New MBP weight

[EvryDayImShufln]

Does anybody know why, after all these technological improvements, the macbook got a significant drop in weight while the macbook pro didn't drop at all?

It seems strange to think that the weight is the same. I would say "it's the glass!", but the macbooks have glass too and they don't weigh as much. I really can't imagine what could be in the MBPs to make them weigh 1 pound more than the macbooks when, in the past, they were nearly the same weight.

 

[J the Ninja]

Polycarbonate is heavier than Aluminum for the amount needed to make a solid notebook case. The weights are now more of what they should be, rather than a the significantly larger and more powerful MBP being almost the same weight as the MB.

 

[pufftissue]

Does anybody know why, after all these technological improvements, the macbook got a significant drop in weight while the macbook pro didn't drop at all?

It seems strange to think that the weight is the same. I would say "it's the glass!", but the macbooks have glass too and they don't weigh as much. I really can't imagine what could be in the MBPs to make them weigh 1 pound more than the macbooks when, in the past, they were nearly the same weight.

Possible reasons:

1. Glass weighs more
2. dual graphics chips

Note: the battery is probably smaller given that it's now 55 wH; prior, it was 60.


Macbook also gains a smaller battery at 50 wH; prior, it was 55.

These are about 10% decreases in wH.

The way I see it, the new notebooks could have weighed even more had they not made the batteries smaller. Had they kept the same batteries, the battery life would have gone up even more, but the quoted battery life seems similar to previous gen b/c of improvements in the penryn processors.

 

[eye.surgeon]

I think it's shameful that the new MBP weighs MORE than the old one. The old one was way too heavy in the first place. Who gives a crap about how beautiful the inside of the case is, spend more time making it lighter. Over 5 lbs for a $2500 15 inch notebook is ridiculous.

 

[elmateo487]

I think it's shameful that the new MBP weighs MORE than the old one. The old one was way too heavy in the first place. Who gives a crap about how beautiful the inside of the case is, spend more time making it lighter. Over 5 lbs for a $2500 15 inch notebook is ridiculous.

Whoa there turbo. Its a $2000 dollar notebook, and its only .1 pound heavier.

AND it, by my preference, is not too heavy. Compared to all my roommates laptops its a dream.

"Who gives a crap about how beautiful the inside of the case is"

You are right... i wish it came with a bunch of metal stickers telling me what processor it comes with, and a fingerprint reader, and volume sliders, and wifi on/off buttons, and all the pointless OTHER CRAP new laptops these days are coming with.

Stop complaining.

 

[Beau10]

Does anybody know why, after all these technological improvements, the macbook got a significant drop in weight while the macbook pro didn't drop at all?

One big reason is it's .25" wider and .22" deeper. Compare that to only being .05" thinner.

 

[riz78612]

Starting with the MacBook Pro: Smaller, Bigger, Lower Power and Lower Battery Life?

Ok now this is kind of sneaky, Apple made the MacBook Pro thinner than any other MacBook Pro, but it's wider, deeper and heavier. Granted, these are minor increases in dimensions, total volume actually decreased by about a percent. The 0.1 lbs increase in weight is most likely due to the use of glass on both the display and trackpad.

But for so much glass only a 0.1 lbs increase in weight isn't bad, oh but wait, the battery went from a 60WHr unit to a 50WHr unit. A lighter battery to offset weight gains elsewhere.

The give and take continues when you look at the hardware specs. Apple did a lot to reduce power consumption on the MacBook Pro: the GeForce 9400M chipset will use less power than Intel's G35M which was used on the previous notebook, DDR3 runs at a lower voltage than DDR2 (1.5V vs. 1.8V) and thus we see a drop in power there as well. However the reduction in total system power needs is offset by the fact that the new MacBook Pro has a smaller battery, so I'd expect battery life to stay roughly the same.

Granted the MacBook Pro was never a slouch when it came to battery life, I measured a worst case of 3.38 hours on the MacBook Pro and a best case of over 5.1 hours - just don't expect any better from the new one.

 

[eye.surgeon]

I can peel a sticker off...can I peel about a pound off the MBP? Because that's what it would take to make the cost/performance/weight relationship make sense in the marketplace.

Carbon fiber, not aluminum, is the material of choice for high end notebooks. Comparable Sony Vaio laptops made of carbon fiber are equally rigid but MUCH lighter.