News New MacBooks have SATA downgrade

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/06/15/new-macbooks-have-sata-downgrade/1

A pair of new MacBook Pro models introduced earlier this month seem to be equipped with a last-generation 1.5Gb/s SATA interface - a drop from earlier models' 3.0Gb/s.

 

That's funny, and for some reason doesn't really surprise me.

Remember the 10$ Wireless N unlock for the Macbook Pros or w/e it was?

 

My 15" says NVidia MCP79 AHCI is 3Gb/s (early model) - surely they are using the same chipset still?!

 

That was slightly different in that when the products launched before N was officially 'released' - SATAII has been around for a while now.

I expect this was done to improve battery life. Most likely there wasn't a sufficient gain in speed for SATAII to be worth the loss of battery life. Seems a typical Appleism - See video cards. Underclocked to suit their hardware.

 

I'm confused after reading what "llratheal" posted.
So were the late 2008 models of the macbook, macbook pro's in October using Sata or Sata 2?
But i won't be surprised. It's apple. Funny how they only offer the anti-glare screen exclusively to the 17" pros only.

 

My '08 is fine like I said above. The battery life thing has got to be bull**** as there isn't alot of difference, the harddrive is still using the same juice. Apparently they do have the same chipset so its hopefully only 'software' (feel really bad for the people who just bought an SSD for the new ones!)

 

I was thinking the chipset itself. Processing anything at twice the speed is going to, inevitably, use more power. Quite how much, I don't know, and can't be arsed to go sifting through google to find out. I was merely speculating.

The fact that most of the drives are 5400RPM makes the extra speed found with II seem kinda pointless. Any bonuses would quickly be lost through a slower drive. Of course, this wouldn't be true for SSD users or the users that opted for the 7200rpm models. Guess they have to either like it or lump it.

 

Or Apple could have set a BIOS option for SATA I/II mode, meaning everyone would have been happy

 

You seem to be under the impression that Apple want to give their customers choice..

 

And under the Impression they have a BIOS

Well yes, but I meant in terms of limiting the hardware's capabilities

 

I'd imagine that if Apple charged for a SATAII restore then there'd be class action lawsuits all over the place.

Would be kinda funny, though.

 

Clarification would be a good thing here before I go off, but as big of an Apple fan that I am, I can't see the point in this.

 

Nothing new for apple.

Remember the old mac 'power pc' towers? They were still using 2x CD rom drives long (maybe even a year+) after you couldn't buy them anymore. My theory is they did a bulk buy of discontinued Sata II stock and will continue to find reasons to fit it until it runs out. I bet the reason to then switch to Sata III wil be 'Solid state drives are now being accepted as the format of choice' thus putting the reason back on the user for sticking with Sata II for so long.

 

Article read fail?


It's SATA I

 

SSDs are fast as they are you not miss the 60-100MB/s been chopped off under norm use

SSDs seem to not work well with Mac + nvidia notebooks (some any way)

 

I remember them extremely well and I know of what you speak. You are taking into account those were SCSI CD-ROMs, right?

The SATA II to SATA I downgrade just makes no sense. I mean the model just prior to the new ones, (Macbook included I believe) had SATA II.

 

Engadget confirmed it's the actual chip that's different btw

 

Got a link? I've been reading the article on engadget and nobody seems to know for sure. Last I heard it is different firmware on macbooks with SATA1 and SATA2, so it could be a firmware thing. It wouldn't make any financial sense to put a different chip in.

 

Most are only going to be useing norm hdds in the laptops so why fuss over it, as hdds do not come close to the sata 1 spec

If your going to be useing ssd in it date rate speed is not that inportant , as the access times are so low makes them respond fast