Like I said, zero functional improvement. Is that worth losing Firewire? Not to me an many others. They should have spent a little more time designing the thing.
It is stronger. That is an improvement.
What does the new battery life have to do with having ACCESS to the battery? NOTHING. Apple simply chose to not include an access cover, probably to both save a few bucks and more importantly so like with the iPhone and iPod Touch so they can milk you for more money in a few years. I mean who cares if you NEED a 2nd battery while traveling and cannot use it. And frankly, when was the last time ANYONE got the rated battery life out of their Macbook? My MBP is rated for 5+ hours and I'm lucky to get 2.5 hours out of it with normal use (I'm not exactly playing 3D games or anything while on battery).
If you learned a little about how Apple managed to double the run time of the battery and about LiPo cells you would know why you cant have access to it. Long story short: not putting the cells in rigid plastic housing like removable batteries have saves volume that can be filled with more cells. Without that housing the cells are not safe for customers to handle.
You dont need a second battery anymore, because it lasts twice as long. If that isnt enough I suggest buying an airline power adapter and not trying to carry a sack full of batteries through security.
I get very similar battery life to my MBA's rated time.
You could have fooled me. Ever since Apple switched to LED they've have a LOT more problems with uneveness and screen "yellowing". I got lucky with my MBP that it does not have the yellowing issue. Besides, as my MBP comment indicates, they switched to LED long before "unibody" so the two aren't directly related and are therefore separate issues.
Got any proof that this is a wide spread issue and not the usual forum whining?
How is that? Coating something with glass makes it better? (If that were true, the new screens would look BETTER, not just more reflective). Having to push down harder on the pad itself instead of having a separate button is somehow better? Maybe YOU like it better, but it sounds like propaganda to me. I like my MBP's pad just fine. I only wish it had a dedicated 2nd button. Two finger + button <> the utility of a dedicated 2nd button, IMO. Frankly, I'd like a 3rd button off to the side as well (I use it regularly on my desktop Macs and PC to open new tabs in both Safari and Firefox and miss it when using the trackpad. Maybe if Apple would let users create their own shortcuts, it wouldn't be such an issue.
So you want a 3 button mouse and hate everything Apple has done in the last year? Why dont you have a dell then?
The feel of the glass trackpad is better. The no button design also feels more sturdy and eliminates the rickety, clicky feel of the button.
So you're saying because Apple designers did not design their new Macbook to have room for Firewire that is somehow a valid excuse for not having it? You might as well say look at the inside of the iPhone and notice how there's no room for Firewire. If they had designed it to have Firewire, it would have had room. It's just that simple. Your logic is flawed. Like I said, even cheap Dells notebooks have Firewire. Apple, the inventor of Firewire abandoning it on their own products might as well being saying we were wrong all along. Viva La USB 2.0 and its CPU grabbing latency nature.
Look at the inside of a Macbook. Understand that while it is possible to fit just about anything in a laptop, designs have tradeoffs and goals. Compromises need to be made. Apple could not have made the Macbook the way that they wanted with FW. No amount of tears will change that. They have goals other then cramming the maximum number of ports into the design and bullet points on the spec sheet. Other companies might feel differently. As a consumer you get to choose where to buy.
Why is Firewire suddenly a "Pro" feature? Like I said twice now, a $599 Dell has Firewire on it so why doesn't a laptop that costs 2x as much have it from Apple? They've had it up until now so there is no valid excuse. It's Apple's attempt to push you to buy more than you need. It's the same reason why there is no mid-range desktop Mac. If you need more than a toy, you have to shell out $2400-2700 for a Mac Pro. There is no in-between. As for trading a USB port; I can always get a HUB for more USB ports, but I cannot create Firewire where there is none to begin with. If they included an expansion port on the regular Macbook (something cheap Dells always include as well), you could always at least add one, but that is apparently a $2k+ only feature once again.
It is a pro feature because most new consumer devices dont use FW.
The Mac Pro is competitively priced with other Pro workstations.
Even in its current antique form the Mini is enough for the vast majority of users. Those that need more power would be wise to look into a iMac, not a pro workstation that isnt aimed them.
I believe this sort of shoveling will eventually backfire on Apple. They need to provide true value for the dollar, not just count on Microsoft screwing up like they did with Vista to siphon off Windows users. Once Microsoft gets their game back together (and all indications are that Windows7 will do exactly that), this method will no longer work for Apple. The real problem is that Apple has no direct hardware competition. All their competition is hardware + OS and it's that monopoly on hardware FOR OS X that is allowing them to reak profits when almost all other companies are losing money faster than you can say recession.
Yeah, Apple is clearly doing pretty badly. Maybe if they were more like Dell they would finally be successful. 
Who cares if they have $25billion in the bank and are dominating all non netbook laptop sales metrics and maintaining growth everywhere else despite the economic times right? You clearly know better then they do right?
white MacBook on here...
