Apple Unveils New Macbook

Several readers have written in to mention that Apple has released the new Macbook on their site. Yahoo! has details from the press release: "With prices starting at just $1,099, the MacBook lineup includes three models: a 1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz MacBook in a newly designed, sleek white enclosure and a 2.0 GHz MacBook in a stunning new black enclosure. The new MacBook offers performance up to five times faster than the iBook and up to four times faster than the 12-inch PowerBook with a completely new system architecture including a 667 MHz front-side bus and 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory expandable to 2GB."

Once again...

...FireWire is present [apple.com], as it is on all new Intel-based Macs to date, proving that FireWire isn't going anywhere (anytime soon, anyway) on Apple's computer products. It also totally shatters Jason O'Grady's ridiculous predictions [zdnet.com] that "FireWire is gone completely from the new Intel iBooks", which were widely accepted as fact. Of course, it made zero sense at that time, too, but that didn't stop it from spreading around the net like wildfire.

Note also that the MacBook features the Core Duo, not Core Solo, and the screen resolution has increased from 1024x768 on the old 12" iBook and PowerBook to 1280x800.

With the array of connectivity [apple.com] (mini DVI also supports VGA, S-Video, and composite), built-in Bluetooth and 802.11a/b/g (yes, a is included and supported by the OS), the ability to boot Windows natively or use Windows (or other x86 OSes) in virtualization, for just over $1000, this looks to be a great deal.

It appears that some of the traditional differences between the "iBook" and "PowerBook" line are shrinking even more; I wouldn't be surprised if there was no 12" MacBook Pro based on the new MacBook's specifications.

One hopes that Apple is applying a reasonable amount of thermal paste on the new MacBooks. ;-)

Re:anytime soon

The only reason I said "anytime soon" was because I knew someone would say "well, FireWire isn't going to around *forever*". Of course it's not. All standards change, and some are supplanted by others.

But when the iPods dropped FireWire, everyone took that as some kind of "hint" that Apple was "backing away" from FireWire, shunning the standard, and quietly putting it to sleep/death. No. That is not the case. It wasn't then, and it isn't now.

The iPods dropped FireWire likely because of a technical/marketing/cost decision. Most iPod purchasers were (and are) Windows PC owners, almost all of whom don't have FireWire, but DO have USB, and most USB 2.0. All of Apple's machines for the last few years also had USB 2.0 (and at least have USB, since 1998). If one interface had to go for standardize chipset and sizing/cost concerns, it seems pretty clear which one it was to be.

Of course, many people took that as a sign that Apple was getting rid of FireWire completely. There was no basis, however, to make that assumption.

As I've said before:

While specific features of future Macintosh computers cannot be predicted, FireWire is an critical protocol that has come to be relied upon. Some important factors to note:

- FireWire usage across the industry is increasing, not decreasing
- FireWire is featured on all currently shipping Intel-based Macs
- FireWire is required for Target Disk Mode, a critical feature that many administrators and the Migration Assistant depend on; USB is not supported for these tasks
- FireWire is increasingly used as the interface of choice on modern digital video and audio equipment
- Since July 2005, all HD cable set top boxes are mandated by the FCC to come with a "functional IEEE-1394 [FireWire] port"
- FireWire is the primary (and often only) transport mechanism used by all digital video (DV) and high definition digitial video (HDV) cameras and decks
- Application software and features on every Mac, like iMovie, iDVD, and the SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW), depend on FireWire to import video into the computer via DV

For these reasons, it makes no sense that FireWire would have been abandoned now, nor will it be in the near future. *Someday* will machines ship without FireWire? Yeah, and someday they'll ship without USB, too. These standards will die just like everything else does, eventually. Did USB "win" in the mainstream desktop peripheral connectivity war? Yes, of course it did. Long ago. Unfortunately, just because USB and FireWire appeared to compete in some common areas (like desktop storage), the perception was that they were completely competitive standards, and that's not true. Technically, FireWire and USB are a lot different. Could USB be expanded to subsume at least some of the functionality of FireWire? Could a future iteration of USB provide some of the hostless or multi-host peer capabilities of FireWire? Could a universal DV-over-USB standard be adopted? Sure, to all of them. But FireWire is here now, and is used for all of these tasks.

Apple didn't go out of its way to keep FireWire just so the Intel transition was "less disruptive". It keep FireWire because customers need and want it, and its products and product features depend upon it. Apple isn't the only one keeping FireWire alive. It's used all over the industry [1394ta.org]. All of Apple's computing products will have it for quite some time, and there's no logical or technical reason to believe otherwise.

New MacBook pretty close to the Pro in specs

This new laptop is much closer to the MacBook Pro than I expected. I thought they might only do Core Solo processors, to create more distinction between the two levels.

I had been planning on getting the 15 or 17" Pro, but looking at the specs on these - and the price, I might go for the MacBook.

The biggest difference I see is the display resolution.. 1280x800, like the older PowerBooks.

Black MacBook

I mean, it's really not that great value for the black ones. It's quite an expensive price bump for the black finish and an extra few gigs of hard dr....OH GOD I WANT A BLACK MACBOOK!

One thing that is definitely a welcome addition

is the addition of screen spanning, mirroring, and lid closed operation with a external monitor. Integrated graphics are a bummer, but are expected given their appearence in the mac mini. The new screen is long overdue (a 1024x768 screen doesn't cut it in 2006). Now the only thing we still are waiting on is a replacement for the powermac, but seeing as how few of the major pro apps are universal binaries, that release may be a ways down the road.

Apple is going to clean up with this one

It's late May, HS graduation is around the corner and here comes Apple with its flagship college laptop. At this price point, and with these specs, I'm pretty sure Apple won't be able to fill demand. A it's an $1100 Apple engineered laptop with built-in webcam, wifi and bluetooth that can also run Windows (and run it VERY well) - AWESOME. Sure, nobody's going to be playing games on it - nobody ever bought an Apple laptop to play games before (generalization) - but 90% of college students aren't CS majors and there are probably more people interested in the iSight web cam then in 3D performance.

Not too big, not so small that you can't see the screen, with a LOT of horsepower under the hood and the incredible iLife package to boot. The only comparable performance/form factor laptops I can find after a cursory search are $1700+ VAIOs, so the price point is pretty great too. If I were a betting man, I'd be putting a buy order on some Apple stock today.

(All this said, the only one I would ever think about getting is the lowest-end model and dropping in some extra RAM.)

Oh snap! Blogging and podcasting!

Introducing the superfast, blogging, podcasting, do-everything-out-of-the-box MacBook.

Finally, a laptop that can do blogging and podcasting. This is exactly what I've been waiting for! Go Apple!

Where is the Mac Tablet

I was really hoping Apple would step up and try to develop one. The Win Tablet market is so inadequate.

Dell vs Apple Price Comparison

Decided I'd browse over to Dell and see how big the "Apple premium" is sitting right now.

Dell Inspiron E1405:
14.1" screen (1280x800)
Core Duo 1.83
1 GB RAM (can't get 512)
80 GB HD
Total cost: $1540

MacBook:
13.3" screen (1280x800)
Core Duo 1.83
512 MB RAM
80 GB HD
built-in Webcam
Total cost: $1100 ...So the Apple premium now stands at -$340, close as I can figure.

Glossy screen?

Apple's web site indicates this new model has a stunning glossy screen. Am I the only one that hates these new glossy screens. They reflect glare and just look bad. The screen on the MacBook Pro isn't glossy. Why does the MacBook need a glossy screen?

Re:Family complete?

Apple's website saying the family is complete has no bearing at all on whether we can expect any new arrivals- it's not like they'd put "coming soon" and hurt the sales of the current products.

My purchase.

Well, I'm gonna get a white 2.0 dual core, upgrade the harddrive for $60 and buy a $5 can of black spray paint. A net savings of $135!

Even worse...

DVI, VGA, S-video and composite out all require adapters (sold separately, of course).

Re:MacBook Vs Dell

Just built me a Dell online and matched up the specs as closely as possible. Here's what I made:


Latitude D620:
Intel® Core(TM) Duo T2400 (1.83GHz) 667Mhz Dual Core
Operating Systems:
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2, with media
LCDs:
14.1 inch Wide Screen WXGA LCD Panel
Graphics:
Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Memory:
512MB, DDR2-533 SDRAM, 1 DIMM
Hard Drives:
60GB Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 5400RPM
Optical Drive - Modular:
24X CD-RW/DVD w/ Cyberlink PowerDVD(TM)
Wireless LAN (802.11):
Dell Wireless(TM) 1390 802.11g Mini Card
Bluetooth:
Dell Wireless® 350 Bluetooth Module

I assume that a "mini card" with regards to wireless is a plug in thing? I'm pretty sure it would say internal if it was built in, but some one who knows more about Dell can correct me.

Total Price: $1466.00 or 1216.00 after instant rebate.

Re:MacBook Vs Dell

Nice.
I wonder what does Dell charge for a built in hi-res webcam, slot loading optical, 1.08 inch wide "my 5 year old just stepped on it" resistant case, scrollpad, iLife and OS X.
Now it looks even worse for Dell.

Re:Specs and Prices (US and UK)

Except, of course, that the UK price includes VAT, making the actual price differential 7% or so.

Re:Specs and Prices (US and UK)

Or maybe they think that you should pay the 17.5% VAT your government imposes (Tax is not included in US prices, but traditionally IS included in UK prices). This should have been obvious to you, as the Apple UK store [apple.com] even gives you the prices "ex vat": 637.45, 765.11, 875.74. I did the math at today's rate, and the 875.74 comes out to about $1650usd. Which means that you're paying about $150 in import fees and tarriffs.

Apple isn't screwing you. Your government is taxing the shit out of you. Deal with it, or change it.

Re:Specs and Prices (US and UK)

The new system is availabe in three specs.

It also looks like Apple put together a spec comparison chart [apple.com], for those who are interested.

Re:Stunning new black enclosure?

Large icons, large space between, damn irresonable spacing between controls.

That's why icon size and icon spacing are fully adjustable. Not sure what you mean by "irresonable spacing between controls" though.

Re:Stunning new black enclosure?

Maybe he wants to tell us the second mouse button is too far away ;-)

Re:Stunning new black enclosure?

With a much better OS?

I'm not sure what you value your time at, but I don't have the time nor CPU cycles to run spyware detectors, malware detectors, virus & trojan detectors, etcetera. I also don't have the time to f*ck with a corrupted registry nor to format/reinstall the OS along with all the software/drivers every 6 months just because I decide to use the comuter. I'll probably settle for a simple firewall though.

I bought 2 macs for my parents after I was tired of doing the above and more everytime I came to their house. I run Linux, Mac, and Windows myself and if I ever move off a Ubuntu, I'll consider a Mac before any Windows.

Because being cheap is going to cost me more in the end.

Re:Stunning new black enclosure?

Larger display == better notebook? How do you figure?

I buy one of these, I buy it BECAUSE it has a small display. The same reason I bought my 12-inch iBook. If you offered me a choice, one of these or the 17-inch Pro model, for free, I would take the 13-inch (barring selling the 17 and using the money to buy the 13 of course). I want my notebook to be portable; I already have a desktop machine that is a pain to lug around, I don't need another.

Dual Channel for the graphics adapter

The use of RAM in pairs is due to the inclusion of an Intel Integrated Graphics.

If you put the RAM in pairs the amount of bandwith is double compared to the use of one single module (dual channel vs single channel)

Re:Black is the new black

Wait until you see the new Apple Beige Box (tm) line that's set to replace the high end G5 line (as soon as enough important 3rd party software has gone fat binary)

These mac intel Beige Box (tm) are going to blow the PC world's mind - you've never seen the sort of bold looks and design as the new Apple Beige Box (tm).

Re:Black is the new black

The black MacBook also comes with an extra 20GB of storage space (80GB standard in the block vs. 60GB standard in the white). This either explains the price difference or allows Apple to obscure the actual price premium for black, depending on how cynical you're feeling.