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Topic: Laptops

Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

Summary: For the second time this year, Apple has upgraded its MacBook Pro line, but the changes aren't all that significant.

Ricardo Bilton

By for The ToyBox |

For the second time this year, Apple has upgraded its Macbook Pro. While not the biggest upgrades, the changes don't come with any increases in price, which is never a bad thing.

With the update come modest bumps to the MacBook Pro's graphics, speed, and storage options. Apple bumped up the processor of the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro to 2.4 GHz from 1.3GHz. Storage on the 13-inch also increased to 500GB from 320GB.

Other models have seen similarly minor increases in performance. The i7 processor on the 15-inch MacBook Pro now clocks at 2.2GHz instead of 2GHz. Apple also upgraded its graphics adapter to AMD's Radeon HD 6750M card.

The 17-inch model also saw a few upgrades, moving from a 2.2GHz processor to a 2.4GHz processor, and getting a 1GB MD Radeon HD graphics card.

So Apple has, perhaps unsurprisingly, changed very little. That's a bummer for MacBook Air fans, many of whom have been awaiting Apple to take its Pro line into the disc drive-less future. It didn't happen today, but sooner or later it will.

[Apple]

Topics: Laptops, Apple, Hardware, Mobility

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26 comments
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  • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

    Yup, no significant changes yet they are still overpriced for the specs (except the battery of course).
    statuskwo5
    Reply Vote

    • If people only cared about specs, they wouldn't buy iPhones & iPads. [nt]

      [nt]
      olePigeon
      Reply Vote

    • Apple products have never been technologically superior

      @statuskwo5

      Just look at the iPhone or the iPad. Even the Zune was technologically superior to the iPod.
      Michael Alan Goff
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

        @Michael Alan Goff

        That's true, but try telling that to Apple people who are convinced Apple products are 'the most advanced and sophisticated products ever made'
        Doctor Demento
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

        Sophistication doesn't have to do with tech specs.

        Spec wise, the i4 had an inferior camera. Due to the way it was made, though, that didn't matter. The pictures were better than anything else.

        It is only the geeks that care about specs.
        Michael Alan Goff
        Reply Vote

      • Zune Failed

        @Michael Alan Goff<br><br>Zune and other products fail because they are crappy products. They are crappy not because of hardware or software or this or that single thing, they fail because they don't integrate all the ingredients nearly as well as Apple does. So you can say the hardware is just the same, therefore overpriced ...blah, blah, blah. If you haven't actually used an Apple product for a fair amount of time, you just don't get it.
        jaypeg
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

        @Michael Alan Goff
        Zune was never marketed outside the USA because even MS had not faith in it.
        Restricted_access
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

        @Michael Alan Goff

        Where they are superior is in the build quality. So much cheap plastic rubbish on the PC side.
        Monkeypox
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

        @jaypeg

        I have used an iPod Touch. I would never get a Zune or an Archos. It was just amazing to use, the integration was amazing.

        @Monkeypox

        Exactly.

        But most people can't see beyond GB and Ghz.
        Michael Alan Goff
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

        @Michael Alan Goff
        "Even the Zune was technologically superior"
        The who?

        Was is the operative word -
        Stuart21@...
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

    Guess I must not be in the "IN CROWD." I use my CD/DVD-ROM all the time. That's why I have a MBP versus a MacBook Air. Personally I'd like to see the replacement of the DVD-ROM to a Blu-Ray.
    jasonmooney
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

      @jasonmooney

      Just curious.. exactly what you do that you constantly use your optical drive all the time? Watch DVD movies? Play Audio CD? Install Applications?
      SonofChef
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

        @SonofChef <br><br>Well I can't speak for jasonmooney specifically, but I use an optical drive all the time as well. Although a minority, millions of people still buy music CDs and DVDs/Blu Rays rather than downloads. This should be obvious enough as any Best Buy or other tech store generally has a good selection of such disks, even the relatively old CDs, proving CD sales are not dead, despite many people considering them so. There are basically three camps that support CDs:<br> <br>1) those who like the superior audio and video quality, of which downloads are still a ways behind. These people will only change when iTunes and other popular download services offer high bit-rate music downloads and full HD, lossless video with surround sound--at this time, simply to large a file for a convenient download, and impossible to stream by consumer grade bandwidths.<br><br>2) those who simply refuse to have a strictly electronic library. Some people prefer a physical object over a digital one. Some of these people may not be too opposed to the idea of a digital library, but have already accumulated a vast physical one, deeming reinvestment an expensive and perhaps impossible ordeal. Some of these people also simply see physical media as much simpler and easier to understand/maintain. Others simply want CDs in their car, and do not invest in MP3 players. This group (that I am not a part of) will take a long time to disappear, as their reasons are more phycologically and traditionally based.<br><br>3) Those who lack the the internet or other technologies necessary to connect to digital download services or maintain a digital library. These people will only change once the cost of these technologies becomes cheaper and more available.<br><br>A CD drive is also the easiest way to share music, and in many cases, videos, with friends and especially family, which generally includes older people less prone to adopting new technologies. Personally, the only way I can share my music with friends is by burning CDs. <br><br>While it's right to conclude that a digital library, in theory, is superior in utility and function to a physical library, its quite premature to suppose now is the best time to abolish the physical disc, and much less physical mediums as a whole. The disc is still used by enough people to warrant its inclusion in at least a few modern computers.
        DylanM
        Reply Vote

  • We're only a few months away from Macworld...

    We're only a few months away from Macworld, there may be a significant update then in regards to the optical drive (for better or worse.)
    olePigeon
    Reply Vote

  • Die attached optical drives... just die

    I hope that 15 inch laptops finally take that space for an extra raid drive or more battery. Optical drives are becoming less and less used. I'm not saying all laptops need to get rid of it, but in most cases if you need one that badly, buy a usb optical drive. That is valuable space that is not being used on my laptop right now.
    avatoin
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

      @avatoin

      I think you're in a tiny minority, the overwhelming majority of people DO use their optical drives....to play movies, to install new software, to perform backups....alienating the 95% in order to appease the 5% seems...

      Oh, who am I kidding, it seems like Apple's MO
      Doctor Demento
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

        @Doctor Demento you are wrongo. Most people never use the optical drive on their laptops. Some people use their optical drive on rare occasions. Very few use it often. Most people now use flash drives and cloud services like Dropbox. Watching DVDs on a laptop is just kind of sad.
        bobfastner
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple updates MacBook Pro line, leaves disc drive intact

        @Doctor Demento Wow! You're really up on technology, aren't you? There's these great things for backup up and installing software! Each one holds 1.44 MILLION bytes of data!!! Hang on and never let go!
        I12BPhil
        Reply Vote

  • Spec's...

    ...as long as it has a fruity logo, somebody will buy a bunch of them.

    Steve Jobs certainly understood 'branding'.

    I apparently am not their demographic. I don't overpay for commodity hardware in a fancy package.
    Uber Dweeb
    Reply Vote

    • I call BS right now. And to prove it, all I have to

      do is look at your car, your TV, your stereo system, your furniture, your refrigerator, and your house.
      baggins_z
      Reply Vote
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