Apple New MBPs, Lightpeak = Thunderbolt?

Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, ThunderBolt - HO!

http://www.macrumors.com/2011/02/23/macbook-pro-specs-lightpeak-known-as-thunderbolt/

Mac Rumours reporting that it's legit and not Photochopped. If so, as they state in the article, it's odd that the LightPeak / ThunderBolt port is the same as a mini-display port. Why not a USB3 hybrid?

 

so it replaces miniDP or there's miniDP on the other side? or it doubles as mini-DP?

i5 with Intel 3000 graphics? sounds like a K chip, overclocking a Macbook?

 

I have seen some other places reporting that the new Mac Book Pros will be using Lightpeak. To me though, seems a slightly pointless addition atm, especially since that the linked article refers to it as the low end model. All it is going to do is add extra costs on to the price for a port that has very few supported peripherals, and for a while, peripherals that do support it will have a steep price tag.

And while a K series would be pretty cool, I think it's more likely the i5 2410M.

 

Seems that the "Thunderbolt" port is both Light Peak and MDP. So if you just want to connect a display, you use that MDP>DVI adapter you've got kicking around, and if you want to connect up external devices LP allows daisy-chaining. Quite an elegant solution really, two ports in one.

Intel graphics are bit meh, but Apple have no choice as they can't stick with C2D any longer. I'm more interested in what happens to the Air at the next refresh, and the rumoured 8-16GB SSDs as boot drives in the 15/17" MBPs.

 

Oh dear was hoping to have an upgrade but does not look likely.

Wish they had squeezed in dual VGA cards or something like that to allow the chip to partake in a bit more intensive gaming.

 

The 15 and 17s will get discrete GPUs, but the 13" has always been the cripple of the family.

 

New MBPs are out. Apparently it's not a USB3 hybrid as the USB committee don't want anybody else using their designs, and Apple made MDP a free license.

 

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ine_with_next_gen_cpu_gputhunderbolt_i_o.html

 

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ook_pros_with_quad_core_i7_cpus_amd_gpus.html

 

underwhelming. 13in macbook air has a 1440x900 display where the 13in macbook *PRO* has a 1280x800 display?

it looks to me like a bare minimum spec bump to deplete stockpiles of parts. Will hold onto my cash until the next round.

 

IIRC most of the mobile SB (i5 and i7) processors come with the HD3000 GPU instead of the 2000GPU.

 

The new 13" MBP looks super tempting.

 

15" Macbook pro with 2.2GHz Quad and ATI - 2149€. Right, ok, uhm... I think i will pass this one.

 

13 Inch

I dont think the 13inch has ever been a cripple. I had the money to buy a 17inch but chose against it and bought the 13inch out of preference. i wanted a portable mac but i didn't want to carry a external disk drive the logical choice there is the 13inch..? The mac i have just now handles whatever i throw at it. Which to be honest is usually just some football manager, minecraft, some word and internet at uni. 4Gb of RAM and a dual core is fine dont think ill be upgrading anytime soon.

 

what is the practicality of this Thunderbolt port on desktops? a displayport will always be connected, so no place for peripherals. then if it's the same sized port, then it'd create confusion for people on desktop units.

i don't like this combined approach. it makes DP even more confusing for new comers to this interface. just standarise mini-DP as outputs and we should all be fine!

 

Will almost definitely be getting a 17" one, but windows will still be main OS I use, just need Mac for some of the software required at Uni. Their statement of not needing one because you can use the lab machines is BS if you want to get any work done...

 

It's a daisy-chainable bus. You can connect your monitor to it, and then all your hard drives to _that_, without losing any speed.

Thunderbolt is being pushed as a natural successor to DP - it's backwards compatible and will be *forwards* compatible with faster thunderbolt protocols too. In other words: TBH, it's pretty awesome.

 

what happens on older monitors what can't daisy-chain?

where would it go? oh graphics cards? doubt Intel will sell this to nvidia/AMD, on motherboards? confusing with mini-DP on graphics cards......

 

The 13" MBP has always been a slightly upgraded MacBook, and had stripped-down features compared to its bigger brothers. Apple don't offer Anti-Glare as a BTO for the screen, it lacks discrete graphics, etc etc. It's a great machine for those who want to do simple(ish) tasks and some light gaming in a small package, but it's stuck at the bottom of the lineup with all the sacrifices that means.

There's demand for a high-end 13" MBP too. One that costs more, but provides more power and features.

Thunderbolt looks great, as long as it gets market penetration and support. USB 3.0 looks like a pile of rubbish compared to it, especially as the 10Gbps is actual bandwidth rather than theoretical.

Also makes "docking" a laptop incredibly easy.

 

Shouldn't it be "lightning bolt"?

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