Apple Unveils New Macbook 986
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."
Family complete? (Score:3, Funny)
So, is this the full range?
The black MacBook seems a bit weird - it's $200 more than the nearest equivalent white model, except it has 20GB more hard disk and, erm, a rather pay-as-you-go black finish. Odd.
Re:Family complete? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Family complete? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Family complete? (Score:5, Funny)
There was no broken condom.
Re:Family complete? (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, because as chips get faster in the future, we realize that we were total chumps for buying such slow, expensive chips in the past. You had an Apple II? What a chump you were for paying so much money for a slow old 6502 processor. You had a 80486 PC? You should have just waited for the Core Duo!
Re:Family complete? (Score:3, Insightful)
At least the other hardware is nice. A laptop with a camera for only $1100? Sweet.
Re:Family complete? (Score:3, Insightful)
for their kit. I'll take that over ATI-blob supported hardware.
Re:Family complete? (Score:3, Insightful)
Still, while the purest in me regrets seeing Apple moving to integrated graphics on their iBook line, the realist in me says that video performance will still probably be better than the modest ATI cards they used to use.
These video chipsets are, like it or not, part of the reason why Apple moved to Intel. By having a complete motherboard solution which includes the GP
My purchase. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Family complete? (Score:3, Interesting)
You forget the company that produced it...
The FP mentioning CPU, then color, then - nothing! - as the key specs of this product should give a bit of a clue on the target audience.
Not sayin' it doesn't sounds like a hell of a nice laptop (and for a decent price at that, amazingly enough). Just... Know your audience.
Re:Family complete? (Score:5, Funny)
So your laptop can match your turtleneck?
Re:Family complete? (Score:3, Interesting)
Because of idiots like me, who started drooling in some sort of Jobsian/Pavlovian response when I saw the black MacBook. Yes, I know that, rationally and consciously, computer case aesthetics are not of prime importance to me. But Apple is working their desire voodoo. I want one. I have to have one.
Pity about the graphics. It's that one thing that keeps it from being a perfect lapt
Re:Family complete? (Score:3, Insightful)
If I'm working, I have many windows open at the same time, usually as the max resolution I can run...and I need all the real estate I can get.
If I'm on a plane watching a movie on it....I want a screen that is a decent size...12"-13" just are too small for me...
Re:Family complete? (Score:5, Interesting)
I've got a 12" iBook, and on a typical Boeing aircraft, if the person in front of me puts their seat back, I can *just barely* have the iBook open, sitting on the front lip of the tray table.
If my laptop screen was one inch taller, it would be pretty much impossible to use in most of the cheap seats of a plane. I would have to always arrive early and request an exit-row seat.
That's one reason why I think the wide-screen laptops are an awesome idea. More screen real estate, less height when it's open.
Stunning new black enclosure? (Score:3, Informative)
What the article doesn't mention is that the new black enclosure is made from the same patented finish as the ipod nano [engadget.com]
Seriously, $1099 for the low end one is making these look pretty tempting, but I'm going to have to wait for the fourth gen (instead of usual second gen) for mactel stuff.
Re:Stunning new black enclosure? (Score:5, Informative)
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? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Stunning new black enclosure? (Score:3, Funny)
He wants his spaces to resonate. Maybe he needs an interior decorator.
Re:Stunning new black enclosure? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Stunning new black enclosure? (Score:5, Insightful)
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? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Stunning new black enclosure? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Stunning new black enclosure? (Score:3, Insightful)
On that note
Re:Stunning new black enclosure? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Stunning new black enclosure? (Score:3, Informative)
Auto-arrange? You poor, ignorant fool.
The "icon view" is only there to keep old-school MacOS bigots from weeping openly in the streets. The first thing I do with every Mac I buy is go into the Finder prefs and set it to always use the hierarchical folder menus. While I'm at it, I remove all desktop icons for mounted disks. Having them in my finder win
Re:Stunning new black enclosure? (Score:3, Informative)
Black is the new black (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Black is the new black (Score:5, Funny)
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 (Score:3, Informative)
I know you're being comical, but the beige box was an Apple innovation way back when the Apple II (IIRC) came out. Before that it was imitation wood panels (I wonder if any early case modders had shag carpeting on their funky boxes...).
Re:Black is the new black (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Black is the new black (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Black is the new black (Score:5, Interesting)
Once again... (Score:5, Insightful)
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:Once again... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Once again... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:anytime soon (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Seems like a lot for black... (Score:3, Insightful)
And for the love of God why don't they just give them all 1GB of RAM?
Still it's pretty and I want one.
video -- ugh! (Score:3, Insightful)
Even worse... (Score:5, Insightful)
What I'd like to see (Score:4, Funny)
Re:What I'd like to see (Score:3, Funny)
RAM (Score:4, Interesting)
Dual Channel for the graphics adapter (Score:5, Informative)
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)
pairing (Score:4, Informative)
New MacBook pretty close to the Pro in specs (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:New MacBook pretty close to the Pro in specs (Score:3, Informative)
New keyboard design (Score:3, Interesting)
They claim that it is firmer than before.
Picture [apple.com]
Seeing as it is more than a quarter of an inch thinner than the iBook G4, this one looks like a pretty nice little system.
Black MacBook (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Black MacBook (Score:3, Funny)
Display Spanning (Score:4, Interesting)
Dual Purpose Get the big picture when you join your MacBook with either a stunning 20- or 23-inch Apple Cinema Display by way of a crystal-clear connection miniDVI port. (Requires miniDVI to DVI adapter, sold separately.)
It looks sweet.
One thing that is definitely a welcome addition (Score:5, Informative)
Pics of the black one! (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.apple.com/macbook/gallery/index2.html [apple.com]
Great! (Score:3, Interesting)
What a great deal for a Core Duo 1.83GHz CPU, decent other specs, software etc. plus the little Front Row remote.
From the Dell UK website, for £802(the link page here [dell.com] says £649, when you go to the configure page, the price jumps to £802, wtf?) for the Inspiron M, you can get a slower CPU (1.66GHz Core Duo), same memory, same HDD, inferior Graphics (Intel GMA 900 vs GMA 950 in the Macbook). Same optical drive, except the Macbook is slot loading (nice). Both have 802.11g networking, but the Macbook also comes with Bluetooth 2.0EDR, the Dell has no Bluetooth capability.
The Dell does have an extra inch on the screen than the Macbook, but is not widescreen.
The Dell lacks:
- Bluetooth
- Remote
- iLife
- OS X
The Dell is also bigger in every dimension. Heavier too. Whichever of the two prices Dell.co.uk give you (£649 or £802) it's clear that the Macbook is very competitive price-wise if you're a student. (We are comparing prices for students here, but I believe the price compares well without the student discount too.)
Looks like a great little machine at a really affordable price. Very impressed, I was worried we'd see some price hikes.
(Ah just figured out the pricing difference on the Dell site, they 'automatically' select the highest service-level when you go to the configure screen... great.)
Apple is going to clean up with this one (Score:5, Insightful)
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.)
Re:Apple is going to clean up with this one (Score:4, Funny)
Huh? (Score:4, Insightful)
You can get a similarly equipped Dell E1405 for about $800. The only thing missing is a webcam, but an USB webcam would cost you $25.
But then, when I was in college... I bought Levi Jeans. Some students can afford to spend twice as much for designer labels.
Black MacBook and new logo (Score:3, Funny)
And here is the new MacBook logo [wfmynews2.com]
Oh snap! Blogging and podcasting! (Score:5, Funny)
Finally, a laptop that can do blogging and podcasting. This is exactly what I've been waiting for! Go Apple!
Glossy screen on MacBook Pro (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Glossy screen on MacBook Pro (Score:4, Interesting)
Where is the Mac Tablet (Score:5, Insightful)
Dell vs Apple Price Comparison (Score:5, Interesting)
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
Re:Dell vs Apple Price Comparison (Score:4, Interesting)
Make a fair comparison (Score:4, Informative)
Then why not just upgrade the iBook to 1GB? It then costs $1,249.
Thus the price difference is $1540 - $1249 = $291.
Your price difference is wrong, and you have not included the cost of the 80GB HD upgrade.
I still think that is an amazing deal, even though you get a slightly smaller screen.
Re:Dell vs Apple Price Comparison (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Dell vs Apple Price Comparison (Score:5, Informative)
Dell Inspiron E1405
WXGA screen(as opposed to the WXGA+ upgrade)
Core Duo 1.83
512 Megs RAM
60 Gig HD (The MacBook comes with a 60 gig, not 80)
Intel 3945 802.11/a/b/g card
Bluetooth
1 Year Warranty
$1037
- $300 coupon
= $737
Re:Dell vs Apple Price Comparison (Score:4, Interesting)
Hmm... MacMini - $500... Dell Dual Xeon Desktop system with 30" LCD - $6000. I guess Apples are cheaper.
See - this is why people compare things that are as identical as possible. The more variables you change, the less apt your comparison is.
Re:Dell vs Apple Price Comparison (Score:4, Interesting)
14.1" screen (1280x800)
Core Duo 1.83
512 MB RAM
60 GB HD
for $899
The only way you'd get that Dell up to $1500+ is with a 4 year warranty. You can get a 7200 RPM harddrive and DVD burner and still be cheaper than the base MacBook.
There's still an Apple premium. The software may be worth the difference, but as long as you want to spec just the hardware, that's a damn expensive webcam.
Re:Dell vs Apple Price Comparison (Score:3, Funny)
Glossy screen? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Glossy screen? (Score:5, Interesting)
"MacBook features a unique new keyboard design that sits flush against the bed for a sleeker, lower profile. Plus, you'll find a firmer touch when typing. That ought to make your fingers happy." That has the ominous tone of marketing to cover for a crappy keyboard. It will be interesting once people start putting hands on these machines.
Re:Glossy screen? (Score:4, Insightful)
Warning label (Score:3, Insightful)
Good thing they put this warning on the website, although they make it sound like a glossy display is actually a good thing...
(Perhaps it is a good thing for people wanting to spend $1099 on an Apple designed make-up mirror?)
Glossy Bullshit (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, because I remember all the countless times I've seen my window reflected on my TV and thought "Gee, the picture sure looks so much better with all kinds of shit reflected on it."
I wanted a MacBook... but now I'm gonna have to wait till they de-gloss the screen.
Glossy Display...Details? (Score:3, Interesting)
I assume the glossy display is meant to improve the contrast and sharpen things up in general, getting away from the flat matte of most LCD screens. I'll probably have to wait a few weeks for pictures of this new laptop sitting side by side with an iBook to tell the difference (there is no Apple store in my remote viscinity).
I am a little wary of it, however. I have encountered laptops with what I would have called "glossy" screens. Instead of the matte surface finish of a typical LCD, it looked like the LCD was encased in glass. No doubt this improved the screen clarity and contrast in darkened environments, but the screens were about as reflective as, well, plate glass.
I trust apple to not go with something that flawed. Does anyone have more info?
Re:Glossy Display...Details? (Score:3, Informative)
12" is a slight loss (Score:3, Insightful)
Battery Performance (Score:3, Informative)
It will be tempting to switch from my MBP just for the battery life. Although the weight is now only 6.4 ounces less. Still, if work didn't pay for my laptop, there is no question which one I'd buy. I already have an external DVD burner (and dual-layer to boot), so I'd get the cheapest and spend the extra $200 on maxing out the RAM. The only thing that would give me pause is the integrated graphics. I don't care about games, but I do use Aperture and some other pro apps and I'd like to know what difference this will make. Apple is going to be supply constrained for quite a while.
Desktop Rumors? (Score:3, Interesting)
Glossy? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:MacBook Vs Dell (Score:5, Informative)
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 (Score:5, Insightful)
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:MacBook Vs Dell (Score:3, Informative)
The BT is replaceable too, although you have to bully Dell into selling you one of the damn things to add it later.
Re:Not quite apples and apples (Score:3, Interesting)
That's not true, I run the latest version of OS X for PPC on my G4/400 w/1 GB RAM and for normal operations it runs just as fast as my MacBook Pro runs the Intel version of 10.4.6 using 512 MB RAM.
My stepdaughter runs 10.3.9 on a G3/400 with 800
Re:Not quite apples and apples (Score:3, Informative)
Bloat or no bloat, OSX on Core Duo seems to trail the pack in simple horsepower.
http://sekhon.berkeley.edu/macosx/intel.html [berkeley.edu]
Re:MacBook Vs Dell (Score:4, Funny)
First you stop installing Windows ME on your friends computers.
Re:Specs and Prices (US and UK) (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Specs and Prices (US and UK) (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple isn't screwing you. Your government is taxing the shit out of you. Deal with it, or change it.
Yay. (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, I often find myself thinking "Oooh, St. Moritz or Wilmington? I just can't decide."
Re:Specs and Prices (US and UK) (Score:5, Informative)
It also looks like Apple put together a spec comparison chart [apple.com], for those who are interested.
Re:Specs and Prices (US and UK) (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Not good enough. (Score:3, Insightful)
Integrated graphics?
It's the low-end consumer machine. Having integrated graphics is common, just look at other machines in the same price range.
Shipping with 2xSODIMMS? (meaning your tossing out both)
The intel chipset used needs paired RAM chips for reasonable performance.
Black is essentially a premium color? It cost more that the system below it with a $50 upgrade to the HDD.
You were expecting it to cost less than the model below it? Yup it's a $50 hard drive upgrade and tax on the fashion cons
It's there. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Only 512 MB of RAM (Score:3, Informative)
We do? Cause 10.4.6 runs just fine on my 6 year old, 500 MHz G3 laptop with 512 megs of RAM. Runs as fast as Ubuntu Linux, dual-booted on the same machine.
Re:Way to heavy (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't know why Apple always makes only heavy notebooks, but they should stop.
You make it sounds like they purposefully put lead in the product to weigh it down.
The lighter the materials, the more the cost -- at which point you would probably complain that
"I don't know why Apple always makes only expensive notebooks, but they should stop."
In other words, it seems clear that you will never be happy with Apple's notebook -- so don't buy one. End of story.
Re:Way to heavy (Score:3, Insightful)
I bet it gets a full hour less battery life too.
The heaviest component in these things is the battery. Generally, the lighter the laptop the more often you have to find a plug. (Enormous "Portable Workstations" and "Desktop Replacements" excepted).
Re:marketing tactics (Score:3, Insightful)
That's unusual. All of the rich people I've known would have answered: "used".
Re:marketing tactics (Score:3, Funny)
Um, one hour later they'll want to run it again? </OLD_JOKE>
Re:Not for me (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:black U2 iPod taught them something! (Score:4, Funny)
Most of the U2 iPods were sold, not to U2 fans, but to black-colored electronics fans.
That's funny. None of the black people I know have one.