What brand of SSD does AppleStore use in MBPs?

[jordii]

$750 for a 256GB SSD sounds like a decent deal. Since I don't think there's any way of ordering a MBP with no hard drive, the only way to knock off the entire cost of the stock drive seems to custom order the SSD from Applestore.

But.....I want to make sure Apple's SSD is as good as the much-vaunted Intel X-25 G2 mainstream....

 

[dan5.5]

if i recall correctly its a toshiba ssd

 

[Cliff3]

My only major complaint about the MacBook Pro is, once again, that it does not come with a SSD standard. I understand, however, to cut costs and do such a thing would be impossible today. For $350 Apple will upgrade your hard drive to the latest 128GB Samsung MLC SSD; for $800 you'll get 256GB. I can't stress how much you shouldn't buy the 256GB drive; prices are dropping too quickly for that to be a good deal. If you can hold out until next year you'll be able to get that capacity at half the price.

My other major complaint is Apple's refusal to offer Intel's X25-M as an option on its MacBook Pro line. The Samsung drive Apple uses is the same drive Corsair is selling right now. It's a decent drive, offers good compatibility and reliability, but in terms of worst case scenario performance I haven't found it nearly as good as the Intel drive.

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3580&p=6

 

[jordii]

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3580&p=6

Good stuff, Cliff, many thanks.

This is a transition machine. I really want the Arandale MBP next year, but my 5-yr-old G4 is falling apart.

Guess I'll buy a new low-end stock MBP, with conventional drive, and hopefully next year there'll be a socko new MBP to upgrade to, along with a nicely priced SSD.

And, anyway, staged gratification is happiness-making.....

 

[Cliff3]

Good stuff, Cliff, many thanks.

This is a transition machine. I really want the Arandale MBP next year, but my 5-yr-old G4 is falling apart.

Guess I'll buy a new low-end stock MBP, with conventional drive, and hopefully next year there'll be a socko new MBP to upgrade to, along with a nicely priced SSD.

And, anyway, staged gratification is happiness-making.....

UPS delivered the MBP in my sig about an hour ago. It's the base model 15" MBP with the anti-glare screen. I am retiring my late-2006 MBP a bit earlier than I had planned as it hasn't aged well. There are a couple of good articles discussing recent MBP models on the Anandtech site.

Unlike some here, I am not convinced the early Arrandale's are going to be revolutionary compared to the current line-up of Pennryn machines. Plus there is the risk of being an early adopter of new technology. The current generation of MBPs deliver strongly on what I need from a laptop.

On that last note, SSDs are still a bit bleeding edge for this particular curmudgeon, not to mention they're rather pricey. I am going to wait a bit for that technology to mature some before I make the leap.

 

[jordii]

Hey, cool, congrats on the new machine! Questions!!!

Refurb? If not, why not?

Is the anti-glare screen comparable to pre-glossy powerbooks?

Agreed on early-adopting, though if they don't change the form-factor much, I might chance it. Issues brought on via transitions to new processors generally (not always) seem to be solved via software updates.

The way people rave over their SSDs has won me over. I'm pretty Type-A, and hate the cumulative mini waits for drive response. And the low battery drain would be great.....

I'm not a big gamer, so I'm figuring I won't miss the better video card/memory of the 2.66. And if I do....well, again, this is just a transition machine....

 

[Cliff3]

Hey, cool, congrats on the new machine! Questions!!!

Refurb? If not, why not?

Sales tax would eat up the price difference between a new machine (bought from B&H in New York) and a refurb. Edit: I don't see an anti-glare version of the machine I bought in the refurb store at the moment, either.

Is the anti-glare screen comparable to pre-glossy powerbooks?

It seems to be about the same as my MBP and my old G4 PB. I am about to calibrate it with a gretag-macbeth i1 device.

Agreed on early-adopting, though if they don't change the form-factor much, I might chance it. Issues brought on via transitions to new processors generally (not always) seem to be solved via software updates.

The way people rave over their SSDs has won me over. I'm pretty Type-A, and hate the cumulative mini waits for drive response. And the low battery drain would be great.....

I'm not a big gamer, so I'm figuring I won't miss the better video card/memory of the 2.66. And if I do....well, again, this is just a transition machine....

I would be shocked if the case/form factor changes at all. Apple is pretty conservative about introducing design changes and they just changed the MBP cases to an elegant design that everyone else is still chasing.

I am sold on SSD technology, I just think it's still a bit bleeding edge. I would like to see Intel have some real competition before I take the plunge. The drive manufacturers still seem to be sorting out some technology issues too (Google TRIM, for example). I'll wait a bit and give the technology some time to sort itself out some.

I don't play games at all, so there is absolutely no benefit to having a discrete graphics adapter in my laptop. It will be a while (years, probably) before software is rewritten to take advantage of OpenCL, so that technology doesn't factor into my decision process yet. I also like the smaller power brick the base MBP15 comes with - it makes traveling just a little bit easier.

 

[jordii]

Sales tax would eat up the price difference between a new machine (bought from B&H in New York).

Ah, so it wasn't apple-installed anti-glare? Or do non-apple vendors sell that option as well?

I'm in Amazon Prime, so that's probably where I'd turn for the free shipping PLUS no sales tax.

I also like the smaller power brick the base MBP15 comes with - it makes traveling just a little bit easier.

Nice data point. I hadn't heard that. Yup, makes sense.

You thinking of adding more RAM?

 

[Cliff3]

Ah, so it wasn't apple-installed anti-glare? Or do non-apple vendors sell that option as well?

I'm in Amazon Prime, so that's probably where I'd turn for the free shipping PLUS no sales tax.

B&H sells a limited number of BTO configuration options. B&H is primarily a photographic retailer and photographers like anti-glare screens. So they carry in-stock MBP's configured with the anti-glare screen.

You thinking of adding more RAM?

Not right away. I have an 8-core MP with 12GB of RAM for my heavy lifting needs. I use it mainly to run Windows server development environments within VMWare, plus it's my primary digital darkroom machine. The 4GB in this MBP is adequate for Lightroom and a Windows 7 VM. The late-2006 MBP it is replacing was maxed out at 3GB of memory, and Lightroom seems to prefer 4GB.

 

[mrsir2009]

if i recall correctly its a toshiba ssd

I thought Apple makes everything themselves... Or is it not from scratch? And do they use other companies normal HDDs?

 

[chill.]

I thought Apple makes everything themselves... Or is it not from scratch? And do they use other companies normal HDDs?

apple does not make anything themselves

 

[mrsir2009]

apple does not make anything themselves

Do they just assemble it? But they make the MBP batteries themselves. And the UniBodies.

 

[chill.]

yes, they pretty much just assemble it. i guess you are right that they make the cases and battery and also the RAM and design the motherboard. i think what probably happens is that they subcontract it out to 3rd parties and then brand it as their own but i can't find any information on it

 

[telecomm]

Do they just assemble it? But they make the MBP batteries themselves. And the UniBodies.

Unless things have changed, the batteries are manufactured by Sony. Anyone remember the big recall?

 

[packgrad2000]

Apple designs most everything, but has partnerships with several Chinese companies that manufacture everything. I think they manufacture prototypes and such in Cupertino, but everything from mass production is made in China (Qualcomm is the big manufacturer I believe?).

 

[mrsir2009]

Unless things have changed, the batteries are manufactured by Sony. Anyone remember the big recall?

But they are made specially for the MBs and MBPs. They must not be anymore...

 

[telecomm]

But they are made specially for the MBs and MBPs. They must not be anymore...

The batteries were always manufactured especially for the MBP/MB.

Prior to the current internal batteries, part of the removable batteries formed the base of the MB/MBP (as was the case with those recalled Sony batteries).

 

[mrsir2009]

The batteries were always manufactured especially for the MBP/MB.

Prior to the current internal batteries, part of the removable batteries formed the base of the MB/MBP (as was the case with those recalled Sony batteries).

Oh yeah, my iBook that I used to have was like that.