Nope indeed.
First, a speed bump on MBP (from 2.66/2.93 to 2.8/3.06) in July or August.
In January, a new Arrandale-based MBP with USB 3.0.
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First, a speed bump on MBP (from 2.66/2.93 to 2.8/3.06) in July or August.
In January, a new Arrandale-based MBP with USB 3.0.
Funny, the Dell Mini 9 that I got free with a Vodafone 3G subscription functions perfectly well as an OS X netbook and if you buy it new costs < £200 which at today's exchange rate ≈ $293USD.
Ultraportable, SSD, webcam, card reader, inbuilt 3G (yes that works under OS X too) plus all the usual Bluetooth/WiFi etc all of which work a charm, graphics are hardware accelerated and so on; all from a retail Leopard DVD with a couple of additional kexts...
How is it Dell know how to make a perfectly good netbook that runs OS X for < $500 and Apple don't?
How is it Dell know how to make a perfectly good netbook that runs OS X for < $500 and Apple don't?
I guess it depends on someone's definition of perfectly good.
Studies show people who buy Dell don't get the best experience, I guess that's the price you pay, lol.
The BT 3.0 specs will be released on April 21 (today, in fact, if you live in my part of the world) but it will be some time before any products show up. As for USB 3.0, it's estimated that computers with USB 3.0 will start arriving by the end of 2009, but it will be a few more months before compatible peripherals hit the market. Then there's Firewire 3200... which could end up dead on arrival -- USB 3.0 is faster even with protocol overhead.
That would be a machine that functions as you expect it to. As I say, the Mini 9 runs OS X as well as my 2.4GHz Santa Rosa Macbook. Can't really ask for much more from a netbook tbh.
If I didn't need the additional horsepower of a Core2Duo in the Macbook for music performance I would be perfectly happy with the Mini 9 as my OS X laptop. As it is I use the Mini 9 as my day to day lappy to prevent the Macbook getting cluttered.
Oh, and like the *new* Macbooks, it lacks Firewire too
i thought bt3 will be announced officially tomorrow. that doesnt mean there will be a ton of devices out there but i still think apple could include it. usb also is set for a 2010 release but i think the draft is set. kinda like wireless-n: not official but draft
or maybe i read the press release about the release date wrong?
anyways, i said it was my opinion. if you disagree with it, tell my why but dont mock it
No, studies show exactly what the marketing department want you to believe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies,_damned_lies,_and_statistics
I'm not trying to sound snobby, or anything similar to that, but I just don't see how a 1.6 Atom processor can function 'as well' as a 2.4 core 2 duo. I have never used a netbook so I'm not speaking from experience, but the only way I could see that make any sense if 'function' means running Safari and Text Edit, not running iLife apps - especially with a decent sized library.
It's one thing to say that the mini is good enough to use as OSX netbook but I'm just not sure how an OS that is hacked to work on a system with lesser specs can function as good as on a macbook where the OS is designed to work.
Btw, don't get me wrong, I'm as intrigued as everyone else to see what Apple has in the works, I'm simply pointing out that the "We can't build a decent machine under $500" argument is complete and utter bollocks.
Dell has produced some shoddy products in their time. From my experience the Mini 9 is not one of them.
Apple has not exactly produced the greatest hardware themselves.
iBook G3 -> logic board issues (logic board replacement program introduced)
iBook G4 -> logic board issues (denied / ignored by Apple)
Macbook Pro -> yellow screen (not sure how this ended up)
Dell has produced some shoddy products in their time. From my experience the Mini 9 is not one of them.
Apple has not exactly produced the greatest hardware themselves.
iBook G3 -> logic board issues (logic board replacement program introduced)
iBook G4 -> logic board issues (denied / ignored by Apple)
Macbook Pro -> yellow screen (not sure how this ended up)
Not intended to mock it. Apologies if that's how you felt it was geared.
No, the specs for BT3.0 are coming out tomorrow-ish as far as I know, but I still think it'll be quite a while before devices come out sporting the new stuff. Just like USB3, it takes time.
Dell has machines in price ranges where customer satisfaction barely ever existed. Apple only sells high-end so naturally they will get a higher satisfaction ratings average (a $2500-3500 machine had better damn well be up to scratch).
But Dell has an 18% gross margin, Apple has a 35% gross margin, which means that if you buy a high-end Dell for $2500-3000 you will get one hell of a machine that will leave few dissatisfied. I use two high-end Dells daily and they've been fantastic. But that's not where Dell's volume sales are, their ratings are mostly based on the low-end bargain bin junk they sell to frugal consumers.
hard to convey the proper "HA!" thru interwebs, huh. i just got off a stressfull day of work so i was all edgy. no hard feelings
apple usually adopts new standards selectively before most people. im just guessing here but the components are most probably available so i think they might go for it, more for bragging right$ than practicality
Don't worry, you don't sound snobby, I'm pleased you would like me to clarify.
I said OS X runs as well on the Mini 9. Surprisingly so, tbh. As you point out you're not going to use a 1.6GHz Atom system for any major byte crunching but the hardware does exactly what it's supposed to, and runs the OS just fine. All the internals are supported natively by OS X anyway. The additional kext simply adds the device id for the graphics chip into the IORegistry.
All I do on the Mini 9 is surf the web, check emails online and fiddle with a few documents in OpenOffice, all of which it does without complaining. I can also use Skype with the webcam to contact my family abroad. Oh, and MobileMe syncs iCal and Address Book, which is quite handy. I can use the iPhone for this but it's quicker and easier to do so in bona fide iCal. For example you can't change the type of calendar an entry is raised against (ie Home, Work, Study etc) once created on the iPhone without deleting and recreating the entry which really annoys me as the iPhone's Calendar always defaults to Medical in my case, and clearly not all entries should be filed under this.
I'm never going to run Garageband (not that I would anyway as I use Logic and Ableton Live on my desktop), iPhoto, iMovie or suchlike on a netbook. That's not a netbook's intended purpose. You wouldn't run apps akin to these on any OS with this sort of hardware.
Yet I can still run VLC and watch the odd video here and there if I choose; admittedly probably from external media but it will still play most media quite happily (provided that's all you're doing, which, to be fair, is going to be the case if you're watching a video on a 9" 1024x600 screen).
In a nutshell, it does exactly what you want a netbook to do: be a reliable internet portal that you can carry around with you. It has most of the bells and whistles that my Macbook has (with the exception of Firewire and, obviously, optical drive) and some it doesn't (SSD, inbuilt card reader and inbuilt 3G).
It functions brilliantly as a small ultraportable OS X machine.
But a backlit screen is very hard on the eyes, which is why reading on the iphone was difficult (screen size nothwithstanding.) The e-ink used in Kindle (I have one) is exceptionally easy to read on, and even though I'm an Apple fanatic I'll never give up my Kindle, my new can't-live-without-it piece of tech.
I wonder why people don't bring this up when they talk about getting equivalent Dell's for half the price of a Mac.
Well then, let's hear it, Apple. The unibody thing was pretty snazzy. We know you can figure out how to upgrade graphics and hard drives in your products. I want to hear some more CAN. Stop fooling us with all the CAN'T and WON'T-speak.
I really hope the MBPro doesn't end up using (dual-core) Arrandale.. Besides, the far better quad-core Clarksfield will be out during the summer sometime and Arrandale won't be here until 2010.
Half the price? Nah.
75% of the price, sure. A $3000 Dell will give you the specs of a $4000 Mac (Precision T-series vs. Mac Pro).
Dell, 2005:
Revenue - $55.6 billion
18% gross margin
6.4% profit percentage
Apple, 2005:
Revenue - $14 billion
29% gross margin
9.6% profit percentage
So, Apple has a higher profit margin than Dell even after developing OS X and spending $560 million on R&D (Dell spent $463 million on R&D that year). Apple blows a helluvalot more on advertising than Dell does, and that comes straight out of your pocket. Both companies use 2/3 of their gross margin for costs, and the remaining 1/3 is profit.
What do you mean? If I connect a USB disk and simply boot - I have full Windows to repair it.
You need another Apple to fix it, I only need a USB drive. I think the Windows solution is a lot less expensive (as usual).
Good points, thanks for clearing it up. Here's why I don't think Apple can/will (whichever you choose) release a $500 computer that they would stand behind (that's what they mean by junk, imo).
Let's take the two most popular options, the true netbook or the tablet. Based on what Apple said about the macbook air (and I know that just because they said it then, doesn't mean they'll say it now) they don't like netbooks because they have to compromise. From that, if they do release a netbook (~10" screen) they're going to want to make sure it can run FULL osx (by that I mean iLife apps, including garageband, imovie, etc). If they can get a laptop that small to run those apps smoothly (which I don't think current hackintoshes can) then it likely will be a result of great product design and/or quality components - end result, a lot more expensive than the current netbooks.
The other option is that because they don't want compromise on functionality, they won't release a netbook (as we know it) and instead release an iPhone/Touch-type device that runs a modified OSX (whether it's like the iPhone/Touch or something with a little bit more flexibility) that isn't a "netbook" (for the reason that it's a closed system) and make sure that it isn't marketed to compete with FULL OS's in pc netbooks but instead of as 'new' (revolutionary, incredible, whatever they use) way to stay in touch on the go... of course in doing so they can't say things like "with a bigger screen" because then they're saying that the iPhone is too small to do what this new product does... basically this new product, if it's a tablet type) will (as some people have said) carve out a new market of devices which will allow them to a) price it at $500 and not be contradictory because it wouldn't be a 'netbook' or b) still price it at 700-1000 because it would multi-touch, thin, well-designed, polished, etc etc.
Either way, I think we're looking at a minimum of $800 with either a netbook type computer that doesn't compromise (which would then likely be $1000 minimum) or a new type of device that does compromise but because of it's "advanced" nature, demands a higher price.
