MacBook and MacBook Pro Unpacking, Disassembly and First Impressions

[FrankieTDouglas]

I aren't defending any policy I was just saying that the guy above said that not all pro users are bothered about the image as they are performing other tasks.

Is everyone ignoring that fact that the 17" is gonna get a refresh? this still has the matte option!

So I'd have to buy a 17" model in order to calibrate a screen and work without glare? What if I want to work on an airplane? It'd be nice to have a good 13" or 15" mobile computer, not a desktop replacement.

As it stands, I couldn't even do an accurate Curves adjustment on these new "professional" laptops.

At least with their new ACD, I can buy a Dell or ViewSonic and skip the iMac-lite and all of the problems associated with it.

 

[letaalio]

Ahh, and at the same time Apple tells us that if we are experiencing problems with reflections on our new glossy screens we should increase the brightness.

Well, if you're such a professional, then take care of the surrounding lighting so it doesn't reflect on the display. The clarity of a glass display is outstanding and does make a huge difference.

Both the MB and MBP screens (or any laptop screen for that matter) are crappy TN panels with 6bit color and are not suited for "professional work". You would think that all of the extremely professional design people complaining about the gloss would know this and understand that they have to use an external display for anything really serious.

If you have to do some work on the go, I'm sure you can sit in a position where external light sources don't reflect on the screen. That's why it's.. you know.. a portable mac.

 

[Mdv2]

Could anyone tell me how the speakers were of last generation Macbooks?

 

[alimccarley]

Glossy screens

1. As a graphic designer and photographer I edit images on a daily basis with my macbook (glossy) and/or macbook pro (matte). On the road and when visiting clients I take my macbook as it's smaller, lighter and the glossy screen shows off my work to clients much better.

2. If your a pro in an office it's highly likely you use a desktop and screen than a standalone laptop and I suspect many pro users would plug their laptops into bigger screens anyway.

3. Am I the only person who prefers the plastic enclosure of a macbook to the scratch-happy enclosure of the macbook pro?!? At least with my white macbook any scratches are difficult to see.

 

[MagicWok]

Here's news for you MBP users who are aghast at the loss of matte screens. I use both the iMac and MBP, and have been railing at the loss of the matte screen in the iMac. I have both a matte and gloss iMac. The gloss iMac is good, IF the gloss iMac is oriented such that it is not against a window light. Otherwise, when the gloss iMac has a window in its background, it is terrible. TERRIBLE. I hate it. It's not something that goes away after a while. It is a constant nagging irritation, because you're starring at it all the time. It hurts my eyes after many hours of work.

Another thing. Apple is not going to listen. They've had a year or more to listen to the gripes of iMac users. In the macworld article, the Apple VP gives some glib excuse that a notebook user can shift the orientation to get rid of reflections. RUBBISH. What if you're in a room with windows on all sides, and lights everywhere. C'mon. Apple VP, just because you can justify, in your own mind, that the gloss is ok, we users have situations where we CANNOT USE a glossy screen. It totally sucks.

I am willing to pay MORE, i.e. more profit to Apple, for a matte screen. But I will not buy a glossy screen MBP.

My thoughts exactly. His excuse & reasoning for a glossy display on a Pro machine was quite frankly insulting to all professional users of MBP's. And is a comment I expect from the PC world quite honestly... A "we think we know best and will stick it to you whether you like it or not" stance.

And given the tone of the beginning of the event, Apple has come off amazingly arrogant, brazen and grossly mis-informed.

I'm was so close to getting a brand new MBP, and I can even overlook the other stupid Steve Jobs comment regarding Blu-ray in order to preserve iTunes sales. I just hope that the professional community, who Apple have given the two-fingers to in terms of consideration over choice and thought, do the right thing and avoid purchasing in mass quantities and force Apple to notice when they can't trumpet on about sales. Stranger things have happened, especially regarding Apple.

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

so was it ignorance to defend the "only intel graphics in the macbooks" or "combo drive is good enough" by some image professionals on this very board ... for years ... to no end .. over and over again

i hope you will enjoy being on the other side just like i did

in overall the market wants:
faster 3d acceleration
glossy displays
intel CPUs
ability to boot windows
doesn't care about firewire

and apply delivers to the customer market for once (only missing are even lower entry prices and more choices for video ports withouts adapters and bluray)

Yes that is ignorance and I never supported their about-face switch on graphics cards, nor did I ever suggest combo drives over DVD burners.

You are referring to a consumer market with the items you specified, not the professional world. So they delivered to their customer market by REMOVING specifications? That seems a bit silly.

I used to love steering people to Macs for their plethora of positives over Windows computers. But after seeing their recent hardware products, I often found myself telling potential Apple customers to NOT buy products such as the new iMac. I had interaction with a great deal of up and coming visual artists. Now with their notebook refresh, they've extended the iMac woes to their laptops. The frustrating part is I'm running out of possible Apple hardware solutions, and there is little alternative back in Windows-land. Hearing people praise Apple for backing image professionals into the corner is simply nails on a chalkboard at this point.

 

[NovapaX]

Could anyone tell me how the speakers were of last generation Macbooks?

hard to explain... but i think they are pretty decent for a 13" laptop....

 

[Kane.Elson]

I think these are amazing! I ordered a 2.8GHz MBP as soon as I saw the announcement.

I didn't really like the old look of the MBP, it looked OLD! The new one I would be proud to show. The spec upgrades just sweetened the deal.
I am also glad they upgraded the macbooks with the new design. The lower end models don't deserve to look like cheap pieces of plastic for the price and it should add some durability to them.

I can't wait for it to arrive!

 

[ma2ha3]

am i the only one who are sad that there are no blu ray in such a high tech, cutting edge computer company.

9600M GT what is this? i would prefer 9800M GTS.

 

[fltman]

Well, if you're such a professional, then take care of the surrounding lighting so it doesn't reflect on the display. The clarity of a glass display is outstanding and does make a huge difference.

Both the MB and MBP screens (or any laptop screen for that matter) are crappy TN panels with 6bit color and are not suited for "professional work". You would think that all of the extremely professional design people complaining about the gloss would know this and understand that they have to use an external display for anything really serious.

If you have to do some work on the go, I'm sure you can sit in a position where external light sources don't reflect on the screen. That's why it's.. you know.. a portable mac.

Well in my office I can take care of the surrounding light but on the go I can't always do that such as when travelling by train or plan or when in a fair. Trust me, I know, I have two 17", one glossy and one matte and I really try to avoid the glossy one. All this should really be a non-issue. Obviously there are those who are in favour for glossy and those who are in favour for matte. I'm sure you agree on that, and until now Apple offered both flavours and now they don't and I consider that a non customer oriented move and the critics will follow. This is a worsening of the product line.

 

[BryanLyle]

"The $1299 MacBook does not have a backlit keyboard"

Um, no deal.

 

[econoline06]

It never ceases to amaze me how whiney this group of people is on the MA forums. Amazing, truly. Fantastic new notebooks yet far more negatives than positive ratings. Whatever. Because obviously Apple cares?

 

[MagicWok]

am i the only one who are sad that there are no blu ray in such a high tech, cutting edge computer company.

9600M GT what is this? i would prefer 9800M GTS.

Simple matter of fact is Apple cares about money in this regard. Adding the option of a blu-ray drive is NOT expensive or difficult. If Dell and Sony can do it across half their product range (which is larger) then Apple is trying to pull a fast one saying that it is. It's that including a Blu-ray drive will effect their iTunes movie sales, especially HD ones - which they aren't willing to do.

They are stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm fairly sure they would love to have the feature in there, but can't due to iTunes being their major revenue earner that will hit purchases. But then when to release it? When Blu-ray is mature and selling like hot-cakes? LOL it would be even worse then for them financially...


The 9800M simply produces too much heat for a laptop that is this thin. You'll only see it in laptops that are at least an inch and a half thick, with battery lives that top out at 1.5 hours at best... Hardly ideal.

 

[synth3tik]

I think these are amazing! I ordered a 2.8GHz MBP as soon as I saw the announcement.

I didn't really like the old look of the MBP, it looked OLD! The new one I would be proud to show. The spec upgrades just sweetened the deal.
I am also glad they upgraded the macbooks with the new design. The lower end models don't deserve to look like cheap pieces of plastic for the price and it should add some durability to them.

I can't wait for it to arrive!

They look like the Vaios did 5 years ago.

It never ceases to amaze me how whiney this group of people is on the MA forums. Amazing, truly. Fantastic new notebooks yet far more negatives than positive ratings. Whatever. Because obviously Apple cares?

They may seem fantastic to you and that is great, for some (myself included) is has become a matter of usability or lack there of.

 

[Kane.Elson]

am i the only one who are sad that there are no blu ray in such a high tech, cutting edge computer company.

9600M GT what is this? i would prefer 9800M GTS.

The 15" XPS in the dell australia store only allows the
256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 8600M GT ..
The 17" has Dual 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8700M GT graphics with NVIDIA SLI Technology... but I would personally rather a single 9600 than two 8700s..

Not stirring but are there 15" laptops out there that have more than 9600s at the moment ? I would think heat may play a part in not putting them in such a thin 15" notebook.

 

[macsmurf]

What?
How does removing a decent i/o technology make more users buy apple?

People who need Firewire will buy pros even if all they really need is a Macbook. At least, that seems to be the plan.

Seems to me that their products are now aimed even more at the clueless consumer.

Well, I just bought one and I don't consider myself clueless. It's just that glossy displays don't bother me and FW I don't care about. If the consumer is more like me than you, Apple wins.

 

[eXan]

Every Mac user I know utilizes firewire in some way. There is a complete line of firewire hardware that this computer is incompatible with. Don't assume everyone else is just a consumer, too.

You should probably realize that you don't know most of MB users. You speak for a group that is obviously computer savvy - a group MB wasn't targeted at.

Again, you obviously do not know many people who work on their Macs. A year ago people were telling those complaining of the glossy on the Macbook that it was a consumer computer and if they wanted "pro," buy the pro models.

I don't see how this is relevant to what I said.

I know a LOT (hundreds, personally) of people who edit color on their laptops. Open your eyes.

I don't want to question the credibility of your claims, but those who professionally edit color on 6-bit monitors need their eyes opened...

My laptop is not a phone. It's a tool used for creation. Reflections should not be a non-issue. They should not have to be something put up with. It is a problem that Apple is embracing rather than offering a solution.

Did you miss the part where I talk about how matte screens behave when are in direct path of a bright light source?

Glossy vs matte was always mostly a preference thing. I know people who can't stand glossy screens, but there are a LOT more who prefer it over matte. Apple is a business, so they target a larger group.

Great, another dongle to carry in the bag. Do you ever use a 400 hard-drive and back up to a master 800 drive? Now I have to use splitters to do this, rather than simply plugging into my computer? Give me a break. And enough with the screws and pins. You sound like an Apple PR parrot. Apple's idiotic array of display connectors is a headache for any AV technician who has to deal with a constantly changing variety of presenters and their laptops.

I said I was against the removal of FireWire, why are you arguing? I said that its good that they changed full-size DVI to mini-DisplayPort.

Why not leave the necessary adapter at the place the monitor is? Or do you carry your external monitor with you too? ...

Anyone defending these laptops and the omissions obviously do not use their computers for serious work.

Serious work can vary greatly. Do you mean some particular kind?

 

[letaalio]

Well in my office I can take care of the surrounding light but on the go I can't always do that such as when travelling by train or plan or when in a fair. Trust me, I know, I have two 17", one glossy and one matte and I really try to avoid the glossy one. All this should really be a non-issue. Obviously there are those who are in favour for glossy and those who are in favour for matte. I'm sure you agree on that, and until now Apple offered both flavours and now they don't and I consider that a non customer oriented move and the critics will follow. This is a worsening of the product line.

I do agree about the preference of one or the other, but the thing is, everyone is just complaining pointlessly, because of all the environmental jazz Apple is doing lately, there's no way they would turn back to plastic for their screens. Glass is the thing they're obviously going with and I would bet almost anything that it's not going to change for a really long time.

There's nothing else to do, but to adjust to the changes. I know people are going to want to "stick it to the man" by not buying Apple products, say that it's not acceptable and that we have to complain. Sure, they should give you a choice, but they're here to make money just as every other company.

They won't really lose any sales because you don't buy their products, more other people will (because the glossy screens are much more appealing to average consumers) and you have to think if the choice of choosing an alternative is going to be better for you. Realizing that by not buying a mac, you won't make a difference and just suffer of other problems

 

[pck76]

what a disappointing update

I was expecting much more from this update.

Yes, a better video card is a good improvement, as probably is the new touchpad.
But at the same time there are things which disappeared (eg FIREWIRE), and I can't understand the reason. Apple wants people to use their notebooks to make movies (see the new redesigned and easier to use iMovie), they even put a better graphic card...and then remove the port that basically alla cameras use to transfer DV footage!). Or maybe they just want them to play games with it? it seems they're sort of dumbing down their computers...

Bottom line, I will definitely stick to my macbook.

(BTW, someone was talking about the fact that the hard drive is now bigger etc. - true. But I've spent 60£ to buy a 250 gb internal drive that I'm using now...

 

[Vkrati]

I was horribly waiting for this update, my current laptop is getting a bit out of power, its still a sempron 3000+ processor

i was about to change to mac now, but since i expected a bit more of this update, i'm still doubting.

The so called 'death of FW' comes as no surprise to me, cf the mastering of a 5G ipod with such a cable, it is not possible anymore.

Questions i have now:

1) IF i buy the new one, can i easily install wondows on the MBP, since there are two video cards inside now?
2) When is according to all of you the next update approaching. (I would like not to wait since we have the back to school promo still in belgium...)
3) Is there an alternative for this one? If i check VIAO, they are also not cheap. I'm thinking of using a dualboot windows-linux instead, since i like apple for the 'virus-free-use' (which i dont want to talk about now i know how to start a real discussion here ) and because of timegain (not having to format the whole time)) Is there anyone who knows a very good bargain, which is regrettably not a Mac then, but rather powerful.

 

[thegillsman]

Firewire problem?

I'm trying to work out if this is a problem for me or not. I do very little video work but if I was to get a HD camcorder, all the ones I've been looking at seem to be USB connection anyway. Is it only the more professional or serious hobbyists that lack of firewire on the MacBooks will affect? Other than this issue I think the MacBook (2.4Ghz) will do the job nicely (as it should for that price!).

 

[knarzie]

no firewire anymore?

does this mean i should now move movies to my external via USB?

 

[TBi]

$99 for Dual-DVI

I just noticed that you have to pay $99 to get Dual-DVI functionality (for 30" screens). This came free with older MBP's which had a full DVI port.

Paying $30 for a DVI dongle is a lot, but $99 is pushing it!

 

[sinser]

I was horribly waiting for this update, my current laptop is getting a bit out of power, its still a sempron 3000+ processor

i was about to change to mac now, but since i expected a bit more of this update, i'm still doubting.

The so called 'death of FW' comes as no surprise to me, cf the mastering of a 5G ipod with such a cable, it is not possible anymore.

Questions i have now:

1) IF i buy the new one, can i easily install wondows on the MBP, since there are two video cards inside now?
2) When is according to all of you the next update approaching. (I would like not to wait since we have the back to school promo still in belgium...)
3) Is there an alternative for this one? If i check VIAO, they are also not cheap. I'm thinking of using a dualboot windows-linux instead, since i like apple for the 'virus-free-use' (which i dont want to talk about now i know how to start a real discussion here ) and because of timegain (not having to format the whole time)) Is there anyone who knows a very good bargain, which is regrettably not a Mac then, but rather powerful.

Yes, interested in this too. What's a good (non Apple) laptop alternative to the horribly glossy MPB ?

 

[cy88]

People should stop complaining about the glossy screens. I have a 24" iMac and I've never had any issue about reflection due to the bright screen. FYI, I have HUGE windows facing the iMac.

This is a good update, and will definitely increase Apple's notebook share in the market as their new macbooks are very aggressive in comparison to competitors.