Core 2 Duo MacBooks coming this month?

Although the new Core 2 Duo chips haven't exactly lived up to their hype, it stands to reason that Apple will soon grace MacBooks with the Merom magic as it has with the MacBook Pros. When would such a bump happen? AppleInsider is reporting that the new C2D MacBooks may be coming as soon as this week, or possibly later this month. Still, we're more concerned about a second generation of MacBooks that fixes the whining, discoloration, heat issues, and other such problems, rather than the meager 10 percent boost a Core 2 Duo is going to bring to the table.

[Matt @ Nov 7th 2006 1:55PM]

a little late but hell apple is still the best

[Hammo @ Nov 7th 2006 1:59PM]

Ahh - you would be referring to the whining, discoloration and heat issues that I wasn't affected by in any way.

Core Duo and happy.

[andy @ Nov 7th 2006 2:03PM]

oh give it a rest engadget, you are not big and you are not clever. what about the problems with every PC manufactureer that go unreported due to the customers actually expecting problems with pc's, apple (and IBM) are still the number 1 in quality, with less returns and higher customers satisfaction than any othe box assembler, so give it a rest.

[Austin @ Nov 7th 2006 2:14PM]

I have a macbook and i have some of those problems. Slight discoloration, and it shuts off intermitently. Yeah i really like apple computers but the only reason the get the attention for their problems is because apple is one complete entity. If ms had a computer i'm sure we'd all hear about it.

[jwdav @ Nov 7th 2006 3:11PM]

It's getting old ...

Lately Engadet takes any Apple news and condenses it to a sentence and then seques into some negative /Mac/iPod/Apple spin. You're either a news site or an opinion site - it's hard to walk the line between.

[Zadillo @ Nov 7th 2006 3:05PM]

If you like, Apple can and will replace the discolored plastics for you (that is an issue that they've been able to fix now). Supposedly the random shutdown issue was supposed to be fixed in the firmware update that came out a little while ago. I would say that you should also go ahead and have Apple fix that too if the firmware update didn't help. With both issues being known and apparently fixable, I don't see any reason not to have them take care of it.

[Aron Trimble @ Nov 7th 2006 2:51PM]

see: Xbox 360

[MSFT @ Nov 7th 2006 2:52PM]

*cough*Zune*cough*

[bobvilla @ Nov 7th 2006 2:58PM]

"...apple (and IBM) are still the number 1 in quality..."

actually, Apple is #2 to SONY and IBM.
im a mac user, but Sony makes my favorite laptop hardware. Apple agrees: http://www.engadget.com/2005/07/30/apple-recruiting-sony-vaio-engineers-to-build-the-first-intel/

[Giltronic @ Nov 7th 2006 3:00PM]

it doesn't matter.
the macbook is not for high performance, and will sell no matter wha.
beside the fact that 10.5 isn't out yet and therefor does not take advantage of c2d yet anyway.
intel is already showing us quad chips.
i think intel is just trying to show off what they can do, even though it is irrelevant.
if AMD does what it says it should, intel will only fool simple minded people with their multiple cores.
go ahead and lower my rating
i don't care

[YaddaYadda @ Nov 7th 2006 3:14PM]

Apple heavily promotes the design of their products, and isn't afraid to call them superior. They should be held to a higher standard. Ah, the sweet schadenfreude when Apple drops another turd.

[Joe @ Nov 7th 2006 3:35PM]

Gee ... and I wonder who is doing the hyping ... could it be all the bloggers out there who spend little time or effort doing actual research into the facts before hitting the publish button?

[pwfletcher @ Nov 7th 2006 3:41PM]

"Still, we're more concerned about a second generation of MacBooks that fixes the whining, discoloration, heat issues, and other such problems, rather than the meager 10 percent boost a Core 2 Duo is going to bring to the table."

I had a MBP 1.83 that was a total lemon ... whining noise (display inverter), rattling fan, and it ran uber-hot. I sent it in several times and they just could not seem to get it fixed. To compensate me for my troubles, they sent me a new MPB C2D 2.16 that arrived yesterday that I must say is absolutely AMAZING. I do not notice a speed difference with day-to-day use. However, ripping CDs take about half as long as it did on the original MPB. The most significant change is that the MBP C2D runs about half as hot as the regular MBP Duo and doesn't rev the fans to do so. The C2D 65nm chips simply generate significantly less heat. This change in the anticipated MacBooks should remedy many of the problems of which you complain.

[crescentdavid @ Nov 7th 2006 3:47PM]

The thing that irritates me the most is apple apologists who can't seem to get it through their thick skulls that if their favorite corporation's products are superior, they don't have to be so damn defensive and belligerent.

The first MBP was a shoddily executed product. Period. The second generation is almost sure to correct these glaring problems that a SIGNIFICANT number of users rightfully complained about. Period.

When a problem reaches a level Apple considers "critical mass," they're good at quickly resolving the issues. Period.

That's pretty much the way it is in the civilized world. Get enough customers agitating and changes are made. I can't tell you how much more important this process is than whether or not Apple designs an "invisible" status light on a camera.

[RJ @ Nov 7th 2006 4:02PM]

They might announce them, but who knows when theyll actually arrive. I ordered a new 17" C2D Macbook Pro the day after they were announced ...accepting the 3 week wait. Today it was changed to at least 4 weeks, with the possibility of a 5th week delay! Seems to be a Europe trend.

I think they need to sort out these massive backorders of MBPs before looking at MBs ...or else they are going to get themselves into a huge mess.

[M. Rod Von Hugenstein @ Nov 7th 2006 4:44PM]

Yeah, but who cares about Europe?


I'm only kidding, I wish you luck with your new MBP. I am very jealous.

[Jay @ Nov 7th 2006 4:23PM]

We Wants the Macbooks!! Arhh!!

[M. Rod Von Hugenstein @ Nov 7th 2006 4:40PM]

Hopefully it's true.

While Apple has it's problems, at least they eventually fix them. I recently bought a Dell D620, and it had the worst LCD I have ever seen. Dell will only say it was designed that way, and have a nice day.

Side by side with any other computer the Dell's LCD was dim, blurry, and just plain hard to read, and no amount of adjustment made it any better.

So, my point is, Go Apple!, and boycott Dell.

[Josh @ Nov 7th 2006 4:48PM]

Only thing that could really make me happy is seeing how much the price of the Core Duo Macbooks fall, especially the refurb ones. I want one, just don't have $1200 to blow. The old MBP really fell in price, so one can only hope.

[kellykthompson @ Nov 7th 2006 5:42PM]

Tests have proven their statements to be correct:
http://www.barefeats.com/mbcd6.html

They apparently more than lived up to the hype.
"The MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo's advantage over the Core Duo version ranged from 9% to 75% depending on what app we ran." (from the page linked above)

[Jay @ Nov 7th 2006 6:09PM]

When will we get over this? The Core 2 is only a %10 bump! So what!

A bad Carpenter blames his tools.

[Erich Schunter @ Nov 7th 2006 8:23PM]

Bought a new black MacBook the first week they came out, loved it. Unfortunately, it went back to Apple 3 different times: first, to fix the optical drive, which refused to read random disks. They replaced a heat sink and sent it back. WTH??? Needless to say, this did not fix the problem, so it went back again, where it was fixed correctly. Then about a month ago it began randomly bonking to a screen that instructed me to restart the Mac, a screen I call the 'grey screen of death'. This got progressively worse, until one day where it refused to start at all. Original Apple memory didn't help, was able to verify the volume from another Mac, all OK. Sent it back to Apple, they replaced something or another, forget exactly what. Took it out of the box, wouldn't boot. Called Apple, ran through some tests with the rep, she elevated it to a product specialist. About 10 minutes into a 15 minute wait for the specialist, I hear the boot chime on the Mac. I sit there and watch it trying to boot, getting further and further each time, with no interference from me. Eventually the OS comes up and I'm able to logon. Run a disk verify, memory test, all OK. Specialist comes on, runs me through some tests, all OK. We scratch our heads, agree that it seems fine now, hnag up. Come back to me office an hour later, where the Mac sits, spontaneously rebooting every 4 or 5 seconds. Call Apple, talk to a product specialist, am presented with the option of either another repair, or a replacement MacBook.

I took the replacement. AppleCare rocks. Just got notification that my replacement product has been released. I am hoping that I somehow end up with a new Core 2 Duo machine. I am not holding my breath. Still love Apple though...

[nomadicalloy @ Nov 7th 2006 8:50PM]

good job, kick some mac-butt.

[keith waddington @ Nov 7th 2006 10:09PM]

Engadgets isn't just negative with Apple. They do it with every big company. It's their way of showing how hip they are. And I agree, it gets tiresome.

I would say though that it comes and goes in waves and most companies get the odd reprieve. At the moment the Zune seems to be the cats meow for the writers here.

waddo

[Mark @ Nov 8th 2006 12:02AM]

Odd how negative all you Apple lovers are about engadget being negative, Pot calling the Kettle black? I think engadget said it best! Whiners! Lighten up! It'll be okay, it's just a notebook.


Anyway, if Apple is reading this then my only request for improving the MacBook is to put a better graphics card. A X1600 or higher would be great. Imagine powering a Apple 30" monitor off the smaller notebook! :o)

[Branedy @ Nov 8th 2006 1:13PM]

The Irish Apple store already has MacBooks with Core 2 Duo's on the website. Could be a misprint...

[David @ Nov 13th 2006 8:49AM]

I just bought a MacBook expecting this very Engadget post to pop up. The difference is probably minimal, and the MacBook is hardly a powerhorse anyway, a slight difference isn't going to do much good for most users.

Will they really upgrade so soon though? The PowerBook used to get new things months before the iBooks ever would.