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Apple doesn't make it easy
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Apple has a lot of great choices with very subtle differences in the line
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Apple has a "Which Mac is Right for You" page in their "Why Mac" section
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Assess your needs
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Do you need portability? How much? Are you willing to for go other features to get it?
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How much local storage? Do you need speed? Willing to spend more to get faster performance at the cost of GBs?
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What kinds of applications are you running and what systems do the place demands on?
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Games, Video, 3d, Image processing
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Better GPU, more memory, faster HD
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Expandability
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What ports, memory expansion, hard drive replacements.
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Breaking down the new Macbook Pros
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Screen sizes and options
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Makes a difference in portability and working space.
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Will you connect to a second monitor and use a desktop?
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Resolution can effect readability of text, but give you more working space
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High-resolution 1680-by-1050 option on 15" models
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Glossy vs. Anti-glare
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Silver bezel, changes look.
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Graphics Processors
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13" only offers the integrated Intel 3000 HD GPU
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Shared memory
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15" lower end model is AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB GDDR5 memory
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15" higher and 17" have the AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB GDDR5 memory
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More memory will give better performance.
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The Radeon HD 6750 mobility dedicated GPU seems to provide significant performance boost in Open GL performance
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GPUs seem to be a significant differentiator
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Open CL and other OS X tech will take advantage of the GPU
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Processors
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Quad-Cores will offer noticeable performance increase in MP aware applications, even at lower clock speeds.
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Typical real world performance jump between "point" processor speed increases seems to be maybe 10-15%
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Bottom line, anything from the new line is going to provide significantly better performance over a Mac from 2-3 years ago.
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BareFeats: "The fastest 2011 13" MacBook Pro runs faster than the fastest 2010 17" MacBook Pro."
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Hard Drives
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Upgrading to 7,200 RPM or SSD drive will aid read/write performance
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Speedier app launching and wake from sleep
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Good for apps that use swap disk
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Virtual memory
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Standard SATA drives, so you can replace yourself.
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From BareFeats: It's been confirmed that the internal SATA port on the 2011 MacBook Pro is 6 gigabit. One reader installed a Crucial C300 and got 362MB/s average read speed for large sequential transfers. We're looking forward to testing the Intel 6Gb/s 510 SSD and OCZ 6Gb/s Vertex 3 which should be even faster.
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Memory
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4 GB is good, but more is always better
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HD and Memory is "user replaceable" need to remove 10 Phillips #00 screws and remove bottom plate
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Other ports
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SDXC card slot (not on 17")
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FW 800 on all
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SuperDrive on all.
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Thunderbolt - All models
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Extra USB on 17"
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Express-34 (only on 17")
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The Questions
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From new Maccast Member Rick
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1.) When you, Adam, buy your MacBook Pro, do you upgrade them or buy as is?
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2.) Is the $250 upgrade to go from the 2.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 to the 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 worth it? On Apple's website it states: "You can upgrade the processor in your MacBook Pro to the 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, featuring 8MB L3 cache and Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.40GHz." Is that a Big Deal?
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3.) Is 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM enough or is it better to upgrade to 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM?
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4.) What is better, more space or a fast RPM, 750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 RPM vs. 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 RPM?
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5.) Is the MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Antiglare Widescreen Display better to look at because it is in HD?
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6.) I am thinking about waiting until Lion is on the machine, so I don't have to pay for another upgrade and is it bad to lay a newer OS on top of an older OS? What are you thoughts about awaiting for Lion this summer?
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Other models?
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13" White Macbook, not worth it at all
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Spend extra $200 and get the 13" Macbook Pro or the same and the 11" Macbook Air
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13" Macbook Air
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If portability is your primary goal and your don't need all the extras then something to consider.
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