Apple Refreshes The MacBook Pro Line Discussion

[Rachel]

I was interested in seeing what Apple might do with the refresh. My SZ is two years old and i have been considering a replacement.

It is very hard for me to buy a MBP without an expresscard slot. The 17" models are just too big but i think you can get an expresscard slot with this model. I would prefer built in wwan but would take the expresscard slot as a 2nd option. I think i was hoping for more connectivity options.

The fact that Apple also stuck with the C2D processors and the 1280x800 res display in the 13" model i think is disappointing also.

The battery life claims wait to be seen.

[Althernai]

Wow, GT 330M in a $1799 base configuration. Impressive.

Indeed. But even more impressive is that in the same $1799 base configuration, they're pushing a 320GB, 5400 RPM HDD (and it costs $100 to upgrade or $150 if you want something other than 5400 RPM). I haven't even seen 5400 RPM drives around for a while... but in an $1800 machine? Leave it to Apple to dispose of obsolete products at luxury prices.

[min2209]

Indeed. But even more impressive is that in the same $1799 base configuration, they're pushing a 320GB, 5400 RPM HDD (and it costs $100 to upgrade or $150 if you want something other than 5400 RPM). I haven't even seen 5400 RPM drives around for a while... but in an $1800 machine? Leave it to Apple to dispose of obsolete products at luxury prices.

Actually, I thought about it a bit more. It makes more sense now.

A while ago I read about a blog written by a psychic. It was a rather captivating piece of writing about marketing, worth, selling, and ultimately, earning the amount you believe you SHOULD earn.

Essentially, the author once figured that she would like to be a psychic. When she started out, she couldn't believe it: who on earth would even PAY for this kind of service? So, she charged little: maybe $20 per session. Still, she had very few customers.

Acting on advice from .. it escapes my memory where, she raised the price, to a staggering $800 or into the thousands per session. Soon, successful people, celebrities, millionaires - they flocked to her service, and the waiting list grew. The customers were extremely happy with what they got - they received service that they believed were top notch (after all, they just paid top dollar for it). After all, no self respecting or successful person would go with a $20 cheap little psychic reading. It's worthless! But this extravagant expenditure appeared to them as life altering. She realized that, you will earn not how much the service or product you offer is actually worth, but you will earn the amount you ALLOW yourself, or EXPECT, to earn.

This actually translates VERY well into real life. Take a website developer. If I, a university student with some programming / developing experience decide to start my little business. I say that I want to charge $10 / hour (after all, I'm a newb), then VERY few people would actually want my service! Because in their mind, what good is a website made by someone that can only earn $10?

On the other hand, if I asked for $100 / hour, THEN I come across as a respectable and experienced developer. The customer will feel as though THEIR level of self respect has gone up also: their business / cause has benefited from a high grade of service, the best money can buy.

Likewise with laptops. I just recalled many such conversations I've had with friends that are not tech savvy, but have some money. They want to buy laptops, and the conversation ensues as follows:
Them: I want to spend $2500. Anything less is just garbage.
Me: What do you want to do with it?
Them: Gaming, movies, homework, browsing.
Me: MSI GX640, Asus G51, Asus G73, Lenovo Y460p, HP Envy 15, and many more will do everything you want it to do at half the price! And the build quality on many of them is also top notch, along with excellent warranties.
Them: What? $1000 - $1500 laptops? Do I look like a bum to you?
Me: They have excellent specs! Video cards like HD 5800 series, SSDs, i7 Quad cores...
Them: What the hell are those? Skip the details, just find me a laptop for $2500.
Me: Alright . . .

Catch my drift here?

[houou]

But what if competing psychics cost half as much and have i7?

[Sphinx]

I would like to see a numpad on the 17in. I like the design and build quality of the MBP but they lack alot of basic features.

[fzhfzh]

Actually, I thought about it a bit more. It makes more sense now.

A while ago I read about a blog written by a psychic. It was a rather captivating piece of writing about marketing, worth, selling, and ultimately, earning the amount you believe you SHOULD earn.

Essentially, the author once figured that she would like to be a psychic. When she started out, she couldn't believe it: who on earth would even PAY for this kind of service? So, she charged little: maybe $20 per session. Still, she had very few customers.

Acting on advice from .. it escapes my memory where, she raised the price, to a staggering $800 or into the thousands per session. Soon, successful people, celebrities, millionaires - they flocked to her service, and the waiting list grew. The customers were extremely happy with what they got - they received service that they believed were top notch (after all, they just paid top dollar for it). After all, no self respecting or successful person would go with a $20 cheap little psychic reading. It's worthless! But this extravagant expenditure appeared to them as life altering. She realized that, you will earn not how much the service or product you offer is actually worth, but you will earn the amount you ALLOW yourself, or EXPECT, to earn.

This actually translates VERY well into real life. Take a website developer. If I, a university student with some programming / developing experience decide to start my little business. I say that I want to charge $10 / hour (after all, I'm a newb), then VERY few people would actually want my service! Because in their mind, what good is a website made by someone that can only earn $10?

On the other hand, if I asked for $100 / hour, THEN I come across as a respectable and experienced developer. The customer will feel as though THEIR level of self respect has gone up also: their business / cause has benefited from a high grade of service, the best money can buy.

Likewise with laptops. I just recalled many such conversations I've had with friends that are not tech savvy, but have some money. They want to buy laptops, and the conversation ensues as follows:
Them: I want to spend $2500. Anything less is just garbage.
Me: What do you want to do with it?
Them: Gaming, movies, homework, browsing.
Me: MSI GX640, Asus G51, Asus G73, Lenovo Y460p, HP Envy 15, and many more will do everything you want it to do at half the price! And the build quality on many of them is also top notch, along with excellent warranties.
Them: What? $1000 - $1500 laptops? Do I look like a bum to you?
Me: They have excellent specs! Video cards like HD 5800 series, SSDs, i7 Quad cores...
Them: What the hell are those? Skip the details, just find me a laptop for $2500.
Me: Alright . . .

Catch my drift here?

Then tell them to get a maxed out clevo x8100 for 5000 bucks.

[min2209]

But what if competing psychics cost half as much and have i7?

The point of my argument is not about value. My point is about marketing, and creating prestige.

The psychic example I chose is for a significant reason: it abstracts the actual "value". How do you give a definitive material worth to a psychic session? You can't. You arbitrarily assign a value.

Now, to much of the consumer market, the internals of a computer (all that silicon, solder, and plastic) is about as arbitrary as a psychic session. To them, they don't know the real difference between an i5-430M and a T7500. In this case, you're free to label your price whatever way you wish.

Here's the problem with telling them to get a maxed out Clevo:

I'm me, one person with a bit of interest in notebooks, going on in my daily life, with no personal monetary gain coming from notebooks.

Then there's Apple's marketing team. I lose.

[QualitySeeker]

Pre-installing Mac OS X must cost hundreds of dollars! :>

[sheltem]

GT330? How disappointing. Say what you want about Apple, but in the past Macbook Pros always had the best power to portability ratio. You couldn't find a lighter 15" laptop with the same amount of power anywhere else.

Looks like the Envy 15 and the Sony Vaio Z (13.1") still have the best weight/performance ratios.

[ChivalricRonin]

I really hope that Apple wouldn't skimp and go halfway, but it appears they've done just that

Processor wise, it appears the highest available is the Core i7-620. This would be a fine proc... included in the 13" MacBookPro! The Sony Z was able to do it? Why not Apple? The 15" and definitely 17" should have been equipped with the 720 and 820 Quads. If the HP Envy could do it, I would have liked to see Apple take a shot at it. There's no bloody excuse for staying with a Core 2 Duo proc for a Pro notebook refresh in 2010. That's just embarrassing, trotting out old technology alongside "new". If they couldn't fit the i7-620 in there, there are plenty of others such as the i5s that would be a better choice.

Graphics are underwhelming. The 320m is suggested to be integrated? I know there are some upcoming Asus models with 310s with 1gb, discrete. Will this "special" card be lower performance? It doesn't even seem to have nay of its own memory. It may be an upgrade from the integrated 9400 from before, but why's the bloody point? Sony's 13" Z includes a 330 with 1gb of discrete memory!

The 15"/17" are stuck with what is likely an downclocked 330 that for some reason only has 512 mb/ram at the highest level. Why?! Tiny Sony laptops and Alienware 11" bricks do better than this! If they were going to go Nvidia, couldn't they fit the 1gb 330 or even better 335 into 15" and 17" laptops? It appears they're using some sort of Optimus-like technology this time around, too. I'd rather have a physical switch, but I'm probably in the minority. ATI would have been a smarter decision. The HP Envy is now equipped with a 5830 1gb card, which I thought would be perfect for the MBP.

The new screen options are a bright point. I'd like to know if the HiRes and standard glossy screens are both of the same quality, color and brightness wise. I would lament that there's no 15/17 1920x1080 resolution available, but with that graphics card I wouldn't want one either.

I really was looking forward to this refresh thinking after all this time "Why don't I just buy an Apple, if I've been waiting for other companies to get all the little Apple things right". This reminds me that "Now I remember, its because Apple themselves gets some of the big things wrong."