Apple, Just What Are You Thinking?
Posted on 12 June 2007, at 1:49 am, by Mitchell Oke
Having a look at the various configurations of the new MacBook Pro’s, one thing has me a bit confused. The MacBook Pro line is aimed at video and photo editors, and other people that demand the highest performance out of their laptop, yet they are only offering a 4200RPM 200GB and 250GB instead of a 5400RPM. I have had a 4200RPM drive and for performance it is certainly not fun. The minimum I would go for these days is a 5400RPM, especially in a machine that I want to capture and render video on.
There are several 250GB 2.5″ 5400RPM drives available, and they aren’t overly expensive. The option to upgrade to 250GB is only available on the 17″ MBP (why not on the 15″ as well?) and costs a rather hefty US$150 from the 160GB 5400RPM drive, so I don’t understand why they are only using 4200RPM drives in performance notebooks.
Apple, give us faster drives!!
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June 12th, 2007 at 4:09 am
4200 RPM is very bad. That is what I have on my R400 and that Tablet was not designed for power use. I can tell you that a HD with 4200 rpm is a real drain on performance. I don`t mind that much because I use it for office stuff but I would stay away from a Macbook Pro designed for power users if it had a 4200 rpm.
It`s just not going to cut it especially if you expect to do some gaming with it.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:05 am
Apple’s second crime against humanity is a maximum resolution of 1440×900 on a 15″ MacBook Pro. I can deal with a smaller HD at 5400rpm but I can’t live without 1680×1050
June 12th, 2007 at 7:24 am
Its not actually Apples fault… The 200 GB notebook hard drives only come in 4200 RPM. Currently there are only 2 makers of 200 GB SATA notebook drives and they are both 4200 RPM. The two companies are Toshiba and Fujitsu. But why only 4200? Yes, it does seem slow… but both the hard drives use the new perpendicular magnetic recording technology. What does this mean? Simply, the bits are packed tightly on the platters in such a way that the heads travel short distances to read the data, hence not needing the higher RPM speeds. Yes, sounds a bit fishy, but thats what the hard drive makers claim and thats why they made the 200 GB hard drives with 4200 RPM only. Will be interesting to see real world tests on these 200 GB hard drives though.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I thought this might be a hardware constraint. I agree that the larger drives on performance notebooks should be built to higher standards. It would be nice if they just started out at 5400rpm’s and then offered a 7200rmp model; but I know I’m dreaming…
June 12th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
elo: My thoughts exactly.
pji: I completely agree!! Years ago I had 1680×1050 on my Dell 8600, and even the option of 1920×1200. Bad Apple!
Allen: Yeah that is probably true, but the things I have read about these new high capacity 4200RPM drives (including the Toshy you mentioned) doesn’t look good.
http://techgage.com/article/to.....rd_drive/2
Chris: Yeah Apple really should be starting at 5400RPM, not 4200RPM. The drives are there, Apple just needs to shave a few $ off their profits per unit and stick them in there. The machines would be better for it.
June 12th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Mitchell, for the premium cash Apple is asking and for the sub components they are offering… you might want to consider an XPS M1710!
I have the M170 and it has been a blast! Its performance is stellar, great screen with a native resolution of 1900X1200. For gaming and power use, you can’t go wrong and you really get a fantastic machine for your hard earn money! I love the Macbook too, mate but there is a breaking point where I prefer to invest in a device that got it right instead of an insult that is the current Macbook pros.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:27 am
But see I don’t think Apple are charging a premium. If I configure a Dell with the same specs at the MBP it costs me more for the Dell, it doesn’t look as good, and it is quite a bit larger for the same size display.
Beside I really like Mac OS X and there are applications that I need that only run on Mac like Final Cut Pro.