I was wondering how the screen would to hold up on the Macbook and the Pro, as the screen is glass, and from the looks of it, it would close flat against the body, with no pads. Then I downloaded a press image of the Macbook, and lo and behold, it looks like there's a rubber bumper gasket surrounding the screen. Pretty sweet.
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Apple Announces New Aluminum MacBooks
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Very disappointed. UK consumers have been completely shafted. I was ready with credit card in hand to buy a MacBook at £499. I would of still come in at £599. Heck I would of even stretched to £699. But £949?! WTF, I'm getting an Eeee PC and building a hackintosh. Will it be worth the hassle? At about £700 you better freaking believe it. If they had dropped the price of the old white MacBooks they might of just recouped some support but this takes the p***.
fella I'm in the same boat too. Listen get a Dell mini 9. I'm getting one shortly.
Awesome new MacBooks! I don't get why everyone is dumping it over firewire but I've never even used it! What shocked me the most in today's news:
- backlit keyboard option! finally! (the MacBook/Pro gap diminishes! sorta.. )
- awesome specs on the high end MacBook price
- simplicity of the trackpad
- sleek redesigned casing (incl. battery check on the side and sleep light)
- nice keynote video ending (but no goodbye?)
Off topic: Any clue as to when Time Machine will work with BootCamp installed?
Oh yea! Did anyone notice lines showing on the edge of this pic? o.o
It's giving me nightmares about the MacBook I have now..
- backlit keyboard option! finally! (the MacBook/Pro gap diminishes! sorta.. )
- awesome specs on the high end MacBook price
- simplicity of the trackpad
- sleek redesigned casing (incl. battery check on the side and sleep light)
- nice keynote video ending (but no goodbye?)
Off topic: Any clue as to when Time Machine will work with BootCamp installed?
Oh yea! Did anyone notice lines showing on the edge of this pic? o.o
It's giving me nightmares about the MacBook I have now..
You only got a 2.0 GHz. I got the 2.4GHz BlackBook w/ AppleCare. The 2.4GHz aluminum MacBook starts at $1599 (then add AppleCare).
Hickman
Hmm... I was patiently waiting for this event to finally switch over to a Mac laptop after many long years as a PC user.
While I'm not happy about the lack of Firewire on the Macbook, what alarmed me the most was the fairly hefty price rise (I'm in Australia).
Before, AU$2099 would get you 2.4GHz/2GB/250HDD, now it gets you 2.0GHz/2GB/160HDD... yes the new one has pretty aluminum enclosure, new NVIDIA graphics card etc, but I'm getting less Ghz, less HDD and - most importantly - no Firewire?! Well, that's 2 of the things I was going to buy a MacBook for shot in the foot. A Pro for AU$3,200?? No, thanks.
Also, the base-model White MacBook was previously AU$1499... now it's up to AU$1649. Er, what?!
So, as many others have stated, I feel like I'd be paying more for less... not a great way to entice me to jump on board. Guess I should consider an iMac after all.
While I'm not happy about the lack of Firewire on the Macbook, what alarmed me the most was the fairly hefty price rise (I'm in Australia).
Before, AU$2099 would get you 2.4GHz/2GB/250HDD, now it gets you 2.0GHz/2GB/160HDD... yes the new one has pretty aluminum enclosure, new NVIDIA graphics card etc, but I'm getting less Ghz, less HDD and - most importantly - no Firewire?! Well, that's 2 of the things I was going to buy a MacBook for shot in the foot. A Pro for AU$3,200?? No, thanks.
Also, the base-model White MacBook was previously AU$1499... now it's up to AU$1649. Er, what?!
So, as many others have stated, I feel like I'd be paying more for less... not a great way to entice me to jump on board. Guess I should consider an iMac after all.
No Remote?!?!?!
OMG. I've just realised that you don't even get a free remote with the new MB
No big deal as 1. I don't really use one. 2. I've got one with an iMac but how cheap of apple given that the price of the MacBook is way way over what we all expected.
(apologies if someone else has spotted this)
OMG. I've just realised that you don't even get a free remote with the new MB
No big deal as 1. I don't really use one. 2. I've got one with an iMac but how cheap of apple given that the price of the MacBook is way way over what we all expected.
(apologies if someone else has spotted this)
But as many others have pointed out, the use of Firewire doesn't make someone a pro, there are many other notebooks at a lower pricepoint that have firewire, I know why they're doing it, so to segment their own market so that the Logic/Final Cut users are using their higher end Notebooks. But in the end it could hurt them, and I just think it's downright stupid.
hmmm I'm not that excited with the new look... maybe that will change when I see them in real life...
but no more FireWire on the MacBook? why because USB2 is as fast? err yes when you have only ONE drive on the controller (wich is impossible since there is only 1 controller & iSight, keyboard, trackpad are all USB devices...) with FireWire the speed is constant, USB2 is slow as hell when I back up to my USB1TB archive drive (that's why it's archive only)
no option for a quad processor in the MBP?
glossy screens, I've heared a lot of ranting about that fact... but on my MacBook it doesn't bother me, people talk about calibrating issues... well I have none since I rely on what I measure in photoshop rather than what my display shows me... and that never failed me in doing corrections on reproductions (wich are crucial when they needed to be correct off course ;-))
no update & thus slow phase out of the 17" MBP is no big deal for me since I never liked the oversized laptops, too big to take around with me ;-)
but no more FireWire on the MacBook? why because USB2 is as fast? err yes when you have only ONE drive on the controller (wich is impossible since there is only 1 controller & iSight, keyboard, trackpad are all USB devices...) with FireWire the speed is constant, USB2 is slow as hell when I back up to my USB1TB archive drive (that's why it's archive only)
no option for a quad processor in the MBP?
glossy screens, I've heared a lot of ranting about that fact... but on my MacBook it doesn't bother me, people talk about calibrating issues... well I have none since I rely on what I measure in photoshop rather than what my display shows me... and that never failed me in doing corrections on reproductions (wich are crucial when they needed to be correct off course ;-))
no update & thus slow phase out of the 17" MBP is no big deal for me since I never liked the oversized laptops, too big to take around with me ;-)
These new Macbook will sell like hot cakes. Apple will get a lot of requests for a Firewire connector and lower prices. I can seriously imagine the early 2009 model will have a FW400 (or 800) shoehorned into it and marginal price cuts and CPU bumps (2.0 to 2.1 and 2.4 to 2.5 maybe).
For the people saying: "you can't add a firwire port, there's no space", I'm just gonna say: "relocate the kensington lock hole to the other side where the superdrive slot is (although that might be complicated because the battery bay latch is locked by the kensington, too) or move it slightly closer to the front of the case."
Apple added ports on notebooks without a major redesign befire, right? I'm talking about the powerbook and iBook lines.
For the people saying: "you can't add a firwire port, there's no space", I'm just gonna say: "relocate the kensington lock hole to the other side where the superdrive slot is (although that might be complicated because the battery bay latch is locked by the kensington, too) or move it slightly closer to the front of the case."
Apple added ports on notebooks without a major redesign befire, right? I'm talking about the powerbook and iBook lines.
That's funny, because last time I checked iMovie was a consumer program, and the MacBook was a consumer laptop...
I use FireWire to import DV video into iMovie on my Rev.A MacBook, and it does just fine!
so you're still stuck inside that GHz myth eh ?
Not usually, but it is a 20% raw speed advantage over the new MacBook at the same price.
I can see other educational facilities doing the same in Audio and Video, which in five years time will cause Apple problems.
They've worked really hard on their Pro Apps, still problems here and there, but if students can't afford to buy the gear that will run the Pro apps they'll use an alternative, and when these people are working in their relative industries they'll use the software that they know, on the platform they've learned it on.
That was partly the reason that FCP , and to some extent Logic Pro have been successful, they've undercut the market leaders (Avid and Digidesign), and enabled people to use the software at home, or school at an affordable level (a big plus if you're a student).
so you're still stuck inside that GHz myth eh ?
Apple does a bad job at comparing the old 2.1 GHz CPU to the new 2.0 GHz CPU. I think the new one has more cache and the almost doubled bus frequency really makes a difference. They should have that 1.5x faster thingie comparing the alu Macbook with the white one.
Hmm, yes I'm looking through the refurb store and there are some good deals in there. I'll definitely consider it, thanks for the input.
Also just checked MacConnection and they are offering the 2.4 black MacBook now for $1300 new with a $100 rebate. Add ~$75 for 4GB RAM kit and for less than $1300 you've got a pretty smokin' machine (provided you're not interested in playing most modern games).
As for gaming, the new MacBooks definitely seem to have a strong advantage over the previous versions. Aside from gaming, the plastic MacBooks are great machines.
jumping in the now sinking 'what the hell, no firewire??' boat. when the laptop is closed, i can not believe how thin the screen is... packed with a dedicated graphics card is a great bonus. but no firewire... this is a huge mistake!
[of course this will only effect previous mac owners... all converts will disregard the omission and this conversion process is the primary function of this machine... right?]
[of course this will only effect previous mac owners... all converts will disregard the omission and this conversion process is the primary function of this machine... right?]
Love the design but not competitive price point
I am very pleased with the new design. My first mac, bought 12 months or so ago was the iMac and I am pleased to see similar design elements flowing into the notebook line. I do feel sorry for those that hate the glossy screens though! I am personally a fan of glossy, but I can definitely understand people being frustrated with glare/reflection.
At $2099 (australian) for the entry level macbook however, the price simply is not competitive. My partner bought a similarly specced vaio for $400 less and that is saying something. Perhaps the next round of updates will draw me in. For the time being my iMac and iPhone will have to suffice.
I am very pleased with the new design. My first mac, bought 12 months or so ago was the iMac and I am pleased to see similar design elements flowing into the notebook line. I do feel sorry for those that hate the glossy screens though! I am personally a fan of glossy, but I can definitely understand people being frustrated with glare/reflection.
At $2099 (australian) for the entry level macbook however, the price simply is not competitive. My partner bought a similarly specced vaio for $400 less and that is saying something. Perhaps the next round of updates will draw me in. For the time being my iMac and iPhone will have to suffice.
I remember someone getting the remote recently with thier MB. And the latest MBPs (not this update) came with one, I'm sure. Either way I think Apple are being cheap by not including one!
The cult in Jonestown. Do I win a prize?
Perhaps not, but many of my drives are firewire only. Also, you can daisy chain firewire drives, you can't do this with usb.
There are lots of students doing video & audio editing on laptops.
The fact is, Apple will lose sales over this. Pretty dumb on their part, considering the firewire port probably costs them all of $10 to include.
Ok..this isn't whining but, just trying to understand the logic of this
"upgrade"
This is fine if you're a newbie with no firewire stuff but what about those of us with multiple macs, camcorders,external HDS and protools interfaces?
(ok this is me)
As others have said usb is only good for limited stuff.. Oh and this thing costs more money? why would I upgrade from last years macbook now?
I don't know how Steve could have missed the fact that California is nearly bankrupt like the rest of the country? Didn't ahnold just ask the Feds for 10's of billions of dollars?
This would have been a great time to release the $800 macbook.
Evidently Apple is overwhelmed by their success and trying to thin the herd.
"upgrade"
This is fine if you're a newbie with no firewire stuff but what about those of us with multiple macs, camcorders,external HDS and protools interfaces?
(ok this is me)
As others have said usb is only good for limited stuff.. Oh and this thing costs more money? why would I upgrade from last years macbook now?
I don't know how Steve could have missed the fact that California is nearly bankrupt like the rest of the country? Didn't ahnold just ask the Feds for 10's of billions of dollars?
This would have been a great time to release the $800 macbook.
Evidently Apple is overwhelmed by their success and trying to thin the herd.