MacBook Pro update rights the wrong, enables 3Gbps SATA transfers

We've seriously no idea why Apple didn't just ship all of the June 2009 MacBook Pro units with the SATA 3Gbps specification enabled, but at least it caved to the chorus of complaints and enabled it today via a firmware update. MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7, as it's called in Software Update, weighs in at just 3.35MB and requires OS X 10.5.7 to be installed. According to Apple, the update "addresses an issue reported by a small number of customers using drives based on the SATA 3Gbps specification with the June 2009 MacBook Pro." Of course, it goes on to say that it still doesn't support the use of drives that can take advantage of such speeds, but at least you have the option now of taking matters into your own hands and upgrading to a non-hamstrung SSD should you choose.

[Via MacRumors]

[Davimation @ Jun 22nd 2009 5:57PM]

I knew this was coming... glad to see they fixed this quickly!

[Nikesh @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:02PM]

Yeah, this is actually a big deal and makes me dislike Apple a little less. As a Lenovo Thinkpad T61 owner, I too am limited to 1.5 Gbps throughput even though the system was advertised as supporting 3 Gbps. Even though the system supports 3 Gbps speed, Lenovo has crippled it in favor of allowing Ultrabay expansion that most users do not adopt. Many Thinkpad owners wanting to upgrade to SSDs have asked time and time again for Lenovo to release a BIOS that would enable the faster throughput while disabling the ability to add additional storage through the Ultrabay and they have been refused time and time again. So, Bravo Apple. Not only did they listen to their customers and deliver increased performance while spending next to nothing, but they did so quickly and without fuss and that is why Apple customers largely remain Apple customers. I can't tell you how many Lenovo customers feel so betrayed by the company that they will no longer buy their products even though they have been satisfied customers for many years.

[loosely_coupled @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:04PM]

AWESOME! This was a big blow as I was ready to buy a new 13" MB Pro and Corsair P256!

[Kris @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:01PM]

Nikesh, I highly doubt it was advertised as supporting 3Gbps. If that was the case then you have the law on your side. Contact the AG and BBB.

[JMR @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:56PM]

I'm surprised they didn't charge you to enable something you've already purchased.

Hello, Wireless-N in iMacs and Bluetooth in the iPod touch...

[d889 @ Jun 23rd 2009 12:46AM]

you have to wonder how long they would have taken to patch this problem if it had never sprung up on the interweb

[Beastage @ Jun 23rd 2009 6:51AM]

They didn't "fix" it... it was deliberate all along , Apple been doing that for ages , make some change (hardware of firmware) and see if people swallow it, if they get flak they "fix" it, in the process they gain the following: better battery life on launch and compliments for quick fixing.

[Nick @ Jun 23rd 2009 9:05AM]

@beastage

I'd like to have the know you got that from. Obviously it's not based on fact, more on your dislike of Apple. There is no hard evidence that they delibarately do such things. I'm really getting tired of people like you, always trying to bash Apple at anything at all. Even when they actually FIX an issue they probably hadn't foreseen.

[VanillaSpice @ Jun 24th 2009 9:31PM]

@JMR no-one "purchased" those items. The iPod Touch was not advertised as having Bluetooth support, and those iMacs were not advertised as having N-spec. It did turn out that the hardware was inside, but it was not listed in the specs and it was not advertised, therefore you never "purchased" them because they were not part of the contract of sale.

A customer cannot complain if asked to pay for improvement, because they were happy to pay the initial price, for the initial feature spec (which did not include non-advertised, non-specified hardware). No-one had any right to expect that they'd suddenly gain additional features - for free! - so there is no grounds for a complaint.

[DR House @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:00PM]

Windows is superior they never have such amateur problem , but its expected apple is new to operating systems business and stole linux for there mac os

[marmot_egg @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:02PM]

Shut up!....man with the colt 45 says shut up!

[Dr. Spaceman @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:02PM]

Troll.

[Chad Zeluff @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:06PM]

Uh...what?! New to the OS game, huh? Right. Microsoft came up with proportionally spaced fonts, etc.

You're right, Microsoft never had this small problem. They have massive problems, like an editable list of global variables that hold the OS together (registry). Unfortunately, this can't be solved with a firmware update.

[King Mustard @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:06PM]

You take that back!

House would never say that :O

[Sean @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:06PM]

I thought you were a troll, based upon your replies to other posts. But I felt bad accusing you with little evidence. Suffice to say, I now take back that thought.

[IvanP91 @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:07PM]

what does the OS, in this case Windows have to do with how fast a Hardware chip operates. Oh and Windows Vista SP1+ and Win 7 natively run on Macs since they support EFI.

So irregardless of what Operating system u used u would still be stuck with 1.5 but not anymore.

It was a hardware issue, not a software one.

[gonintendo @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:08PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdiz0k0Rudw

[murmermer @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:13PM]

My favorite thing is "Dr house" has a picture of a model as his icon because the tool cant even find a real girlfriend LOL

[DR House @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:14PM]

See how unsecured mac fans is? ever heard of sarcasm boys
They had a bug so what , windows fans is used to them anyway

[murmermer @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:19PM]

@house

you've been a troll against apple and the iPhone since you've been on engadget if you don't like it leave the site or keep your 2 cents to yourself!!

[PeterF @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:39PM]

Irregardless is not a word.

[Izzy @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:44PM]

Dr. Troll, House is a Mac user.

[IvanP91 @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:45PM]

@House

You have a sense of humor, ill give ya that "They had a bug so what , windows fans is used to them anyway"
thats true lol =D

[maveric101 @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:03PM]

dude Apple's OS had a GUI before Microsoft's did. stfu and stop starting these arguments.

[dingotheband @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:38PM]

Notice:
Please don't feed the trolls.

[Kerry @ Jun 23rd 2009 8:10AM]

How very un-informed you are.

[CityZen @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:02PM]

Don't worry. Somebody will soon enough find some other niggly detail wrong that will enable them to scream "The sky is falling! Apple is screwing you!" again.

[loosely_coupled @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:07PM]

Actually, moron, this was a big issue. It essentially cut in half the performance of any decent non-Jmicron SSD. I saw one test with the Popular 128GB OCZ Vertex going from 220MB/sec and 160MB/sec read and write performance to 120MB/sec and 80MB/sec in the MB Pro. Although most Macbook "Pro" users won't be using a decent SSD yet, they surely will upgrade over the next 2-3 years..

[CityZen @ Jun 22nd 2009 8:29PM]

Actually, no, it's not a big issue, because it was just a firmware issue that's now fixed.

A big issue is something that stops a lot of people dead in the water.

[LondonConsultant @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:02PM]

I'm surprised Apple didn't hold off and promote this as an "upgrade" in the next MacBook revision.

[Byrdman @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:04PM]

Who knows, maybe they were

[JZ @ Jun 23rd 2009 3:20AM]

I´m surprised Apple didnt charge any money for it. I´m more used to read that performance/firmware upgrades cost you 5 USD. Or I´m used to hear its a bag of hurt.. or its a feature. Damn so many options to call this and Apple just fixed it without any further marketing abuse... that´s so un-Apple, bring us back Jobs he atleast knows how to handle these features.

[TailsToo @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:10PM]

Okay! What's next to bitch about??

[Polarbear @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:05PM]

Cool! Go Apple! Go APPL!

[ryan @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:46PM]

AAPL

[Michael @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:11PM]

They limited this to begin with to make it look like they screwed up. I mean it's not like they can really screw up. They're Apple. They're stuff is too good. So they have to actually engineer stuff to go wrong that they can then quickly fix and make everyone happy again.It makes them look like they have really good support that way.

..and I'm lying.

[iransirijillo @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:14PM]

Seriously? Clueless costumers, you guys wanna know how many of the previous UMP were sold after people found out they had faster SATA speeds than the new models?

[Andrew T. @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:36PM]

About the same as the 13-inch MacBook Pro because it is a "Pro" machine and much more "powerful" than the MacBook.

[webterractive @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:20PM]

This is the reason why you don't jump into the mix with Apple when it comes to familiar hardware on a new platform. In this case after changing from the Intel platform to the new Nvidia.

[Joseph @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:08PM]

they limited it for a reason. that reason we don't know, we can only speculate. they patched it. this is not a bad reason to be an early adopter, quite the contrary. If i knew they would patch all my worries, then i would have no issues. this is a lame reason not to be an early adopter, unless you are spending $1000 on a SSD, it doesn't matter.

[dave @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:09PM]

Ummmm, no. Apple made the switch to the Nvidia chipset with the first Unibody MacBooks (which was back in October '08) and all of those MacBooks & MB Pros had 3.0 Gbps SATA. No one know why Apple intentionally crippled the new models other than someone really screwed up.

[Rollins @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:24PM]

Eh, mistakes happen. At least the turnaround time for the fix was short.

[dsteve303 @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:25PM]

Can't we all just say "Thanks Apple. You were wrong and your fixed it!" *CLAP* *CLAP*

[dsteve303 @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:25PM]

Gosh, Engadget should really allow to edit posts to fix tyopographical errors.

** you fixed it.

[marmot_egg @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:38PM]

Before you thank Apple, thank the people on the Macrumors forum who whined about it enough (50+ pages) to get Apple to see it is an issue.

[Joseph @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:08PM]

maybe they do that so you read your post before you press send.

[ethana2 @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:38PM]

Looks like Mac's BACK ON THE MENU, BOYS!
..Now I'm waiting for a matte screen option on the 13" MBP..

[wyatt @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:45PM]

me too. as soon as matte becomes an option, i'm buying a 13. why can't they cave to that "issue reported by a small number of customers"?

[Joseph @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:09PM]

get the 3m film and DIY. it's glass.

[ethana2 @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:17PM]

A lot of what makes Macs cool is when you get it, it's good to go. You don't have to install a decent web browser or CD burner (although it doesn't come with a torrent client..), or, of course, some antivirus, you don't have to wipe a bunch of crapware off of it, you don't have to remove stickers, install drivers, it's just... ready. It's an great feeling to unbox a machine like that. I don't know, maybe I could make due with another glossy screen assuming it had bright LED backlighting.. Given enough time, I'll probably give in.