Macbook Pro-which flavor of Mobility Radeon X1600 do they have?

Where are the benchmarks that compare the Macbook Pro and the other laptops?

I am not at all doubting that the Macbook Pro may be slower, but I would just like to read the article or review.

As far as which card is in the MBP I have no idea. This is the first I have heard of the two different versions of the X1600.

The MBP's video card is underclocked, which is, AFAIK, the reason it does poorly against other computers with the same card. Few of the reviews I've seen ever take this fact into account.

I don't know where that site is getting that information. ATI doesn't mention producing a 64-bit memory version of the x1600. Even if there was, the Acer and Asus both use hypermemory, and run 50% faster than the MBP. The real problem is that the GPU in the MBP is clocked very low (like 250mhz compared to the 470mhz of the Asus) Some have had luck bumping it up some, but haven't reached the speeds of the Asus or Acer due to the heat constraints. The current rumor mill is suggesting a case redesign for the MBP merom update (maybe on Sept. 12 event?) that would more cope with the thermal needs of the components.

Where are you guys getting these rumors from? I follow Think Secret pretty closely, and i never heard of a case redesign. http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0609sept12event.html

I doubt anything big is going to come on Sept. 12, but who knows for sure. I don't think Apple is doing a keynote at the event, but that doesn't mean they won't announce or release products. I do expect the MBP to get the Merom update real soon now. I'd be shocked if it doesn't happen within the next two weeks.

As for a case redesign... I've seen it rumored as well... There are more reasons for it too than just heat. Apple has declared for the Blu-Ray HD disc format and the current slimline drives that Sony is putting in the Vaio notebooks are about 1" deeper than the optical bay in the 15" MBP - I don't know about the 17" bay and if it would accommodate one or not. Although, it seems other than Sony and Toshiba, most computer vendors are avoiding the HD disc drives until a format emerges as a winner or universal drives come along.

But with the next release of the Macbook Pro, I would expect to see FW800 on the 15". Dare we hope for an ExpressCard 54 or possibly 72 on the 17" and possibly an external SATA connector on the 17". Of course, Appple may just try to increase airflow with some more vents and better fans and not change a thing other than the new CPUs. I would also hope they update to a newer/better GPU. I'd really like to see the nVidia mobile 7850 or 7950 in there.

While I'd like to see the new features I mentioned, I agree with you... Probably won't see any. Although, I think there is still a good chance for FW800 on the 15" MBP. And it wouldn't require any redesign, only a swap of an exterior connector.

As for my comments regarding the 9/12 event, I confused myself and was thinking of the Paris Expo. Not that it makes much difference... On the 12th it looks to be the announcement over Apple's new movie download service and possibly a new iPod model to go along with it. There's a chance that they will also announce the upgraded MBP line, but I kinda doubt it... I bet they do it a little more silently as they did with the iMac, just *poof* there they are. And probably not for about another week after... Apple likes to spread their releases a bit and I know they won't want anything to steal the thunder away from their "It's Showtime!" event. Which is probably why they released the new iMacs a week prior.

And that's exactly it - storage. Apple went and put FW800 on the PowerMac along with the 17" Powerbook (was it on the 15" and 12" models?). A lot of people jumped on the FW800 wagon and bought external RAID systems based on that interface. Kinda surprising they didn't include it on the 15" MBP, especially since it's already there in the internal USB controller that is identical to the one on the 17" MBP. In other words, they had nothing more to do than find room for the connector. IMO, they should just provide a FW800 port and be done.

Personally, I don't have any FW800 devices, but I work with a lot of people who do and I know that a lot of them are very interested in the 15" MBP as the 17" is just a bit too big to lug around everywhere, but they're holding off since they can't use their external FW800 drive array with it (or at least not at full speed). I doubt we'll see an external SATA connector anytime soon as there still is no true industry standard for such.

When it all comes down to it, I'll take the MBP just as it is if they get a Merom CPU in there. Oh, and it has to handle at least 3gb of RAM, preferably 4gb. An upgraded GPU will also be desireable.

Watching how Apple handles themselves with new products now that they have switched to Intel CPUs is going to tell us a lot in the next several months. They no longer have the mystique of a different CPU platform and they can't run obscure ads showing snails with Intel CPUs glued to them (as they did comparing the G3 to the PentiumII). They are on equal footing as far as CPU performance and general system architecture with the PC world now.. They have to convince the world that the Mac platform is better because of a superior OS and their other software (Final Cut Studio, etc...). And even with that, it will be difficult to do so if they're always selling systems that are a generation behind in CPU tech. Apple is off to a great start with the upgrade of the iMac line (only about 10 days after Dell actually started shipping Merom based systems). Let's hope they can keep the ball rolling and get the new MBP offerings announced in the next week or so.

The more I think about it, I'm actually betting they'll announce the new MBP line on Tuesday at the press event. Even though I originally said they probably won't. I'm also going to go out on a limb and predict that, like the iMac line, there will be a new model too.. A 13" MBP. ...Of course, I could just be talking out of my arse. Hehehe