I really miss the keyboard. Something about the look and feel of that era that still stands out to me
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Apple's MacBook Pro Turns 20 Years Old
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Still have my 2007 17" with the 1920x1200 matte display.
Nowadays a little hard to boot, but still working - just about.
Nowadays a little hard to boot, but still working - just about.
This is an amazing picture.
What has always struck me is how Apple really has just iterated the design for 20 years now.
I can't think of many other products that have lasted that long. Cars are a good example. If you showed a stranger an original VW Golf, and then one from today, they would not know they were the same model. Same with the iMac. Show an original iMac to somebody, and a modern iMac, and they wouldn't know they're the same model.
But with the MacBook Pro, it's right there. One is clearly the ancestor of the other. I think this is extraordinary in modern product design. Nothing lasts for two decades.
I think it might've been caused by Apple losing focus on the desktop because of the iPhone back in the day. I just don't think they wanted to put time and effort into anything outside of the iPhone, so they just iterated on their laptop line. There's evidence of this in the fact the MacBook Air basically almost died out, and then was brought back to life. Apple just had no interest in doing something new with laptops.
I really am old. I remember that event clearly...especially they phrase "we're kinda done with Power (To mark the end of PPC) and ordering one to replace my PowerBook
It ran hot though...ant battery life was about 3.5hrs on average.
Time flies...
It ran hot though...ant battery life was about 3.5hrs on average.
Time flies...
Right?! I had a 13" M1 MacBook Pro with the TouchBar and I love it! But in October 2021, I traded it for my 16" M1 Max for photo/video editing capabilities. The TouchBar allowed me to edit faster; it was so smart and convenient.
It’s just the marketing name that has turned 20.
The first MacBook Pros shared the same chassis design as the PowerBook G4 but moved to Intel. They continued using GPUs from Nvidia and ATI. Besides the Intel switch they were essentially the same product. But it was important to dissociate from the “power” name which implied PowerPC CPU.
The first Apple Silicon MacBook Pro on the other hand introduced not just a completely new CPU architecture but a new GPU architecture as well with unified memory. It also introduced a new chassis design. Arguably the transition was even more significant than the transition from PowerPC to Intel. But the product did not receive a new name that time because it was still a Mac.
The first MacBook Pros shared the same chassis design as the PowerBook G4 but moved to Intel. They continued using GPUs from Nvidia and ATI. Besides the Intel switch they were essentially the same product. But it was important to dissociate from the “power” name which implied PowerPC CPU.
The first Apple Silicon MacBook Pro on the other hand introduced not just a completely new CPU architecture but a new GPU architecture as well with unified memory. It also introduced a new chassis design. Arguably the transition was even more significant than the transition from PowerPC to Intel. But the product did not receive a new name that time because it was still a Mac.
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I remember this like it was yesterday. I had (an aging but still intact) TiBook at the time (Titanium PowerBook G4) and the latest 12" PowerBook G4 at the time (boy do I miss those chunky, springy, silver-coated keyboards) and it felt unimaginable that an Apple laptop wouldn't be a PowerBook, but a MacBook? It hit as silly branding to me at first, then it just became the norm quickly after the new MacBooks started to ship.
I didn't upgrade to a 'MacBook Pro' until Apple moved onto the unibody design which was an upgrade in every way, and it felt so industrial yet futuristic at the time. As we all know by now, this chassis change and design was a real Apple innovation that would go on for decades and would be copied or mimicked by most PC OEMs.
My (unibody) 2009 13" MacBook Pro was one of my favorite Macs of all time and it saw some of the best releases of macOS (or, Mac OS X) in Apple history. And, that built-in SuperDrive ripped literally thousands of CDs into iTunes (when it was a great app for digital music enthusiasts to buy, store, catalogue, sync and enjoy their music, unlike the hot mess that is the 'Apple Music' app today).
I didn't upgrade to a 'MacBook Pro' until Apple moved onto the unibody design which was an upgrade in every way, and it felt so industrial yet futuristic at the time. As we all know by now, this chassis change and design was a real Apple innovation that would go on for decades and would be copied or mimicked by most PC OEMs.
My (unibody) 2009 13" MacBook Pro was one of my favorite Macs of all time and it saw some of the best releases of macOS (or, Mac OS X) in Apple history. And, that built-in SuperDrive ripped literally thousands of CDs into iTunes (when it was a great app for digital music enthusiasts to buy, store, catalogue, sync and enjoy their music, unlike the hot mess that is the 'Apple Music' app today).
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It had the world's best keyboard for a laptop, and MacBook Pro keyboards have been getting worse ever since. Yes, the Magic Keyboard of 2020 is better than the Butterfly Keyboard of 2015-16, but it's nowhere near acceptable relative to the superior keyboards of the 2008 Unibody MBP or the 2012 Retina MBP.
But as time goes on, this knowledge will be forgotten. Like Neo in The Matrix Reloaded, "There are only two possible explanations: Either no one told me, or no one knows."
But as time goes on, this knowledge will be forgotten. Like Neo in The Matrix Reloaded, "There are only two possible explanations: Either no one told me, or no one knows."
The best. The feel and composition of the material were top notch.
Yup! I love my 2021 MacBook Pro keyboard, but the keyboard on the 2006 MacBook models were the BEST! The black keys on my 16" MBP look so worn out now, but the keys on the 2006 White MacBook were top notch.
The base model today is not the same as the base model when the 2006 MBP was introduced. The base MBP today is more like a mix of the 2006 MacBook and the 2006 MackBook Pro. You have to look at the base MPB with the Pro series chip IMO to get a fair comparison.
I've still got my 17" MBP sitting in a cupboard behind me as I type this.
My only regret was not getting the 15" as it was very heavy to carry around.
Luckily I was younger and fitter then.
My only regret was not getting the 15" as it was very heavy to carry around.
Luckily I was younger and fitter then.
I enjoyed using the Powerbooks and Intel based MacBook Pros. The latter is the best as I could run Windows, MacOS and Linux natively. With the switch to Silicon Mac, it became an era of returns for me. Hope the redesign will come out this year. Doesn't make sense to release next year as it won't be 20th anniversary.
Wasn't the first metal Unibody MacBook, of any flavor, the regular unibody MacBook in late 2008, non-pro and non-air?
I had that one..it was a core 2 duo machine with a nvidia 9400m, and ran it until I bought my 2012 non-retina MBP, in 2012.
Both the "Aluminum Unibody" 13" MacBook and 15" MacBook Pro were announced on the same day, October 14, 2008.
Prior to that, the 13" MacBook had a "Polycarbonate Unibody" design.
On June 8, 2009, the Aluminum Unibody 13" MacBook was renamed the 13" MacBook Pro.
I like the Touch Bar, and I don’t want to part with my 2018 15" MacBook Pro just for that. Although many people complain about the butterfly keys, I’ve never had a problem with them, nor with the so-called heating issue—the problem being the colder palm rests, on which I have to place some pads to insulate against the cold. The new silicon MacBook Pros can’t match the slim design of those models.
Since your M1 MacBook Pro is much newer than mine and will receive more iterations of macOS each year for perhaps the next five years, there’s no reason for you to get rid of it, especially as those "new" MacBook Pros don’t have the Touch Bar. Or perhaps that "experimental" M1 chip is causing other kinds of issues.
I still miss my 2006 17”. Ordered it custom with the 2.16. I was just 22, waiting to go to med school. I loved that thing, used it every day throughout school. Replaced it with a 2010 iMac when they came out. That’s also when Mac OS 10.7 was released, and it was all downhill from there…
2006 is a special year in my history because it's the first time I ever bought a Mac. I got a white MacBook to complement my Dell desktop. I remember getting a wireless router for the first time because of that Mac. I loved it. I eventually replaced it with a MacBook Pro.
Also, Steve Jobs was a master showman. He had a way of making me believe he and the team at Apple spent months crafting products just for me.
Also, Steve Jobs was a master showman. He had a way of making me believe he and the team at Apple spent months crafting products just for me.
I feel so old. This was my laptop for college. My high school had PowerBooks, and I had an iPod Video and was blown away by the Mac OS X experience, ESPECIALLY Aqua. The HW & OSX was such a refreshing delight from Windows 2000 & XP. My dad ordered it in the summer of 06, and he maxed it out. Pretty sure it was just over 3k. I remember him placing the order, seeing the Aqua progress bar during the processing.
I agree. With the experience they have with glass touch screens, make it glass and have a set of half height function keys below it.
Certainly, that would make it more attractive to developers. Better Touch Tool style support in the OS would help as well.