gdgt

Your level of specs desired are more likely from a source like Anandtech or something similar. Most people don't care about RAM voltages or timings. Mac's always have lower end RAM in terms of performance compared to extreme gaming PCs and it will actually not even work with different speed RAM, which is not the same for PCs.

The RAM is dual channel, not single channel, but there are no modules, it is soldered into the motherboard.

Actually I am pretty sure there is one 8G ram module soldered onto the board.

I also don't think its too much to ask for detailed specs, ram voltages and timings aren't mysterious or complicated.

Once again, this is a 3000 dollar 15" quad core @ 2.6G with 1G of slowish VRAM. Yet it get's a must have.

So why? What am I missing and where are the benchmarks in video encoding or SSD read/write speeds or incredible video performance or 64bit benchmarks that crush?

Yes Anandtech is probably a better site for some of these answers but darnit' I like GDGT! And want it to be great and continue to grow and be great. I do think looking at the models set by HardOCP, Anand, and PCPer in doing system reviews is probably something worth following even though mimicking is not expected.

All of this is pure feedback as a reader id like to get the most detailed information. I didnt even ask who makes the ram or what controller is used for switching graphics or what sort of latency we see in the sata6 ports because obv there are issues there too. But I think the kinds of discovery questions asked here are helpful in the long run to all readers. Thanks to all for replies/discussion. GDGT rules!

A lot of apple's tech is proprietary, iFixIt is the place to go if you want to know what chips are in there, but as far as switching graphics, it is likely a combination between Optimus technology and Apple's proprietary tech, but I don't think anyone knows for sure.

Apple minimizes focus on specs as much as possible, and yet, I like the build quality and performance of Macs more so than PCs in most cases, even when both are running Windows 7. PCs have a lot more options for very high end specs, but that does not and should not matter for most people.

The price of this Macbook pro and Apple's marketing does focus this for high end users for Video & Photo work. This is an area where benchmarks matter much more so, but if your considering a Macbook in the first place, this seems like the obvious choice for high end users, and I think that is the point the GDGT review makes.

There are 2 main reasons I much prefer a Macbook over a PC that do not show up in benchmarks typically, the display and the trackpad. I don't think any PC Laptop rivals Apple in those 2 places, and those are the ones that matter the most to me day to day.

Speaking for myself, not the Gdgt reviewers, it's a must-have because it's the only notebook around with a comparable display. This isn't Apple getting a pass, it's Apple getting their just rewards for having something unique. That said, there are plenty of sites that will do detailed benchmarking (Anandtech, Ars Technica, and others); you may just need to give it a little time to get all the details since the system is brand-new.

I do not think wanting more specific technical information is an unreasonable request or suggestion. All I see is a bunch of opinions in the comments and as important as those are it would be great to see at least one layer more of actual technical specifications. I could easily find them elsewhere I guess but I don't see any reason they could not be included.

As for benchmarks- I do not expect the author to personally do benchmarks but to at least take them into consideration when doing the review. I know that a lot of other articles and reviews (of which a few have some basic benchmarks) but these articles all pretty much say the same thing in more words as this review.

So my .02 is this looks like a nice, pricey ultra book but I can't tell how good it will actually encode audio/video or play DX11 games in HD or how well it earns its lofty price tag because their are no include hardware specs or benchmarks.

If you are going to do a review on a system and people want more information, you can't blame those people. 3000 dollars buys a ton of computer hardware so yeah, it is fair to wanna take a real close look at it.

Yup at like 30 fps, sometimes dropping to 20fps. This is not playable. You don't pay 3000 dollars for a hi rez ultra book to get 30fps in D3.