.67, 1 gig RAM, 64MB VRAM, rev D). i don't think "integrated graphics" is as bad as some people like to make it out to be..
I wouldn't worry about the integrated graphics. I was concerned about getting a MacBook because I was looking for a laptop to be my main computer, and I wanted something that would be able to handle the pro apps. After I found out that FCS can be installed on the MacBook, and actually run just as well as a 2.0 G5 I was sold. I don't game, so there wasn't really any other reason for me to get the MBP. Plus I like being able to switch out the HD on the MacBook.
Well dude, it depends on what you're planning on doin with your laptop...
If its just watching DVD's, writeing documents etc, then chipset all the way for the money saving, but other than that if its gaming you want go for the MBP, but just give it a couple of wks, its quite likley that Jobs will introdude the new Core 2 Duo... So that will be quite a nice boost!
Just a quick question, is it likely that Apple will upgrade the GPU in the new MBP, cause I've heard complaints that the ATI X1300 isn't up to much sometimes....
Cheers
If its just watching DVD's, writeing documents etc, then chipset all the way for the money saving, but other than that if its gaming you want go for the MBP, but just give it a couple of wks, its quite likley that Jobs will introdude the new Core 2 Duo... So that will be quite a nice boost!
Just a quick question, is it likely that Apple will upgrade the GPU in the new MBP, cause I've heard complaints that the ATI X1300 isn't up to much sometimes....
Cheers
Apple can continue using the GMA950 for the Merom. Their won't be any big leap until the X3000 integrated solution comes out next year. It's a bit more powerful then the budget 6xxx series and X1300 cards. It supports Direct X 10 as well.Mac Rules said:
There are workarounds. Just don't try Motion.
Hope this isn't too off topic. i'm in the same boat as the OP.. will need a secondary laptop for on-campus work, but money and ease of portability say MacBook. I will mainly need it for wordprocessing, I'd imagine, but also for a fair deal of webdevelopment. Does anyone know how well the Studio 8 package works under rosetta in a Mac Book? I could install X-Pee - I still have a copy! - and run it from there, I suppose, though I utterly hate working in windows.
Luckily, i'm in no hurry since I won't have a decent pay-check until September 1, but I am trying to balance the budget before all other crazyness sets in!
yt
Luckily, i'm in no hurry since I won't have a decent pay-check until September 1, but I am trying to balance the budget before all other crazyness sets in!
yt
You said you would use your desktop for all of the big stuff so in that cae ask youself, do you need a good graphics card if you are doing minimal graphics work on it?? I would personally go with the macbook. It will suit you better for school and does not need major tasks performed on it. This is just me aswell but i think it looks so much nicer than the Macbook Pro.