MacBook.

[DüM]

I don't really know much about the processing speeds, but I read a few people assuring others on the macrumors forum that these would be faster than the old ones.

[16steps]

why no dedicated graphics card in the new 13's? I have a 15 from 08 and looking to get the 13 but this one seems almost like a ripoff

and now the base 15 is pretty lame...friend of mine just dropped 2500 for a 15 LAAAME

[noobedloser]

why no dedicated graphics card in the new 13's? I have a 15 from 08 and looking to get the 13 but this one seems almost like a ripoff

and now the base 15 is pretty lame...friend of mine just dropped 2500 for a 15 LAAAME

I agree with you the new 15 base is pretty lame, i was hoping that would keep it the way it was before but now im reconsidering not getting the 15 for the 13...

Edit: Nvm, just realized what you meant about no dedicated graphics on the 13... there is no trade-off for either the 13/15

anyone know how well the i7 performs?

[milosz]

Th 13s haven't had a dedicated gpu for several generations.

[madapaka]

for the "average" user will the 13inch hold up for HD videos and what not? also will it be able to run ableton pretty fluidly?

i'm looking at the i7 13".

[Akura]

The 13" should be able to run ableton fluidly no problem. Keep in mind this is the new SandyBridge processor and if you are going to get the i7. You should be just fine.

[madapaka]

alright cool. i don't need some kind of mobile powerhouse or anything. but i am replacing my 8 year old desktop with this..

[choice]

Whelp looks like the glossed glass front to my mbpro 13'' cracked, luckily it's in a corner so I can't notice it all that much until I get it fixed.

anyone else have this problem? Any good online repair places to send it into? I'm just looking to get the glass fixed.

[Rock]

I don't think the new upgrade is enough for me to buy at full price but i'm still due for an upgrade.. Anyone know a cheap place to buy last years MBP 13 at a decent price? Apple refurbished?

[madapaka]

i've never purchased through apple refurbished, but i've been told they're pretty reliable...

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/13?mco=MjEwNzM4MTE

edit: i don't know if there's a Micro Center near you, but last time i checked the one near me they were offering 100-200 dollars off the MBPs from april 2010; but at that point you might as well just buy the new one in my opinion..

[madapaka]

if you're a student you can get a hundred dollar discount through apple.. i'll be doing this to get the new MBP 13" dual-core i7.

[Goldfish]

Putting an SSD in my MBP later, once I finish moving shit around and backing up. 120GB SSD + 640GB HD (in place of optical drive)=Winning.

[herpsky]

Putting an SSD in my MBP later, once I finish moving shit around and backing up. 120GB SSD + 640GB HD (in place of optical drive)=Winning.

you can remove the optical drive and put a hard drive in?!

anyway

i just bought a new macbook pro.

can anyone recommend me a hard case for it?

i was thinking of incase

[herpsky]

also, is applecare worth buying? 200 for an 1100 dollar computer...

[aleopold]

i got applecare with mine, but i'm not really 100 on if it's a necessity..

i got speck's clear hardcase, and i like it a lot. there probably isn't much different between them all, really.

[madapaka]

i personally wouldn't pay for applecare, but i feel pretty comfortable with my computers and usually do not have any problems that i cannot solve on my own or with help from friends..

speaking of hardcases, will the speck or incase ones fit on the new MBPs since they added the new thunderbolt port?

[aleopold]

what is applecare really for? i don't really know what i'd use it for, other than bringing it if i go into the store for help/repairs. is that it?

[DüM]

yes, that is exactly what it's for.

after hearing so many stories of shitty things happebing to macbooks I would assume it'd be worth it.

[home]

also, is applecare worth buying? 200 for an 1100 dollar computer...

not nearly worth it with those figures.

[Hocus Pocus]

Considering how many people report problems with their laptops very regularly on here, I'd say it would be foolish not to get it.

[home]

^ i think you'll find that's due to the age old interwebz occurence whereby the dissatisfied minority are louder than the satisfied majority.

my studio has gone through about a dozen macbooks over the last 5 years and has never faced an issue that would have justified applecare.

my two cents.

[DaBestSpoona]

I bought applecare for 2 years, was denied service a few times because they claim I did damage to the macbook itself.

After my applecare expired, I got my macbook serviced 3 times for free.

I noticed apple doesnt have much of a CRM\ticketing system. So if one genius wants to charge you for repair, just come back a different time, and you may get lucky with a different "genius"

[Bislane]

Yep I never had it and they replaced some wireless hardware for free over a weekend for me, it was pretty awesome and they didn't give me a hard time in the slightest.

[MyAcademy]

On the topic of AppleCare, my OG PowerBook died less than a month out of warranty and I was boned.

More pseudo-recently, my girlfriend's MacBook (1st run of Core 2 Duos) refused to run for more than 10-15 minutes without a kernel panic.

Brought it to the AppleStore like 4 or 5 times, left it for repair, etc. etc., but it always came back broken.

On our 6th trip they handed her a new, top-of-the-line MacBook thanks to AppleCare.

Food for thought I guess.

Edit: Oh, and I've had a Core Duo MacBook for like... 6 years (?) now, and the only problem is the battery is shot. No need for AppleCare on that one.

[cure]

bought my mbp in 2007 and the only thing bad on it is the battery - can't last more than about 30-40mins unplugged. Other than that, still runs like a champ. In my apartment there were 3 of us who had MBPs entering college and all our computers are doing fine now. My roommate had applecare and it was handy when he had beer spilled onto his keyboard. The other 3 in my apt had two hps and a dell, the two hps pretty much crapped out .

anyway, previous 13inch model for 899 http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0334909

[tsxser]

Finally made the big purchase of a Macbook Pro. Pretty stoked, bought a 13in, BUT with the new i5 processor in it. I love it. It only came with a 350GB hardrive, so I bought a 1TB external for all my photos and music. Also, it came with 4GB RAM, but Ill upgrade in the next few months to 8GB.

Yeah Cure, thats what I worried about, Battery problems. Reason why I bought Applecare.

[herpsky]

Finally made the big purchase of a Macbook Pro. Pretty stoked, bought a 13in, BUT with the new i5 processor in it. I love it. It only came with a 350GB hardrive, so I bought a 1TB external for all my photos and music. Also, it came with 4GB RAM, but Ill upgrade in the next few months to 8GB.

Yeah Cure, thats what I worried about, Battery problems. Reason why I bought Applecare.

is there a way to tell the computer to not charge the battery?

i also have a dell latitude and there's a button that lets me use the computer on AC power without charging the battery

[choice]

Anybody have any experience with third party repair sites? I got a tiny crack in my powerbooks glass screen and I'm not sure if I should do it myself or trying one of these sites.

[po_boy_fuuma_hatesbargerz]

Picked up an 11" Air with processor speed/hard drive/ram upgrades awhile ago and just wanted to post how I felt about it.

Overall, extremely satisfied with my purchase, as it fits my needs, as a power user who values travel-size above all things. Definitely not everybody's cup of tea (try using Lightroom or any graphic design here without an external monitor for a decent headache), but good for programming / LaTeX / number-crunching and definitely the lightest Mac I've ever had. SSD is a little cramped at 128GB, but with all my files mirrored at home and on S3/Dropbox, I don't mind.

SSD + 4GB DDR3 makes set-up/turn-off a breeze, and everything runs snappily. 11" screen is surprisingly good, and I'm glad I sprung for a Mac rather than any other ultraportable due to the full-sized keyboard.

As for missing the CD drive, don't really give a shit, and I'm a fan of not having my back hate me quite as much as it did with my monster 15" MBP.

Depending on how the next few years ago, and if I decide to start playing with photo/video again, I might purchase a Mac Pro for home use, but for now this is my primary computer. It's taken a little hard drive jiggling (mirror all photos on a RAID setup somewhere at home and store video on DVD_R), but in the long run I'm quite happy having data on multiple secure locations and the SSD makes me less nervous about banging my laptop around in the field. Also, the battery life is pretty enviable. A full day's charge with room to spare usually.

Let me know if you have questions.

As for Applecare, I think the best strategy is to wait a year (all laptops have free AppleCare for 1 year), then buy it on the last day it's valid for your laptop. This gives you effectively 1 year free.

I had a problem with my hard drive earlier this year on my 2,1 MBP, and brought it into AppleCare. They noticed my screen had some hot spots, and that my keyboard was grungy. Replaced the hinge, screen, keyboard and battery ($900+) for free. Considering I paid $300 for my Applecare, having that peace of mind was definitely a plus.

However, I've had that laptop fall off the back of a jeep in a third-world country, had it thrown across a room (goddamn TSA), and definitely not treated it like a queen, so personally, Applecare was a must. YMMV.

not nearly worth it with those figures.

[halberdklown]

is there a way to tell the computer to not charge the battery?

i also have a dell latitude and there's a button that lets me use the computer on AC power without charging the battery

no need to worry about that, once the indicator light on the magsafe turns green, it informs you that the battery is fully charged and that you are currently in AC power mode, it does not overcharge the battery