Apple Releases the MacBook Pro

[dejo]

And for that matter, what are you doing running ProTools on a laptop?

Why not? I went to the recent Barenaked Ladies concert in Denver and they were recording the concert (for sale later through their website) using ProTools and an iBook! What a cool mobile recording setup.

 

[~Shard~]

I think Apple will change the iBook name to MacBook or MacBook something when they switch to Intel processors. Just finished watching the Keynote and the reason why they changed the name to MacBook Pro is because they want to get away from Power and start using Mac in their product names now.

Cool, makes sense.

powerbook sounds so much more pro like. ... but they can call it whatever they want...

Exactly - after all, it's what's on the inside that counts... Intel Inside to be precise... 😎

 

[boombashi]

No it doesn't it's lithium ion

http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html

[Edit] specs at bottom - Hardware accessories : Modem cable, power adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, lithium-ion battery

more info on difference between ion and polymer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_polymer_cell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion

 

[Aqua Structure]

can i just point out one thing that strikes me a very odd?

everyone on this site (the old and the new) has been waiting for this machine forever. even Steve made a joke in the keynote about the old powerbook lacking 'power'.

then introduces the solution to the biggest Apple problem for years..... the macbook - he said they're blazingly fast, etc, etc. then we saw ONE graph about speed (floating point and one other..)

if it was so 'special', 'blazingly fast', the one that we'd all been waiting for...

why on earth did he not demonstrate it..?

that said more about this laptop than anything. i smell a delay in shipping. no proof of power per watt...(the graph he showed means nothing... he could have easily said '5 hours bettery life', he knows that's what we care about).

it would have taken minutes to show us him using one..... rip a bleeding song in iTunes.... do some basic photoshop..... ANYTHING.

something doesn't feel right.

I know I'm quoting a bit of an old post here, but this is a rather good point. A demo would have been a GoodThing(TM).

 

[digitalbiker]

No it doesn't it's lithium ion

http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html

[Edit] specs at bottom - Hardware accessories : Modem cable, power adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, lithium-ion battery

I guess your right!

I thought it was the newer lithium-polymer technolgy too because the battery life was so much better than my old TI 867 book. I guess it is just a bigger and longer battery hour rated battery.

 

[sinisterdesign]

whine whine whine

not that i should be surprised, but there are a BUNCH of @^%#$ whiney people on this post. "is doesn't have a modem" "it's not a 'pro' machine" "it doesn't have FW 800" "it doesn't burn dual layer DVDs"

everyone here, including myself have bitched for 2 years to get a faster powerbook. well, it's F@(&ING here.

• no it doesn't have a modem. we have to move forward & some things get left behind. for as many people that bitch about this, there are 10 that are glad to see it no longer taking up space inside our machines. people bitched when we didn't have floppy drives, ADB ports and SCSI on machines, too. deal

• it doesn't have FW800. sucks for those handful of people that actually FOUND FW800 devices. i've bought a few external drives in the past couple years and never saw one myself.

• "it's not a pro machine"??!? what the hell did you call the LAST powerbook? y'know, the one w/ no camera, a slower, single core hot-as-$#!+ processor and less of a video card?

• "the keynote was lackluster". i guess steve should have come to you and asked you what he could personally build for you. of course, you would have said 'an intel powerbook' anyhow.

• "i wanted to see a 1GB/5GB/23GB/164GB iPod w/ wi-fi and built in cameraphone." we've got iPods coming out our freakin ears. thank GOD we had a keynote that focused on the C O M P U T E R. those things Apple used to make before the iPod.

i know there will be another 8 pages of people whining, but i had to vent. i thought this was an excellent keynote. i'm looking fwd to playing w/ the new software & i can't wait to get my paws on the new Powerbook.

whine away...

 

[surroundfan]

Does anyone know what brand of DVD burner's being used and whether it can be made region free?

 

[geoffism]

I'll wait 2.5 to 3 months for the rev B and get the 17" with the lightscribe DL drive. Oh yeah.. and the speed bump.

Ditto.

 

[Randall]

• "it's not a pro machine"??!? what the hell did you call the LAST powerbook? y'know, the one w/ no camera, a slower, single core hot-as-$#!+ processor and less of a video card?

LMAO you're right about the whining, but if you think that this one isn't going to burn your lap as well, then you're in for a rude awakining. I don't care, I have the xpad or whateverthefsck for my laptop. It's actually really nice. 🙂 http://www.xpad4laptop.com/index.html

 

[boombashi]

more info on difference between ion and polymer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_polymer_cell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion

More info and speculation on the battery situation - I noticed that they don't have the polymer battery available for individual sale, but it works with standard lithium ion batteries. So, it leads me to believe that they may be using ion batteries at the show which is why you are seeing ARS technica reporting 3hr battery life - polymer batteries for laptops are state-of-the art and they may not have them finished yet thus have not tested them with the new batteries, thus no battery life estimates. just a thought

 

[caccamolle]

why....?

there's nothing new. core duo, i saw at CES. even on 'budget' brands. apart from the adaptor there's no new apple signature characteristics that traditionally kept a mac laptop a head of the game. osx is still the greatest, but the macbook isn't much further ahead of the pack anymore imo.

i really thought apple would be the only company that would make the most of this 'revolutionary' chip. low heat / power consumption was going to lead to even thinner, lighter, and longer lasting 'high end' laptops. this really feels like what we would have had over a year ago had the g5 gone mobile or apple had gone dual processor on the g4.

does anyone see what i mean...? they really have just replaced the g4. i had hoped there was "all these great things we've wanted to do, but haven't been able to do with the g4/ibm g5", as steve told us. i also thought that apple would have pulled something genius out of the bag, knowing that if (or when) OSX is cracked to run on PC's, they'd need something very slick to keep people buying elsewhere. those new Core Duo Sony's are very very sharp for instance.

hopefully this is just post Macworld blues and actually playing with one in the applestore will relight my apple passion....

ps. i think the iMac is a brilliant package now. puts all it's windows competitors to shame. the perfect example of an apple product.

Dude,
how about speed performance ?????? I mean, I know we Apple fans, tend to put performance a bit behind because we simply have not had any choice for a long time, so we have emphasized the OS (certainly great), cool apps (certainly true) but hey, this is a computing machine we are talking about and performance especially with the ever more demanding apps, is key. This is the big news with the switch to Intel. And, for now on paper at least, this is the main thing Apple is delivering with the MacBook. And I think this is MAJOR news, even considering everything else being exactly the same.

Now, lets see some tests.

 

[nagromme]

I don’t know about you guys but IMHO this laptop is about as close to perfect as you can get. You guys are so bogged down into the minutia of does it come with a dual layer drive or why did it drop FW800 you are missing the big picture.

Well said. A few small details of the MacBook (well, ANY product) are bound to disappoint any buyer. The BIG features are so big I don't care.

The "perfect" laptop may never appear. But this is the BEST laptop/OS/software combo that has ever existed on the planet, and light years ahead of anything you could buy last week.

As for PC machines coming soon (assuming Windows is acceptable) that may have some additional feature--or slightly lower cost: if someone thinks they're actually a better choice, you have to compare the WHOLE picture, not just a couple of specs. Do they have a history of using cheap failure-prone parts? Dell and others do, and the failure stats show it. Do they include a software bundle to equal the Mac's? Do they have lighted keys and built-in camera and remote? Are they as THIN and LIGHT as the MacBook? How about the GPU, HD RPM, BT EDR, screen brightness, anodized case, video spanning, instant-wake, etc.? Can they run BOTH OS X and Windows? Do all those factors match up? If not, then you're not really making a real comparison to the MacBook.

Enjoy your 'Book! I may join you, or I may go with a 12-13" MacBook, or I may grit my teeth and save for a quad-Conroe. I'll have to see the small MacBook before I decide.

 

[Randall]

More info and speculation on the battery situation - I noticed that they don't have the polymer battery available for individual sale, but it works with standard lithium ion batteries. So, it leads me to believe that they may be using ion batteries at the show which is why you are seeing ARS technica reporting 3hr battery life - polymer batteries for laptops are state-of-the art and they may not have them finished yet thus have not tested them with the new batteries, thus no battery life estimates. just a thought

Not that far-fetched. I tend to agree. Is there anybody that can confirm this from MWSF? The battery life wasn't mentioned one bit, and if they're shipping with Li-Poly then there is a good chance that they haven't finished it yet. Still another month to go.

 

[caccamolle]

I was rather hoping for a iBook to be released but i guess we cant have everything - does anyone know when that may be released?

The MacBook Pro looks good but a little to far out of my price range!

oh well, you are not alone, obviously. But it won't take long, I am sure 🙂

 

[Randall]

Dude,
how about speed performance ?????? I mean, I know we Apple fans, tend to put performance a bit behind because we simply have not had any choice for a long time, so we have emphasized the OS (certainly great), cool apps (certainly true) but hey, this is a computing machine we are talking about and performance especially with the ever more demanding apps, is key. This is the big news with the switch to Intel. And, for now on paper at least, this is the main thing Apple is delivering with the MacBook. And I think this is MAJOR news, even considering everything else being exactly the same.

Now, lets see some tests.

Don't waste your breathe trying to convince these people. Some people are never happy. I myself think it's a dream come true. This is an INCREDIBLE machine folks. Be happy, and soak it in. 🙂

 

[swheeler]

I think Apple will change the iBook name to MacBook or MacBook something when they switch to Intel processors. Just finished watching the Keynote and the reason why they changed the name to MacBook Pro is because they want to get away from Power and start using Mac in their product names now.

The already have Mac in iMac and Mac in PowerMac, so those will probably stay the same... for now.

Except that PowerMac also has Power, which you said yourself they're trying to get rid of. Maybe we'll see a ProMac?

 

[Alex Cutter]

everyone here, including myself have bitched for 2 years to get a faster powerbook. well, it's F@(&ING here.

People wanted a laptop on par with those in the PC world. Speed is only part of the equation. What about the number of firewire/USB ports, for example?

no it doesn't have a modem. we have to move forward & some things get left behind. for as many people that bitch about this, there are 10 that are glad to see it no longer taking up space inside our machines. people bitched when we didn't have floppy drives, ADB ports and SCSI on machines, too. deal

People have an issue about why such a small, nominally priced feature was sacrificed, when it is still present on PCs.

it doesn't have FW800. sucks for those handful of people that actually FOUND FW800 devices. i've bought a few external drives in the past couple years and never saw one myself.

That says more about your observational skills than it does about FW800.

"it's not a pro machine"??!? what the hell did you call the LAST powerbook? y'know, the one w/ no camera, a slower, single core hot-as-$#!+ processor and less of a video card?

A camera makes it pro? You don't think the new models will run hot?

"i wanted to see a 1GB/5GB/23GB/164GB iPod w/ wi-fi and built in cameraphone."

🙄

i know there will be another 8 pages of people whining, but i had to vent.

Why?

 

[digitalbiker]

not that i should be surprised, but there are a BUNCH of @^%#$ whiney people on this post. "is doesn't have a modem" "it's not a 'pro' machine" "it doesn't have FW 800" "it doesn't burn dual layer DVDs"

everyone here, including myself have bitched for 2 years to get a faster powerbook. well, it's F@(&ING here.

• no it doesn't have a modem. we have to move forward & some things get left behind. for as many people that bitch about this, there are 10 that are glad to see it no longer taking up space inside our machines. people bitched when we didn't have floppy drives, ADB ports and SCSI on machines, too. deal

• it doesn't have FW800. sucks for those handful of people that actually FOUND FW800 devices. i've bought a few external drives in the past couple years and never saw one myself.

• "it's not a pro machine"??!? what the hell did you call the LAST powerbook? y'know, the one w/ no camera, a slower, single core hot-as-$#!+ processor and less of a video card?

• "the keynote was lackluster". i guess steve should have come to you and asked you what he could personally build for you. of course, you would have said 'an intel powerbook' anyhow.

• "i wanted to see a 1GB/5GB/23GB/164GB iPod w/ wi-fi and built in cameraphone." we've got iPods coming out our freakin ears. thank GOD we had a keynote that focused on the C O M P U T E R. those things Apple used to make before the iPod.

i know there will be another 8 pages of people whining, but i had to vent. i thought this was an excellent keynote. i'm looking fwd to playing w/ the new software & i can't wait to get my paws on the new Powerbook.

whine away...

Mac users love to whine! Get used to it!

It is the principle reason why the Mac is a great platform. If we raved about everything then Apple would crank out ***** and we'd eat it up.

Things get better when people complain about what they want or need. Personally I think people have a right to complain about the lack of a modem and a DL burner. These are good features.

Built-in modem circuitry costs pennies, takes up micro space on a MB, and comes in handy a lot. "I mean where would 007 be without his patched telephone tap to his PB sending coordinates for the satellite laser beamed at earth"

Also let me see you backup that critical 7GB file on the road without a DL DVD burner. Sometimes these things save your a$$.
😀

 

[flowerbook]

not that i should be surprised, but there are a BUNCH of @^%#$ whiney people on this post. "is doesn't have a modem" "it's not a 'pro' machine" "it doesn't have FW 800" "it doesn't burn dual layer DVDs"

everyone here, including myself have bitched for 2 years to get a faster powerbook. well, it's F@(&ING here.

• no it doesn't have a modem. we have to move forward & some things get left behind. for as many people that bitch about this, there are 10 that are glad to see it no longer taking up space inside our machines. people bitched when we didn't have floppy drives, ADB ports and SCSI on machines, too. deal

• it doesn't have FW800. sucks for those handful of people that actually FOUND FW800 devices. i've bought a few external drives in the past couple years and never saw one myself.

• "it's not a pro machine"??!? what the hell did you call the LAST powerbook? y'know, the one w/ no camera, a slower, single core hot-as-$#!+ processor and less of a video card?

• "the keynote was lackluster". i guess steve should have come to you and asked you what he could personally build for you. of course, you would have said 'an intel powerbook' anyhow.

• "i wanted to see a 1GB/5GB/23GB/164GB iPod w/ wi-fi and built in cameraphone." we've got iPods coming out our freakin ears. thank GOD we had a keynote that focused on the C O M P U T E R. those things Apple used to make before the iPod.

i know there will be another 8 pages of people whining, but i had to vent. i thought this was an excellent keynote. i'm looking fwd to playing w/ the new software & i can't wait to get my paws on the new Powerbook.

whine away...

buy an ibook!

 

[SeaFox]

What's wrong with everyone here?

The name change signifies the transition from a Power(PC)book to an x86 book. Would you rather they called it xBook or something. 🙄

Except that Mac laptops with 68K processors were also called "Powerbooks" 🙄 The Powerbook name has brand recognition value like IBM's "Thinkpad" name does. "Macbook is just clunky and cheap-imitation sounding. They should have just gone back to plain "Powerbook" and dropped the "G4".

The design is perfect, its slim, minimal, and attractive. There is very little anyone can do with a notebook case, I believe this is as minimal it will get. It will get thinner for sure and maybe wider, but thats about it.

The case is nice but it looks exactly like the old Powerbook case sans branding/any minor beveling/seams. Like a car someone shaved the trim off of.

The materials used kinda confused me, it looks darker than the Al books. Are they using another material or is it just my screen playing tricks on my eyes. 😕

I hope it is a material change. It has a nice gunmetal tone now from the pictures.

FW800, can anyone honestly tell me the percentage of Apple portable users actually use this in a fixed or mobile states on a day to day basis. 🙄

No, but if you're only going to have one Firewire port, why not make it an 800 and include the adapter, everybody's happy then.

For what you are getting, compared to the last model is great. The last PowerBook G4 model just seems to have glitches in workmanship that it seems most of the efforts at Apple were aimed at the MacBook. 🙂

Agreed. But since it's not due out for a few montsh, they really had to huff it to get it this far for the expo it looks like.

 

[geoffism]

The obvious

Of everything that everyone says, I think its kind of funny that you guys think that a new machine is "lacking" or "causing concern". Have you ever known Apple to take a step back with a Mac? I mean, as far as I can remember, I've never seen a new machine, let alone an announcement worthy machine, to not meet and exceed the specs and performance of it's predicesor (is that spelled right?).

Anyway, enjoy the new MacBook. I'm sure it's more than everything you could need or use.

Me personally, I'll wait until the tires get kicked and some of the kinks get knocked out.

 

[CamRewop]

I just bought a 17" PowerBook G4 (last Saturday). I've been a PC user for years, and decided to get the PowerBook without doing a lot (none) of research on the Powerbook lineup.

When I heard that Apple just released a machine that was 4.5x faster than the one I bought 4 days ago, I was a little upset. I was ready to take the machine back to the store, get a credit, and wait for the new 17" Intel Powerbook.

Now I'm wondering if I should just hold onto the one I have. I *REALLY* like the screen size, and I'm going to be using the machine for some PhotoShop work (not tons), web stuff (Studio 8), and maybe a little Final Cut Express.

What I'm reading between the lines is:

Don't buy a Rev A product
Wait until more apps are compiled universal
I personally would need to wait for the 17"

Seems like I may be waiting 6-8 months (or more) for the one I may benefit from (if I chose to return my new 17" Powerbook).

Any advice/thoughts from current Powerbook users on whether to keep what I have, or return and wait it out?

 

[amemoryoncelost]

As noted several times, the lack of FW800 is depressing, oh well, still a breathtaking machine...

 

[dontmatter]

Having seen pricing at £1799 for the 1.67GHz Macbook and been thoroughly disappointed by this pricing level (works out $1000 more than US price), I am somewhat releived to have seen it drop down to £1429 (about £30 than the original 15inc) tonight (now around $350 more than US price).

Also looking at the Specs, did anyone notice the following:

# Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet
# Maximum storage altitude: 15,000 feet
# Maximum shipping altitude: 35,000 feet

It is placed in the "Electrical and environmental requirements" section, so could simply refer to the power adapter; however if it is related to the Macbook itself, don't these figures seem just a tad strange... as international flights tend to operate at 35,000 feet.

However, an airplane does not have the environmental conditions of 35000 feet. Few people would survive flights if that were true. Cabin is pressurized, and your in a big metal tube-radiation probably not as bad as a good tanning session.

 

[damnyooneek]

I just bought a 17" PowerBook G4 (last Saturday). I've been a PC user for years, and decided to get the PowerBook without doing a lot (none) of research on the Powerbook lineup.

When I heard that Apple just released a machine that was 4.5x faster than the one I bought 4 days ago, I was a little upset. I was ready to take the machine back to the store, get a credit, and wait for the new 17" Intel Powerbook.

Now I'm wondering if I should just hold onto the one I have. I *REALLY* like the screen size, and I'm going to be using the machine for some PhotoShop work (not tons), web stuff (Studio 8), and maybe a little Final Cut Express.

What I'm reading between the lines is:

Don't buy a Rev A product
Wait until more apps are compiled universal
I personally would need to wait for the 17"

Seems like I may be waiting 6-8 months (or more) for the one I may benefit from (if I chose to return my new 17" Powerbook).

Any advice/thoughts from current Powerbook users on whether to keep what I have, or return and wait it out?

Buy the new Macbook. the 17" powerbook is old technology. if you want a bigger screen buy a 19" external lcd. you wont regret it.