Speculation about upgraded macbook pro

[vgoklani]

It seems rather strange that Apple would give us this "free upgrade". Doesn't it require them to open up each box, disassemble the laptops and physically change the CPU? On the G4 models, they would have to change the logic board. Perhaps these new laptops have interchangable CPUs? Or maybe they are just clocking the CPUs at a higher speed? Or did they decide this from the very beginning, as a stunt to kick off the new laptops? Perhaps they found a bug in the design, and used this "upgrade" as a gesture to buy them some more time?

One quick question though, are there any design differences between the 1.83GHZ/2GHZ and the new 2.13 GHZ cpus? Are they part of the same family? Do they all output the same amount of heat? Perhaps they corrected some of the bugs in the Coreduo design?

 

[iMeowbot]

It seems rather strange that Apple would give us this "free upgrade". Doesn't it require them to open up each box, disassemble the laptops and physically change the CPU?

Not if they didn't put CPUs on boards before the change

On the G4 models, they would have to change the logic board. Perhaps these new laptops have interchangable CPUs?

Whoa, I think you were given a mangled version of the story. The only free upgrades are for new MacBooks (which are Intel only) that haven't shipped yet. People who already have their Macs aren't getting new processors.

One quick question though, are there any design differences between the 1.83GHZ/2GHZ and the new 2.13 GHZ cpus? Are they part of the same family? Do they all output the same amount of heat? Perhaps they corrected some of the bugs in the Coreduo design?

They're the same chips, that tested out at higher clock rates. It all probably simply means that Intel have been having better success with production than they initially hoped.

 

[arcobb]

Not if they didn't put CPUs on boards before the change

Whoa, I think you were given a mangled version of the story. The only free upgrades are for new MacBooks (which are Intel only) that haven't shipped yet. People who already have their Macs aren't getting new processors.

They're the same chips, that tested out at higher clock rates. It all probably simply means that Intel have been having better success with production than they initially hoped.

What's the fasted chips in the Dell, HP... and the rest of the PC crowd? I seem to remember they were faster then what apple is putting in. Seems like this bump puts them even with the competitors... and I think that was the whole point (or one of them anyway) that macs wouldn't be behind the pc world... just running way better operating system.

By the way... i got a new (well to me anyway) 15 inch 1.67 Ghz powerbook (not the HD screen version) off ebay... I love it! I'm glad to have one of the last G4 powerbooks ever made. It kicks butt!

 

[arcobb]

Matches Dell

The upgraded specs matches what dell is kicking out... also notice what the Core Solo is.... hmm... Anyone wanna guess what will be in the ibooks?

Dells offerings here

It's kinda cool to see Apple on par with everyone else.

 

[AJBMatrix]

Dollar Per Dollar it is very close to the Dell without the educational discount but with the Dell discounts. But the MBP with the educational discount kicks it out of the water!

 

[jacobj]

My money would be on the fact that a 1.67GHz Core Duo and a production MacBook Pro have never been introduced. That is not to say that Apple had no intention of shipping a 1.67GHz but that it probably waited to see market reaction to the current speeds to make a decision on whether they could get away with it. Also having a goodie like that in a bag is a good way of getting people to forgive them their delays. Had the 2.0GHz been there from the outset they never would have upgraded to the 2.16GHz and nothing else would have had the same impact apart from GPU and I can't see them changing that.

 

[gnasher729]

It seems rather strange that Apple would give us this "free upgrade". Doesn't it require them to open up each box, disassemble the laptops and physically change the CPU?

Do you think Apple had a few thousand MacBooks completely built lying around in a warehouse somewhere in China while customers are waiting for them? Every iMac, every MacBook Pro that is built is shipped immediately. Since now MacBook Pros have been shipped, none have been built so far. I guess they were waiting for the Core Duo chips.

On the G4 models, they would have to change the logic board. Perhaps these new laptops have interchangable CPUs?

So where did you read that G4 models will be upgraded in any way?

One quick question though, are there any design differences between the 1.83GHZ/2GHZ and the new 2.13 GHZ cpus? Are they part of the same family? Do they all output the same amount of heat? Perhaps they corrected some of the bugs in the Coreduo design?

There are no bugs in Core Duo that need correcting. It has about the same number of problems as an chip, made by Intel, AMD, Freescale, or IBM. If there were any bugs that needed correcting, they wouldn't have shipped.

Google for "Intel Price List" to get a list of the various chips Intel is selling. And more speed = more heat.

 

[ericsthename]

On the G4 models, they would have to change the logic board.


Im pretty sure he's not referring to any G4's being upgraded, but rather the fact that with the Powerbooks, a sudden CPU upgrade would require such a change, and that this would even further complicate the decision to bump speeds. As for the Core Duo being upgradeable, that Japanese guy replaced the Core Duo in his iMac without hitch....

As to the validity of whether or not changing a G4 cpu requires a new logic board, I don't know for sure, but I thought I'd point this out anyhow.

 

[Jason Bourne]

On the G4 models, they would have to change the logic board.


Im pretty sure he's not referring to any G4's being upgraded, but rather the fact that with the Powerbooks, a sudden CPU upgrade would require such a change, and that this would even further complicate the decision to bump speeds. As for the Core Duo being upgradeable, that Japanese guy replaced the Core Duo in his iMac without hitch....

As to the validity of whether or not changing a G4 cpu requires a new logic board, I don't know for sure, but I thought I'd point this out anyhow.

Correct - I assume what he was saying is that in the days of the G4 powerbook, this type of last minute switch would have required a MOBO change. And therefore he was speculating that in these new MacBook Pros, the CPU may be on a socket which would make this type of switch more realistic. Of course, as pointed out, the chances that Apple had fully assembled, ready to ship, 1.66GHz MBPs lying around and now has to take them apart and upgrade them are pretty much nil. This is an "upgrade" before building. They just changed the spec before releasing and building the computers. So, in and of itself, this latest news tidbit doesn't actually tell us anything about whether the CPU is soldered or socketed.

 

[cnakeitaro]

That would go with what people have seen in the iMac. It has a socket to replace the CPU. Altho, from what I have seen even in wintels laptops, i don't think they have sockets. It would actually be a great option to have. Who knows, when Merom comes out, they might just offer like a $500 or more upgrade plan. I think all they have to do is update the firmware on the motherboard.

 

[jacobj]

That would go with what people have seen in the iMac. It has a socket to replace the CPU. Altho, from what I have seen even in wintels laptops, i don't think they have sockets. It would actually be a great option to have. Who knows, when Merom comes out, they might just offer like a $500 or more upgrade plan. I think all they have to do is update the firmware on the motherboard.

There are still the cooling issues that have been discussed elsewhere. It may be OK for small speed bumps but for larger ones Apple will likely use different and more expensive cooling techniques.

Having said that they have changed the ventilation on the MBPs. Maybe that is to cater for speed bumps or it may just end up in a form factor change.

 

[richc]

Perhaps these new laptops have interchangable CPUs?

From a VERY creditable source:

The Intel processor inside the MacBook Pro is soldered to the main logic board; it is not socketed and is not upgradeable. Currently the only way to 'upgrade' the processor to the 2.16 GHz speed is to do so when ordering the MacBook Pro from the Apple online store.