Apple Announces New Aluminum MacBooks

[Doc69]

Glossy Screens - No Thanks!!

So....Apple has been touting iLife for years. Buy our computers and make your own home movies and DVDs. Guess what....my camcorder only has Firewire. Now what do I do? Buy a new camcorder? No way. I'm skipping this. Not to mention the glossy screen. I don't need to see my own reflection when I'm working on my Macintosh. I'll be holding onto my 12" Powerbook thank you very much. Way to go Steve & Co. Way to go. If these had Firewire and Matte screens I'd be at the store in line now.

Me too, if they had matte screens I'd be in the store as well. Now I'll have to keep my old MBP. It seem like Apple is going ALL GLOSSY across their product line. Please tell me I'm wrong and that they will have a matte option for the 17" MBP and all their Cinema Displays.

When you stare at a computer screen all day and sometimes all night, you don't need the added eye strain that comes with the reflections from a glossy display.

 

[franzmueller]

Oh well ... i guess I keep my 2,4 mb a bit longer.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

The lack of Firewire and higher prices makes me think I might as well go ahead and buy an MBP. The new GPU is a big improvement and the new trackpad seems nice (not sure about ditching ALL buttons, though; I was hoping for a 2nd one instead, but maybe the multi-touch makes up for it).

Really, I dunno. The high price, lack of discounts, coupons and competition (all Macbooks cost the same everywhere +/- $20 so forget about shopping around or sales). I don't normally use Firewire, but I was planning on using this as a portable recording studio and the best interface boxes are firewire.... It's hard to understand how something that probably cost them $20-30 to add is left out after 10 years of pushing Firewire. I guess they decided to cave in and support USB 2.0 and 3.0 in the future instead. I wouldn't expect Firewire 3200 from them at all now on any machine save maybe a future Mac Pro and possibly the MBP, but I doubt it.

On the plus side, it's about high time the regular Macbook had decent graphics. I emphasize 'decent' since it's still no rocket, but at least it should be able to play some modern games now. It was almost laughable before how bad it was for 3D.

I think if they kept Firewire and had it the higher one priced around $1200, I'd be ordering one right now, but $1500 without Firewire is begging me to just go ahead and get an MBP for $500 more, which has Firewire 800 and BOTH integrated AND discrete graphics onboard with the ability to switch between them. Maybe the new trick is to get you to upgrade to the MBP *because* they are so close...in price.... For the lack of a $20 Firewire port, a slightly larger screen and a discrete graphics chip, $500. I'd imagine HALF of that is pure profit.

 

[hueyproductions]

the press release indicates that the $999 Macbook is refreshed and includes a superdrive and a 120 gb HD

Pricing & Availability
The new MacBook, 15-inch MacBook Pro and 17-inch MacBook Pro are now shipping and the new MacBook Air will be available in early November through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. An updated 13-inch white MacBook featuring 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, a 120GB 5400 rpm hard drive and a slot-load 8X SuperDrive® is now available for $999 (US).

Oh. I stand corrected. well I guess that's comforting that you can still edit video, but weird that you can do more with the $999 MB than the $1299 and $1599.

 

[Desamell]

Thank's Apple now I have to go back to vista.....Dell XPS Time WHOOOOOO

 

[liketom]

did the price of applecare increase too?

i think they would charge you extra for even asking

also they old displays are still there with firewire - alongside the 24" USB only on the back ports

 

[C6toC9]

hmm. apple store page still has backlit keyboard as the only option for the 2.0ghz 1299 mb

 

[new2macx]

No. For CAD you want a 9800 or a Quadro.

Thanks...but neither of those are mentioned in the MBP specs either Can any of the CAD people among you recommend the minimum graphic spec MB/MBP I would need for ArchiCAD etc...

 

[jufjo]

Is there no slot for my SD photocard in these new macbooks?

 

[NT1440]

hmm. apple store page still has backlit keyboard as the only option for the 2.0ghz 1299 mb

actually for me thats the only page of the entire store that is still down.

 

[EMT123]

whats up with the decline in the student discount?

 

[notjustjay]

QUESTION:

I have an external FIREWIRE 400 hard drive that I've used for my last, oh, three computer transitions. If I were to obtain a new MacBook....how would that even work?

How would I get my data off the external and onto the MacBook? I can't put all the data on my external on my iMac and then buy a new USB powered external, because there's just too much.

Any suggestions?

A few. You could connect it to your iMac and make the volume sharable over the network, then copy your files over the network.

You could also buy an external USB2 hard drive case -- your local PC parts shop or NewEgg/TigerDirect/etc ought to have 'em for as little as $20 or so. Then open up the case on the Firewire drive, remove the normal hard drive that's tucked away inside it, and move the hard drive to your USB2 enclosure. Yes, this one's a bit drastic, but it will work.

 

[goosnarrggh]

seems like the new macbook does not come with a remote.

It's been an "optional" accessory (extra $) since the last refresh.

i dont' see a remote sensor on the machine either. how are you suppose to use front row without one

Same way you've used it on all Apple's notebooks which have supported it - through the iSight webcam. It's still there, just harder to see due to the glass layer and black bezel.

 

[brop52]

whats up with the decline in the student discount?

50 for the two lower end macbooks and 100 for the higher end.

 

[raccoontail]

2.0 vs 2.4 GHz AND no firewire?!?!
Looool I'm buying a dell!

No kidding. I was waiting for these updates but am now leaning towards a Dell D430. It's the size of the macbook air, has the ports of a macbook pro, and the price of a macbook. big downside is no built in webcam, but features like a physical switch for turning off wifi/bluetooth (great for airplanes!) and an inexpensive docking strip are big features missing from Apple's laptops.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

I am disgusted that they have dropped firewire, what stupid idiots. I've just sent feedback saying as much.

idiots
idiots
idiots
idiots
idiots

That's it! Ah! I can FEEL your anger! You must know by now that you can never be turned from the Dark Side!

So the next notebook I buy will have to be a MBP, I don't need a MBP, I like the form factor of the MB, cheeky buggers, I'll now be forced to pat nearly twice as much so I can use a component which costs a few dollars

Ah, you're playing right into my apprentice Darth Jobs' plan, just as I have foreseen. Buy an MBP and your trip to the Dark Side will be complete!

 

[bozs13]

NO FIREWIRE = NO SALE

I have a ******** of FW stuff...

 

[hexonxonx]

seems like the new macbook does not come with a remote. i dont' see a remote sensor on the machine either. how are you suppose to use front row without one

The same way you use Front Row on a Mac Pro which has no remote. You use the mouse and keyboard.

 

[deggs37]

Not to mention that Firewire is required for Music editing and I couldn't count how many people where at my school with MacBooks for editing. But no more because I am damn sure they wouldn't have spent $2000+ to do that.

 

[BrownManUPS]

the $999 MacBook comes with a SuperDrive. So it's more of a drop than $100.

Yeah it seems to be the equivalent of today being around $750-$800 tops. It is not a bad deal for a low-end starter macbook.

 

[burntoutjoy]

Jebus, what are you smoking ? Awesome upgrade ? Work arounds ? Price hikes ? Save the world ? Missing features ? Price as low as they can ? Unbelievable.

That's just, like, your opinion, man.

Why else do you think they would up the price? It obviously took a lot of R&D and change in manufacturing processes to make these new 'Books. Apple demonstrated with the iPhone that they ideally want to price things low to sell lots of them (this is pretty basic stuff I thought) – Macs are selling really strongly so I can't imagine they pushed this hike without lots of consideration. Give me a reason why they would up the price otherwise, otherwise there is no discussion.

I agreed the lack of FireWire sucks, but you know what Apple are like with paring down ports and chips and stuff. People cried their little eyes out when iPods lost FireWire, and – oh look – they're selling millions more than they were then. For the DV people, I'm sure there will be a work-around, but for everyone else (that is, mostly new users), it simply doesn't matter.

 

[ClassicBean]

Canadian base price goes up 50$ for MBP and edu discount goes from 200 to 100$.

I'm PISSED.

Our dollar is also worth a lot less (87 cents) so the exchange rate Apple has in place is actually more than fair.

 

[peapody]

Man, just looking at the photos...im pretty disappointed. Guess will have to see in in person.

 

[BrownManUPS]

50 for the two lower end macbooks and 100 for the higher end.

I think its pretty lame, seeing as they always have been more generous.

 

[ClassicBean]

Canadian base price goes up 50$ for MBP and edu discount goes from 200 to 100$.

I'm PISSED.

The Canadian dollar is also worth a lot less (87 cents) so the exchange rate Apple has in place is actually more than fair.

EDIT: Sorry for the double post, there was some sort of forum error. And by forum I mean user.