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[mooooose]

So what's better? 13" Pro or Air? And what's the cheapest for both 13" options? 1099 for Pro vs 1250 for Air (I'm a student). Is there any way I can get it for cheaper? I know someone whose daughter works at an Apple store so could I bug her for a discount (no skeezball)? I'm looking for a laptop that will last me a good 4 or 5 years and at around $1k.

Thankssss

 

[LProtag]

Yep, but the timetables have been shifted due to Intel not needing to push Ivy Bridge out so fast with Bulldozer being a total stinker. Expect some "delays" announced by Intel when it comes to IB stuff (Q1 to Q2 for example). April was seeming like the date, but now who knows?

I thought it was already delayed until Q1/Q2 as it was originally supposed to come out in November? Hence the whole stopgap improvement of the Pro which I think is just more processor speed.

 

[3N16MA]

I think we see the MBP resembling the MBA next year. No superdrive and SSD standard with a wedge shape. Not as thin but close.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I think we see the MBP resembling the MBA next year. No superdrive and SSD standard with a wedge shape. Not as thin but close.

The industrial design on the MBA is so far ahead of anything else on the market it isn't even funny, so I sure hope Apple has the sense to bring the MBP more in line.

 

[LProtag]

So what's better? 13" Pro or Air? And what's the cheapest for both 13" options? 1099 for Pro vs 1250 for Air (I'm a student). Is there any way I can get it for cheaper? I know someone whose daughter works at an Apple store so could I bug her for a discount (no skeezball)? I'm looking for a laptop that will last me a good 4 or 5 years and at around $1k.

Thankssss

The Pro, unless you really want the form factor of the Air. Student discount is probably as cheap as you'll be able to get it. Wait at least until the next update which should be within the month, rumored to be early November. There's new model numbers out. It's a slight increase in speed, but you should still wait for it as it's only weeks away.

 

[Jasoco]

So what's better? 13" Pro or Air? And what's the cheapest for both 13" options? 1099 for Pro vs 1250 for Air (I'm a student). Is there any way I can get it for cheaper? I know someone whose daughter works at an Apple store so could I bug her for a discount (no skeezball)? I'm looking for a laptop that will last me a good 4 or 5 years and at around $1k.

Thankssss

Air:

Higher resolution (currently)
SSD standard and not user replaceable
Lighter
Thinner

Lower processor speed
No LED for sleep
No IR port for remote (Not that it's needed anymore without Front Row but it could still be useful for Plex/XBMC/Boxee)
4GB RAM max
No FireWire (If you need it)

Pro:

Much faster processor speeds
HD iSight 720p camera
8GB RAM max (vs. 4GB)
Optical drive (If that's your bag of tea)
HDD bigger and replaceable
IR port
Sleep LED
Black bezel and glass

Lower resolution display (Possibly updated with next version)
Heaver
Thicker

You be the judge based on these facts.

 

[Borman]

2006 Mac Pro starting to slow down. Trying to keep it going. USB ports arent working right though. Blah, too expensive to replace.

 

[cory.]

I'm planning on getting a MacBook by next semester. Right now I would go for the 13" Air, but the next gen 15" Pro will probably be a better choice for me.

 

[Vinterbird]

Lower resolution display (Possibly updated with next version)

Is that a realistic expectation to have for the soon'ish update of the Pro? Because then I might need to go cancel my Air order.

 

[Jasoco]

Is that a realistic expectation to have for the soon'ish update of the Pro? Because then I might need to go cancel my Air order.

No. Because it's not guaranteed. They might even hold the higher resolution for one more update until the next redesign just because. I mean, that's not to say they WON'T, but you can't be sure, because, hey, they skipped the last update after all. The Air had the higher resolution for months before the last MBP update and the MBP didn't even get it. Then the Air got a new update. You can't guarantee they'll do the updated resolution this time. So keep your Air. It's not gonna be worth the small chance that it might get more pixels. And after all, if it DOES get it, just sell or return the Air if you really want the Pro.

 

[Quick]

My Macbook Pro just had the "Not charging" battery status displayed, and it wasn't plugged in. I waited a full 10 minutes before restarting. Restarting didn't do anything to change it, but actually plugging my charger did. Checking my battery status, it says "normal", but I'm a bit concerned now. Is it anything to worry about?

 

[Synth_floyd]

It'll be interesting to see what they do with the pros next year. Right now if you want to get a 13" macbook there's no point in going for the pro unless you need the optical drive and all the ports on it.

If they take away the hard drive, optical drive and add in SSD then it's exactly the same as the airs. I guess they'll do a quad core with a video card too so the new pros will just be speced up airs? Or maybe they'll go with hybrid HDD-SSDs in them.

I think it just shows how much computer processors and computer design have advanced that the "low end" and "high end" laptops are basically converging except for some spec differences.

 

[Jasoco]

http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/23/apples-new-macbook-pro-lineup-revealed-with-faster-processors-and-more-storage/

The smallest speed bumps ever and no mention of a higher resolution in the 13".

No higher resolution would seal my decision to get an Air. Boo-yah, grandma. Boo-yah.

 

[Leona Lewis]

http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/23/apples-new-macbook-pro-lineup-revealed-with-faster-processors-and-more-storage/

The smallest speed bumps ever and no mention of a higher resolution in the 13".

No higher resolution would seal my decision to get an Air. Boo-yah, grandma. Boo-yah.

That's a pretty generous bump in storage space. But wow, what a letdown.

 

[Ken Masters]

I want to play music from my iPhone over the speakers systems in my house. These are the two products on the mac store:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB321LL/A/AirPort-Express-AirTunes?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD031LL/A/AirPort-Extreme?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg

which one should I get and why is the AirPort Extreme Base Station $80 more expensive then the AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes?

 

[LyleLanley]

I want to play music from my iPhone over the speakers systems in my house. These are the two products on the mac store:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB321LL/A/AirPort-Express-AirTunes?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD031LL/A/AirPort-Extreme?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg

which one should I get and why is the AirPort Extreme Base Station $80 more expensive then the AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes?

Get the Express, the Extreme is a better router but it doesn't have AirTunes.

 

[omgkitty]

I want to play music from my iPhone over the speakers systems in my house. These are the two products on the mac store:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB321LL/A/AirPort-Express-AirTunes?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD031LL/A/AirPort-Extreme?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg

which one should I get and why is the AirPort Extreme Base Station $80 more expensive then the AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes?

I'm pretty sure the 2nd one is also a router, whereas the cheaper one is just a wireless router with one port....I think.

 

[omgkitty]

Hmm been noticing that ever since I upgraded my mid-2007 Macbook to Lion that it's been a little sluggish. Things take a little longer and seem to hang up for a few seconds every once in a while. I do plan on buying a new Macbook Pro, but probably not until they do the hardware refresh hopefully next year. Was wondering if it would be worth it to add an extra gig of ram in? I have 2gb already, and unfortunately it only goes up to 3 (stupid motherboard limitations!), so would that extra gig help with this? I have noticed that my CPU throttles a lot and the fan kicks in more often. I know I cannot replace the CPU, but was hoping the RAM may keep it more stable, and at only $50 to upgrade it, it seems like a decent deal. Any thoughts?

 

[Ken Masters]

now I'm more confused

 

[Crazymoogle]

now I'm more confused

Airport Base Station: It's a router. Not a lot different than your usual Netgear variety. You've got 4 ethernet ports (1 in / 3 out). The small round plug is for the power cable, because it needs a power brick. There is no audio port.

Airport Express: This is meant to be a portable mini-router. It plugs directly into the wall (no brick) and has a single ethernet port (presumably to connect to the DSL/cable, but maybe also as a network extender?) The round plug on it is an analog minijack for connecting to a receiver or speaker set. The whole point of this thing is to be a travel-ready router that will grant wifi to various nearby devices.

I haven't the slightest idea if you could wirelessly pump music from your phone to this for speaker playback, but it does seem at least theoretically possible since the description on Airtunes is that any wifi PC with iTunes can do so.

 

[Sofo]

http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/23/apples-new-macbook-pro-lineup-revealed-with-faster-processors-and-more-storage/

The smallest speed bumps ever and no mention of a higher resolution in the 13".

No higher resolution would seal my decision to get an Air. Boo-yah, grandma. Boo-yah.

I think this gives me the green light I needed to get it though. I'm definitely going for the 15"!

 

[richiek]

How does the Mac Book Air handle Photoshop/Illustrator CS5?

 

[Fuu]

My 5 year old HP laptop is dying (wobbly, vents on all the time, battery has gone to the shitter for a long while) so I just ordered my first Mac from Apple, a 13" Air, latest default model. Let's see how this goes. It's expensive as fuck in my country because of the taxes but I managed to get some discounts. It will also replace this Asus netbook I've been stuck with, it's not that bad but I can't deal with it anymore.

 

[Auron_Kale]

Despite preferring to get an 11.6 inch MBA (coming from a 12 inch G4 PB), going to go with a new 13 inch MBP and just upgrade the RAM.

Thankfully, this makes my Birthday/Christmas list that much shorter (i.e. just the computer).

 

[LyleLanley]

Airport Base Station: It's a router. Not a lot different than your usual Netgear variety. You've got 4 ethernet ports (1 in / 3 out). The small round plug is for the power cable, because it needs a power brick. There is no audio port.

Airport Express: This is meant to be a portable mini-router. It plugs directly into the wall (no brick) and has a single ethernet port (presumably to connect to the DSL/cable, but maybe also as a network extender?) The round plug on it is an analog minijack for connecting to a receiver or speaker set. The whole point of this thing is to be a travel-ready router that will grant wifi to various nearby devices.

I haven't the slightest idea if you could wirelessly pump music from your phone to this for speaker playback, but it does seem at least theoretically possible since the description on Airtunes is that any wifi PC with iTunes can do so.

Yeah, you can use the express to stream music from iTunes or any iOS device. The Ethernet port on it is for connecting to your network of your not wirelessly extending an existing network.

 

[Timbuktu]

Mac mini or iMac?

Decided to replace my old G5 Powermac, so still have the 5 or 6 yrs old cinema display and the rest of the kit. my main work station is at the office nowadays. And the iPad suits my portable needs. Are there reasons why i should get the iMac? I know that the graphics are better and you can fit more RAM in, but Mac mini seems logical right now although it's probably the least 'desired' Apple product there is.

 

[Rocksteady33]

Okay, I've realized that I need to backup my computer after remember my old Macbook crashed after three years of use. I've never backed up a computer before, and all I know is I think I'm supposed to use Time Machine? With an external harddrive? Does anyone have tips on how to back it up, and maybe a good external to use?

Don't have a ton of data on the thing, maybe 15+ movies and 1,300 songs. Plus random documents and whatnot.

 

[Kosmo]

Okay, I've realized that I need to backup my computer after remember my old Macbook crashed after three years of use. I've never backed up a computer before, and all I know is I think I'm supposed to use Time Machine? With an external harddrive? Does anyone have tips on how to back it up, and maybe a good external to use?

Don't have a ton of data on the thing, maybe 15+ movies and 1,300 songs. Plus random documents and whatnot.

A few ways:

1) Drag your data to an external.
2) Use something like Carbon Copy Cloner to actually clone the drive (OS and all)
3) Use and online backup solution, like Crashplan (my preference)

 

[Tobor]

Okay, I've realized that I need to backup my computer after remember my old Macbook crashed after three years of use. I've never backed up a computer before, and all I know is I think I'm supposed to use Time Machine? With an external harddrive? Does anyone have tips on how to back it up, and maybe a good external to use?

Don't have a ton of data on the thing, maybe 15+ movies and 1,300 songs. Plus random documents and whatnot.

1. Buy an external drive thats larger than your internal drive.

2. Plug it in.

3. Open Time Machine and select the drive.

That's it.

 

[Hammer]

I'm actually interested in making the switch to a mac, but can't find much info about bootcamp and how nice it plays with 3dsMax. I need to be able to run decently high-poly scenes in 3dsMax, and have absolutely no experience with boot camp or parallels. I also have been having trouble finding up to date info regarding this. Anyone have any experience running large 3ds Max files on a mac? I am very interested in performance, ease of use, etc.

 

[whitehawk]

Mac mini or iMac?

Decided to replace my old G5 Powermac, so still have the 5 or 6 yrs old cinema display and the rest of the kit. my main work station is at the office nowadays. And the iPad suits my portable needs. Are there reasons why i should get the iMac? I know that the graphics are better and you can fit more RAM in, but Mac mini seems logical right now although it's probably the least 'desired' Apple product there is.

I came in here a while ago with the same question, and decided to go with the iMac. However if you already have a monitor/keyboard/mouse, perhaps a mac mini would be better for you. What are you planning to use the computer for?

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

I'm actually interested in making the switch to a mac, but can't find much info about bootcamp and how nice it plays with 3dsMax. I need to be able to run decently high-poly scenes in 3dsMax, and have absolutely no experience with boot camp or parallels. I also have been having trouble finding up to date info regarding this. Anyone have any experience running large 3ds Max files on a mac? I am very interested in performance, ease of use, etc.

Boot Camp is native Windows. You'll get the same performance and experience out of it as if you were running it on a Windows machine with the same tech specs.

 

[Jasoco]

I'm actually interested in making the switch to a mac, but can't find much info about bootcamp and how nice it plays with 3dsMax. I need to be able to run decently high-poly scenes in 3dsMax, and have absolutely no experience with boot camp or parallels. I also have been having trouble finding up to date info regarding this. Anyone have any experience running large 3ds Max files on a mac? I am very interested in performance, ease of use, etc.

The best choice is to install Windows in BootCamp, then use Parallels to import it as a Virtual Machine. Then you can choose between rebooting to get full speed for games or running it virtually to run Office or other things. Parallels is better than VMWare in so many ways and highly recommended if you get a Mac and go the dual-boot direction, which you should because it'll make the transition so much smoother as you'll never actually lose anything and can slowly get used to the new while still using the old.

BootCamp means Windows will run as if it's installed on a PC. So you will get no speed loss.

What machine are you considering?

Okay, I've realized that I need to backup my computer after remember my old Macbook crashed after three years of use. I've never backed up a computer before, and all I know is I think I'm supposed to use Time Machine? With an external harddrive? Does anyone have tips on how to back it up, and maybe a good external to use?

Don't have a ton of data on the thing, maybe 15+ movies and 1,300 songs. Plus random documents and whatnot.

Around these here parts I'm known as the Carbon Copy Cloner man with the cute girl avatar*. I highly recommend the super cheap route of getting an external drive, partitioning off a section for a backup the same size as the internal drive and use CCC to clone daily (I do hourly) so you always have a backup. AND the backup is BOOTABLE. So you can still use your machine even if you have to remove the internal drive to replace it.

My personal setup is as follows. Mind you it's more expensive.
MacBook Pro (Main machine)
Runs an hourly network backup

Mac mini
6TB x 2 external storage for media and backups
The CCC schedule backs up hourly to the mini as long as I'm in my network. It's incremental so it only backs up changed files which ends up being an average of a few hundred MB each hour. Mainly my Chrome caches for the most part.
The 6TB is backed up to another 6TB every morning. 3TB is movies and TV. 2TB is miscellaneous and 1TB is total backups for each computer. I also keep a portable 1TB drive to back up to when out and about.

Spoiler

*In my head

 

[Hammer]

Thanks a ton Liu and Jasoco! That actually helps out a lot.

I'm looking at purchasing a 27 inch iMac, as that's what I've become comfortable with here at work. I was thinking of allocating a separate drive for boot camp but in my 'research' I found a lot of complaints about licensing and separate drives... not that big of a deal, just want to make sure I'm doing it right.

Sounds like boot camp is exactly what I'm lookin for, and I really like the suggestion of using parallels in conjunction.

 

[Ken Masters]

Yeah, you can use the express to stream music from iTunes or any iOS device. The Ethernet port on it is for connecting to your network of your not wirelessly extending an existing network.

so go with this then? http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB321LL/A/AirPort-Express-AirTunes?fnode=MTY1NDA0Mg


so only the express can play songs from the iPhone over speakers?

 

[Jasoco]

Well everyone who was waiting for the Pro updates. They're updated. Tiny itty-bitty updates. No higher resolution on the 13" and super small processor bumps. No notice on the site either.

So there's your cue. If you can't wait for next years redesign, now is your chance to make your decision between the Pro and Air if you were trying to decide. Because there probably won't be another Pro update until the end of next Summer at least.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Yeah, the pro update pretty much sealed that I need to buy a Macbook Air. Just gathering up the courage now. Is there just the one Applecare package? $280 is a lot of money to throw down...

 

[DeadRockstar]

Why is the update tipping you guys towards the air? The difference is still dual core vs. quad. Surely your workload would determine which regardless of updates? Unless it's the screen res on the 13" because I can see how 1280x800 native would put you off the pro.

 

[Jasoco]

Yes. It's the screen.

Also, the quad core is moot because the 13" Pro doesn't have a quad core anyway.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Basically. No need for an optical drive, two more cores makes no difference to me for mild code emulation either. Resolution, on the other hand, is huge when I need to emulate a phone or tablet screen. (I'd actually prefer a higher res, but radically bulking up to the low-end 15" isn't much of a solution.)

 

[Azzurri]

Guess I'm waiting for the new redesign.

 

[Chris R]

Yes. It's the screen.

Also, the quad core is moot because the 13" Pro doesn't have a quad core anyway.

Or a reasonably priced SSD (from the Factory, yes you can install your own if you want and save money).

 

[DeadRockstar]

Thanks for the replies, that all makes sense. Shame about the 13" MBP.

I think I need to go and try an air out in the store.

 

[RDreamer]

Now I'm torn. I'm probably going to upgrade my 2007 MBP sometime either this year or next. I was waiting for this update to see. It seems like the Ivy bridge stuff might be something great to wait for, but the rumors of SSD and redesigns like the air have me worried. I don't want an SSD (because they currently don't offer enough space), and I need a disc drive.

 

[Jasoco]

That too. The Air makes up for lower processor with the SSD speed. Just a shame the RAM is still limited to 4GB. And that's not a fault of Apple because the Air uses one stick and single stick 8GB modules are still way overpriced which sucks. As soon as 8GB sticks can be bought for less than $50 each Apple will probably up the Air RAM.

So it really does come down to the screen resolution and it's a shame it's still 1280x800. Plus I love the tiny form of the Air and can't wait to get mine. Soon... very soon. I can taste it!

Spoiler

Tastes like brushed aluminum.

 

[TUSR]

Now I'm torn. I'm probably going to upgrade my 2007 MBP sometime either this year or next. I was waiting for this update to see. It seems like the Ivy bridge stuff might be something great to wait for, but the rumors of SSD and redesigns like the air have me worried. I don't want an SSD (because they currently don't offer enough space), and I need a disc drive.

Its all speculation, the only thing I have heard of being removed is the optical drive. But a SSD standard wouldn't allow the MBP to sit at its current price range and maintain its market share.

I honestly hope they don't put a taper on the new MBP, I love the current shape and dimensions of the MBP. I've been holding out for the Ivy Bridge refresh next year, if it ever comes.

 

[Jasoco]

Yeah. It's all rumors right now. No one knows if Apple will actually pull the optical drive from a machine marked "Pro" until they go ahead and do it. It's really a touchy subject because while Apple wants to kill them dead, a lot of people still need them, and Apple isn't one for having multiple model designs of the same computer just to have one with an optical drive and one without. So they have to decide whether or not to pull it or not.

Personally, I'm fine with the optical-less design and an optional external drive for when you do need it. Because let's face it. If you're going on a plane trip, you'd be much better off either renting a movie off iTunes or transcoding a bunch of movies to your HDD/SSD inside the laptop and avoiding the battery usage and wait time for DVD menus. Transcoding only takes about 2 hours for a movie. Pretty much realtime. Prepare ahead of time and you're set.

Or like me you could have a 3TB HDD on a networked machine with all your DVD's already ripped and waiting to be transferred to the machine for your trip.

And the SSD is still too high in price for them to standardize it. Sucks but RAM and SSD's are still pricey relatively. You know Apple would put them in standard if they could, but the prices need to drop a bit more first.

 

[omgkitty]

Hmm been noticing that ever since I upgraded my mid-2007 Macbook to Lion that it's been a little sluggish. Things take a little longer and seem to hang up for a few seconds every once in a while. I do plan on buying a new Macbook Pro, but probably not until they do the hardware refresh hopefully next year. Was wondering if it would be worth it to add an extra gig of ram in? I have 2gb already, and unfortunately it only goes up to 3 (stupid motherboard limitations!), so would that extra gig help with this? I have noticed that my CPU throttles a lot and the fan kicks in more often. I know I cannot replace the CPU, but was hoping the RAM may keep it more stable, and at only $50 to upgrade it, it seems like a decent deal. Any thoughts?

Re-asking.

 

[bionic77]

Re-asking.

RAM always helps.

My cus has a C2D and it seems to run really well on Lion. What are you doing when the machine starts to lag or slow down? Check your RAM usage when that happens. If you are using Firefox and another program and they are using up all of your ram then that is probably the problem. If not, well maybe reinstall or maybe it is something else.

 

[omgkitty]

RAM always helps.

My cus has a C2D and it seems to run really well on Lion. What are you doing when the machine starts to lag or slow down? Check your RAM usage when that happens. If you are using Firefox and another program and they are using up all of your ram then that is probably the problem. If not, well maybe reinstall or maybe it is something else.

It's kind of random. Usually I have the same programs open most of the time - Chrome, Twitter, iTunes, Last.FM and possibly Mail and Transmission. Sometimes it happens when I have 4 or 5 tabs open in Chrome, but most of the time when the computer starts to freeze up, the fan kicks in very loudly, and when I check my processes, the CPU is around 95%.

I had a much worse time about a month ago right before my hard drive died. I had a lot of freezing issues and eventually my HDD died. I put a new drive in and reinstalled Snow Leopard for the time being and only recently reinstalled Lion. It's been better, but still freezes from time to time, which never happened in Snow Leopard.

Also side question. How the hell do I make all of my folders auto sort? Ever since reinstalling on a new HDD, I have had folders all over the place, and I can go in and set every single folder up to sort by name individually, but it does not sort every folder on the computer. This is especially annoying with dragging and dropping on a thumb drive with hundreds of files and they are randomly thrown everywhere every time I plug it in as it does not save my settings.