With today's announcements about refreshes to the entire Apple MacBook family of laptops, no doubt, half the members of the Apple cult have already run out to the nearest Apple store.
View a video explaining today's Apple event:
See Video http://www.pcworld.com/article/152226/is_it_time_to_switch_to_an_apple_laptop.html
But should the average PC user/gamer jump, too? Here are five big things Joe PC needs to know before deciding.
1. Die Integrated Graphics, Die!
Intel's integrated GPU, which most Windows-based laptops use, is about
as elegant as a moose in a tutu. With today's Apple announcement, a
reasonably powerful integrated graphics system is available for laptop
motherboards: nVidia's new GeForce 9400M. And the Apple MacBooks have
it.
2. On the SLI
The new
9400M nVidia graphics chip set is like cake frosting for the new
high-end MacBooks. Apple now pairs the motherboard GPU with an
additional GeForce 9600M GT graphics-intensive application. This means
games!
3. It's in the Air
Someone at Apple must have said, "Hey, I love the MacBook Air's keyboard.
Let's put it on everything else and use a similar slim design." Done.
For green techies, that also means fewer parts, less waste, and an
all-around thumbs up from Mother Earth.
4. Show Apple the Money!
Most
of the refreshed notebooks feature updated designs, slightly beefed-up
hard drives, and roughly the same price as before. Run the specs before
you buy.
5. Is It Time for PC Users to Go to the Mac Side?
The decision about whether to jump ship depends on how badly you want to play games (or use Photoshop) on a MacBook.
Already, nVidia has deals inked with five of the top 10
Windows notebook manufacturers. And as soon as next week, we expect to
hear news of a Windows-based notebook flaunting the same 9400M.
Let's dig a little deeper into all of this.
A New Graphics Game
Matt Peckham, PC World's Game On columnist, got it half right the other day when he pondered whether the new MacBook Pros would prove to be decent gaming machines. He was railing about how the GeForce 9600M GT is just the step-up model from the 8600M that currently resides in MacBooks.
But he didn't factor in the new integrated GPU on the
motherboard--the GeForce 9400M--which is stuffed into the new MacBook
Pros as well. nVidia had planned to announce the release of notebooks
with Hybrid SLI (short for "scalable link interface") performance on October 15, and Apple was a day early.
What Exactly Does Hybrid SLI Performance Mean?
Hybrid SLI
means that the on-board graphics power is sufficient to handle
high-definition video. And when you want to run a more
graphics-intensive app, such as DirectX 10 games,
the technology flips the switch into a turbo mode where the two GPUs
piggyback--conceivably boosting performance by 80 percent, according to
nVidia spokespeople. Take that, Intel!
From the get-go, these new nVidia chip sets are going to be
better than Intel's current graphics option. But how much of a
performance boost will these new machines deliver? That remains to be
seen: We don't have one in the labs--yet.
All in all, this looks to be a big first step for Apple (and for nVidia). Plenty of people have used Boot Camp with their MacBooks to obtain their preferred mobile gaming platform. For instance, PC World's Matt Peckham (again!) played Dead Space
on a MacBook with all the settings cranked to 11--and it ran without a
hitch. Offering a more robust alternative can only be a good thing. But
don't forget that nVidia's tech is sure to touch down on Windows-based
laptops pretty soon.
Source : http://www.pcworld.com/
