Macbook Update in progress (2.4Ghz)

[Yankee617]

I'll get the 13" MBP instead.

It's not a bad update...but for 200 more you get a FireWire port, SD slot, and a nice unibody design.

You also get 4 GB RAM instead of 2 GB RAM. Furthermore, the MBP is a teensy bit smaller and lighter (4.5 pounds vs 4.7 pounds).

This is very tempting. The FireWire, SD and aluminum unibody are nice but not really a big deal for me. For $100 one can have 4 GB RAM in the Macbook, and I definitely want 4 GB, so that reduces the price difference to only $100.

Most folks here assign a $50 value to the aluminum unibody. So now the question is whether the slightly smaller/lighter design (plus the FireWire and SD) are worth another $50. For me, the answer is yes. I'll get the MBP.

But what I really really want is a matte/anti-glare screen and Apple won't let me have that at any price. Sigh.

===
OH Yeah... and the backlit keyboard. That's worth $50 by itself. Definitely getting the MBP.

 

[DontMacTheGyver]

They offer this model as an alternative for people that don’t want the aluminum case. The polycarbonate cases are great for education and environments where it’s important to have durability.

Ever dropped an aluminum MacBook? It dents. Whereas, the worst you have to deal with on the polycarbonate case is possible cracking (and the biggest problem with cracking for this model has been because of manufacturer defects).

The plastic MacBooks are really solid machines.

Really?? Did they improce the ploycarbonate? Every white MB I know older than 1 year has cracks like trees in the wood!

 

[tkermit]

Looking over the posts so far, here is a collected summary of the differences between the base 13" MBP vs the base 13" MB. For 200 dollars more, you get:

- Illuminated Keyboard
- FW800 port
- Crack resistant aluminum case
- SD card slot
- 4 GB of RAM instead of 2GB on the MB
- Separate Audio In and Audio Out/Headphone jacks (this has generally been overlooked so far, but is crucial if you want to use both headphones and audio out at the same time, or just don't like switching between them a lot)
- Battery level indicator
- Slightly less weight
- Slightly smaller in all dimensions

Both have about the same battery life. Only thing in favor of the MB is that Wi-fi reception may be better with the polycarbonate case. Other than that, it's really a no-brainer that the MBP is the much better deal. I'm sure Apple knows that and would be happy for most people to go for the MBP.

The real problem here is that the MB is $100 or so too expensive. If the same base model were $899, it would differentiate itself much better and would look more reasonable in relation to the MBP.

You're all forgetting the IR-port, which comes in very handy for presentations. Since the whiteBook is targeted at students, I find it weird that they ever cut that feature from it.

 

[Sir Lorad]

Brazil's store updated too, but it increased the price from R$ 2.999,00 to R$ 3.199,00.

That's equivalent to an US$ 112,00 increase on price.

The base price is now US$ 1780,00 for the new Macbook white.

 

[Boston007]

You're all forgetting the IR-port, which comes in very handy for presentations. Since the whiteBook is targeted at students, I find it weird that they ever cut that feature from it.

Then they should have kept the price low enough. What a joke.

 

[antster94]

No way does the 'pro' 13" Macbook deserve it's pro status anymore, only differences I can see between it and the standard Macbook are more RAM and a uni-body enclosure, an SD card slot in the Pro and a £150 premium for the Pro.

I think Apple needs to upgrade the processor to i5 in the 13" Pro, and also drop the price for the 2.4 15" down to £1399, just my $.02

 

[johnnymg]

Then they should have kept the price low enough. What a joke.

I sense some disappointment here.....................

This "update" is going to make the Apple haters jump for joy.

 

[Insulin Junkie]

Wow. Price has gone up 100€ in Germany.
Go Apple go!

Did I just witness someone cheer Apple on for bloody *raising* the price of one of their machines in a certain country?
Hope you were being sarcastic..

 

[sjwk]

As someone so astutely stated earlier for $70 more get the MBP. You'd be stupid not too.

Why? If you don't need the features of the MBP over the MB (apart from RAM which I'm guessing you need otherwise the difference in cost would be higher) then why would you choose to pay more?

Sure, $70 isn't a lot but if you don't see that you would ever need (or want) those features surely it would be stupid to pay for them? Would you just go out and give away $70 to someone on the street for no good reason?

I'm not suggesting that the MBP doesn't offer better value if you include those features, just disagreeing that you'd be stupid not to choose the MBP over the MB *in all circumstances*

I'm still weighing up between the options. Yes, it wouldn't cost much more to go for the MBP, but it's not my money buying it so I'm deciding whether those features would be of benefit to me using the computer in a work role (rather than me personally). Having said that, a couple of hours spent reading up on it and dithering would probably cost more than the difference in price had I just ordered the MBP this morning

 

[Boston007]

I sense some disappointment here.....................

This "update" is going to make the Apple haters jump for joy.

I AM disappointed. I was really looking to upgrade my 15" G4 Powerbook. I LOVE that laptop but it's showing it's age now.

I was looking to get the 13" MB but with this new upgrade it's too much. I'm ALMOST tempted to go for the MBP for the $70 more!

Apple haters will ALWAYS be around and always jump no matter what LOL

 

[sjwk]

Really?? Did they improce the ploycarbonate? Every white MB I know older than 1 year has cracks like trees in the wood!

My current 2006 first-gen CD (not C2D) MB has no cracks... It doesn't get huge amounts of use, but it does get regularly chucked into bags and carted around the place. Come to think of it, I can't remember seeing any cracked ones brought in by students either, and they probably treat them far worse than I do!

Steve.

 

[Boston007]

Why? If you don't need the features of the MBP over the MB (apart from RAM which I'm guessing you need otherwise the difference in cost would be higher) then why would you choose to pay more?

Sure, $70 isn't a lot but if you don't see that you would ever need (or want) those features surely it would be stupid to pay for them? Would you just go out and give away $70 to someone on the street for no good reason?

I'm not suggesting that the MBP doesn't offer better value if you include those features, just disagreeing that you'd be stupid not to choose the MBP over the MB *in all circumstances*

I'm still weighing up between the options. Yes, it wouldn't cost much more to go for the MBP, but it's not my money buying it so I'm deciding whether those features would be of benefit to me using the computer in a work role (rather than me personally). Having said that, a couple of hours spent reading up on it and dithering would probably cost more than the difference in price had I just ordered the MBP this morning

Because the additional features you get FAR outweigh the cost $70. Seriously, you'd have to be a SUCKER to not go for the MBP, in my opinion of course.

How does Snow Leopard run under 2G of Ram? Decent? For me, RAM is essential I'd want the 4G, which is why the MBP is such a FAR better deal.

This may just make me wait longer to get a new notebook.

 

[Xenomorph]

If Apple really wants to *kill* the PC/Windows market, they should start offering laptops on their website for $699-$799 or less.

I know they bring out new stuff all the time (well, at least once a year), but their store always shows the latest models. Old stuff usually just disappears.

 

[MacinDoc]

FWIW, the reader on the iMac is SDHC compatible, so I can't imagine that the one on the MBP would not be.

Can anyone clarify whether the SD slot on the MBP is SDHC or just SD? I'd have expected it to be SDHC these days (just SD would be useless), but then again if it was SDHC, I'd expect the Apple tech spec to have said so rather than just calling it an SD slot.

Given that I normally have an SDHC USB reader in my camera bag anyway, that addition isn't something that would sway me towards paying an extra £60 for the MBP (assuming I upped the RAM to 4Gb in the MB). In fact, Firewire is the only difference that's close to crossing the border from 'want' to 'need' and justifying the extra cost. It may not cost a lot more, but if I don't *need* to spend it...

Steve.

 

[Boston007]

If Apple really wants to *kill* the PC/Windows market, they should start offering laptops on their website for $699-$799 or less.

I know they bring out new stuff all the time (well, at least once a year), but their store always shows the latest models. Old stuff usually just disappears.

I'm sure they feel they are already "killing" the PC market

But I agree with you. They need to drop the prices on the MB.

 

[baryon]

Why did Apple drop the Black MacBook? I mean, I just can't imagine how awesome this new model would look like in glossy black... They used to have black and white plastic iPods too, back when it wasn't called the "iPod Classic", and now you have the black and white iPhones too. I really liked the way Apple had a black and a white version of almost everything, it was classy and it fitted well with the simple designs. I understand that the Aluminum Unibodies are more difficult to color, but why not the plastic MacBook?

 

[kazmac]

Hmmm

Educational discount was cut by $50 in the U.S. store bummer. I was considering getting my sister one of these, but if there's no dip back to $899 then she'll either inherit my refurb iMac when the time comes or I'll go to Microcenter and get her a previous generation Macbook.

I do remember the $899 educational discount price appeared after the holiday season earlier this year, I hope Apple doesn't wait that long to return the education discount to that price. I know there are other places to get these cheaper, but I prefer to deal with Apple directly.

All, in all, I'm glad I went with the 13" MBP.

 

[Insulin Junkie]

Why did Apple drop the Black MacBook? I mean, I just can't imagine how awesome this new model would look like in glossy black... They used to have black and white plastic iPods too, back when it wasn't called the "iPod Classic", and now you have the black and white iPhones too. I really liked the way Apple had a black and a white version of almost everything, it was classy and it fitted well with the simple designs. I understand that the Aluminum Unibodies are more difficult to color, but why not the plastic MacBook?

I yearn for the black matte macbook back. It looks so slick I'm thinking of grabbing one off e-bay anyway, even though I don't really need one.

If Apple really wants to *kill* the PC/Windows market, they should start offering laptops on their website for $699-$799 or less.

It's not only the price aspect, it's the OS. I'm pretty sure quite a lot of people go for PC's simply because it's the OS they're used to. Believe it or not, but a solid percentage of the population prefer Windows over MacOS, or think that they do and would rather have a windows machine. Macs 'killing' PC's? Don't think that'll happen anytime soon.

 

[SmokyD]

Yes, just noticed that the 13" MBP only has one audio in/out jack, unlike the 15" or 17", which have two. I also forgot about the IR port, which allows a remote. Here's an updated list of the differences:

- Illuminated Keyboard
- FW800 port
- Crack resistant aluminum case
- SD card slot
- 4 GB of RAM instead of 2GB on the MB
- IR port
- Battery level indicator
- Slightly lighter
- Thinner and sleeker

While I don't think the MBP is such a great deal either, for the price, it's a lot better than the MB, which, when maxed out, costs about the same as the MBP while lacking many of the above features.

I think Apple has dropped the ball a bit here. Some people who are looking to switch to Mac with an entry level Macbook may find this a bit too expensive and might not want to get a pro model either. If I were in this situation, I'd stick with a PC if I wasn't sure about switching.

If the MB were 100 dollars cheaper, I'm sure their margins would still me massive, and whatever they lose on margins would be made up for by increased volume and market share. Given that people tend to stick with Macs once they switch, any short term losses (if there are any) from a cheaper MB would be offset by having a larger base of long term customers.

 

[kernkraft]

+1 i bought the MB in 2006 and specs remain similar only that time 2.0GHz was high end processor if I remember correctly.

The cheapest (£749) C2D was with 1.83 GHz, I think. Mine was the middle one. The black plastic one was the 'serious plastic' one with around 2.2GHz. It's ironic that some of us have almost brand new unibody MacBook Pros with similar clock speed and for a lot more money. pricing is becoming an absolute joke with these outdated computers.

My current 2006 first-gen CD (not C2D) MB has no cracks... It doesn't get huge amounts of use, but it does get regularly chucked into bags and carted around the place. Come to think of it, I can't remember seeing any cracked ones brought in by students either, and they probably treat them far worse than I do!

Steve.

I sold my C2D (2006) when the unibodies came out. In two years, I have had the keyboard replaced a couple of times with new bezel and bottom. The only part of the case that was not replaced was the top - not a scratch, BECAUSE I was treating that MB well. 'CrackBook' was invented for a reason. Plastic is fine, but durable, masculine, professional-looking and classy - it is not.

 

[hayesk]

Macbook Pro base model doesn't really deserve it's 'Pro' name anymore imo

Because...

 

[sjwk]

Because the additional features you get FAR outweigh the cost $70. Seriously, you'd have to be a SUCKER to not go for the MBP, in my opinion of course.

How does Snow Leopard run under 2G of Ram? Decent? For me, RAM is essential I'd want the 4G, which is why the MBP is such a FAR better deal.

Yes, except the price difference is only $70 if you're comparing the MBP to a MB that has been upgraded to 4Gb too. If the difference was $70 including RAM then yes, it would be a no-brainer.

I'm guessing that's the case anyway - I'm in the UK so not sure what the $ prices are. Here (at HE price), it's £729 for the MB with standard 2Gb; £799 for the MB upgraded to 4Gb and £858 for the MBP. So the extra £60 (and I'm guessing $70) does not include the extra RAM.

Steve.

 

[ghostlyorb]

Yeah right but over night Santa Steve added another 3 hours of battery life

So apple does have a leak problem... just one with prototype models. interesting.

 

[Boston007]

Educational discount was cut by $50 in the U.S. store bummer. I was considering getting my sister one of these, but if there's no dip back to $899 then she'll either inherit my refurb iMac when the time comes or I'll go to Microcenter and get her a previous generation Macbook.

I do remember the $899 educational discount price appeared after the holiday season earlier this year, I hope Apple doesn't wait that long to return the education discount to that price. I know there are other places to get these cheaper, but I prefer to deal with Apple directly.

All, in all, I'm glad I went with the 13" MBP.

Microcenter in Cambridge, MA has 84 MB in stock, $799. Unfortunately, $50 tax.

 

[hayesk]

At one point the MacBook was a really interesting machine. I have one from when it was seen as being versatile but importantly CHEAP and it had more I/O (Firewire, audio in). Please btw don't tell me Firewire is a Pro feature when the Mac Mini has FW800.

The economy is why the MacBook is more expensive in the UK. It's still $999 in the US. And back when you claim "The MacBook was a really interesting machine" it cost as much as the 13" MacBook Pro, which is a really interesting machine for the reasons you mentioned.