Apple MacBook 13" Screen Notebook Released

Well, I personally wanted a 12" version of Macbook Pro. Apple has dropped the ball before, but I think this is one of their better product launches - the hardware seems quite reasonable for the price.

 

Maybe the 13.3/14 Macbook pro will have a good graphics card

 

Don't know if this was mentioned yet but the MBP now offers a glossy screen option as well and I've just placed my order too - finally, everything I needed in 1 package!

 

About that weird keyboard...



I can almost see the mobo from the gaps of those keys! The pictures apple put up makes you almost wonder if they're trying to hide something.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1748

 

Uh Oh...

"Like Apple's MacBook Pro professional notebooks, the company says the new MacBook has a tendency to produce a significant amount of heat. Though the notebook's operating temperature falls within national and international safety standards, it runs much hotter than the iBook G4s it replaces."

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1750

 

Well, if they came out with a lighter 12/13" MacBookPro with dedicated graphics at a higher price then the general consumer/student would probably stick with the MacBook. Some professionals however would opt for the smaller format MacBookPro, whereas some would prefer the larger ones. The point is, Apple now has no laptop that caters to the rather large group of professionals, academics and researchers who travel a lot and need something small and light.

Here's a letter I just sent to Apple:

 

hmmm... it does look familiar...



;-O

 

Hey, do u guys think 5.2lbs (2.36kilos) is a little heavy for its screen size? I nearly wanted to get one,but when i looked at the wieight it just put me off...

Btw, i am new to mac, so juz wondering, are the RAM modules that apple has in macbooks the same as PC ones?

or are they different? Will the wireless card (airport extreme i think) on the macbook work with my existing wireless router (its a Belkin PRE-N with mimo technology)

Juz wanted to dble check before i dive into my first new mac

 

Yes: the keyboard is not (user) replaceable.

 

It still amazes me how many people think that a dedicated graphics card is only useful for games. A big reason why Apple has survived for so long is because professionals in the graphics industry use them. And not everyone can afford a MacBook Pro.

When the Mini came out with integrated graphics, I knew then that the Macbook would probably be the same. That's too bad because in terms of raw computing power, this is an otherwise powerful little machine.

As for wanting to have a differentiation between the Pro and non-Pro versions, I don't see it. First of all, if Apple is going to charge premium prices for the Pro, it should have included a better graphics card for that kind of money.

Second of all, the G4 iBook had BETTER graphics than the current MacBook (that in itself doesn't make any sense), which made it a lot closer to the G4 PowerBooks. But there wasn't a lot of lost Powerbook sales going to the iBook.

Third, there are notebooks with dedicated graphics cards that don't overheat and have decent battery life. They could have thrown in an nVidia 6200 or an ATI x1300. In the end, how much more would it have cost? $50? And how much of a difference in battery life would it have been? Hours? Or minutes?

Fourth, if people are saying that MacBook users aren't going to need a powerful graphics card (which I've already argued against) because they only need a basic computer, then why the hell do you need a DUAL CORE processor for e-mailing and word processing? Does THAT make any sense?

I hope that Apple sells a ton of these things, but it's a big disapppointment for me.

 

Just came back from the Apple Store in SF and it's been crazy. The machines looked very nice in person and keyboard had a nice overall feel to them, not as good as IBM/Lenovo's but definitely superior to Dell's. Though 1 lady with long nails caught them on the keyboard several times while sending out an email. The screens looked really good but the thick boarders made it looked smaller than 13". I do hope that Apple decides to make a dedicated GPU option available - 1 insider that worked there said Apple is remissed not to have offered that option as he too would have loved to have a 73/7400 or X13/400 available - he hopes Apple would offer that right before back to school sometime in July.

ps. The glossy option of the MBP is not available in store a/o today May 16th

 

I don't see anything wrong with integrated graphics, I'd rather have better battery life than better graphics. The integrated graphics works good enough for me on my notebook. They should have put the choice of black for the $1099 version. Even though I still like the white better some people like black better.

 

I went to my local Apple store today and actually got to play around with a black Macbook. Nice keyboard, niice glossy screen, very bright running on the battery. I picked it up, closed the lid and it didn't feel all that heavy. Overall its a really nice notebook. My first notebook and my first Mac anything. Can't wait to get it. I've played around with keyboards at Best Buy from HP,Toshiba,Compaq. They all seemed weak & cheesy. Whatever kind of plastic the Macbook is made from, its solild...dense is a word that comes to mind. Heck, i just wanted a neat little notebook to surf the web, send email, yada yada. I'm sure i'll be happy with it.

 

I believe the "plastic" they are made of consists of the same materials bullet proof glass is made of. Well the iBook was anyways, and I'm sure it's still the same material.

And I will definately be ordering one more towards August. I would prefer to wait and let the bugs work out some. I plan to use it at school, and my G25 just won't cut it. LOL

 

You do of course realize that the SZ series has a hybrid graphics chip that allows you to switch from the Nvidia 7400 to Intel 950 for low consumption.

As an owner of this laptop I can tell you that on the same machine with the same screen, there is a noticable difference in visual quality between the two cards, just in normal use colors and sharpness suffer with the intel graphics.

Let's not even talk about VGA out...the difference is quite notcable here.

Regarding Sony being over priced...

Its a metal chassis
comes with D/L burner
fingerprint scanner (surprisingly handy)
dedicated video/hybrid graphics
express card
1 GB RAM stock
100 GB 5400 rpm HD stock
internal bluetooth
hard drive motion sensing protection
NEVER gets hot

and yes I can and do play games (it'll do half life 2 cranked all the way up)


These can be had for $1750 and are certainly a viable option for those who like this form factor but want/need more features.

The macbook looks great, and seems to be priced right. It's competing in a different market segment than the SZ in terms of features.

 

With all the complaints regarding the integrated graphics and the $150 paintjob, am I the only one who's disappointed that once again Apple is only offering these with a single layer burner?

Aside from that, I don't mind the look of these machines... although the bezel around the screen is a little thick and the keyboard reminds me of something... Aah! That's it!

 

What the hell is wrong with Apple? Even a c*rappy company like Averatec could make a 13" ibook-like laptop under 5 lbs: http://www.averatec.com/notebooks/4200series.htm!

 

That's pure marketing fodder. (Very thick) polycarbonate is indeed used to make bulletproof glass. It's also used to make cheap sunglasses and CDs and DVDs at 10 cents a pop, but that doesn't read as good in the brochures.

 

I think this is a right move on Apple's part. The iBook has, for a long time now, been concidered to be a companion to a iPod. Now, the MacBook matches the iPod in colors as well as general looks. I do have a slight problem with the Intel GMA solution, I think a ATi 9600 would have even been better. Either way, this thing will still output to 1080p high def through a DVI cable so you will be able to play all the mepg-4 AVC high def content you want. That is, if you purchase the mini-dvi to dvi cable and upgrade the RAM to 1GB. All in all, it seems like it is a good consumer notebook that is reasonably priced when compared to other 12-14" notebooks that basically run the same hardware.

My only problem with current Core Duo notebooks is that Intel will be releasing the 64-bit Core Duo 2 processor this August. Apple is going to have to release a new OS along with upgrading everything to that processor. This is somewhat negative news for early adopters of the Intel Mac platform.

I give this notebook a 3/5 for its portability, performance, and looks. The ONLY real downside I see is that it comes with a Core Duo processor and, if you want to take advantage of the latest technology, you will have to buy another MacBook/MacBook Pro in August or September. This really isn't Apple's fault, most of the blame falls on Intel. I think that Apple should have really waited before adopting to the Intel platform, they should have waited until Intel released their 64-bit Core Duo processors. Did we really need a 32-bit Intel MacBook Pro in February just to have it replaced 5 months later with a 64-bit MacBook Por? That is a lot of money.

 

I think it'll be a while before Apple starts selling Merom notebooks. And Mac people aren't exactly used to working with the latest technology anyway

You're not going to need a 64-bit processor any time soon. A Dual Core should be fine for the next two or more years.

 

This is mainly for people who cannot afford a MacBook Pro, but want to say they own a Mac.

5.2lbs for a 13.3" is a letdown.

I would like to know specs of the LCD panel, though.

 

Well, the PowerPC G4 chip was pretty good when it was first released, then AMD and Intel both offered better chips while Apple/Motorola/IBM continued to make a few design changes.

The PowerPC G5 chip was ****ed good when it was first released and can still hold its own against modern day single cored processor. A top of the line PowerMac G5 (which will cost you your soul) will still perform very well when stacked up against similarly equiped Pentium D and AMD Athlon X2 machines.

I think that is the only downfal of Apple switching to the Intel platform, they will receive constant hardware upgrades. Before, you could purchase a Apple computer when it was first released and you would know that it wouldn't receive any minor modifications (like processor speed boost, increase in RAM, or increase in hard drive space) for at least 6 months. Apple probably wouldn't really change anything for a year. Now, Apple has increased the specs of the MacBook Pro numerous times since its release.

Still, I would hate to shell out $1500 for a notebook just to have better technology come out in 2.5 months which Apple will probably use (the same goes for any notebook manufacturer though when switching from the Core Duo to the Core Duo 2).

 

Exactly. Though, given the moderate pricing, this book might make sense to some.

 

I think you're overstating the importance of 64 bit computing to the average home user. True, Apple will have to have a 64 bit version of OS X for Intel ready when Merom ships, but this will be needed for the workstation and server markets rather than the home market. This would explain why Apple has held off on releasing a new Powermac to replace the G5s (besides the fact they've quite a few of the quad-cores still in stock), workstation/server markets would definitely consider Yonah to be a step backwards. In this case, you may see a new Macbook Pro announced.

The average home user just isn't going to notice the difference, unless they need access to more than 4GB of RAM and 64 bit integer support to run iLife... I think this point is well borne out by the steady sales of the Core Duo iMacs, many of whom are technically taking a step backwards. iBook/Powerbook owners never even got there, since they're still on G4s.

To further illustrate the point, I know plenty of people who own dual-core 64 bit desktop PCs (mostly Athlon X2s), only two of them are running 64 bit OS/apps on them (linux of course), and even then they don't notice a huge boost in performance in day to day use... certainly not enough to justify the effort required in getting a stable mixed 32/64 bit environment running to handle precompiled and legacy applications.

BTW, not even one response to my earlier post above? I must be losing my mad trolling skillz... *sniff*