New MacBooks released with Leopard or at Macworld 08?

[Multimedia]

17" Might Get A 2.6GHz Option Offered

There is nothing to refresh with pre-Penryn. Maybe the 17 incher goes LED and gets the Merom Extreme for mega-ultra bucks, but there's little to do for the 15 inchers.

No MBP pre-MWSF (and even then, maybe nothing until Feb/March).

I agree on the 15". But, like you, I'm thinking the 17" may get a 2.6GHz option added in October-November time frame. LED I don't know. But 2.6GHz seems like a doable addition ONLY to the 17" as it can run cooler due to more space.

 

[teflon]

I don't know how I feel about that. Apple usually likes to keep the base mb Superdrive-free. I guess it's possible that they'll finally change it, but I'm not holding my breath.

Well, they did make all the iMacs have superdrive this time, so maybe the macbooks are gonna be next. It seems a little ridiculous that a $1100 laptop can't write dvds when one half of its price can. Although, it would cut into the middle mb's sales. Maybe they'd just have 2 mbs, the black and white, and you can upgrade the white one to 2.2 and such.

 

[gniss39]

Well, they did make all the iMacs have superdrive this time, so maybe the macbooks are gonna be next. It seems a little ridiculous that a $1100 laptop can't write dvds when one half of its price can. Although, it would cut into the middle mb's sales. Maybe they'd just have 2 mbs, the black and white, and you can upgrade the white one to 2.2 and such.

Yeah it's funny how Apple raves about iLife08 and how everything works out of the box, but for people with the combo drive they can't really burn slideshows/movies with iDvd unless they buy a firewire or usb dvd burner. I just hope new MB's come out before xmas cause i have some money saved up, and my birthday is 4 days after xmas, so I could get one before going back to college!

 

[CalBoy]

Well, they did make all the iMacs have superdrive this time, so maybe the macbooks are gonna be next. It seems a little ridiculous that a $1100 laptop can't write dvds when one half of its price can. Although, it would cut into the middle mb's sales. Maybe they'd just have 2 mbs, the black and white, and you can upgrade the white one to 2.2 and such.

They could drop the base mb, and have only two, but that somehow doesn't seem to fit with me. Like I said, it's possible, but I just don't see Apple doing it yet. Maybe in a few more revisions when it becomes insulting to the customer not to have a DVD burner.

 

[TBi]

Maybe in a few more revisions when it becomes insulting to the customer not to have a DVD burner.

I'd say it is already insulting

 

[~Shard~]

They could drop the base mb, and have only two, but that somehow doesn't seem to fit with me. Like I said, it's possible, but I just don't see Apple doing it yet. Maybe in a few more revisions when it becomes insulting to the customer not to have a DVD burner.

I'd say it is already insulting

I agree. To me, it's table stakes to be able to burn DVDs in this day and age. The maturity and adoption of the technology and media (not to mention their price points) truly facilitates accessibility to the masses. There really is no reason not to offer this capability in my opinion.

 

[sbluetruck]

for someone in the market for a low-er cost laptop, the base MB is for them. remember guys, people in the market for the computer aren't always doing the latest and greatest stuff that needs a DVD burner. i've only know people to use the base MB for the internet and word processing, some iPhoto stuff and just using iTunes.

if it keeps the cost down, why do you really need it???

because, it's cool, that's why

 

[TBi]

for someone in the market for a low-er cost laptop, the base MB is for them. remember guys, people in the market for the computer aren't always doing the latest and greatest stuff that needs a DVD burner. i've only know people to use the base MB for the internet and word processing, some iPhoto stuff and just using iTunes.

if it keeps the cost down, why do you really need it???

because, it's cool, that's why

It probably costs more money now to have a stock of both types of drives than it costs to have all DVD writers.

 

[Taylor C]

Personally I think we'll see some upgrades at the Paris expo or in October.

 

[TheScavenger]

I agree. To me, it's table stakes to be able to burn DVDs in this day and age.

I felt the same way when purchasing my first few laptops over the past couple of years. At that time I couldn't imagine not having a the ability to burn DVDs. It turns out that I have actually only burned 4 DVDs in the past ~2 years. It just isn't a necessity to me anymore. I never need to copy anything that is bigger than ~700MBs. If I do I just put it on an external HD. This is why I bought the base model MacBook and installed previously purchased 2GB of ram and a 160GB HDD.

Just my opinion,
Josh

 

[CalBoy]

I'd say it is already insulting

I guess I can't argue with that; it is pretty bad. Maybe when a mob breaks through Jobs' Reality Distortion Field, he'll finally break down and put a DVD burner in the low-end macbook.

It probably costs more money now to have a stock of both types of drives than it costs to have all DVD writers.

Definitely. The drive itself probably only costs Apple $10-20 more over the basic CD burner; the cost of keeping it inferior is no doubt much higher.

 

[Amuraivel]

I'd say single layer DVD for low-end.
Double layer DVD burner for higher-end.

MacBooks will be update with leopard and after the chip refresh by intel in September--the santa rosa chips will be cheaper and a real viable alternative cost wise for the MB + X3100 for leopard, the 17" can also get the 2.6Ghz.

The TDP will probably prevent 2.6Ghz on the 15.4.

 

[squeeks]

The TDP will probably prevent 2.6Ghz on the 15.4.

ya think?

have you felt the bottom of a 15.4" mbp with a 2.4ghz chip?
owwie

 

[gniss39]

I'd say single layer DVD for low-end.
Double layer DVD burner for higher-end.

MacBooks will be update with leopard and after the chip refresh by intel in September--the santa rosa chips will be cheaper and a real viable alternative cost wise for the MB + X3100 for leopard, the 17" can also get the 2.6Ghz.

The TDP will probably prevent 2.6Ghz on the 15.4.

Anyone know the difference in performance between the X3100 and 950? Is it a notable difference?