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MacBook Shipments Have Begun?
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Again with the "very thin"... what features have they ditched this time to make it invisible from the side? Did someone ever complain about the thickness of the current MacBook generation?
Don't get me wrong, I'm very much looking forward to the new MacBooks, but Apple is starting to develop some sort of bizarre product line-wide anorexia, painting themselves into a corner by focusing so obsessively on thinness that they can no longer release a product unless it's thinner than its predecessor. The result is dropped features, dubious battery life, heat problems, quality issues and other undesirable side effects.
As tempting as it is to crack jokes about Apple's increasingly anorexic designs mirroring Steve's appearance, I'll pass on that and just say that they need to take a deep breath, take a step back and start thinking about what they can add to make the products better, and stop thinking about what they can remove without making them worse.
Don't get me wrong, I'm very much looking forward to the new MacBooks, but Apple is starting to develop some sort of bizarre product line-wide anorexia, painting themselves into a corner by focusing so obsessively on thinness that they can no longer release a product unless it's thinner than its predecessor. The result is dropped features, dubious battery life, heat problems, quality issues and other undesirable side effects.
As tempting as it is to crack jokes about Apple's increasingly anorexic designs mirroring Steve's appearance, I'll pass on that and just say that they need to take a deep breath, take a step back and start thinking about what they can add to make the products better, and stop thinking about what they can remove without making them worse.
I really hope its tomorrow. I've started uni again and I'm also teaching as well so I really need a good laptop. My eee pc doesn't cut it. Comeeeeeeeeeeee onnnnnnn tmoorrow. Tuesday nights have become nights I don't sleep too much 
here are my observations:
1- There's no doubt Apple wants to be a "Green" company (note how Steve J. mentioned the non-toxic elements for the last iPod Nano and new iPod Touch),
2- iMacs are still up to date, contrary to MacBooks, MacBooks Pro and Macs Mini which definitely need an update as well in design than in performance,
3- The "Music" Line (iPods) is just refreshed before the holiday season,
4- from all various rumors about the waited "Computers" line update:
There' now absolutely no doubt the "Computer" line will be updated soon, before the holiday season. Apple already missed the Back-to-School sales (because the delay on new chips), they can't also miss Christmas!!
Here is what we could probably expect for the October (14th?) event:
1- New MacBook (13.3"), with aluminum case, LED-Backlight Display, and hopefully a backlight keyboard. Of course, it will be very thin... Thin, toxic free and cheaper are the 3 main words right now for Apple. So, we can probably imagine to see the MacBook under $1000. (probably $999 for the entry level)
2- New MacBook Pro (15 & 17"), with a new very thin design and maybe the Mobile Quad core and BluRay for the higher version... and probably also $200 cheaper.
3- New iTunes Services:
- to download apps for OS X (Desktop/Notebook)
- to download and read eBooks
- to stream TV Channels (for iTunes Pro User: Subscription)
4- New Mac Mini (Apple TV Pro): New version of Mac Mini with a very thin and nice design, such of Apple TV Pro with new version of FrontRow. With a 1080p resolution for HD content, BluRay drive with realtime decompression, large HD with DVR features (as TiVO does) but with iTunes and iTunes Streaming integration (to compete directly with Netflix and last Amazon). It could be available between $399 and $499 will come to complete the line with Apple TV.
5- MacBook Air update with faster CPUs (1.83 GHz?) and larger HD/SSD (128 Gb?).
6- Free Software Update for Apple TV for new iTunes features. (Also a free eBook Reader App for iPhone / iPod Touch 2.x)
7- Demo and Testimonial from the TV Industry and Book Industry guys.
By doing so, All "Notebook" will be updated with nice new design and specs, and built without any toxic elements.
What we can expect for the MacWorld 2009:
1- Mac Pro and Cinema Display: New CPUs, BluRay, etc...
2- New iMac 30" and update of the iMac line with BluRay on the highest models.
3- Introduction of Snow Leopard (and release for Developers), if integration with Touchscreen features. Update SDK to develop apps for Snow Leopard and iTouch (including Games).
4- Introduction of iTouch/iTablet/etc... (the $599, $699, $799 and $899 price range). Finally the merge of netbook, sub-book, tablet, umpc devices. Could maybe be available in 2 models: iTouch (Atom 1.33 GHz, 1Gb, 16 Gb, 5 & 7") and iTouch Pro (Atom 1.66 & 1.83 GHz, 2Gb, 32 and 64 Gb, 5", 7" and 8.9"). Dual Touchscreen (for finger & pen use), no drive, very light (between 1 and 2 pounds), full connectivity (Wifi, 3G, Edge, BT, Ethernet), long battery time (enough for a full day of a student or business man), onboard iSight, GPS, Accelerometer, USB ports, Speakers, mic, OS X Snow Leopard, some controllers for volume, headphone & mic plugs, Video out, few buttons and dock.
Demo of the power of Snow Leopard features for the Tablet (for zoom, navigation, usability, etc...), usage with finger and pen for graphic guys, etc... Demo of different usage such eBook, iTunes, integration with iTunes Store, iTunes Streaming and App Store to buy and download new apps, Mail, Safari, iCal, Games, etc... Attending Release date for April '09.
5- iLife '09 & iWork '09: with new features such a better integration of iWeb '09 with MobileMe, some features such WordPress in iWeb/MobileMe, some tools to create eBooks, new version of iCal, Mail (even MobileMe version) for better integration with Exchange (share of contact, calendar, task, etc...). Demo of the features with the iTouch and demonstration on how could be great a "mobile work" and "mobile life" and how it will be primordial to update your iLife '08 (deliver with your fresh brand new laptop bought just before christmas) or even why you should buy for a MobileMe account, which will finally become more useful.
6- Demo and Testimonial from partners to explain how great it is to work with/for Apple.
By doing so, all "Professional" and "Family" devices will be udpated and developers will have an SDK to develop new apps for OS X Snow Leopard... As well for Desktop/Notebook than for Tablet version.
Both case, the distribution will go through iTunes to reinforce the Apple philosophy... No packaging, no trees cute for manuals, books and box, no gas to transport the boxes and no pollution emission.... It will be a solution economically and ecologically more interesting... And in other hands, developers will be "guarantee" of security against piracy and Apple will generate large profit.
After Music, Movies, TV Shows, AudioBooks, eBooks, Mobile Apps/Games, then it will be the Desktop Apps & Games...
Because iTouch will be a perfect devices for games too... As we saw for iPhone and then for iPod, the Games become a big deal for Apple... just to add more "fun" for their platform, already great for work, life and professional stuff. And in any pricing and specs, they will have a product to reply to your need... in 3 lines: Mobile, Portable and Desktop.
Mobile: $199 3.5" iPhone / $399 3.5" iPod Touch / $599 5" iTouch / $799 7" iTouch Pro / $899 8.9" iTouch Pro
Portable: $999 13.3" MacBook (DVD) / $1399 13.3" MacBook (BluRay) / $1599 13.3" MacBook Air / $1799 15" MacBook Pro / $2499 17" MacBook Pro
Desktop: $399 Mac mini (Combo) / $499 Mac mini (DVD) / $599 Mac Mini (BluRay) / $999 20" iMac / $1599 24" iMac / $2499 30" iMac / $2499+ Mac Pro
Again, that's only my observation (and wish ), not any official leak or whatsoever. And again, the list is pretty huge and nothing is guaranteed.
Spid
1- There's no doubt Apple wants to be a "Green" company (note how Steve J. mentioned the non-toxic elements for the last iPod Nano and new iPod Touch),
2- iMacs are still up to date, contrary to MacBooks, MacBooks Pro and Macs Mini which definitely need an update as well in design than in performance,
3- The "Music" Line (iPods) is just refreshed before the holiday season,
4- from all various rumors about the waited "Computers" line update:
There' now absolutely no doubt the "Computer" line will be updated soon, before the holiday season. Apple already missed the Back-to-School sales (because the delay on new chips), they can't also miss Christmas!!
Here is what we could probably expect for the October (14th?) event:
1- New MacBook (13.3"), with aluminum case, LED-Backlight Display, and hopefully a backlight keyboard. Of course, it will be very thin... Thin, toxic free and cheaper are the 3 main words right now for Apple. So, we can probably imagine to see the MacBook under $1000. (probably $999 for the entry level)
2- New MacBook Pro (15 & 17"), with a new very thin design and maybe the Mobile Quad core and BluRay for the higher version... and probably also $200 cheaper.
3- New iTunes Services:
- to download apps for OS X (Desktop/Notebook)
- to download and read eBooks
- to stream TV Channels (for iTunes Pro User: Subscription)
4- New Mac Mini (Apple TV Pro): New version of Mac Mini with a very thin and nice design, such of Apple TV Pro with new version of FrontRow. With a 1080p resolution for HD content, BluRay drive with realtime decompression, large HD with DVR features (as TiVO does) but with iTunes and iTunes Streaming integration (to compete directly with Netflix and last Amazon). It could be available between $399 and $499 will come to complete the line with Apple TV.
5- MacBook Air update with faster CPUs (1.83 GHz?) and larger HD/SSD (128 Gb?).
6- Free Software Update for Apple TV for new iTunes features. (Also a free eBook Reader App for iPhone / iPod Touch 2.x)
7- Demo and Testimonial from the TV Industry and Book Industry guys.
By doing so, All "Notebook" will be updated with nice new design and specs, and built without any toxic elements.
What we can expect for the MacWorld 2009:
1- Mac Pro and Cinema Display: New CPUs, BluRay, etc...
2- New iMac 30" and update of the iMac line with BluRay on the highest models.
3- Introduction of Snow Leopard (and release for Developers), if integration with Touchscreen features. Update SDK to develop apps for Snow Leopard and iTouch (including Games).
4- Introduction of iTouch/iTablet/etc... (the $599, $699, $799 and $899 price range). Finally the merge of netbook, sub-book, tablet, umpc devices. Could maybe be available in 2 models: iTouch (Atom 1.33 GHz, 1Gb, 16 Gb, 5 & 7") and iTouch Pro (Atom 1.66 & 1.83 GHz, 2Gb, 32 and 64 Gb, 5", 7" and 8.9"). Dual Touchscreen (for finger & pen use), no drive, very light (between 1 and 2 pounds), full connectivity (Wifi, 3G, Edge, BT, Ethernet), long battery time (enough for a full day of a student or business man), onboard iSight, GPS, Accelerometer, USB ports, Speakers, mic, OS X Snow Leopard, some controllers for volume, headphone & mic plugs, Video out, few buttons and dock.
Demo of the power of Snow Leopard features for the Tablet (for zoom, navigation, usability, etc...), usage with finger and pen for graphic guys, etc... Demo of different usage such eBook, iTunes, integration with iTunes Store, iTunes Streaming and App Store to buy and download new apps, Mail, Safari, iCal, Games, etc... Attending Release date for April '09.
5- iLife '09 & iWork '09: with new features such a better integration of iWeb '09 with MobileMe, some features such WordPress in iWeb/MobileMe, some tools to create eBooks, new version of iCal, Mail (even MobileMe version) for better integration with Exchange (share of contact, calendar, task, etc...). Demo of the features with the iTouch and demonstration on how could be great a "mobile work" and "mobile life" and how it will be primordial to update your iLife '08 (deliver with your fresh brand new laptop bought just before christmas) or even why you should buy for a MobileMe account, which will finally become more useful.
6- Demo and Testimonial from partners to explain how great it is to work with/for Apple.
By doing so, all "Professional" and "Family" devices will be udpated and developers will have an SDK to develop new apps for OS X Snow Leopard... As well for Desktop/Notebook than for Tablet version.
Both case, the distribution will go through iTunes to reinforce the Apple philosophy... No packaging, no trees cute for manuals, books and box, no gas to transport the boxes and no pollution emission.... It will be a solution economically and ecologically more interesting... And in other hands, developers will be "guarantee" of security against piracy and Apple will generate large profit.
After Music, Movies, TV Shows, AudioBooks, eBooks, Mobile Apps/Games, then it will be the Desktop Apps & Games...
Because iTouch will be a perfect devices for games too... As we saw for iPhone and then for iPod, the Games become a big deal for Apple... just to add more "fun" for their platform, already great for work, life and professional stuff. And in any pricing and specs, they will have a product to reply to your need... in 3 lines: Mobile, Portable and Desktop.
Mobile: $199 3.5" iPhone / $399 3.5" iPod Touch / $599 5" iTouch / $799 7" iTouch Pro / $899 8.9" iTouch Pro
Portable: $999 13.3" MacBook (DVD) / $1399 13.3" MacBook (BluRay) / $1599 13.3" MacBook Air / $1799 15" MacBook Pro / $2499 17" MacBook Pro
Desktop: $399 Mac mini (Combo) / $499 Mac mini (DVD) / $599 Mac Mini (BluRay) / $999 20" iMac / $1599 24" iMac / $2499 30" iMac / $2499+ Mac Pro
Again, that's only my observation (and wish
), not any official leak or whatsoever. And again, the list is pretty huge and nothing is guaranteed. Spid
It seems like the only things i have been reading lately are about the MB. Wouldn't Apple want to refresh the MBP at the same time? It would seem odd for them to update one and have the more expensive MBP in an old case with sightly better specs and a larger monitor. I just want to get everyone elses 2 cents.
I'm going with $999 as the MacBook starting point as well.
Think it'll still have a Combo Drive?
I really, really hope not.
I guess that came out a bit wrong, but from every rumor and leak we've heard the macbook is transitioning to aluminum enclosures, I see no logical point of releasing a plastic model now and releasing a similarly specced macbook with aluminum in January...
aggressive
I think new price will equal "old price minus Touch price". That way, no one can whine about how they got ripped off on the free ipod Touch back-to-school deal.
I think new price will equal "old price minus Touch price". That way, no one can whine about how they got ripped off on the free ipod Touch back-to-school deal.
My predictions:
$899 - 2.26Ghz, 1GB, 120GB HD, Combo drive, 13" LED LCD
$1099 - 2.4GHz, 2GB, 160GB, Super drive, 13" LED LCD
$1399 - 2.4GHz, 4GB, 250GB, Super drive, 13" LED LCD
I'd be in for the 1099 model, plus Applecare, would be about 1350+tax.
Though I would go as far to say with those prices, no more student discounts (right now the baseline MB is $999 w/ student discount, $100 off).
Note that the CPUs used would be 25W, not the current 35W, so Apple could get by with a slightly smaller battery for the same charge time, reducing costs in that way as well.
Don't forget that as Apple moves further down price wise, more pricing pressure will be put on HP and Dell.
$899 - 2.26Ghz, 1GB, 120GB HD, Combo drive, 13" LED LCD
$1099 - 2.4GHz, 2GB, 160GB, Super drive, 13" LED LCD
$1399 - 2.4GHz, 4GB, 250GB, Super drive, 13" LED LCD
I'd be in for the 1099 model, plus Applecare, would be about 1350+tax.
Though I would go as far to say with those prices, no more student discounts (right now the baseline MB is $999 w/ student discount, $100 off).
Note that the CPUs used would be 25W, not the current 35W, so Apple could get by with a slightly smaller battery for the same charge time, reducing costs in that way as well.
Don't forget that as Apple moves further down price wise, more pricing pressure will be put on HP and Dell.
I don't desire to do anything except say that Apple's prices are not competitive, and will not be without a $300-$400 price-drop, which I would bet everything I ow that Apple will not due. Thus, we can say with certainty that the new Apple Macbooks will NOT be price-competitive.
I wasn't trying to tell Apple to lower its prices with my long and well-investigated previous post. I was simply saying that Apple is not price-competitive, and therefore dispelling the rumor that such a thing might happen anytime in the near future.
EDIT:
Those prices would still be at least $200 more than their PC counterparts. There would be no price competition at those prices.
About time!
Come on, update! (Gonna be my first Mac, ladies and gentlemen!)
SirOmega said:
I don't think Apple would lower the prices (though that would be very awesome) because by aggressive pricing and smaller margins, I think they're talking about the more expensive aluminum casing eating into the $1099+ selling price.
Apple usually adds/enhances features while keeping the price (and that damn Combo Drive).
Nano-chromatic casings, anyone?
Agreed. We would probably have had a number of rumors in the past few days.
That seems to be for the MacBook Pros. That's even better!
Well you can't have bothI'm going with $999 as the MacBook starting point as well.
Think it'll still have a Combo Drive?
Don't be ignorant. OS most definitely matters, as it's the primary reason for switching away from Windows, and therefore buying a Mac in the first place.
Oh cool, I'll give you some
Visa Card
5689*4578*9856*1520
PIN 5612
CCV2 506
EXP 09/11
Says who? Apple? You can have both plus $300 additional in specs for $999 in an equivalent PC, with similar weight and thickness.
Good predictions , although we must be aware that the pressures that may be applied to HP & Dell in the pricing 'game' will also be applied to Apples' QC department and tbh , I think that that is one dept at Apple where investment is needed , not taken away .I'm concerned ...might hold off on buying till second gen ??
I'll have to see what pans out here in the next few weeks
I never said OS does not matter. I said OS does not matter in a pure price-comparison. There's a BIG difference. If you want competitive prices, you have to have similar specs for similar amounts of money. OS does not matter in a pure specs-comparison. OS matters when you look beyond the specs. And then specs and price-competition don't really matter.
About time!
Come on, update! (Gonna be my first Mac, ladies and gentlemen!)
Yikes.
First Mac and you want it to be the first version of an untested product? Wait for version 2.
s.
You can get Applecare and not worry for the life of your notebook. However, that's even more money.
Maybe I'm the superstitious type but I wouldn't keep a card that had an expiration of "9/11"...
Hi,
The problem with comparing specs is you usually only get the speed and/or capacity of the hardware. A 5400 RPM 160GB hard drive may cost more if it is a more reliable drive. I would like to think that Apple charges a bit more so as to give the consumer a better quality product rather than a spec'ed speed demon that has incompatible hardware which breaks down sooner.
Also, don't forget all the other software that comes with a Mac besides OS X.
s.