MacOS

[Brian Hulnick]

Initially my 2011 MB Pro had a 10 hour battery. This dropped to less than 6 hours after I installed Lion. When I had an issue with the keypad I call Apple support and whilst on the phone they gave me some calibration sequences and now my battery is back up on 9-10 hours.

[isomer]

Care to share those calibration sequences? Anything more exotic than the usual reset the PMU, run down to nothing, then charge to full, and repeat?

[Brian Hulnick]

It was more than 4 months ago. Call Apple support and just let them know that the battery life on your MB Pro has taken a nosedive and ask if they can remedy that.

[Tgrimley]

Don't get me wrong, the MBA's are beautiful machines, but I feel that the MBP will always have the edge on it.

[g.bird84]

They updated the MBP this week, did the MBA get an upgrade also??

[Wyatt]

They updated the MBP this week, did the MBA get an upgrade also??

MBA got it's upgrade in July, which was more drastic than the MBP's. It'll probably go another 6-7 months before the next. The cycle is usually 10 months or so. The MBP's update wasn't an complete overhaul, but just bumps in processors and storage. The belief is this incremental update will buy them a little time before they roll of the more Air-like, ultra-thin MBP's next year. But you never know with Apple.

[Tgrimley]

Ultra Thin MBP's, that sounds interesting.

[Rimmer]

Funny. I was just reading up on some of those rumours.. It sounds logical to me as well.. I still don't feel comfortable about being without an optical drive however, things are moving cloudwards on the whole and I know what Apple were like with the floppy drive, which turned out to be a good thing..

[Wyatt]

Funny. I was just reading up on some of those rumours.. It sounds logical to me as well.. I still don't feel comfortable about being without an optical drive however, things are moving cloudwards on the whole and I know what Apple were like with the floppy drive, which turned out to be a good thing..

There is no reason for Apple (or anyone) to offer one in a laptop anymore. Not one. And I'm an old fogey and late adopter. I haven't used my drives in my Mac Pro to do anything but rip my old CD's and rip DVD's for my son to use in a video player in years. And Apple makes money off of selling digital media to the majority of people who haven't ever ripped a single track of music. Heck, I have two opticals in my Mac Pro tower -- one is dead, the other is dying. I expect the next big MBP update to go ultra-thin and for them to offer an optical drive version for maybe 6-12 months afterwards.

[isomer]

I don't think I'd miss the optical drive. My optical drive was on the fritz for a year before I finally got around to taking into the Apple Store for service as my AppleCare was about to expire. There were a few times during that year that I tried to use it, but worked around it sufficiently that there was no urgency to repair it. With backups over AirPort, software, movies and music all downloaded, about all that's left is a few music CDs I never got around to importing. That said, I DO have a mac mini in the house for CDs should the need arise.

[Tgrimley]

I can't wait to see what these slimline MBP's are gonna look like.

[Brian Hulnick]

I've had my MBP for a while now and have to admit that I still haven't used the optical drive yet. I would love to find a way of playing Blu-rays through it though, even if it's an external drive.

[Yontsey]

I've had my MBP for a while now and have to admit that I still haven't used the optical drive yet. I would love to find a way of playing Blu-rays through it though, even if it's an external drive.

http://www.amazon.com/Blu-Ray-USB-External-Player-DVDRW/dp/B001QA2Y9S

[Brian Hulnick]

http://www.amazon.com/Blu-Ray-USB-External-Player-DVDRW/dp/B001QA2Y9S

I have that exact BD drive. I'm more concerned about the software. I currently have Arcsoft TMT3 and would like to know if it is useable with Mac.

[Yontsey]

I have that exact BD drive. I'm more concerned about the software. I currently have Arcsoft TMT3 and would like to know if it is useable with Mac.

Thats a good point. I didn't think of any software solutions. My apologies.

[Brian Hulnick]

Once the availability of hard drives improves (due to Bangkok floods) I will upgrade my MBP to 1TB and if I can get suitable software for Mac I would like to replace my optical drive with a Blu-ray drive, possibly a writer.

[strangedogs]

? :facepalm:

[DerkStiepelmann]

I´d get a Mac Book Pro! I use mine everyday - works like a breeze never had issues...running Ableton Live and Pro Tools under Lion.

[Carlos.S]

Don't think you will ever go wrong with a MBP. Jury is still out as far as the MBA is concerned tho.

[Brian Hulnick]

I'm thinking of getting that Thunderbolt screen to go with my MBP. Just wish the price was a little lower.