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Apple iPad Media Event |OT| 'We Still Have a Lot to Cover'
- Thread starter Flek
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opticalmace
Member
Unless you have some specific use-case requiring 16GB of RAM (in a laptop??) I would go for the latter.
I could manage with 256GB. I've used about 198GB of space in my current MacBook.
But would a 0.2 GHz increase have a significant impact? I can live with lower storage space.
I'm also thinking how 8GB of RAM would hold up in the years to come. This is a laptop I'll probably use for at least three years.
Sir Abacus
Member
OS X has a bad habit of sucking down memory. Anyone who's bought a mac in the last decade knows to load it with as much RAM as you can afford.
Sir Abacus
Member
The new iMacs were November/December.
smokeandmirrors
Banned
I wouldn't call it sucking down memory as it is actually utilizing every byte properly.
I'm confused, A7 just brought the iPhone to iPad 4 graphics levels with the A6X (a6X had double the GPU resources of the A6, thus the same-ish performance as the A7 which was also doubling A6 GPU performance), but they're saying the same A7 doubled it from the iPad 4...? Yet it's not an A7X?
Both claims can't be true. Unless they doubled performance without calling it an X series, or if the new claim takes different metrics, Apple themselves also claimed the A7 was double the A6 during the 5S announcement, so now turning around and saying it's also double the performance of the A6X is a bit underhanded.
If it's the same old A7, that's less performance at hand per pixel than the iPhone 5S, seeing as they have a lot more pixels to push in retina iPads.
And if the clock is higher, where would the Mini fall?
Caching is fine, it makes Windows feel great. But Lion and ML just didn't do well without a lot of memory. 8.1, 8, and 7 all ran ok on a measly 2GB, ML was a slideshow on the same machine. Not sure how Mavericks is yet, but the ram compression is interesting.
Both claims can't be true. Unless they doubled performance without calling it an X series, or if the new claim takes different metrics, Apple themselves also claimed the A7 was double the A6 during the 5S announcement, so now turning around and saying it's also double the performance of the A6X is a bit underhanded.
If it's the same old A7, that's less performance at hand per pixel than the iPhone 5S, seeing as they have a lot more pixels to push in retina iPads.
And if the clock is higher, where would the Mini fall?
Caching is fine, it makes Windows feel great. But Lion and ML just didn't do well without a lot of memory. 8.1, 8, and 7 all ran ok on a measly 2GB, ML was a slideshow on the same machine. Not sure how Mavericks is yet, but the ram compression is interesting.
I am guessing it is a Clock speed change. Apple does not fudge their performance numbers in their keynotes, so if they say it is 2x the previous iPad, then it will be very close to 2x. We will know soon.
Crazymoogle
Member
We simply have no idea. Apple could have dropped the "X" moniker as easily as they dropped the numbers from the iPad itself. The MiniR and Air could have identical specs or different clocks. Everything is in play until somebody gets a unit to run tests on, and for that we're a week away.
My own guess is that all three platforms have different clocks of the A7 but it wouldn't be surprising if the iPad lines had some modifications to make it the "X" line, in terms of simple pixel output. The # of pixels to push per frame are just so much higher.
victreeb3l
Member
Is there a big difference between the 2.0 Ghz i7 and 2.3 Ghz i7 on the 15" rMBP?
Because $2,200 for 16gb, 256gb SSD and quad core i7 is looking pretty awesome right now
Because $2,200 for 16gb, 256gb SSD and quad core i7 is looking pretty awesome right now
opticalmace
Member
Hm maybe I'm confused, how much SSD space do the configs you're talking about come with? I thought it was 128 and 256.
256 and 512.
Boards of Canada
Member
I can't imagine why anyone would want the iPad Air. The Mini has the same specs, with a much higher pixel density.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
Hehehe
"The Black Knight"
That was funny.
"The Black Knight"
That was funny.
Only a good option if you're looking for the cheapest retina Macbook possible.
The $1499 version is a much better buy with 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM. Or, add 4GB of ram to the base model and pay $1399, still not bad. Poor people that get the base model in stores and are stuck with 4GB forever.
A couple of things you need to keep in mind is that these days it's not just as simple as X is a bigger number than Y, so X gets better performance. In the same way a 2.6ghz i7 would mop the floor with a 3.2ghz core 2 duo, you need to make sure you pay attention to what kind of parts are going in to that Mac Pro.
The Ivy Bridge Xeon processor that's in the Mac Pro came out last month, and should not be confused with the i5 or i7 that's likely in your gaming PC. It's specifically designed for lots of cores and to be paired with other CPUs with lotsa cores on a single motherboard, which is a thing your i5/i7 cannot do. Similarly, its dual GPUs are workstation graphics cards, not gaming cards. They're specifically designed for things like CAD and GPU rendering. It's RAM and SSD are also top of the line.
So, while you could likely build a PC for around $2,000 that would get better framerates in Crysis, you would not be able to even come close to touching the Mac Pro's performance in high end processing, rendering, and CAD performance at that price.
I work as a designer/animator who does a lot of very high end photo real 3d renderings, and while we of course use a Linux based render farm (that has insane 24 core machines) for our final renders, I still do all of the design and animation locally, and do a lot of test renders and the like locally. The long and short of it is: the more cores you can throw at a job, the better.. and these days a lot of advanced render engines like V-Ray can make use of those workstation style graphics cards for very impressive GPU assisted rendering speeds.
This is not the greatest example, but it is an example, of what I'm talking about.
So at the end of the day, the Mac Pro (especially in the configurations with more cores) will be an amazing machine, and if you spec out a similar PC built by hand on newegg, you'll likely come up with a price around $2,550, but you can't even get some of the features like the single fan case design, unique power saving design, and the 6 thunderbolt ports (!!!!). So to say you're getting those things, plus a warranty, plus easy access to OSX, and it is put together by a professional (in america, no less) for just an additional $450 and it's not so bad a deal. That's really probably similar to the markup you'd see from any other vendor like Dell or whoever.
Is it not possible to upgrade your own ram later in these retina MacBooks?
Impossible.
4gb of ram is not enough for OSX, I am always around 3.7gb and I do not use any intensive programs. The 128gb SSD is also laughable. If you are paying top dollar for a laptop I would expect better specs than that. 256gb SSD + 8gb of ram would be fair.
Good post, thanks for the explanation. Interested to see if other manufacturers copy the unique case design and make popular or not. Everyone likes copying Apple!
Wind's Howling
Member
How easy is it to get the iPad Air on the 1st of November without ordering and just walking in the store?
Most people have never walked into the store on November 1st and bought an iPad Air, so it is kind of hard to say.
Wind's Howling
Member
You know what I meant. Judging by the release of the iPad 3 and 4.
CoachKevin
Member
Torn between the $1499 13" rMBP and the 15" $1999 rMBP. Going to be my main machine and the heaviest stuff it will do is some Adobe Premiere editing.
I think I will give the 13" a shot and see how it handles video encoding with the i5.
I think I will give the 13" a shot and see how it handles video encoding with the i5.
If it is going to be your main computer and doing video editing then it is no brainer to go for 15inch MBPr because you want quad core core i7.
get the quad core and bigger screen. you will notice it for video editing and compressing.
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
I think I'll just stick with my Macbook Pro Retina 15" 1st Gen for a little while longer. I have Applecare+ for 3 years and an Amex 1 additional year warranty on it. If it breaks I might get a free laptop anyway 
They really need to add an extra USB 3.0 port. Two isn't cutting it. The thunderbolt ports suck. You don't even get a thunderbolt to thunderbolt cable when you buy a fucking iPhone.
I'm guessing it is safe to say that the new 15" Macbook Pro Retina still heats up like a volcano when playing anything using the GPU extensively? aka Gaming.
They really need to add an extra USB 3.0 port. Two isn't cutting it. The thunderbolt ports suck. You don't even get a thunderbolt to thunderbolt cable when you buy a fucking iPhone.
I'm guessing it is safe to say that the new 15" Macbook Pro Retina still heats up like a volcano when playing anything using the GPU extensively? aka Gaming.
jts
...hate me...
Yeah, that 2 price is outrageous... if you need a cheap iPad, get OG mini, go ebay or craigslist.
I want to believe that one year from new the 2 will finally be dropped in favour of the Air as the $400 iPad, but seeing how the A4 is still supported in iOS 7, the A5 should be supported one year from now, thus perpetuating the A5 devices... and the mythical IPAD 2.
I want to believe that one year from new the 2 will finally be dropped in favour of the Air as the $400 iPad, but seeing how the A4 is still supported in iOS 7, the A5 should be supported one year from now, thus perpetuating the A5 devices... and the mythical IPAD 2.
Ken Masters
Banned
I'll give you a serious answer, harder then it was for the iPad 4, which was very easy to get IMO. There was very little fanfare of the iPad 4 as it was quickly released, almost a stealth update and the mini had all the attention. People are going to be hyped for this redesign. Apple stores will have long lines, don't know about your local Verizon or best buy though
CoachKevin
Member
Think I will be OK with the Iris Pro Graphics? I think both Iris Graphics support acceleration in Adobe Premiere.
I like having a large screen - makes web browsing and magazine reading more comfortable, and watching video more enjoyable.
my ipad 3 mostly lives on the coffee table or in the bedroom streaming TV so size > portability for me.
Maninthemirror
Banned
The fact that they still have the iPad 2 in the store and the iPad 4 as a refurb really leads me to believe no firmly that they made a mistake in pushing out iPad 3 and knew it would perform badly as it did.
iPad 2 had no retina and performed well on its own due to its resolution.
iPad 3 essentially had the iPhone 4S chip slightly upped but the resolution was a lot more than the iPhone 4S supported. I bought the iPad 3 and saw the deterioration in performance wtih every OS update. So much so that my fathers iPad 2 performed better on 6.1.x than iPad 3 did because of the retina screen.
My suspicions were confirmed when they released an iPad 4 in the same year as iPad 3 and just renamed it The New iPad to offset people. THAT iPad was what iPad 3 should have been in the first place with a GPU and CPU fast enough to handle that resolution. the iPad 4 was now performing fluidly like the iPad 2 while the iPad 3 struggled.
The iPad 3 that I owned would struggle opening tabs on browser, get stuck on the browser opening heavy pages. animations would stutter, it would get considerably over heated compared to BOTH the iPad 2 and iPad 4.
As a consumer I feel duped and did not buy the iPad 4 as a result and will not buy the Air until I know for sure the Air is not just the 'lite' version of iPad like Macbook Air until they release a pro version next year. I won't pay $599 for 32 gb to be duped again.
another thing which is ridiculous that the iPad 2 new is $399 while an iPad 4 refurb (by Apple mind you) is $379...what?!
iPad 2 had no retina and performed well on its own due to its resolution.
iPad 3 essentially had the iPhone 4S chip slightly upped but the resolution was a lot more than the iPhone 4S supported. I bought the iPad 3 and saw the deterioration in performance wtih every OS update. So much so that my fathers iPad 2 performed better on 6.1.x than iPad 3 did because of the retina screen.
My suspicions were confirmed when they released an iPad 4 in the same year as iPad 3 and just renamed it The New iPad to offset people. THAT iPad was what iPad 3 should have been in the first place with a GPU and CPU fast enough to handle that resolution. the iPad 4 was now performing fluidly like the iPad 2 while the iPad 3 struggled.
The iPad 3 that I owned would struggle opening tabs on browser, get stuck on the browser opening heavy pages. animations would stutter, it would get considerably over heated compared to BOTH the iPad 2 and iPad 4.
As a consumer I feel duped and did not buy the iPad 4 as a result and will not buy the Air until I know for sure the Air is not just the 'lite' version of iPad like Macbook Air until they release a pro version next year. I won't pay $599 for 32 gb to be duped again.
another thing which is ridiculous that the iPad 2 new is $399 while an iPad 4 refurb (by Apple mind you) is $379...what?!
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
The "New iPad" was the iPad 3.
Maninthemirror
Banned
see I feel so duped that confused me too. still doesn't detract from the fact of iPad 2 vs 3 vs 4 performance and the fact that the new NEW iPad was released within 10 months of each other.
Ken Masters
Banned
came out 6 months later
Maninthemirror
Banned
Salt on wounds
Kung Fu Jedi
Member
The Apple Store website has now been updated to check stock at physical stores for inventory on the new MacBooks, but mine says I need to check back later. I'm hoping they'll have them in store for pick-up today or tomorrow. I'm definitely going with the $1499 13" rMBP. It seems like the best deal in the line-up right now.
That should be plenty. Despite what some say, OS X is actually good at memory management, and if the marketing hype is to be believed, Mavericks has improved it further.
That should be plenty. Despite what some say, OS X is actually good at memory management, and if the marketing hype is to be believed, Mavericks has improved it further.
What do you mean "Lite" version? The iPad Air is significantly more powerful than the iPad 3 but runs at the same resolution, what are you worried about? The same situation does not apply.
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
Like I said earlier in the thread during the conference. The iPad 2 is sold on places like QVC and HSN to clueless customers at premium prices with junk accessories.
Seriously look at this shit.
Apple iPad 2 16GB WiFi with Color Keyboard Case & Accessories $639
Apple iPad 2 16GB Wi-Fi Tablet with Deluxe iPadStarter Kit $639
This is why Apple is still making them. These aren't back stock like people were joking, they are still making them in the factories.
Seriously look at this shit.
Apple iPad 2 16GB WiFi with Color Keyboard Case & Accessories $639
Apple iPad 2 16GB Wi-Fi Tablet with Deluxe iPadStarter Kit $639
This is why Apple is still making them. These aren't back stock like people were joking, they are still making them in the factories.
You'll be OK since you say you're not a power user (not running final cut or photoshop concurrently or 50 browser tabs plus all of MS Office at once). I have 8GB in my 15" MBP and Mavericks does a great job compressing memory so swap file usage is zero almost all the time. I usually have a dozen things open at once.
CoachKevin
Member
Are the updated macbook pros suppose to be in store today?
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