Macbook pro 2011

[freakyfreak]

So, Apple just released the new lines of macbook pro 2011 - is it worth buying with all the new stuff in it? Oh and please dont turn this thread into a pc vs mac crap, cause i could careless, im just asking for ur opinions on the new macbook pro line - design and performance wise. No, i will not get a desktop for WoW and other stuff - and if ur wondering what macbook pro inch im getting, 15 inch sounds perfect for me. So share ur opionions and discuss.. about Apple! Also Apple will be releasing Lion this summer, can i install lion on a macbook pro laptop?

the only two games i play pretty much is WoW and DCUO.

WoW supports macs- though i have to buy windows 7 to play dcuo but i rlly dont care much about dcuo, so wow and all blizzard stuff is fine by me. im not that hardcore gamer who downloads 300 games nd playone each day :P

[llDemonll]

It's good, but it's not a gaming machine. If you're buying it because you need/want a mac and want to game a little bit on the side, sure it's a decent purchase.

Design is the exact same as the old ones, so there's nothing to comment on there.

Performance? Good, for spreadsheets and CPU-intense activity like rendering.

For gaming, it's terrible. Laptops are not meant for gaming unless it has a dedicated GPU, which Mac's don't.

[Zlendorn]

I love my mbpro...But i would never game on it. EVER....I use it for everything else though.

---------- Post added 2011-03-02 at 10:14 PM ----------

For gaming, it's terrible. Laptops are not meant for gaming unless it has a dedicated GPU, which Mac's don't.

Actually both the 15" & 17" models come with pretty powerful GPU's now.

[Wries]

They actually put in a WORSE GPU in the mid-end 15" MBP's compared to the Nvidia GT 330 they had before. Only the 20k model got a more fancy graphics card. Disappointing to say the least. My Vaio still got a more powerful GPU than these MBP's and it's one year old and cost half the price.

As for the graphics solution for the 13" it's pretty much has the same horsepower as before. Intel HD 3000 kinda ranks just slightly above the Nvidia 320 igp. Not very powerful but can handle very low settings in games, at low resolutions.

[Crunchy Clown]

Can you buy a Macbook Pro without all the new stuff in it these days? If I look on the Apple website, I don't think you can. As of a few weeks ago, all Macbook Pro's come standard with new processors, graphics cards, thunderbolt i/o, etc. Unless you can find an 'older' Macbook Pro from a custom retailer.

Is it worth it? Yes. Some classmates of mine have been using their macs for years now and those are still pretty quick with everything they can throw at it. If you buy one now with all the new hardware, it'll last a fair bit longer than an 'older' version. Also, with the thunderbolt i/o you're prepared for the future (if thunderbolt even gets mainstream, that is).
Not only will it last longer, but with the new hardware it's also alot quicker. Then again, if you're not doing heavy duty stuff (HD video editing, 3D rendereing, etc.) you can save up on a couple of bucks and buy a slightly older version. Maybe look for a second hand Macbook Pro or, like I said, check a retailer if they have any 'older' versions of the Macbook Pro. They probably won't throw the older versions away that easily if they haven't been sold yet.

Anyways, in the next couple of days I'm buying one of those new Macbook Pro's aswell so I'm sort of in the same boat as you. It'll be my first Mac ever and I'm looking forward to buying it.

Edit: And like the those other people have said. I would'nt recommend gaming on a Mac. I'd buy a Windows computer for that.

[llDemonll]

It's not a matter of Mac v Windows for gaming, you can have windows 7 on a new MBP and it will still do terrible in games in comparison to a laptop with a dedicated GPU.

[freakyfreak]

hmmmmmmmmm.

[Deleted]

It's good, but it's not a gaming machine. If you're buying it because you need/want a mac and want to game a little bit on the side, sure it's a decent purchase.

Design is the exact same as the old ones, so there's nothing to comment on there.

Performance? Good, for spreadsheets and CPU-intense activity like rendering.

For gaming, it's terrible. Laptops are not meant for gaming unless it has a dedicated GPU, which Mac's don't.

Please retain from posting if you have no idea about the topic :/ All MBP save for the 13" model have dedicated GPUs (the 13" does not have one because there is simply not enough space inside).

The 15" MacBook Pro with the 6750M dedicated GPU and quad Sandy Bridge CPU is great for gaming. Pricey, of course, but Macs do cost a lot, plus, you will be getting a small factor laptop with great battery time and superb display. And don't disregard Copper Peak. Overall, I believe the current MBP lineup to be the strongest one in years and a great time to buy one.

[Nwa Dey]

Please retain from posting if you have no idea about the topic :/ All MBP save for the 13" model have dedicated GPUs (the 13" does not have one because there is simply not enough space inside).

The 15" MacBook Pro with the 6750M dedicated GPU and quad Sandy Bridge CPU is great for gaming. Pricey, of course, but Macs do cost a lot, plus, you will be getting a small factor laptop with great battery time and superb display. And don't disregard Copper Peak. Overall, I believe the current MBP lineup to be the strongest one in years and a great time to buy one.

It's not great for gaming at all. Won't be able to max out WoW, which is what you'd expect from such an expensive computer.

[Wries]

It's not great for gaming at all. Won't be able to max out WoW, which is what you'd expect from such an expensive computer.

6750M combined with a sandy bridge processor is basically one of the better configs you could get today for WoW. A shame they charge 20k for it, but it should, within reasonable expectations of framerates in onyxias whelp cave, "max out" WoW with no problems.

Still, as I said before, going with a Radeon 6490M on the 15k models is what bums me out as it's a downgrade from 330 GT. This makes this "lineup" pathetic in my eyes as I can't see how they overlooked that. (though the wild theory is that they are probably making the conclusion that their average costumer doesn't have use for GPU power, and that warrants putting a cheaper chip into the mbps so they can make moar money!).

[Nwa Dey]

6750M combined with a sandy bridge processor is basically one of the better configs you could get today for WoW. A shame they charge 20k for it, but it should, within reasonable expectations of framerates in onyxias whelp cave, "max out" WoW with no problems.

Still, as I said before, going with a Radeon 6490M on the 15k models is what bums me out as it's a downgrade from 330 GT. This makes this "lineup" pathetic in my eyes as I can't see how they overlooked that. (though the wild theory is that they are probably making the conclusion that their average costumer doesn't have use for GPU power, and that warrants putting a cheaper chip into the mbps so they can make moar money!).

If I'm not completely mistaken, the 6750 is actually worse than the GT 240, which is not an impressive card, at all.

But of course, this is Apple.

[Badpaladin]

It's not great for gaming at all. Won't be able to max out WoW, which is what you'd expect from such an expensive computer.

No you wouldn't. When you buy an ASUS G-series, you're expecting a gaming laptop, not something you can leave unplugged and keep performing the same tasks for 7 hours. When you buy a Mac, you're expecting everything but hardcore gaming. Doing otherwise would be silly. I don't quite understand why people keep holding Macs up to the standards of a gaming device, because they're not designed to be for gaming. They're designed for CPU-intensive tasks outside of gaming, portability, battery life, Audio/Video and aesthetic appeal. Not gaming. That's also precisely why I'd never recommend one to somebody unless gaming was just something on the side.

[piratepete]

What is with this 15k, 20k business?

Overall a 15inch MBP will be fine for WoW, and the upgraded model will be great.

I wouldn't recommend it as a pure gaming rig, but if you want a mac, but aren't sure if it can handle wow, just go buy it and enjoy.

[Nwa Dey]

No you wouldn't. When you buy an ASUS G-series, you're expecting a gaming laptop, not something you can leave unplugged and keep performing the same tasks for 7 hours. When you buy a Mac, you're expecting everything but hardcore gaming. Doing otherwise would be silly. I don't quite understand why people keep holding Macs up to the standards of a gaming device, because they're not designed to be for gaming. They're designed for CPU-intensive tasks outside of gaming, portability, battery life, Audio/Video and aesthetic appeal. Not gaming. That's also precisely why I'd never recommend one to somebody unless gaming was just something on the side.

Exactly, MBs are good laptops, just not for gaming. OP is obviously planning on doing some gaming, and as far as I can tell not in need of what the MBs offers. This is why it's such a huge waste.

[Wries]

What is with this 15k, 20k business?

Overall a 15inch MBP will be fine for WoW, and the upgraded model will be great.

I wouldn't recommend it as a pure gaming rig, but if you want a mac, but aren't sure if it can handle wow, just go buy it and enjoy.

Thing is "fine" and "great" are very subjective. 15k and 20k are reference to price, since apple don't want to confuse us simpletons with model names.
Edit: I do see a flaw in my ref to price though since I'm thinking swedish currency and not dollars. A very rough new naming scheme would be 1.7k and 2.1k.

Again. Going from a GT 330M to a 6490M is a step BACKWARDS in gpu performance. And the GT 330M was coming of age, even.

To get technical, you'd need a GPU with around 400 (VLIW5) shader units to be equal to the Nvidia GT 330M, but apple replaced it with an AMD chip with only 140 shader units. This is undeniably a step down when it comes to MBP's and their gaming performance.

My point is. Upgraded model is not "great" when thinking of WoW or gaming in general. We all know that's not what the MBP is for in the first place. But still.. the upgraded MBP's, sans the most expensive models, should perform WORSE in games compared to the earlier generation.

[Deleted]

but apple replaced it with an AMD chip with only 140 shader units.

To get technical, AMD does not use the same type of shader units - and thus cannot be compared. NVIDIA systems always sport far higher Shader counts than AMD systems do at equivalent end performance.

The swap is still a change down though, except in cases where full DX11 support can be obtained - though that naturally requires running Windows to take advantage of.

[Tikaru]

I don't see the appeal in gaming on a laptop, but I've heard they work just fine. You probably won't be able to get away with max settings in a 20-man raid, but it should still work out just fine.

Honestly, I think the new MBPs look amazing, but I can't afford them. I'll just stick with my $400 HP running Macbuntu .

[iidesu]

another Apple junk coming out? Oh MY!!!

[Scoobasteve1226]

Step 1 : Buy an Asus or another name brand gaming laptop
Step 2 : Buy the mac OS system
Step 3 : ????
Step 4 : PROFIT

But in all seriousness, why spend double the money on mediocre parts when you can get a MUCH better PC and install the same OS.

[ayako]

Step 1 : Buy an Asus or another name brand gaming laptop
Step 2 : Don't buy the mac OS system, install Windows instead
Step 3 : ????
Step 4 : PROFIT

But in all seriousness, why spend double the money on mediocre parts when you can get a MUCH better PC and install the same OS.

Fixed that for you