Apple Launched the MacBook Pro 19 Years Ago Today

[Joshuaorange]

Not really. There were some thin and light laptop back then has these ExpressCard Slots.

However, I found the Unibody MacBook Pro were good compromise. It has all the removable parts, including battery. It is very user serviceable. At least, you won't end up with piece of brick if SSD dead (which happened to lots of M1 Macs).

The first unibody MacBook Pro had a garbage battery. I do wish Apple had NVME slots though.

 

[D-a-a-n]

And it came with OSX Lion which introduced the feature to add more desktops. I recall being amazed to be able to use multiple desktop views swiping from one to the next.

That was already possible, OSX Lion just made it accessible in a different way.

 

[Applɘ Aꙅylum]

Inherited my mom's 2007 all aluminum MacBook 17" 2.4ghz dual core and it had Snow Leopard. Installed Mavericks few years later. Booted great with 8gb ram til iTunes told me to that to use the updated app I'd have to install El Capitan. Big mistake. Couldn't boot up unless it has SIX GB of RAM! And booting up was so SLOW like a snail! Then it's battery swelled after years of not using it because I don't use it often.

And yet still have the MacBook.

 

[jonnysods]

No kidding

I was at the gym last night and just amazed (saddened really) how people are getting on their phones in between SETS of a given exercise

It's so dystopian to me

(my phone stays in the locker .. just an iPod + Airpods for music for me)

Yeah I actually try very hard to not gravitate to my phone if I’m momentarily bored or waiting for someone, it’s like a drug addiction it’s crazy how it’s taken hold of society, myself included.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yeah I actually try very hard to not gravitate to my phone if I’m momentarily bored or waiting for someone, it’s like a drug addiction it’s crazy how it’s taken hold of society, myself included.

So true -- when you start to pay attention to it happening around you, it's like being surrounded by zombies

 

[weckart]

Considering the current Luna Lake processors, which offer comparable power efficiency (though less powerful than Apple Silicon) for thin and light laptops, I still think Apple should offer an x86-based MacBook. But I understand that this is unlikely to happen.

To be honest, it would be trivial for Apple to reintroduce a Macbook with a reduced core AS chip with better battery autonomy and performance than Lunar Lake without having to deal with more Intel licensing issues. I'm just not sure there is enough of a market there for an Apple netbook in 2025. At best it would probably cannibalise more profitable Apple sales.

The heat was within spec. The issue was ultimately due to the Radeon GPUs being faulty. MacBooks of the era had that didn't use specific Radeon GPUs were not affected.

"Within spec" is a nebulous and ultimately meaningless term. Spec should not be solely based on the thermal limits of the cpu but on the composition of the logicboard and the effect of local heat on the components. Apple has been notorious for prioritising quiet over adedquate thermal dissipation, which has come to haunt it in the past. Remember the first Macbook Pro or the Powerbook 867GHz? The 2019 MBP 16"? Not the finest moments of Apple thermal design, although all operated within spec. Why do you think Mac Fan Control/smcFanControl were written?

 

[brunerd]

From the perspective of an IT Technician when these came out:
Pros

• Replaceable battery - sure they swelled and didn't last so long but it didn't require a trip to Apple and setting up a loaner for the user.
• Easily replaceable keyboard/top-case - spilled some soda? No prob, lemme just take out a few screws, free up the ribbon cable and source one from the DOA pile. Boom you have a working laptop again.
• Easily replaceable "key caps" - lose a key (because those edges/gaps)? No prob, go to the DOA pile and pull off a key and snap it on. This was so nice until Apple killed this practice with the butterfly KB.

Cons

• Super dent-able case - Drop it on a corner and you'll screw up the alignment of everything. Battery compartment, hinges, everything. Screws would shear off too. It might sitll work but you'll never close it properly again.
• Vulnerable hard drive location - the sudden motion detection was cool but the thin metal on the bottom offered no protection to the hard drive just above. Bop it hard on something setting it down and *click click click*. The unibody was a good upgrade for protection.
• Display ribbon cable - So many failures of the ribbon cable that wrapped around the hinge. Affected folks could maybe keep the lid open at a certain angle to keep it from flickering.
• So many holes - there were so many "points of ingress" for dust, dirt, bugs, bagle crumbs etc... these things were usually nasty inside.
• Optical drive slot - the metal was so thin a heavy handed/wristed user could bend the slot opening

 

[Aoligei]

To be honest, it would be trivial for Apple to reintroduce a Macbook with a reduced core AS chip with better battery autonomy and performance than Lunar Lake without having to deal with more Intel licensing issues. I'm just not sure there is enough of a market there for an Apple netbook in 2025. At best it would probably cannibalise more profitable Apple sales.

I also happen to have both 2015 and 2016 12 inch MacBook. While these MacBooks were ridiculously underperforming for the price that Apple was charging, but it is plenty usable for my parents (who really need computer for streaming videos, web browsing etc). The Core M3 processor combined with SSD is sufficient for lots of average folks.

By the way, Intel Macs are dirt cheap right now, it is prefect budget devices for lots of folks. And they are way better than some cheap Windows laptops.

The only issue with Apple Silicon is longevity and OS support after Apple drops them. If Apple only provide 6-7 years of software support for Macs, then M1 Macs which introduced in 2020 probably will be obsolete (in terms of OS support) in two years.

Intel currently is not doing well, it is great time for Apple to make a deal with Intel to bring Intel version of low end thin and light laptops with Lunar Lake processor (call it MacBook SE). I don't think this will ever happen, but I can only dream.

 

[weckart]

Intel currently is not doing well, it is great time for Apple to make a deal with Intel to bring Intel version of low end thin and light laptops with Lunar Lake processor (call it MacBook SE). I don't think this will ever happen, but I can only dream.

It would cost Apple literally nothing to use a hobbled version of an existing M chip and it won't have to keep a wasteful development line for Intel going to support it. I can't understand why you would think Intel has anything to tempt Apple with right now.

 

[Reason077]

Why do you think Mac Fan Control/smcFanControl were written?

Because the fans in those old Intel MacBooks were noisy and annoying. With smcFanControl you could turn them down to run at/limit to a constant RPM rather than revving up and down like a jet engine. Sure, your Mac might get a bit hotter and thermally throttle more (resulting in reduced performance), but there was no actual risk of frying/killing the machine with heat unless you had a faulty Radeon GPU[1]

[1] Apart from the battery, of course, who's lifespan was likely shortened by too much exposure to heat.

 

[Realityck]

Thought this article was pretty good guide on purchasing recommendations for MBP configurations vs upcoming MBA that yet to see M4.

MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro: Which MacBook Should I Buy?

How much more does the Pro cost? How much lighter is the Air? Which size is best? You've got MacBook questions. We've got answers.

www.cnet.com

 

[Aoligei]

It would cost Apple literally nothing to use a hobbled version of an existing M chip and it won't have to keep a wasteful development line for Intel going to support it. I can't understand why you would think Intel has anything to tempt Apple with right now.

Apple Silicon is proprietary, which means only Apple has source code for drivers. And Apple isn't the one that likely to release drivers for alternative operating systems.

Intel on other hand, drivers for chipsets are readily available. This means, installing alternative operating systems is a lot easier than Apple Silicon Mac.

I am not in any illusion that Apple will release any Intel Macs, but I still think Intel Mac offers advantages that are important to me than Apple silicon. Not everyone cares about performance, but I bet lots of people care about software support and longevity of a computer.

 

[Realityck]

Apple Silicon is proprietary, which means only Apple has source code for drivers. And Apple isn't the one that likely to release drivers for alternative operating systems.

Intel on other hand, drivers for chipsets are readily available. This means, installing alternative operating systems is a lot easier than Apple Silicon Mac.

I am not in any illusion that Apple will release any Intel Macs, but I still think Intel Mac offers advantages that are important to me than Apple silicon. Not everyone cares about performance, but I bet lots of people care about software support and longevity of a computer.

As long as the Rosetta runs Intel applications and such wine variants like crossover run windows 11. A lot of people aren’t missing anything.

 

[weckart]

Apple Silicon is proprietary, which means only Apple has source code for drivers. And Apple isn't the one that likely to release drivers for alternative operating systems.

Intel on other hand, drivers for chipsets are readily available. This means, installing alternative operating systems is a lot easier than Apple Silicon Mac.

I am not in any illusion that Apple will release any Intel Macs, but I still think Intel Mac offers advantages that are important to me than Apple silicon. Not everyone cares about performance, but I bet lots of people care about software support and longevity of a computer.

If your primary purpose is alternative operating systems, then you are spoilt for choice with Intel computers. It doesn't all have to be Apple. When it comes to hardware, Apple isn't all that, either. It has made some fundamentally terrible design choices with regard to longevity - from component choice, logic board layout and repairablilty. There are plenty of repair/teardown videos on YT, not just Louis Rossman's, which will fill you in on all the gory details.

 

[Aoligei]

If your primary purpose is alternative operating systems, then you are spoilt for choice with Intel computers. It doesn't all have to be Apple. When it comes to hardware, Apple isn't all that, either. It has made some fundamentally terrible design choices with regard to longevity - from component choice, logic board layout and repairablilty. There are plenty of repair/teardown videos on YT, not just Louis Rossman's, which will fill you in on all the gory details.

That’s true. I am gonna hold off purchasing Apple Silicon Mac for now and see what will happen later.

The M1 MacBook Air I bought second hand, is enough for me anyway. I am also looking at some ice lake Windows laptop as well.