Wait for the Core2Duo Macbooks?

[Anonymous]

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Thinking about crossing to the dark side and getting a Macbook Pro.....I lke the idea of a dual boot lappy for my Windows XP/Vista along with the estimating and engineering apps. My girlfriend likes the MacOS for video and photoshop stuff.

So I'm looking these over and I notice no Core2 Duo Macbook Pro yet. Should I wait or just get the Core duo? Any idea of when they would be released into the wild?

I just picked up a Dell 3007WFP monitor so this thing should work as a pretty sweet home office setup.

Also.....what do you guys prefer....glossy or matte screens?

[Thomas Holm]

TomWaltz wrote:
64-bit does not mean a thing unless your software is 64-bit as well.... I have not heard anything about Archicad 64 yet....

I'm aware of that. I'm just hoping the machine will cope with coming software for some time (perhaps a year or so) more than the current 32-bit CoreDuo. I've made it a habit to buy Macs that stay for a while. That's why I still can run the latest Archicad usefully on a 6-year old machine! Not many Windows boxes from 2000 handle AC10 very well...
But it seems that Geoff's right. It's Intels 945 chipset in the MacBookPros that stop it from utilizing more than 3GB RAM, not the chip size. So if I need more than that, I'll have to exchange the machine anyway.

I don't think the chipset will stop it from running 64-bit software (like MacOSX10.5, coming next year) though. And it's not impossible that Archicad will utilize (maybe not require) 64-bit processing in parts within a couple of years, in parts at least. Graphisoft already recommend using 64-bit Windows if you want big renderings on that platform, because it handles memory better (it's about virtual memory addressing, I think). This evolution will continue.

[KeesW]

I visited an architectural colleague who has just bought the topmost desktop mac. It runs two Xenon Core 2 duo processors, 3GB RAM, and other bits are equally impressive. He also bought the 30" Apple Studio screen. Best of all - he runs Archicad 10 as his CAD system! He did a rendering speed test (using a benchmark devised by an Aus AC10 user). The Mac thrashed other computers so far tested with the same proceedure. The only machine that equalled it was a home made Athlon based beast with very fast bits, 4GB RAM, running XP64.

Based on what I saw and what we measured, this Mac is VERY fast - probably faster than any other standard desktop PC. I'd like to see it tested against a Dell workstation with two Xenon processors (yes, there is such a beast listed in Dell's catalogue). Will these processors make it to a notebook? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[Thomas Holm]

KeesW wrote:
... It runs two Xenon Core 2 duo processors...Will these processors make it to a notebook?...

No. No Xeon laptops. Too hot.

Nonetheless, there will no doubt come even faster machines eventually, but this time I've waited long enough. I've placed my order on a 2.33GHz 15" MBP C2D. It will keep me shut a couple of years, I think.