Apple Releases New MacBooks

[Manic Mouse]

Sure, but SR has just been launched, and it represents close to NOTHING in terms of gains to normal users...the next MBPs will get it, not MBs which were already due for an update some months ago.

That's why I said "onboard or separate"...Apple can improve the MB's video without relying on another damned Intel buzzname...just stick some low-end GPU and I am fine. NOBODY will care about improved front-side bus or whatever...MB users just need a slightly better GPU, nothing else.

An 8400 would be lovely. But the x3100 is a "slightly better GPU" compared to the 950. Nothing to do with the FSB, the graphics chip itself is better.

And SR/socket P C2Ds offers much better power management (which equals longer battery life) so a better GPU isn't quite all that would be better for the "average consumer" in a SR MB. Even the CPU would see a small speed boost due to the increased FSB.

 

[morespce54]

Okay, this is quite personal but why is the highest HD only comes in black?
Or why can't I get a black one without the extra fees (alas, higher HD)?

 

[Stridder44]

My blackbook is a year old now and I'm still enjoying my experience entirely.

Experience!? This isn't Disneyland, it's a computer. And an under-whelming one at that.

 

[50548]

Yes, the update is skimpier than anticipated (maybe some shouldn't take "rumors" as facts), being as Mac seems a little behind on some aspects like the DVD Combo on the base version and maybe a better GPU would be nice, but in any case see this:

2.16Ghz (big, better than most pc on the market)
120 GB HD
1G Ram
8xSuperdrive
13.3" glossy lcd
GMA 950 (pretty standard for a 13.3" - most PC's have the same, not all but most)
And (student discount) a warranty of $183.

YOU SHOW ME A PC WITH THESE SPECS, ESPECIALLY 2.16 GHZ CORE 2 DUO,
FOR $1,200, that outweighs even MAC OS X, then I will stay with pc,
But I highly doubt that any Pc has a 2.16 Ghz INTEL duo 2 core processor which is 13.3" for $1200 (student price), and yes I am factoring student discounts into the mix, when it's all said and done, if you go PC then your really going to miss out, have fun with windows.

You have to discount this forum nowadays...there are lotsa PC fanboys here...and you're right; even though I won't buy it because of the GPU, it's still better than 95% of the PC crap out there, especially if you count Winblows.

 

[DaanZijlstra]

I am the owner of a broken iBook G4. I have had logic board problem twice. The first time was within my 12 months guarantee, the second time outside of it. Apple charges me approx. €900 for a reparation.

However, I do need a computer to finish my university career. Therefore I was happy to wait a little for these updates. I know they aren't big, but for me it is higher speeds and more disk space for less money. Thanks to my university I can get the white 2,16 GHz MacBook for €1075. Still a lot compared to Dollars, but it's the best deal yet.

However, for an additional €147 I can bump my computer from 1GB to 2GB. What difference does the double GB make? Will I really notice that it is much faster? And is the extra €147 (around $ 175) worth the value?

Please let me know so that I can order!

Thanks!

 

[pieman02]

Okay, this is quite personal but why is the highest HD only comes in black?
Or why can't I get a black one without the extra fees (alas, higher HD)?

Thats one thing I hate, you can't downgrade (eg say I only want 512mb of RAM, so take off $75) - if you could I'de be gettin a MBP with a 40gb HD and 512mb of RAM cause Im putting better stuff in anyway...

Apple would prolly lose quite a bit of money if they allowed this too bad

 

[photomaniac]

Originally Posted by LinuxGigolo View Post
At some point, people need to stop comparing the MacBook and MacBook Pro to 'every other laptop out there'. The claims that in months the MacBook is gonna look like crap because 'every other laptop out there' has Santa Rosa are unfounded. The claims that Apple is overcharging for 'yesterday's technology' compared to 'every other laptop out there' are also unfounded. Look at Dell.. Sure they just introduced some new Santa Rosa laptops, but their bottom end is AMD Sempron and Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo). Gateway still sells computers with P4s in them... *that* is yesterday's technology.

Apple's entry pricepoint is higher than these other manufacturers and that is an area where you can complain, but if you compare feature for feature the MacBook to things in its price range, it's really not a bad deal at all.

If the MBP gets updated w/o Santa Rosa, that would be a shame because like every other PC manufacturer, the high end should always have the latest and greatest, but this MacBook update is none to shabby.

All whiners and moaners............please re-read this intelligent post.

Trout

Agreed

 

[CBX]

Not sure if this has been posted on the previous 30+ pages but was wondering why the apple uk store has reduced the price of the macbook from £749 to £699 and not reduced the US store price?

 

[karterius]

Mac Mini update

This is all well and good but how about updating the desktop line!? The Mac mini hasn't seen a real update since January 2006! Thats almost 2 years!

Throw 802.11n in it at least, and upgrade the processors, memory, and HD.
It doesn't even have a core2duo in it! Its 2-3 processors behind current market standards!

 

[hauger]

If you need games, by a GAMING pc.

You may think that the idea of not catering to gamers is antiquated, but gamers are only a small area of the market, and Apple has chosen not to cater to them. If you don't like it, then a mac isn't the machine for you. I don't think apple needs to be apologetic about that.

Okay. Will do. REALLY didn't want to, I really wanted to switch to a Mac, but oh well.

And calling gaming a niche market completely misses the influence gaming has on hardware decisions by a large margin. If all I was interested in was an email/internet/word processing laptop that tends not to get viruses and has a pretty GUI with lots of eye candy, I'd just dump $500 on a refurb generic laptop, install Ubuntu and run Gnome or KDE on it, throw Beryl on there for the eye candy, and probably manage to still be able to burn DVDs.

Listen, people are pissed not as a result of an insulted sense of entitlement...no one here thinks Apple (or any company) owes them anything. People are pissed because the update doesn't address an apparently large market segment. The GMA 950 was released in 2005...two years ago. People like myself WANT to switch, but cannot justify buying this upgrade (which in reality is more about clearing old stock than updating anything)....and this pisses them off since they have to look to HP/Dell/Gateway/etc... for the performance they desire.

BTW....technology press is crapping all over this as well...reviews are coming in as "uninspired" and "non-upgrade-upgrade". I guess they are undeserving whiners with a misplaced sense of entitlement.

 

[Ha ze]

In Soviet Russia computer plays you!

So we should change ourselves and our usage to suit Apples product range? That comment is beyond belief.

um.. change the product you want
Is it just the fact that you like the white or black case that makes you unable to see that you want a MacBook Pro?

So many lames in this forum it hurts. Deal with it, it either is good for you or not, either buy it, another Apple product, or something else

 

[flopticalcube]

I am the owner of a broken iBook G4. I have had logic board problem twice. The first time was within my 12 months guarantee, the second time outside of it. Apple charges me approx. €900 for a reparation.

However, I do need a computer to finish my university career. Therefore I was happy to wait a little for these updates. I know they aren't big, but for me it is higher speeds and more disk space for less money. Thanks to my university I can get the white 2,16 GHz MacBook for €1075. Still a lot compared to Dollars, but it's the best deal yet.

However, for an additional €147 I can bump my computer from 1GB to 2GB. What difference does the double GB make? Will I really notice that it is much faster? And is the extra €147 (around $ 175) worth the value?

Please let me know so that I can order!

Thanks!

Depends what you do on it. 1GB of RAM is plenty for surfing and writing papers (as long as you don't use Word) and iTunes and things like that. If you want to use Parallels or VMWare and you want to run three or four big applications at the same time or you do a lot of video editing, then 2GB is much more comfortable. If you can buy RAM outside of Apple it is much cheaper. I would get the stock 1GB and then decide if you need it later and buy it somewhere else.

 

[DeaconGraves]

In Soviet Russia computer plays you!

So we should change ourselves and our usage to suit Apples product range? That comment is beyond belief.

Last time I checked there was nothing that required you to buy an Apple.

I really don't mean to be snarky, but Apple has some data somewhere that shows that a minor update was all they needed to keep these Macbooks selling.

If you disagree with it, don't buy a Macbook. If enough people disagree, sales drop, Apple realizes it wrongly estimated its target audience, someone gets fired, and the changes get done the next time.

That being said, I need a new computer, and this will handle everything that I personally need to do with it for the next 3 years. So I will be buying one.

 

[flopticalcube]

This is all well and good but how about updating the desktop line!? The Mac mini hasn't seen a real update since January 2006! Thats almost 2 years!

Throw 802.11n in it at least, and upgrade the processors, memory, and HD.
It doesn't even have a core2duo in it! Its 2-3 processors behind current market standards!

Not great value for money at the moment is it? But if you look on eBay older Core Solos go for nearly as much as refurb'd 1.66GHz Core Duo, so they do seem to be holding there price well. I want one for my daughter's Xmas present so I am waiting too.

 

[Manic Mouse]

Last time I checked there was nothing that required you to buy an Apple.

I really don't mean to be snarky, but Apple has some data somewhere that shows that a minor update was all they needed to keep these Macbooks selling.

If you disagree with it, don't buy a Macbook. If enough people disagree, sales drop, Apple realizes it wrongly estimated its target audience, someone gets fired, and the changes get done the next time.

That being said, I need a new computer, and this will handle everything that I personally need to do with it for the next 3 years. So I will be buying one.

Good post. And no, I wont be buying a MacBook. After having £1500 ready and waiting in my account to blow on a specced out one. That's money Apple will never see now. Too bad.

The only reason I was looking at a new computer, really, was to switch to OSX. While old, my current computer should be fine for a while. I was tempted by some Sony models, but there's no real point.

I guess I'll just spend it on a holiday or a PS3 or something...

 

[Eraserhead]

Not sure if this has been posted on the previous 30+ pages but was wondering why the apple uk store has reduced the price of the macbook from £749 to £699 and not reduced the US store price?

Because the you can get more dollars to the pound, because the dollar is becoming more worthless compared to other currencies, so they are reducing the cost to UK customers to be more in line with what the Americans pay.

 

[NYmacAttack]

This is all well and good but how about updating the desktop line!? The Mac mini hasn't seen a real update since January 2006! Thats almost 2 years!

Throw 802.11n in it at least, and upgrade the processors, memory, and HD.
It doesn't even have a core2duo in it! Its 2-3 processors behind current market standards!

I agree a lot more to complain about in the Mini department.

 

[CBX]

Because the you can get more dollars to the pound, because the dollar is becoming more worthless compared to other currencies, so they are reducing the cost to UK customers to be more in line with what the Americans pay.

Cheers,

Its saves me sometime as I was waiting to move across to my first mac when visiting NY in a couple of months (due to the cheaper price).

Think i will now buy it here in the UK now!

 

[Manic Mouse]

I agree a lot more to complain about in the Mini department.

It can't be selling, surely...?

 

[Southern]

Because the you can get more dollars to the pound, because the dollar is becoming more worthless compared to other currencies, so they are reducing the cost to UK customers to be more in line with what the Americans pay.

Is this true? I would like it if it was, because I'm tired of paying more for things than my American counterparts. The exchange rate speaks for itself, I feel.

£1 = $1.98568 at time of posting (www.xe.com)

 

[Jim Campbell]

Not sure if this has been posted on the previous 30+ pages but was wondering why the apple uk store has reduced the price of the macbook from £749 to £699 and not reduced the US store price?

Perhaps some vague and slightly inadequate recognition of the fact that there's an exchange rate between pounds and dollars and it's rather heavily in our favour at the moment?

Cheers!

Jim

 

[LaMerVipere]

Perhaps some vague and slightly inadequate recognition of the fact that there's an exchange rate between pounds and dollars and it's rather heavily in our favour at the moment?

Cheers!

Jim

Tell me about it, my last trip to London taught me that the US dollar is practically worthless! It'll be a peso before long.

 

[Yeroc]

This consumer line refresh now sets the stage for :

<drum roll....>

***************************************************
Keeping the pro line "pro" by giving it the SR platform with LED back lighting!
***************************************************
​

Uh... why is everyone hyped up over an LED back light?!? This is not going to be a user-visible change, won't affect the performance of your machine in anyway and yet people keep bringing it up as if it's of great importance... All because of a little bit of mercury hidden away in the existing fluorescent backlights?!?

 

[ipearx]

Wow, now the macbook pros are really ancient looking they must be planning to upgrade very soon Hopefully it means a case revision is on the way

http://bla.st/mac/

 

[masse]

I don't think they intend to leave the product line as it is for the next 6 months. It's good to have some cheaper prices. If we hadn't been reading rumors for the past 5 weeks this update would be very nice. It's a let down of course when you expect something else (macbook pro update for example).

It's not like they promised to put santa rosa in macbooks as soon as the chips were introduced.

I think they are just trying to see how many they can sell before they make a substantial update...maybe a back to school switch to SR.

As for me, the lack of gfx chip or updated onboard graphics just gives me more reason to blow money on a macbook pro.