Now I own another Apple collectors item. Mine is less than 2 years old, and in great shape, and it just had a new optical drive installed under Applecare. It is NOT for sale...LOL
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Apple Kills Off White MacBook as Educational Institution Distribution Halted
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I agree except for lack of storage. I don't to deal with external drives except for backups/archives. Until I can get an Air with at least 500 GB, but preferably 1 TB of storage, I can't use it as my only Mac. I would like to, but with my photos, home videos, and iTunes library, I need the space. And storing that stuff externally makes no sense to me if your main machine is a portable.
Which is why when I move on from my white MacBook, I am probably going to go with an iMac/iPad combo rather than a portable Mac.
But that is my use case. I can see how the Air would fit the needs of many users. But it would be frustrating to get a new Mac, load up your music, photos, and video and then find out your brand new computer is out of space.
nagromme said:
I agree except for lack of storage. I don't to deal with external drives except for backups/archives. Until I can get an Air with at least 500 GB, but preferably 1 TB of storage, I can't use it as my only Mac. I would like to, but with my photos, home videos, and iTunes library, I need the space. And storing that stuff externally makes no sense to me if your main machine is a portable.
Which is why when I move on from my white MacBook, I am probably going to go with an iMac/iPad combo rather than a portable Mac.
But that is my use case. I can see how the Air would fit the needs of many users. But it would be frustrating to get a new Mac, load up your music, photos, and video and then find out your brand new computer is out of space.
Love my 2.4 C2D 2008 model. Tried to sell it to upgrade but no one wants the white models these days. Guess I'll get a new battery, max out the ram and keep it until it dies. It's still quick enough for me. Doesn't see much more than some web browsing and light photoshop work.
I had two "iceBooks" as I called them, and both got donated to people less fortunate than I. The first was bought three days before 9/11, and the other in 2005 after retiring the first one. I gave that one up in the spring of 2007.
Both were running MS Office, FileMaker Pro, and a few other things -- they worked in concert with a Palm PDA.
Both were running MS Office, FileMaker Pro, and a few other things -- they worked in concert with a Palm PDA.
Was about time, too.
Good news: get whatever's left at discounted rates now. I assume ....
I still have my 2007 Santa Rosa MB in White. It's got 4GB and runs Lion fairly well. It's still a good machine, although the GMA GPU really sucks.
I'm glad I have it and it's in great condition, it will be a nice collectable of the "white" era at Apple.
I guess going forward all Macbooks will be Airs, huh?
I'm glad I have it and it's in great condition, it will be a nice collectable of the "white" era at Apple.
I guess going forward all Macbooks will be Airs, huh?
swingerofbirch
macrumors 68040
End of an era. The white iBooks were my mainstay for a long time (although they had their share of logic board issues). I really loved the 12" iBook's size and look though. I remember the first one I got was the summer after I graduated high school (2001) and I took it on a plane with me to Sweden, and I thought watching a DVD on it was so cool. I still can remember the smell of it, and how cool it was to have DVDs with me in my leather bag . . . there was such a feeling of specialness I don't have these days (not talking about Apple's products not being special, just that I don't get that feeling personally). I know this isn't the iBook we're talking about, but it's its successor.
While I think the price was a little off, it was certainly not ridicules. The only Apple products that I've paid retail for are the iPhone and
TV. I would never pay $1,000 for a computer.In my world, $1,000 should get me multiple computers - which is precisely what has been reality.
I'm a little sad to see it go because it's been such an iconic design. The iBook G3 carried it all the way through G4, through the original MacBook, and even the Unibody MacBook. I liked the white polycarbonate computers. As some have said, it just looks nice and clean.
Heck, even my Xbox and TV are white to match all the Apple stuff.
Enough of my blathering. Sorry to see you go, white MacBook. I can't wait to see where Apple takes this strategy.
The white unibody models had no flaws that I'm aware of.
Right because the MacBook Air, while not being made of plastic, does so much more as a computer.
I'll agree that the 13" Pro is endangered, but the 15" model (at least the higher-end model) isn't going anywhere from Apple's line-up.
The white Unibody models had no design/manufacturing flaws.
Gee, 11.6" screen and 64 GB of storage with a limit of 2GB of RAM versus 13" screen and 250 GB of storage (upgradable to anything, including a 256 GB SSD, or a 750 GB drive) with an Apple-imposed limit of 4GB of RAM (and a theoretical limit of 8GB of RAM) both originally out for the same price, I wonder which is the worse deal. This is why I fail to understand the MacBook Air fanbase; they are so in love with the MacBook Air that they lose all sight of practicality.
I have a white Macbook. It can be for sale for the right price!
It is the upper end, late 2007 model with upgraded RAM to 4GB. It's been reliable for 4 years, but it's just about that time to upgrade.
Are you serious? PM me if so!
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An MBA with a 15" screen? Add decent storage and if you are correct `i will stand you a bottle of your favourite tipple Sir!
While I loved the design of the white MacBooks, they seemed to look dirty really fast and the front edge always cracked and cut my wrists.
Kinda glad I decided to order a 13" MBP (as soon as a check clears - grumble) - I was really disappointed when my plastic MB started cracking. The unibody design probably solves that problem a bit, but I like the aluminum!
I have one (13" aluminum MacBook, late 2008). Aside from the name, it's really not that special, nor was the price (even with the old name) ever as low as the plastic MacBooks. The current 13" MBPs are essentially the same, aside from upgraded specs over the years. If you want one, I suggest that instead.
That being said, I wish they'd make an affordable yet decently powerful laptop. While I'll happily use the aforementioned MacBook as long as its useful life allows, I'm deciding whether my next purchase will be the similar MBP, the similarly priced iMac, or a significantly less expensive Mac mini--I'm not so sure I need a laptop anymore.
PS - iPad really won't cut for the old MacBook market unless you either buy into the entire Apple ecosystem (Pages, etc. for productivity, shared with the actual-computer version--unless anyone knows of a good LibreOffice-compatible suite) or do mostly Web browsing and e-mail with it. I can't, for example, take it to the library and do work on it until it can compile LaTeX for me--and I suspect that may never happen.
It's a shame, but things need to move on, now another Mac is added to my collectables wish list.
The whole MBP thing is up in the air, and we don't know which way Apple are going with it. I take the point on the limitations of the MBA, I love my 13" it's fast, light and a joy to use, but with 256MB it won't cut it as a studio tool without adding external storage.
My MBP 17" does that job most of the time. I wonder if we may have seen the last of the 17""s at the next refresh. I'm not due to update this year, so I have the luxury of waiting to see what happens.
The white Macs were always eye-catchers when they first arrived, the unibody alloy has become almost ubiquitous now. My dream MBP replacement would be a 15" MBA with a 1TB drive, but that's for another thread.
Anybody got a white Macbook for sale?
I work at apple campus store and as of today we still have quite a few brand new ones in inventory. I have no idea though yet what the EOL discount will be (will find out in the morning). Before this news they were $899. However I see you are UK based, and we are in California. Could make a sale a bit tricky
I bet you could find a local campus store around you with stock for the next couple of weeks though if they sell at the same rate over there that they do here. Granted that could change if apple gives a good EOL discount. I always liked how they looked too, however recently its almost crazy how much better bang for your buck that you get with the 13" MBP then it. When people ask me the difference, its lol absurd how long the list of differences is for a computer that is only $200 more. 2x HDD, firewire, thunderbolt, HD isight, easily 2/3x the CPU power, 2x ram, 2x HDD space, aluminum body, backlit keyboard, sd card reader, glass for the glossy screen (i am not sure what the MB glossiness is called but as far as I can tell it is inferior to the mbp glass panel). So yeah lol its crazy, to the point were less tech savvy people almost won't believe me at first.
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The high end 11" MBA configuration actually has 4GB of ram and a 128GB SSD (and can be custom configured with a 256GB SSD). That said it would be nice if apple bumped it up a bit (even if they just added more custom config choices). Not %100 but I am pretty sure the appropriate components exist for an 11" MBA with a 512GB drive and at least 8GB of ram.
I have one (13" aluminum MacBook, late 2008). Aside from the name, it's really not that special, nor was the price (even with the old name) ever as low as the plastic MacBooks. The current 13" MBPs are essentially the same, aside from upgraded specs over the years. If you want one, I suggest that instead.
Interestingly enough, the MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum) model is actually the best used Mac to shop for on eBay as (a) anything bearing "MacBook Pro" automatically costs more, (b) the Late 2008 Aluminum model MacBook didn't change much when it later became the Mid 2009 13" MacBook Pro (same with the Late 2009 White Unibody MacBook), just non-removable battery and different CPU speeds; it had the same chipset, same IGP, same family of CPUs. So, provided a GeForce 9400M Mac isn't too slow, it's a fantastic machine and it's pretty easy to get them at a great bargain.
To be fair, the 15" MacBook Pro is pretty good for the price; I mean a similarly specced Windows laptop will be cheaper and probably slightly faster, but last I checked no PC laptop manufacturer had anything even close to resembling the unibody chassis and easy-as-hell-to-service design, for which I'll happily pay more money for.
If you don't need a laptop, go Mac mini; even though it's still a laptop technologically (save for the battery and integrated screen and input devices), within the context of Apple's line-up, you are spared the portability tax of the MacBook Pro. Again, having worked on a fair number of iMacs, especially of the recent generation, I can attest that while they are the best bang-for-buck as far as an Apple desktop is concerned, they're not well-engineered by comparison to every other Mac.
The only thing in the Mac line that the iPad is a decent replacement for is a MacBook Air, and specifically an 11.6" MacBook Air or a 13" MacBook Air that is used as a second Mac laptop (where the first is presumably a MacBook Pro).
Was comparing the low-end 11.6" Air there intentionally as I was responding to a comment in which the Air was compared directly to the white MacBook of the same price. The higher-end 11.6" Air cost more money. Also I don't think the higher-end 11.6" Air had 4GB standard until this current generation, which never co-existed with the white MacBook in the retail channels as the current generation Air came out at the same time that the white MacBook was discontinued in the retail channels.
I think there is an mSATA "blade" SSD by OWC or some similar company that goes up to 512GB. If there isn't, I feel like it won't be long before there is. RAM on the other hand is static as that's soldered onto the logic board and is thusly, non-removable and non-upgradable, and an unarguably stupid thing about the MacBook Air when compared to all other Macs.
Ah I misunderstood what you were getting at, my bad. And you are correct the 4GB 11" model only became available with the current generation MBAs. I remember it well because before, I got a lot of grumbling from customers about the 2GB max. 512gb/8Gb thing I was more talking about what Apple could offer from a technological standpoint if they wanted too. I am pretty sure that there are dense enough ram modules these days that apple could solder 8gb or more on the logic bored without any design changes.
I've always thought that instead of giving RAM slots and posting some maximum limit, that board manufacturers should just put the maximum amount of the highest caliber RAM that the board (chipset) would've supported anyway on-board so that the thing comes pre-maxed. Though the obvious downsides to that would be (a) it'd make the board substantially more expensive at the time of purchase and (b) if a RAM "stick"/"chip" dies (as happens on DIMMs and SO-DIMMs from time to time), then the whole mother/logic board is defective and rendered useless.