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13" Unibody to get firewire?

H

hm05flash

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 13, 2008
2
0
I'm a grad getting a laptop (Surprise, huh). I have had the 17" iMAC and the 20" newer iMacs, and need to save space.

Bottom line: I need firewire.

The 13" MacBooks don't have firewire. Only +15" Macbook Pro.

So I could either:
A) Purchase a refurbished 15" MacBook Pro, 2.4GHz, 2G of ram, 250GB = $1700
B) Get the new white 13" Macbook, 2.13GHz, 4G of ram, 500GB Harddrive =
$1219.
C) Hope the at WWDC, they add firewire to the 13".

Here are the catches:
A) If I don't buy the refurbished one, I can get the free iPod, and sell it for $150 or so.
B) If I buy the custom-built ultra-powerful 13" white MacBook, it's not unibody, not a great screen, not aluminum, not as good a track pad, non-backlit keyboard, etc.

See, I want the all the new specs: Backlit keyboard, unibody, aluminum, etc. So is all of that worth sacrificing a great 13" white that's more powerful but not as aesthetically pleasing? The macbook pros are just so doggone expensive.

Your opinions?
 
If I had the cash I'd get a new white Macbook. It's by far the best deal at the moment. It already was last week, but now with the upgraded ram, processor and screen... anyway I highly doubt the aluminium macbook will get firewire.
 
If the rumours of the MacBook Pro "rebranding" are to be true, it is possible.

The MacBook has now got a screen that is pretty much equivalent to the Airs (where before MacBook's screens were notoriously dreadful..).

13" MacBook Pro, and the MacBook will just live on as the White MacBook.
 
If you want those features, you need to buy a Pro. So, you need to decide for yourself if those features are worth the price difference between the Pro and the white MB. No one on this forum will be able to make that decision for you.

Whatever you do, do not buy your upgrades from Apple. Buy the RAM and HDD from NewEgg.com. It's dead simple to upgrade yourself, and you'll save plenty of cash.
 
Kilamite said:
If the rumours of the MacBook Pro "rebranding" are to be true, it is possible.

The MacBook has now got a screen that is pretty much equivalent to the Airs (where before MacBook's screens were notoriously dreadful..).

13" MacBook Pro, and the MacBook will just live on as the White MacBook.
Click to expand...

100% agreed. The MB is so close to the MBP now that those two things would fit into the Pro rebranding scheme if it is true.
 
Well, I just looked at refurbished ones again.

I'm thinking about getting the 15.4" 2.53GHz, 4GB, 320gbHD MacBook Pro.
= $1999

Unless WWDC whips something out that catches me like a fish, I think this is a steal of a machine and totally worth it.
 
I won't buy a Unibody Macbook w/o Firewire

If Apple wants to add FW to the Unibody I'm in but without FW I'm out.

Move to a integrated battery and that may save enough space to squeeze in a FW800 port.
 
personally I can see this happening at WWDC:
The discontinuation of the white macbook, I think they are trying to get rid of the last polycarbonate shells and by putting better specs in just before WWDC is to clear them off the shelves

I honestly think that firewire will not be coming back to the macbook because Apple have made their decision regards it, and I can see it being faded out across all of their products in the future

The Macbook Pro is the way to go, good specs, good computer and firewire + free iPod, I would chose no other
 
harry20larry said:
I honestly think that firewire will not be coming back to the macbook because Apple have made their decision regards it, and I can see it being faded out across all of their products in the future
Click to expand...

Then how do you explain the White Macbook which uses the same Nvidia chipset but supports FW400?

How do you explain the Mac mini that uses the same Nvidia motherboard and supports FW800.

Apple's decision appears to be "we'll leverage FW so long as we have the physical space for it"

So the next question is "what can Apple do with the Unibody Macbook to get back more space?"

I'd recommend removing the optical drive and integrating the battery like the 17". Hell ..if I buy a Macbook the chances of me buying a second battery are slim to none.
 
harry20larry said:
personally I can see this happening at WWDC:
The discontinuation of the white macbook, I think they are trying to get rid of the last polycarbonate shells and by putting better specs in just before WWDC is to clear them off the shelves
Click to expand...
This doesn't make any sense. You don't retool your production line to upgrade a product only to discontinue it and "retool" again. Not to mention, pissing off buyers shortly after they buy them ain't a good thing.

Nope. Clearly, Mac whites are here to stay for a while.
 
Jolly Jimmy said:
If I had the cash I'd get a new white Macbook. It's by far the best deal at the moment. It already was last week, but now with the upgraded ram, processor and screen... anyway I highly doubt the aluminium macbook will get firewire.
Click to expand...

Screen? I was completely unaware that the white macbook received an updated screen. I thought that was the unibody.
 
Well there are a lot of rumors flying around about the 13in MB going to MBP or maybe even replacing it with the MBA (I doubt that though).

To make it a true MBP the uni MB needs:
• Better screen, (check)
• FireWire
• Dedicated graphics
• Large built in battery(?)

So how could Apple possibly go about doing all this, the only way I see it happening is if they remove the disc drive which would make a hell of a lot of sense. Just think of all the room you would free up for a dedicated graphics card and bigger battery and you would have room on the right side to add any extra ports.

They already just updated the white MB twice since the unibody MBs came out and they have thrown the whole line out of wack, so Apple is going to have to either do something pretty decent to upgrade these unibody MBs. I really hope it is something like the 13in MBP I described and hey, maybe they don't have to remove the disc drive at all but personally am fine losing it for either better specs or lighter weight.
 
reallynotnick said:
Well there are a lot of rumors flying around about the 13in MB going to MBP or maybe even replacing it with the MBA (I doubt that though).

To make it a true MBP the uni MB needs:
• Better screen, (check)
• FireWire
• Dedicated graphics
• Large built in battery(?)

So how could Apple possibly go about doing all this, the only way I see it happening is if they remove the disc drive which would make a hell of a lot of sense. Just think of all the room you would free up for a dedicated graphics card and bigger battery and you would have room on the right side to add any extra ports.

They already just updated the white MB twice since the unibody MBs came out and they have thrown the whole line out of wack, so Apple is going to have to either do something pretty decent to upgrade these unibody MBs. I really hope it is something like the 13in MBP I described and hey, maybe they don't have to remove the disc drive at all but personally am fine losing it for either better specs or lighter weight.
Click to expand...

I have a MBP and use the integrated graphics 95%+ of the time without a problem. The Nvidia integrated graphics is what's in my MBA and it really is pretty, pretty good so the dedicated graphics need is BS IMO.

A large built in battery is more of a detraction than the present removable pack and it's similar to what's in the 15" MBP.

The screen if it is upgraded as sources would lead us to believe takes care of the display issue.

The only thing left is FW, which you can get on a plastic MB. Adding that and an upgraded display would warrant a MBP moniker on the 13" unit, again IMO. They'll probably upgrade proc. speed and increase battery life too for good measure.
 
youssefm said:
I doubt they'll add firewire because then they'd need to redesign the case.
Click to expand...

Don't be too sure, remember the 15" Macbook Pro Core Duo's that didn't have firewire 800, after enough complaints Apple added it to the next refresh.

I'm not saying that it's likely. but it's not without precedent.
 
youssefm said:
I doubt they'll add firewire because then they'd need to redesign the case.
Click to expand...

i agree. the uMB is probably due for a bump in processor speed... and maybe an increase in HD capacity. i doubt they will add firewire, unless they "rebrand" the 13" uMB as the 13" uMBP...

go with your needs. if you need firewire, go MB or refurb MBP...

good luck
 
See and here I am thinking of getting rid of my MB Unibody with the 2.4 CPU and Backlit Keyboard, because I hate the screen, besides I test drove the new White MB at the Apple store and it seems really nice, besides I do not need FW at all I am all USB, but the one thing that is holding me back is the new Touchpad, I am not sure if I am ready to lose that. I did have the MBP with the 2.53 CPU, it was really nice, graphics, screen speed, but the size and weight just killed me carrying it around, also the new MB White has more Battery life, ram was bumped from 667Mhz to 800Mhz, so I am compelled to get the White MB besides I will save like $700.00

Just my Thoughts :eek:
 
youssefm said:
I doubt they'll add firewire because then they'd need to redesign the case.
Click to expand...

They can easily do this. The first MBP 15" had only Firewire 400 but the 17" had both 400 and 800. The next speed bump of the 15" had both 400 and 800.
 
beaner454 said:
Don't be too sure, remember the 15" Macbook Pro Core Duo's that didn't have firewire 800, after enough complaints Apple added it to the next refresh.
Click to expand...

Very true. And there as been a much bigger uproar about FireWire being absent from the uMB because unlike the original MBP which still had FW400, the uMB has no FW at all.

And if it required a small case re-design, big deal.. That was one of the huge benefits of the new Unibody construction was that it was relatively easy to make amendments to moulds, and any other left over uMB frames could just be melted back in and remoulded.
 
Wait till WWDC to see what happens, if it doesn't get a FireWire, then choose between the plastic MacBook and Unibody MacBook Pro.
 
acfusion29 said:
They probably won't add firewire. Just think about how pissed off the early adopters will be? (Like me ;))
Click to expand...

when apple switched to intel, i remember the macbook pros having lower specs than my powerbook in some areas: slower super drive, low resolution...

My theory is that apple will take something away when they make a HUGE improvement because people tend not to notice. all they care about is "OMG UNIBODY!" and rightfully so. the unibody macbooks are amazing.

so i think they may add back firewire, just like they added a "faster" (back to the powerbook speed) super drive, and better screen.

my two cents.
 
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