
Why the 13" MacBook Pro didn't get a Core i5 upgrade - soundsop
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/04/why-the-13-macbook-pro-didnt-get-a-core-i5-upgrade.ars
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briandoll
I have one of the last-generation MacBook Pro 13", and it is easily the best
laptop I've ever owned. A year later and I can still get 5+ hours of weekend
hacking done on it before I need to plug it in. The updates here may not be
considerable, but for my money, it's still the best portable laptop around.

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edj
Same old Core 2 Duo wouldn't stop me from buying one. The 1280 by 800
resolution, on the other hand, is much more of a bummer.

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MikeCapone
Indeed. The thing that would make me reconsider replacing my white plastic
Macbook most would be better resolution and/or a IPS screen.

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rdl
I was optimistic about IPS, since they seem to have found a supplier for the
iPad. I still use a thinkpad T42p for the UXGA IPS 15" screen, although the
2GB RAM, Pentium M is kind of limiting. (it's no longer my primary machine;
15" 2008 MBP being upgraded to 17" MBP)

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chaosmachine
Built-in IPS would probably cut into their 24" Cinema Display sales.
Especially on the 17", considering it has the same resolution as the 24".

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FluidDjango
I'm not sure how this'll affect your argument, but I'll wager that 24" CD is
on its last legs - to be replace most likely by 21" and 27" that match the
screens of iMacs introduced in Oct 2009

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rdl
I think the 30" ACD is even more at risk, since it has been unchanged in
~forever. It was released in June 2004!

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jrockway
I don't think the i5 and i7 are a "tiny speed boost"; I get a 3x speed boost
for things like running unit tests (which benefit from hyperthreading). The
Moose test suite took 30 seconds on my old machine (Core Duo) and now takes 7
seconds on my new i7.

Meanwhile, rxvt-unicode _still_ doesn't require a very powerful graphics card.

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dlevine
I was hoping to get one of the 13" Macbook Pros to replace my 3 year old white
Macbook. I love the 13" form factor. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough of
a performance increase to justify the leap.

So I sprung for the 15" with a high-res screen. That is definitely an
upgrade...

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samratjp
Sometimes logic still doesn't make up for disappointment. I guess my way of
delaying gratification this time would be "It's not i3/5/7 (is it me or is
Intel after BMW number scheme) something and no USB 3.0" and they don't give
me an Mac + iPad for Back to School.

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rauljara
It's even worse when part of the logic is "we got a killer deal on these
outdated chips".

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kentosi
It feels like this also has something to do with the MacBook Air, which hasn't
had an upgrade in quite some time now. It would be suicide to the Macbook Air
line if they released another powerful 13" laptop that gave the Air no
competitive advantage than simply it's weight.

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jackowayed
_> It would be suicide to the Macbook Air line if they released another
powerful 13" laptop that gave the Air no competitive advantage than simply
it's weight._

Isn't that basically the case already? To go from the base 13" MBP to the base
Air, you're getting a Core 2 that's .54GHz slower, a worse graphics card, half
the battery life, only 2 GB RAM, no optical drive, and only 1 USB port, all
for $300 more. All you're getting in return for all of that is the fact that
it's super-thin and super-light.

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derefr
I don't think anyone buys an Air _instead_ of another computer. I see it more
as competing with the iPad.

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jsz0
That's probably true. I have a Mac Pro at home where I do most of my real work
and an MBA simply for maximum portability. I've started carrying an iPad too
(fits perfectly in the side pocket of my MBA case) Together they're a pretty
great combo. Kind of like a wireless secondary display for web pages, e-mail,
games, etc.

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evandavid
This is the first time I've seen an abbreviation for Macbook Air given as MBA.
Fantastic considering the target market.

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kyro
I've been looking to replace my 15" PowerBook G4 for some time now, and really
stretched my patience for this update. Going to grad school next year, I
wanted something portable, and hoped to buy the 13" the second they gave the
line a performance boost. Unfortunately, they skipped over it, and I decided
to go with the 15" for the i5. Sure, the Core 2 Duo would have been sufficient
for most of my needs, but I play in Photoshop/Logic Pro quite a bit, and
knowing that apps like these and more will soon be optimized to take advantage
of the threading capabilities, I felt going with the 13" would put me at a
long term disadvantage. I guess I sacrificed the portability for what is, to
me, a better long term investment. The bigger screen isn't so bad either,
although, the new 15"s tend to have a bit more fat around the edges than their
PowerBook predecessors.

