Over half the people that come into where I work asking about the difference between the MBP and the MB have a confused look on their face when I mention FireWire. Same applies with people buying external hard drives. And camcorders. Most people use FireWire, let alone know what it is. For most people, it's a waste of space. Some people even chose the Unibody because they thought the FireWire port was a waste of space.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Quietly Updates Entry-Level White MacBook
- Thread starter aa521490
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Over half the people that come into where I work asking about the difference between the MBP and the MB have a confused look on their face when I mention FireWire. Same applies with people buying external hard drives. And camcorders. Most people use FireWire, let alone know what it is. For most people, it's a waste of space. Some people even chose the Unibody because they thought the FireWire port was a waste of space.
Considering the cost, I shouldn't have had a single build quality issue. All of my PC notebooks, including my current one, cost less than the plastic MacBooks at the time (and now even) and they were built significantly better.
Better to post no links, but say things that are backed up by 5 seconds in google, than post links that are completely outdated and wrong.
Not to mention the fact that, again, the second link provided is OVER a year old now. Again, using older chipsets and motherboards.
And look at both their testing methods as well as their results. The results are sometimes all over the place. Why does it take x264 44 seconds to complete its test yet it takes xvid almost 15 minutes? Why didn't they use the SMP version of xvid? It's had SMP support for how many years now?
Their game results, again, show how outdated and ridiculous their testing methods are. Look at Half-Life 2. Half-Life 2, the original, is not multi-threaded. So running that game on a quad core CPU and using it as a benchmark is about as stupid as it gets. Half-Life 2 will SEE that you have multiple CPUs, but if you watch CPU use, it only uses 1 core.
And look at Call of Duty 2. They're only getting an average of 75 frames per second with a then 3 year old game that looks like this: http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/661/661230/call-of-duty-2-20051025004121852.jpg Theres something wrong with that.
And, again, Serious Sam 2? Come on. I was getting more than 60fps on INTEGRATED Graphics with that, on high settings, 3 years ago.
As I said above, their results are all over the place. For some reason their x264 encoding is done in seconds while their xvid encoding is done in 15 minutes, despite the fact that multi-threaded xvid has been available for years now.
And why oh why are they using Windows XP Pro x64? I know the benchmarks are a year old now, but even by January 2008 standards most of their software was outdated AT THAT TIME (especially the games). But why XP Pro x64? Everyone knows its the slowest version of Windows currently available, as well as the least supported with downright terrible driver support. Using XP x64 for benchmarking is like using a Ford Pinto for racing.
What glare? I've been using glossy notebook screens for years and I have yet to experience this glare everyone speaks of.
Yes, FIrewire IS dead. And have you seen the motherboard of the new MacBook? No place for it. It's considerably smaller than the plastic MacBook's motherboard.
my black macbook is a year old. I have no issues of crack or stress. ive bumped it a few times too by accident that has caused no damage but I can assure you had the lid been aluminum I would now have a dented macbook no joke.
I have encoded movies with my macbook on my chest laying down and it did not get to hot to handle.
they both look like good options. i dont think the plastic is nearly as bad as people play them out to be. based on my own experience of owning them and actually taking care of it.
I have encoded movies with my macbook on my chest laying down and it did not get to hot to handle.
they both look like good options. i dont think the plastic is nearly as bad as people play them out to be. based on my own experience of owning them and actually taking care of it.
Wow. I just bought a 2.4Ghz White Macbook w/4G RAM with the older video card for only around $100 more... yesterday. Haven't even received it yet. I hope that wasn't a mistake.
The only way that really could be is if Snow Leopard REQUIRES the NVIDIA graphics card. I have a feeling that the higher numbers my computer has in comparison won't matter if I'm running a less efficient OS (think RAM in Vista vs. OS X right now- 2 different worlds).
Is there any evidence that Snow Leopard is going to be NVIDIA-only?
EDIT:
For audio engineers, Firewire is a necessity.
I'm not sure what that means for the living vs. dead arguments, but... I can't live without it right now.
The only way that really could be is if Snow Leopard REQUIRES the NVIDIA graphics card. I have a feeling that the higher numbers my computer has in comparison won't matter if I'm running a less efficient OS (think RAM in Vista vs. OS X right now- 2 different worlds).
Is there any evidence that Snow Leopard is going to be NVIDIA-only?
EDIT:
Well, for the mass consumer, what you plug whatever you're using into doesn't matter.
For audio engineers, Firewire is a necessity.
I'm not sure what that means for the living vs. dead arguments, but... I can't live without it right now.
She may even have purchased it after the new one had been announced on the online Apple store? If so you could ask them to waive the restocking fee... if applicable.
Historically Apple has not worked like that.
1. They try to never put their eggs in one basket. Even for OS X, Darwin ran on Intel since the beginning. ATI and Intel will be in the picture too.
2. OS X leopard runs on G4 machines that were released in 2002-2003. That was about 5 years of 'backlog' at the time Leopard was released. Also, the latest QuickTime (just don't try h.264) and iTunes can be run on G3s under Tiger.
For the people who dont use it, sure it might be a waste of space, but even after removing it, there are still only 2 USB ports, 2 audio jacks, the power connector, the LAN port and the Displayport.
Would you rather have blank Aluminium than a firewire port?
You mean the older white macs may not run Snow Leopard well? I have the 2.4 ghz white macbook. So I guess I should just stick to 10.5.x.
That's because the wider Apple community hasn't encountered e-SATA for external hard drives yet. In the PC world, it has replaced USB and Firewire as the preferred attachment method. It delivers close to 100% of the performance seen in an internal hard drive.
Hopefully Apple will deliver this very simple interface (available as a $10 backplace for desktop PCs that have SATA but don't have the e-SATA port) on their computers within the next decade.
Nothing is perfect. Why do cars that cost significantly more than your computer fail to function properly? There is always the chance that anything you buy, no matter the price, has the possibility of being defective.
Oh, please. You can't just go around making claims without backing them up with evidence. Whether you like it or not, links were provided. If you don't like them, provide better, more up to date links. I actually did a google search, and you want to know what I found? I found links to articles that were about a year old. Links like:
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989 (Dated May 15th, 2007)
www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/review/727/1000727/ddr2-vs-ddr3-tested-head- to-head (Dated June 12th, 2007)
I could go on and on with links that are over a year old. I couldn't find recent links or any links at all that supported your 30-40% claim. What I gathered was that the boost is fairly modest right now. It'll get better as the high latency of the DDR 3 ram goes down. That was the result of a five second Google search. Where are your links?
Do you not understand that your experiences are not the same as everybody else's? I get headaches and eyestrain from working on a glossy display be it CRT or LCD. I don't get any of that from my matte iBook G3 screen. Although I know that the overall screen quality of a Macbook is better, I greatly prefer the iBook's screen. Regardless of this personal experience, I don't try to pass it off as the "only way." And yes, whether you like it or not, there is glare. The question is: Can you deal with it? You can. I can't.
Firewire is not dead. Just because his Steveness taketh from the Unibooks doesn't mean that it is in fact deceased. Although it hasn't seen the saturation that USB has, it is still extremely useful. I for one use firewire for my external hard drive and my two year-old camcorder. I'm sure that many schools utilize firewire heavily for multimedia, backups, etc. In my opinion, it just never made sense to get rid of Firewire in the first place; USB 3 isn't going to be available for awhile, and even if the new standard came out tomorrow, the current lineup is still USB 2, so it wouldn't make a lick of difference.
The bottom line is that if Steve Jobs had wanted Firewire in the new Macbooks, there would have been firewire in the new Macbooks. Heck, if Jobs wanted matte displays across the line, there would have been matte display, but that is going off on another tangent.
This is only my opinion, nothing more, nothing less, but I believe that it is based on solid evidence.
hahahahahahah... um, in that case the vast majority of Mac Rumours members need to log off now
The new spec macbooks are impressive.
I have just bought a new Black MB, but im not bothered. I chose this machine over the ALU MB and I love it! Had a heat issue but abit of AS5 solved that.
I have just bought a new Black MB, but im not bothered. I chose this machine over the ALU MB and I love it! Had a heat issue but abit of AS5 solved that.
I agree, normally a little googling can turn up the wildest, wackiest, most insane theories, but as hard as I tried I couldn't find anything that even came close to your outlandish claim that DDR3 makes a computer 40% faster than DDR2, So I salute you sir, you are crazier than the internet.
I too have one of the last Black MacBooks and have suffered none of the problems reported with the earlier ones. I do think they did stuff in the background to solve these problems and our late models are as good as they get.
Still going to buy a MBA Rev. C when it comes out though...
I only use FireWire for my external drive; which accepts both; to free the USB ports for the camera and whatever other accessories I have. IOW - the FW port frees my important ports
no one is saying get rid of the USB ports... yes, most peripherals use USB however, firewire is almost standard amongst video cameras and some people prefer it for external hard drives.
i guess it's hard to understand why apple got rid of the Firewire port yet still push the included iLife software, including iMovie, if you can't get your video into the machine to play with it... selling a system to convertees, and upgraders, has to give them more than they already had.
anyway, i'm hopeful apple are listening and realise their entry level laptop needs features to compete in this economy where almost no-one can waste their limited spend. (another reason apple should have a netbook option...)
Damn what a surprise! I didn't read the entire thread, since I'm on the way out the door, but GOOO APPLE!
I kind of want to trade in my GMA X3100 model MacBook for the new white model, but enough though the differences are now so "minimal" I want the new UniBody MB or maybe the MBP the next time I need a hardware upgrade.
Okay, well off I go to the local hardware store to get a hexagonal screwdriver so I can complete my HDD upgrade!
I kind of want to trade in my GMA X3100 model MacBook for the new white model, but enough though the differences are now so "minimal" I want the new UniBody MB or maybe the MBP the next time I need a hardware upgrade.
Okay, well off I go to the local hardware store to get a hexagonal screwdriver so I can complete my HDD upgrade!
So long as its not a TV or projector for presentations or uses HDMI or standard display port.
Which has an adapter to the afore mentioned TV/projector
Because Ive thinks he can drop to it to make a thinner machine? Don't the audio and video professionals for that rely on it get a vote here? Should we lose target disk mode because an artist though the previous practical design wasn't thin ad pretty enough?
It's there, they just make you work for the info.
It is under Store/MacBook. About half way down the page is a Compare button. You must click the compare button, then when that appears you must click the complete specification button. Finally, it will appear under expansion "Two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400 port".
Leaving off Firewire seems silly to me too.
Letting the Firewire port necessary for people doing serious audio and video work languish in the low-end MacBook while targeting the latest and greatest - yet crippled - model to the average schmo who just wants to update their Facebook page seems a bit backwards to me.
But then again, the difference between installing an Airport card in my 9-year-old G4 vs. my new Mac Pro has also shown me that Apple's got their head screwed on a$$-backwards lately so it's not much of a surprise.
But then again, the difference between installing an Airport card in my 9-year-old G4 vs. my new Mac Pro has also shown me that Apple's got their head screwed on a$$-backwards lately so it's not much of a surprise.
There's a lot to like about the newly revised white MacBook. That's why it's so surprising to me, as lately Apple makes computers with a lot to dislike.
Their using mobile parts in desktops; glassy screens; dropping ports people depend on; rarely dropping prices on outdated equipment; all gets really old. I like Mac OS, but it's been hard to find a Mac I like these days, until yesterday.
Their using mobile parts in desktops; glassy screens; dropping ports people depend on; rarely dropping prices on outdated equipment; all gets really old. I like Mac OS, but it's been hard to find a Mac I like these days, until yesterday.
Isn't it amazing that Apple created and introduced FW400 and the PC industry did not want to adopt it. Sony used its 4-pin iLink and others followed 2+ years later with 1394a variants of 6 and 4-pin connectors.
Now Apple wants to kill FW400 and try to move forward with FW800+, however they want to charge they customers a premium by only including it on high end products. And in the 3rd party products very few are on the market that take advantage of FW800.
Now Apple creates and introduces MDP, something tells me it will live the same fate as FW400. Why not just keep it standard to an HDMI connection for the ACD and a dongle for the rest of its product line. Bad move they are restricting ACD sales to a MDP and are asking people who do not own an Apple product to buy into or an adapter to use it. It is clear Apple has lost its vision when concerning the ACD, if they are not in it for the ACD sales they why bother to spend R&D money to engineer/design and build the ACD.
USB 3.0 on the horizon and FW800+ or whatever they finally call it, Apple could have just incorporated an eSATA port that is here today and more functional.