anyone else "Waiting for Arrandale" ?

Here are some links to pass the time...

And here is a quote from one of the predictions/speculations [pertaining to Apple/MacBook Pros specifically] which i hope proves accurate...

Quote:

Fairly sound assumptions:

Announced between now and Jan 27
Shipping in Feb
Intel integrated graphics for 13" and low-end 15" (same performance as 9400M), Nvidia 330M discrete GPU for high-end 15" and 17" (about 10-20% increase over 9600M)
Arrandale is a good chip, 20-30% increase with same power and price (i.e., i5 2.53 performs like 3.06 Core2Duo with regard to processing power, but it costs less and uses less power)

I'm looking to get a high-end 15" MBP (where i'll also get my first taste of Snow Leopard), so waiting another 2 or 3 weeks seems logical.

Santa! ... come back Santa. Â (and i don't mean Santa Rosa).

>>Intel's MacBook Pro update slip: what to expect<<

Core i5 MacBook Pros, in the channel... leaked by Intel?

[uh-oh, i hope this doesn't raise Steve's hackles]

--

Here's a screenshot someone grabbed at an Intel "Retail Edge" website:
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=Pq1z9TV0 [it's real folks.]

Google cache of some page at Geekbench:

MacBookPro6,1 (Processor: Intel Core i7 M 620)

...and the corresponding MacRumors thread which exploded as a result:

Unreleased Core i7 MacBook Pro 6,1 Benchmarked? Supplies Constrained

Hopes are that Apple will announce this coming Tuesday (else the 16th... else the 23rd).

Else... we wait some more.

Originally Posted By: Hal Itosis

Else... we wait some more.

Relax, Hal, or you'll blow a gasket. Wouldn't look good on your Arrandale...

This old PowerBook G4 is sooo slooow (and the 12" screen is so small, and the tiny HD is so full), it makes the wait seem even longer and more painful.

That Geekbench score sure looks sweet...

Â
Apple To Upgrade MacBook Pros Tuesday Ahead Of Macworld Conference?
Apparently... no.

In other news...nVidia released a new GPU today named "Optimus":

Will this part be offered in the upcoming MBPs?
Or will they get an ATI 58xx graphics chip instead?
Only "Jobszilla" knows.

I wonder why the wait. Are the new MBPs not ready yet??? This seems to be the most anticipated hardware update i can recall. That first MacRumors thread (linked to above) reached over 6000 posts and basically broke the forum software. So they started a new thread which currently numbers over 2000 posts.

Today is Macworld Expo 2010, and (despite the fact that Apple no longer attends, it) would have been a "perfect" Tuesday to put the new MBPs on the market. Something doesn't feel right about this...

See you next Tuesday then.

Or, maybe Wednesday is the new Tuesday.

Someone at MacRumors compiled this chart:

Code:


  model  | Intel releases CPU  |  Apple releases MacBookPro
 -----------------------------------------------------------
 MBP1,1  |    January 5, 2006  |  Tuesday, February 14, 2006
 MBP2,1  |    August 28, 2006  |  Tuesday,  October 24, 2006
 MBP3,1  |        May 9, 2007  |  Tuesday,     June  5, 2007
 MBP4,1  |    January 6, 2008  |  Tuesday, February 26, 2008
 MBP5,1  |      June 13, 2008  |  Tuesday,  October 14, 2008
 MBP5,2  |  December 28, 2008  |   Monday,     June  8, 2009
 MBP6,1  |    January 7, 2010  |  Tuesday, February __, 2010
 Â

Not sure where the Tuesday tradition started, but it applies to all sorts of things ("New Music Tuesdays" at the iTunes Store for example, as the entertainment industry also releases new stuff on Tuesday).

Not sure again, but i think that one Monday in the chart was a "silent" update... as not much was changed (had basically the same Core 2 Duo processor anyways?).

After 4488 posts (180 pages) in the second "Waiting for Arrandale" thread (the first of which had reached 6626 posts), the MacRumors moderators have closed that one as well [this time due to too much trolling, fake info, and other childish antics] and started a third thread: The unofficial "I'm Waiting for Arrandale" thread... III

Someone in a similar Ars Technica thread has made a calculated predection: due to the upcoming iTunes Store hoopla (10 billionth song sold), the main page at apple.com will probably be preoccupied with that promotion. [he calculated that number will be attained right around next Tuesday Feb. 23rd (approximately).] Thus, he predicts the new MacBook Pro release announcement might fall on March 2nd.

No comment. ((Â

Â ))

--

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: Apple's Macs And iPods Have A Blow-Out January.

AppleInsider now has an <article> stating that the (aforementioned) "Optimus" will be used in future MacBook Pro models. (Future???)

Also included are several paragraphs (all generously sprinkled with hyperlinks to previous Insider articles) outlining Apple's recent GPU decision-making (OpenCL), as well as a brief overview of the ongoing legal spat between nVidia and Intel.

Hard to say how this latest news bodes with respect to the (expected) imminent MBP release. [gawd i hope this wait is worth it -- Apple's affinity for secrecy and surprises is getting hard to stomach.]

Quote:

This old PowerBook G4 is sooo slooow (and the 12" screen is so small, and the tiny HD is so full), it makes the wait seem even longer and more painful.

So whatever became of your Santa Rosa?

Originally Posted By: dkmarsh

So whatever became of your Santa Rosa?

It's comatose.

Hmm, the 'Waiting for Arrandale' thread at MacRumors is getting increasingly mediocre (as fewer-and-fewer knowledgeable people seem to participate). A better thread in which to kill some time by reading seems to be:

Apple Planning Smoother Transitions Between Graphics Processors in Upcoming MacBook Pros?

â€œTo-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.â€

Release the new MacBooks Pro... tomorrow!!!

For those who didn't already know: today is Steve Jobs' (55th) birthday.

Tomorrow brings another Tuesday, ripe with possibility.

Gizmodo however seems to think the MacBook Pro release will be delayed for some time to come:

iPad evolution

Looks like Steve's wiping the floor with your expectations...

One of the more "creative" efforts of another who is bored by the lengthy wait: MacBook 3D

More speculation, excuses and explanations (take your pick) in â€™Future Plansâ€™â€¦

Current wisdom (or desperate speculation perhaps) says mid-April to mid-May.

I don't subscribe to the voices who chant that the WWDC is the target venue. Being quite late now, i feel they will get shipped ASAP once they're ready... not held back just for show & spectacle.

The new MBP line should be a mere footnote there â€”like: â€œas you know, we revamped the MacBook Pro line last month...â€ (followed by thunderous applause) â€”and then the WWDC's focus can remain on the new iPhone/iPad and iOS 4.

I would think Jobs would rather see the WWDC participants toting their new Arrandale machines around at the conference (having already purchased them some weeks earlier), than just then announcing in late June what all the other laptop players have done as far back as February.

WTH is taking so long anyway?

Word on the street is this Tuesday is the day.

"I'll hold the football, Charlie Brown, and you come running up and kick it."

Charlie's not here right now.

Code:


    ,--.,-"";-"-.    
    .-;-/ / / .- `\  .-.
   ` ( ' ' ` ;    `\/    \
      \            /      \
      / (. C . )  |   .-. |
     |    _      /   (` / |
      \  /}|     |    )(\ |
       `-> (____.|   /  |||
        /  \=====|  |   |\|
        |   |====|  \ _/  `
        \__/=====|  |`
        `-'======|  \
         |=======/   |
         |=======|   | .--,
         ########\   |/  /
           |_|__||   `   `--.
       ,---;-'--'\          `--.
      `---`-------'-.___,___.---

Hey, that's my blankie!!!

You were right about Tuesday, the new MacBook Pro is in da house!

Hereâ€™s another look.

Happy happy joy joy. [--Stimpson J. Cat:]

Code:

       ____            .    _  .
      /# /_\_          |\_|/__/|
     |  |/o\o\        / / \/ \  \
     |  \\_/_/       /__|O||O|__ \
    / |_   |        |/_ \_/\_/ _\ |
   |  ||\_ ~|       | | (____) | ||
   |  ||| \/        \/\___/\__/  //
   |  |||_          (_/         ||
    \//  |           |          ||
     ||  |           |          ||\
     ||_  \           \        //_/
     \_|  o|           \______//
     /\___/          __ || __||
    /  ||||__       (____(____)
       (___)_)

I'll go for a 15" with the Core i7.

The only undecided part is screen res: 1440x900 or the 1680x1050?

I'd like to see the two side by side... but since the latter is BTO, i don't suppose there'll be any in the stores with which to make any pre-purchase comparison.

--

BTW, it seems the Tuesday tradition is some sort of accepted "street date" adopted from the music (and movie) industry.

I wonder if that foretells the configuration of the new iMacs whence(ever) they arise. And if a matte display is (also) in the offing...

Already, I lust...

Originally Posted By: alternaut

You were right about Tuesday, the new MacBook Pro is in da house!

Hereâ€™s another look.

That Macworld article is nice.

This one at Ars Technica also goes into the (quasi-Optimus) graphics: Inside Apple's automatic graphics switching

And some early benchmark comparisons (Core 2 Duo versus Core i7): Benchmarks show Core i7 MacBook Pros offer 50% speed boost

[the original benchmark article is from Gizmodo, but both they and Engadget have such bloated pages, i prefer not to link there.]

Are there any decent rumours out there about updated iMacs? Think I'm ready to move beyond the eMac and 10.4.11.

Originally Posted By: Dermot Trellis

Are there any decent rumours out there about updated iMacs? Think I'm ready to move beyond the eMac and 10.4.11.

This is the first place to look: http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

Thanks. Looks useful.

Some notable (non-Mac-oriented) sites have chimed in on the new MacBook Pro (15", core i5 specifically):

AnandTech's review (9 pages)
iFixIt's teardown (3 pages)

[actually, AnandTech does touch on the i7 in some places]

~Â§~

more...

Laptop magazine (6 pages, notably 2 and 4 â€”keeping in mind their Vaio has a solid-state drive but their Mac doesn't)
cnet (2 pages)

Still waiting...

Code:

Date/Time          Activity                    Location
Apr 28,  4:41 PM   In transit                  ANCHORAGE, AK
Apr 28,  3:51 PM   Int'l shipment release      ANCHORAGE, AK
Apr 28,  3:46 AM   Arrived at FedEx location   ANCHORAGE, AK
Apr 28,  3:40 AM   In transit                  SHANGHAI CN
Apr 28,  2:39 AM   In transit                  SHANGHAI CN
Apr 27, 11:16 AM   Left FedEx origin facility  SHANGHAI CN
Apr 27, 11:10 AM   Picked up                   SHANGHAI CN
Apr 26,  9:47 PM   information sent to FedEx

...but it won't be long now!

About to unbox and set it up!

Consider this thread closed.

Nifty little menulet to indicate which graphics card is active: displays an "i" for Intel's IGP and an "n" for nVidia (GeForce GT 320/330M). Also shows dependent processes, if the nVidia card is active. This is strictly for the new Core i5/i7 MacBooks Pro:

gfxCardStatus

Not listed at versiontracker as yet, but here's the macupdate link to view current comments.