$999 Macbook Quietly upgraded to Nvidia Graphics

I found this article over at Engadget (if you like tech stuff you should visit that site daily) and if its already been posted somewhere than delete this.

Apple has upgraded the graphics on the entry level white Macbook Pro to the Nvidia 9400m chipset, rather than the older Intel X3100. The processor is also a 2.0 versus the 2.1, Ram is up to 2GB from 1GB (still DDR2 though) and the hard drive remains the same.

MacBook - Apple Store (U.S.)

For those that ordered the white Macbook yesterday, you may want to cancel your order.

-Clay

Good move on Apple's part. Now they just need to knock the price down by another $100. This would allow them to compete better with the lower end PC notebooks. At $899 this would be very competitive. At $999 it's still a bit salty with the 13" screen.

agreed a $100 price drop would make it more approachable for a Mac switcher.

This is good news... Not sure how the wife will like a White Macbook though...

Hmm, I think Apple is just going to get rid of the white plastic ones by Alumbook Refresh 2. If they are going to become more environmentally friendly then it makes sense for them to get rid of all the old Whitebook plastics they have in stock so they can be more efficient, stick to one manufacturing process and save money. That's most likely why they downgraded to the 2.0Ghz processor, so they didn't have to order another type of processor from Intel. This can be a pain when getting new inventory in.

All Apple did was use some technologies they already have in the unibody Macbook and put them into the Whitebook while giving people a reason to still get the Alumbook. Once all the Whitebooks are gone we'll see 3 Aluminum Macbooks and the lowest one will be a $999 version of the 2.0Ghz Alumbook, a $1299 2.4Ghz Alumbook and the highest will possibly be a $1499 2.6Ghz Alumbook, and new batteries for all of them.

I hope they bring the new battery tech to all their products this year, including the iPod and iPhone. Once the battery is better and the processor is faster then the Macbook will be perfect for Snow Leopard and will be good for at least 5 years. I'm not getting any new tech until battery and processing speed have gotten better and the prices drop.

the whole "getting rid of plastic" thing is so stupid. ok so they switch macbooks to alum because of the plastic then they turn around on thier ipod line and switch them all to hard plastic packaging. nice going.

livinitup1 said:

Hmm, I think Apple is just going to get rid of the white plastic ones after Alumbook Refresh 1. If they are going to become more environmentally friendly then it makes sense for them to get rid of all the old Whitebook plastics they have in stock so they can be more efficient, stick to one manufacturing process and save money. That's most likely why they downgraded to the 2.0Ghz processor, so they didn't have to order another type of processor from Intel. This can be a pain when getting new inventory in.

All Apple did was use some technologies they already have in the unibody Macbook and put them into the Whitebook while giving people a reason to still get the Alumbook. Once all the Whitebooks are gone we'll see 3 Aluminum Macbooks and the lowest one will be a $999 version of the 2.0Ghz Alumbook, a $1299 2.4Ghz Alumbook and the highest will possibly be a $1499 2.6Ghz Alumbook, and new batteries for all of them.

I hope they bring the new battery tech to all their products this year, including the iPod and iPhone. Once the battery is better and the processor is faster then the Macbook will be perfect for Snow Leopard and will be good for at least 5 years. I'm not getting any new tech until battery and processing speed have gotten better and the prices drop.

Click to expand...

So did you have a vision of this occuring or are you the design coordinator for Apple?

techster82 said:

So did you have a vision of this occuring or are you the design coordinator for Apple?

Click to expand...

I just have a strong hunch that Apple's going to go that route and I had a vision of this occurring . Steve said the plastic ones will be around for a while but I don't really believe that to be honest. They'll phase the Whitebook out when the cost of manufacturing Alumbooks gets close to the cost of manufacturing Whitebooks. Whitebooks just don't fit well with the Mac's new shiny, sleek platform.

To the guy that was talking about iPhone plastics:

To be honest with Apple products it comes down to cost, demand and supply and attractiveness. Apple wants to make products that not only look good but operate well too, and normally for a higher price. People like gorgeous products and people loved the Macbook Pro's titanium/aluminum shininess for the longest time and now that it's become cheaper and more environmentally friendly to manufacture they decided to bring it to the iMac and now the Macbook and other devices.

If iPhone plastics are cheaper and can be more easily mass-produced than anodized aluminum and large sized aluminum plastics for an entire Macbook then as a profit maximizer Apple will go with this solution. With the Macbooks and Pros the same process is being done for the 13'', 15'' and 17'' Macbooks and Macbook Pros; meaning they can spread the manufacturing costs across these multiple classes of products. With the iPhone people want more than 1 color and the best way to do this currently is with plastic covers. You can't do anodized white aluminum so white plastic works the best right now. If Apple can still sell the Whitebooks to people for a lower price than when it was just the Blackbooks and Whitebooks then they will. It just increases their market share more.

Re: Price Drop

I bought my new 13" Aluminum MacBook last night and asked about the updates to the white MacBook and was told they stores won't have the new ones until the end of the month but will knock $50 off the price of the 1GB version. Personally if I had been in the market for the white one $50 isn't enough off for the upgrades they've done.

Well I am tempted,

And its good news for anybody who still wants a MacBook with Firewire

livinitup1 said:

Hmm, I think Apple is just going to get rid of the white plastic ones by Alumbook Refresh 2. If they are going to become more environmentally friendly then it makes sense for them to get rid of all the old Whitebook plastics they have in stock so they can be more efficient, stick to one manufacturing process and save money. That's most likely why they downgraded to the 2.0Ghz processor, so they didn't have to order another type of processor from Intel. This can be a pain when getting new inventory in.

All Apple did was use some technologies they already have in the unibody Macbook and put them into the Whitebook while giving people a reason to still get the Alumbook. Once all the Whitebooks are gone we'll see 3 Aluminum Macbooks and the lowest one will be a $999 version of the 2.0Ghz Alumbook, a $1299 2.4Ghz Alumbook and the highest will possibly be a $1499 2.6Ghz Alumbook, and new batteries for all of them.

I hope they bring the new battery tech to all their products this year, including the iPod and iPhone. Once the battery is better and the processor is faster then the Macbook will be perfect for Snow Leopard and will be good for at least 5 years. I'm not getting any new tech until battery and processing speed have gotten better and the prices drop.

Click to expand...

I think your predictions are a little off, seeing as your top model is $100 cheaper than the current top MacBook. Not to mention that it would have to get the top processor from the MacBook Pro, which would be encroaching on the MBP's market.

livinitup1 said:

I just have a strong hunch that Apple's going to go that route and I had a vision of this occurring . Steve said the plastic ones will be around for a while but I don't really believe that to be honest. They'll phase the Whitebook out when the cost of manufacturing Alumbooks gets close to the cost of manufacturing Whitebooks. Whitebooks just don't fit well with the Mac's new shiny, sleek platform.

To the guy that was talking about iPhone plastics:

To be honest with Apple products it comes down to cost, demand and supply and attractiveness. Apple wants to make products that not only look good but operate well too, and normally for a higher price. People like gorgeous products and people loved the Macbook Pro's titanium/aluminum shininess for the longest time and now that it's become cheaper and more environmentally friendly to manufacture they decided to bring it to the iMac and now the Macbook and other devices.

If iPhone plastics are cheaper and can be more easily mass-produced than anodized aluminum and large sized aluminum plastics for an entire Macbook then as a profit maximizer Apple will go with this solution. With the Macbooks and Pros the same process is being done for the 13'', 15'' and 17'' Macbooks and Macbook Pros; meaning they can spread the manufacturing costs across these multiple classes of products. With the iPhone people want more than 1 color and the best way to do this currently is with plastic covers. You can't do anodized white aluminum so white plastic works the best right now. If Apple can still sell the Whitebooks to people for a lower price than when it was just the Blackbooks and Whitebooks then they will. It just increases their market share more.

Click to expand...

Wow, thanks, now I don't have to take that economics course. Apple's business model is built around supply and demand? Who knew!?

Well for those of us on a very limited budget who dont want to switch fully from a PC but want to experience a proper current Mac that can run both XP and Leopard its perfect. I ordered one on Tuesday and it will be here in a few hours. Considering here in the UK a 2nd User White Macbook was only $75 cheaper than this new one and it only had 1Gb Ram, 80Gb HDD and the Intel Graphics, this was a very tempting option. Something all the Americans here have to understand is that in America Apples are very very popular, Maybe not PC popular but still mainstream enough. In the UK Apples are like 'what is that...?' and the prices here never quite relate to the prices you pay over there. £700 for a spec of laptop thats small, compact, easily upgraded for little cost to max spec, versatile and multi OS...??? Not even my £700 Tosh can match that....

Pound for Pound even at £700 the macbook was a great buy and yes I am sure it would be an even better buy at £600 but here in the UK G4 macbooks are still in the high £400 bracket..

Andi

well i bought mine a month ago this sucks !!!!!!!!!!!!!

adam_dry said:

well i bought mine a month ago this sucks !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Is it over a month or less? Try to exchange it.

louishen said:

Well I am tempted,

And its good news for anybody who still wants a MacBook with Firewire

Click to expand...

Exactly, I know alot of people that were pretty when firewire 400 was dropped from the macbooks.

I'm glad I still have my current MacBook Pro then, I was thinking of selling it when the next line comes out. The only reason is because I am a power-hungry froop who wants the best from Apple. I'm still a new Mac user, but I'm basically sold for life on their notebooks.

macbook with nvidia ... thats a really great news

i am so very happy with my macbook unibody i bought last January...i just love the backlight in the keypad...i love to work ..do my research and manuscript in a dimly light room, whereus before, using that computer (vista) i have to buy a led and attach to the usb so i can work...now i am very happy working and typing because the led kepads is amazing..with no headache with antivirus whatsoever...

i love this new macbook...;D

i still got the old GMA950 64meg video card.... and i have been playing some video thirsty games like WOW, Doom3 and NFS. Never any issues, really cant tell the difference. But if something comes up and i upgrade to the current White MB it will be an awesome upgrade.