Hello,

I was very interested in purchasing the ModBook Pro. I live in Montreal and I visited the IStore that will mod it for me. They informed me that mods for the new MacBook Pros will take place in September.

In the meantime, I'm really in need of a laptop, so I was going to go ahead and buy a MacBook Pro that I will get modded at the IStore in September.

I want to make sure that the specs for the Macbook pro I buy for the mod are correct.

Is this what I should purchase:
http://store.apple.com/ca/cart

Basically, a Macbook Pro 15 inch with a 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM along with a 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm. Along with a NVIDIA GeForce 9600M graphics card.

I noticed that on the Axiotron site, It states that the mod will work with a 2.53 GHz intelCore duo processor with an Nvidia GeForce 9400 graphics card.

So my question is will the mod work with the higher end processor and graphics card I want to buy?

Also, will the price come down for the mod? As it stands, I'll be paying $3,389 for the macbook pro. On the Axiotron site, it states that the mod will cost $3,049 for a customer supplied base system. That's almost the same price as the computer itself. Can someone tell me if this is price for the mod will change?

Thanks!

I actually have been having the exact same questions Dizco. Thanks for posting I hope we get a response soon because I want to buy a new Macbook Pro as fast as possible.

This is one of the very many questions that I have.
I do hope that the Mod Service's price is lessen because I was also thinking of configuring my Mac, then sending it, which would, like you said, double the price I pay.

By the way, have you gotten/found any response/information about this? Please update me, as well. Thanks! :)

I just found out that there are Macbook Pros with an SD card slot and Macbook Pros with an ExpressCard slot. (Both 15" and the aluminum unibody, by the way.) :O

Which ones are allowed to be converted into Modbook Pros?

I also found out that different posts online state different ones, but Axiotron's webpage specifically says (to this moment) that the Modbook Pro will have an SD card slot and not an ExpressCard slot, but the pictures supplied by Axiotron of the device has an ExpressCard slot.

I'm really confused. Can someone please help us out?
I am really close to purchasing a Macbook Pro 15" that I will be converting into a Modbook Pro on May/June.

Thanks!

The ExpressCard versions are older, so I'd assume that Axiotron has updated their website to account for the mod being performed on the newer models. That's probably also part of the reason for the long delay in releasing this product. Photos will be of existing prototypes, based on the older model, so despite it having an ExpressCard, you would probably be wiser buying the SD version.

Modbooks change the most expensive component within a laptop: the screen. The Pro will also need to have the whole case replaced, which is going to add an even higher cost. Factor in the finger-touch capabilities of Synergy Touch, the new digitiser, and the cost is almost justified. So yes, it's terribly expensive, but with the cost of that many custom-designed components, I can't imagine the markup to be too high. And some of that markup will go into the hands of AASPs. Hopefully Axiotron will be able to still make some money on this, given the time and effort that's gone into it already!