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Apple Quietly Updates Entry-Level White MacBook
- Thread starter aa521490
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I think you should look up the difference between a FACT and an OPINION.
Then tell me, aside from FW & price is superior on the whitebook? entertain me.
The most important feature is that you aren't giving into Apple becoming a toy & music company. The Aluminium MacBook, aside from the case, is a joke, and removing FireWire kills usefulness for anyone other than your net-surfing person with a coffee mug warmer in one USB port and a USB rocket launcher in the other.
The MacBook Air is an example of what ALL Apple computers will become if crap like the Aluminium MacBook gets decent sales. Expensive, single USB port, no optical drive and no proper HDD. Losing FW and $300 extra cost is the first step towards this.
I love Apple hardware design aesthetics and their brilliant software, but the company is becoming more and more greedy and with a "that will do" attitude as it is "good enough for your average user".
I agree with you 100%.
The more average users Apple will attract, the more dumbed down hardware we'll have to choke on in the future.
That's why I've vowed to never promote the Mac platform to any average office/entertainment user again!
Nowadays I say to such a person who asks about my Mac experience: "For what you are doing you don't need a Mac. Save your money and stay with PC's. "
The shift in Apple's philosophy is most obvious when you are watching those anniversary celebration movies from the early Macintosh era.
Back then Apple's creed was to help people pushing the envelope:
"We want to build the best computer system for people to do amazing incredible stuff with."
Today's arrogant approach is:
"WE tell you what you need. You don't need firewire if WE say so. Forget your high end HDV camcorder and buy a crappy AVCHD cam instead. Everybody else does, therefore it's good enough for you."
Think different R.I.P.
With your attitude, what's the point? I see you own one, so that pretty much explains the chip on your shoulder. To me, it would be more like what it does not have (annoying ultra-reflective glass screen for one, an incompatible propriety mini-display port that works with exactly one monitor without requiring a $100 adapter, which only increases the $300 difference to a $400 difference, which isn't exactly a tiny amount). Not everyone likes metal cases that can be scratched up easily either.
Throw in the missing firewire and the fact you are saving money while getting MORE and it's more like I'd have to ask you what exactly is BETTER about the uni-body Macbook that commands a $300 premium? How is the loss of firewire worth MORE money? If you don't care about aluminum and don't like reflections on your screen and you need firewire, you could put that extra $300 into a nice external 1TB Firewire drive or a 24" monitor (which won't need a $100 adapter to function).
But don't ask me. I bought the "old" MBP for nearly the same price ($1440) as a current uni-body Macbook regular and I have faster graphics, a full-size DVI port (that works with a regular $12 DVI cable and came with an analog DVI-to-VGA adapter for free), TWO firewire ports (including FW800 which I use with a tiny 2.5" WD Passport Studio 500GB external drive which runs faster than the internal sata), a larger 15" completely non-reflective MATTE screen (try and get one on the new Macbooks) and yet has a non-glass version of the multi-touch trackpad, a full-size mouse button on it (or you can use a tap gesture and get similar functionality without using the button while being easier to push than the glass model).
But even so, I don't need to tell anyone else what to buy. If you like your uni-body for environmental reasons or whatever and don't care about Firewire and don't mind that you paid more for less, who am I to argue? I simply take issue with other people stating their opinions as facts when there are clear reasons to NOT like the new Macbooks for some of us.
Ok so the last 3 responses to why the whitebook is superior to the alumbook besides FW & Price: 1) FW 2) Price 3) Its not better than a late 2007/early 2008 MBP at graphically demanding tasks & other Pro tasks 4) You shouldnt give in to Apple becoming a toy company......
I have a chip on my shoulder because I have one? lol give me a break. My question still stands.
I have a chip on my shoulder because I have one? lol give me a break. My question still stands.
I must be imagining my use of my Mac for business use, including:
- SSHing into Linux servers
- Windows Server administration
- Microsoft Office
- Virtual Machine building
- Remote Support of Users
I also must be imagining my home use of it for:
- Multitrack recording, with virtual instruments
- Video editing
- Photo editing
- website design
All of it must be a dream! Oh wait, I have a FW port. that's it. Except that I've never once used it.
Personally, I quite like the white MacBook. It has a more gentle and friendly feel to it compared to the aluminium MacBooks. Only problem is that the white material seems to age, but then I don't know what a three year or six year old aluminium MacBook will look like.
Also interestingly there is only a £15 price increase for a much better laptop than before!
How they can give you a nVidia graphics card which is much better than those old Intel chips and an extra 1GB of RAM for that little?
Weird...
How they can give you a nVidia graphics card which is much better than those old Intel chips and an extra 1GB of RAM for that little?
Weird...
I like it too.
I'm just happy Apple is offering more choices and price points with up-to-date processors (cpu+gpu). The $999 WMB and the $1299 AMB are computer with similar processing power, the AMB being, IMO, more stylish, eco-friendly and the WMB being, IMO again, a more versatile computer, connects more easily with a wide range of peripherals. Depending on your needs, likes, etc... one or the other is a nice buy. IMO, the AMB looks at the future and the WMB is a nice "last" step for people with a lot of peripherals looking for a "swiss-army-knife" computer instead of the latest cutting-edge design.
Now, it's probably time for Apple to do something similar with the desktops:
- a Mac mini with the WMB specs?
- quad-core iMacs with LED-BL displays...
- nehalem-based Mac Pro
My small list of home uses are:
- Light video editing with a camcorder that I could afford
- An external hard drive
I use FW everyday. Before anyone says "Switch to USB 2," my 500 mhz iBook G3 Dual USB May 2001 does not have that option. In order to use USB 2, I would need to buy a new computer. If I was to buy a Unibook, my camera would be useless and I can't afford to purchase a new computer and camcorder.
All of you Unibook owners tell me this: Is battery indicator on the side really necessary? Is it that hard to lift up the notebook and check the battery underneath, or even look at the indicator on the menu bar? Is the side battery indicator that important?
I know it's not as simple as "they decided to take out firewire to put in a battery indicator," but that's what it seems like to me.
I also agree with sal. If Apple had chosen to give people who need FW the option of adding it later on, I think that this whole argument would not be so divisive.
But if the new nVidia 9400 in the new white MacBooks is mis-matched with its DDR2 RAM, couldn't the speed be reduced by 40-60%? I thought this video card needed DDR3 RAM to be efficient. If all of you really think that this MacBook would demonstrate an enormous performance gain from my late 2008 whitebook, even with it's .1ghz clock speed cut, please let me know. But, as I'm screwed either way, I'm personally gonna wait until I see some real-world results of folks that have actually tested and tried these new machines.
Actually, it's the K-slot and battery latch combination that's to blame, not the battery indicator. The K-slot, instead of being a reinforced hole, is actually connected to the battery latch and therefore intrudes in some interior space and therefore cannot be positioned next to the battery like it is in the polycarbonate MB.
The best way for Apple to get FW on the aluminum MBs (rather, the only way without any additional complete redesign) is to adopt FW S800T. And then people that use both Ethernet and FW simultaneously can complain about having to choose one or the other.
They decided to take out Firewire to "encourage" more buyers to choose the MBP.
Sell off all your crap equipment and replace it with FW800 gear. It will increase productivity.
Seriously though, nice bit of inductive reasoning there. "I don't need FireWire, so clearly no-one else does".
the adapter for the older display ports is 19.99, i just bought two of them. the new mini display port adapter is 29.00, not 100.00.
Sell off all your crap equipment and replace it with FW800 gear. It will increase productivity.
Seriously though, nice bit of inductive reasoning there. "I don't need FireWire, so clearly no-one else does".
Yeah, that's exactly what I meant
Seriously,nice bit of illogical correlation there. I'm merely pointing out that in at least one case, the moronic blanket statements of "the new MacBooks are useless for......" are incorrect. Certainly the lack of fw is not good for everyone, but that also doesn't mean it's bad for everyone, either.Oh and next time you might want to read the quote I'm responding to, as it might help in preventing you from assuming any implied logic.
Thanks for the clarification. Too bad Apple's motto has been increasingly form over function. At least FW over ethernet would be better than nothing.
Unfortunately, it seems to be that way. This isn't your father's Apple anymore and it's saddens me. Maybe I just grew up and became less affected by the RDF.
Actually this IS your father's Apple.
We've had a relatively nice few years, with the marketing dept/Steve letting some nice functional low end machines out of the door.
Nickle-and-diming at the low end is just a return to form. Who remembers the old iBooks where Apple turned off monitor spanning on external screens by updating firmware - even though the video chips supported it? That was a much more brazen attempt to force people to trade up to the PowerBooks.