More Apple Notebook Details: Clickable Glass Trackpad, GPUs, Pricing

[steve-p]

It would be hard to believe that there wont be the matte option. This poll shows that more pple prefer matte. Ok, it is difficult to compare the preferences of the MR community to all the MBP users but I think that Apple will lose a lot of customers if this appears to be true.

Actually all it shows is that more people on here who have a strong preference either way prefer a matte finish. The number of MBPs actually ordered with either finish would be a lot more revealing I guess.

 

[koobcamuk]

looking at all the speculation...well..I actually didn't read everything but try this---compare what's happened in your nearest Apple store....now outside US it might be different but around where I am in the midwest you go into an Apple store and what have they done...what had been a free advice and consultation now is something you have to pay for, if you want to learn something you now have to hand over another $100 and that learning something in reference to any Apple product you also have to hand over another $100...your talking at least $200 if not $300 for services that years back cost nothing! Others have also said that Apple appears to be going off the deep end with their products and so forth and your damn right...Apple is becoming as crapy as Microsoft already is and eventually Apple is going to be all crap whether you look at this from a cost view or product performance and adaptable range of connectors its going down hill and Jobs is still thinking he can dump his crap on the suckers who have bought without looking at what they bought first....and I am not saying Apple hasn't come out with great products...they have except that last few years Jobs has gotten to fat a head....hell I go into my nearest Apple store and immediately someone semi-greets me and then immediately asks do I have a One on One card and down the line and when I say no to all of these ripoff costs....suddenly I'm standing there alone and then another "toughguy" that works at this store huffs and puffs at me well what do you want...since I don't have any of the cards apparently to them I have no valid reason to be in the store...I look at this and then all your comments and if all true Apples going to not just tank to the bottom but take as many customers down with it....because Jobs has gotten a FAT head about himself...but we'll see and I hope I am wrong.............

well dude, you live in the USA. The glory of capitalism is right there in your above post. You can't have it both ways.

 

[kis]

if glossy is the only option it will not take long before aftermarket matte screens become available.

that's what everyone was saying about the iMac.

 

[thefunkymunky]

Everyone seems to be winging and moaning yet Apple hasn't even announced the products yet. All the information we've seen so far are just rumors. Nothing is confirmed until Apple officially announce it.

 

[afan]

I just saw on the morning news (nbc) it said that apple will announce a new laptop under $1000 today. Seemed odd for a local news station to announce this.

 

[wallstreetcrash]

If this is true, what a terrible update. No matte? No firewire on the macbook? Its like apple have forgotten all about their core customers - graphics, video and audio people.

Yeah maybe they are aiming towards normal consumers, to beat the PC market. But how are they going to do that with those prices?

 

[kis]

Wah wah wah is all I can hear.

Apples core user base is no longer professional "editors", it is students, casual computer users, hockey moms

Yeah, I can really see hundreds of thousands of hockey moms shedding 2k+ dollars for a notebook to watch movies on.

 

[dumbmonk]

no matte??? what a joke!!! i will wait for the next rev.

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

Right. So, I'm going to buy a $2000 laptop, and then I'm going to spend several unpaid hours of my personal life in an effort to void the extended warranty I will have paid extra for?

Why not? If you NEED matte - go for it. And it won't take several hours - likely won't even take 30 minutes. I do it to $20,000 crystals all the time. 2k for a laptop is nuthin!

 

[hello-im-mac]

photos

Everyone seems to be winging and moaning yet Apple hasn't even announced the products yet. All the information we've seen so far are just rumors. Nothing is confirmed until Apple officially announce it.

Those photos look pretty real, noone could photoshop them with the reflections

 

[strikeinsilence]

I just saw on the morning news (nbc) it said that apple will announce a new laptop under $1000 will be reviled today. Seemed odd for a local news station to announce this.

Wow, even local news stations are already criticizing it?

Nothing is confirmed until Apple officially announce it.

Hello captain obvious.

 

[iMacmatician]

Specifically, Gruber confirms that the new MacBook Pros will have "buttonless" trackpad which is made of glass. However, it appears the entire trackpad is one large button:

As long as it physically depresses, I'm fine with it. Tap-to-click never works for me.

There will be no new 17" MacBook Pro immediately available, and it's unclear when/if it will be revised. The existing 17" model will still remain on sale.

Reminds me of the original MacBook Pros.

Finally, Gruber addresses the pricing confusion from today. Apple apparently will only be offering two new MacBook configurations

- $1299: 2.0 GHz, 2 GB memory, 160 GB disk
- $1499: 2.4 GHz, 2 GB memory, 250 GB disk

Those look suspiciously like 800 MHz FSB, but they could also be 1067 MHz FSB. I hope it's the latter and Apple's not using FSB to cripple the MacBook.

And I originally suspected the prices would go up, but I really didn't think they would by $200. I also see that the lack of spec increases fits in with the alternating component upgrade - spec upgrade of Mac notebooks.

The existing $1099 2.1GHz MacBook model will apparently remain to fill a $999 price slot but will not have the advantages of the new machines.

I should have thought more about this too. It makes sense, too, although I would have liked to see it cheaper ($799/$899).

And with the notebooks getting more expensive, maybe it's time for a mini-notebook or mini-tablet to fill the $500~$800 gap? This seems to be a set up for MWSF 2009.

 

[ageha]

Pretty generic Taiwanese design, it's looks almost ugly. Huge footprint but no room for a keypad?

 

[GregA]

Add everything together and look where the Company is headed. Plus I hear they might be selling off their Final Cut and Logic Software. They're going in the exact opposite direction of what their ads claim they are. They're going in the opposite direction of the artist that kept their company alive for many many years until their ipod/iphone came along.

Now... when you put it that way, you make me want to see a SPLIT of Apple (rather than a sell off of some products). We could have a ProApple (51% owned by Apple Inc) which handles all the Pro software, and the Mac Pro hardware, Xserves, probably their own laptops, with support contracts for businesses, etc. Then the consumer Apple with iPods, iPhones, aTV, MacBooks, iMacs, iLife etc.

Wouldn't be too bad.

Then again... you're seeing the worst possibilities in Apple at the moment, and you may be entirely wrong

 

[aeropix]

For instance, it's becoming increasingly popular to work outside - sitting at a coffee bar for instance.
Likewise, a very popular work place is the train (or the plane).
She *needs* to be able to work during her whole trip - otherwise, she will need to catch up at home, and this is not fun, or, even worse, she won't be ready for her meeting.

Notebooks are really meant for that : having a computer in working condition anywhere anytime.

I guess it just comes down to getting proficient at using the tool at hand.

Perhaps I just need to feel lucky that I prefer the glossy screen, even though I am frequently using mine in aircraft and outdoors. I find its just so easy to move the screen a microscopic amount to rid it of glare, while if it was matte, you ned to move it a lot more because the matte of itself diffuses the glare over a much broader angle.

further, the glossy screen is a more true image, you are actually seeing what the pixels are showing through the "clear" gloss, rather than having it filtered through the matte.

That's why I just don't get the whole matte argument for professional photographers, it is like using a matte filter on the camera, which is not the true image any more than a matte screen is. It's useful and looks nice, but in the end it is not the truth.

And if you prefer the matte, you can use a screen filter. But if you (like me) prefer the gloss, you cannot make a matte screen glossy with a filter. Therefore the glossy screen actually provides MORE options to the end user.

 

[thefunkymunky]

Those photos look pretty real, noone could photoshop them with the reflections

Anything is possible in Photoshop.

 

[kis]

As long as it physically depresses

If it's glossy-only, you bet it's depressing.

 

[tremendous]

Those photos look pretty real, noone could photoshop them with the reflections

yeah they could. doesn't mean it's not real, but easy with the NO ONE COULD EVER!!! posts.

 

[The Awesome]

Like a kid in a candy store!

Specifically, Gruber confirms that the new MacBook Pros will have "buttonless" trackpad which is made of glass. However, it appears the entire trackpad is one large button:

I like the glass trackpad!

In addition, he confirms what some have suspected -- that the new MacBook Pro is not available in matte-finish, only glossy.

I guess a lot of people voted negative because of the lack of matte-finish, seeing as a lot like/need to work under the sun. For myself, I rarely use my laptop outdoors because of rampant crime here in Manila.

I've read in a recent National Geographic article about this biomimetic coat that reduces glare (to almost 0%) AND increases the color "glossyness". Apple should seriously pioneer that in the consumer/prosumer market.

There will be no new 17" MacBook Pro immediately available, and it's unclear when/if it will be revised. The existing 17" model will still remain on sale.

Maybe Apple is further raising the 17-incher to a higher/different market (or price point), relative to the 15"... maybe something along HP's HDX or EliteBook line.

MacBook Airs will be updated with a larger 120GB hard drive and larger 128GB SSD option.

The more expensive SSD is now more capacious than the HDD! Very good!

CPU speeds are expected to remain about he same, however, the MacBooks will benefit improved graphics performance with built in NVIDIA 9400M GPUs.

Mac-lovin' gamers: Hallelujah!

NVIDIA (not Apple, unfortunately) made everyone's day!


Now for the Mac Mini

 

[H. Flower]

Wah wah wah is all I can hear.

Apples core user base is no longer professional "editors", it is students, casual computer users, hockey moms (although if that stupid women gets one i will not be impressed) and Mr Joe Public. Just look at the volume of devices being sold - for every Mac Pro I am sure the consumer devices sell hundred. It is all about imacs and macbooks. Sometimes I think that way too many people forget that it is Apple.com not Apple.org.

Before you all start posting "If it has a blue-ray disc then you can have my money" or "I want it to have a high def matte screen" just think. Is there a commercial market for this. If not, then assume it will not be available.

Market segmentation is key here. Apple has identified its market segmentations and will deliver products into those segments. The segmentation will have been undertaken with a view to being profitable.

Most professionals realise this - it is just the little whiney me-me-me crowd who forget it. You do not own apple (although you may have invested in them), apple does not OWE you anything (although you might have used the product for years) and everything they release does not have to be jsut for you.

Remember, you have a choice. If you don't like the product, then move along. Your choice. Maybe the product was not designed for you as your segment will just not deliver the returns apple is now expecting.

Yeah, we'll see if Joe Six Pack and Hockey Moms are going to continue to fork over thousands of dollars to Apple in the coming Recession/Depression. Lolz.

Maybe then Apple will come crawling back to us professionals on their knees....

 

[hello-im-mac]

matt

One thing is for certain, I will not be spending my hard earned money on anything with a glossy display.

I've been waiting months to by laptops for the design studio. I cannot believe they may just offer the pro in glossy, it's ridiculous.

Its ok saying 'like it or lump it' but all our licenses and set up are Mac, we can't just go and buy a pc laptop. This is like sh**ting on the pro users.

I can't stand glossy screens and in a light airy studio they are extremely annoying, there is NO WAY photo retouching and graphics can be done on them. Whats the point? Why only glossy? Just to sit there bending your head to one side trying to see what you're doing....

If they are only available in glossy (we'll find out later) then I suggest millions of pro users bombard sjobs@apple.com and campaign for a matt option.

 

[strikeinsilence]

Pretty generic Taiwanese design, it's looks almost ugly. Huge footprint but no room for a keypad?

Huh? It's almost the same footprint as the MBP of today (yesterday actually). And seriously, who the F wants a numpad? Redundant and unnecessary.

 

[thefunkymunky]

Noone seems to have mentioned in this thread the Glass Trackpad yet. Why glass? What will be the point unless it has a screen? Just be something else that can easily get broken.

 

[Rogue68]

Oh man... that would be disastrous (and kind of a stab in the back) for us designers... LOL.

If the new LED 24" display "saves the day" by being matte... at least it will be something for me to look forward to.

If Apple do something as greedy and cynical as that, I'm gonna turn to voodoo on their ass.

I hope the glossy-only rumor's wrong.

 

[digitalfrog]

So the only reason I bough the last MBP was to have a matte screen.

If it's not an option anymore but still want an apple laptop, I should bite the bullet and go glossy.

Oh, so I'll survive with a regular MB then !!


...oh no, no firewire, still need to pay more $$ just for firewire ...

I was soo happy I switched to Apple from PC's/XP/vista... until now.

Hackintosh, where are you ?