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Steve Jobs on Lack of Firewire in MacBooks
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Yup, they also removed the FW800 on the first MacBook pro (leaving only the FW400 in place), only to reintroduce the port on the next revision. Then, with the latest, they not only removed the fw400 port on the MBP and MB as we know, they went back to that bloody Agere chipset.
In Tiger you were able to receive and send SMS's from your address book (with your hone bluetoothed to your computer, but that feature was removed in Leopard. And then, of course, there are the whole iMovie-thing. The "HD" version is crippled in comparison to the older version.
No, no. The HD version is the old version. iMovie HD = iMovie 6. iMovie '08 = iMovie 7. I just kept both of them, unless iMovie '09 really does make HD redundant.
I sure hope so. I actually like '08 for most things, as the workflow lends itself very well to hard disk camcorders. But it's lack of codecs is positively crappy.
From what I gather there are multiple USB busses on all macs, if you check your system profiler it'll show you all of them. It was even like this in the USB 1 days, my old eMac had 2 separate busses, and I think that the more modern pro machines have more. But I think that the USB 1 and 2 are placed on separate busses on the fly, so at least USB 1 devices won't use up the USB 2 bandwidth, but multiple usb 2 devices will use the same bus.
As for Firewire, it's always been a single bus, which IMHO isn't enough for "Pro" needs, it would be nice if the Pro models had at least 2 firewire busses (an 800 and a 3200 would be nice), it would solve problems some users can have, and save them having to fit a PCIe card just to plug more gear in and have it work correctly. From an audio stand point it's recommended that if you're using firewire for an audio interface, HD and DSP box (TC Powercore or SSL Duende) that you at least stick the DSP box on a separate bus, which means a firewire card.
One other thing can anyone clarify that sharing a firewire 800 bus with 400 and 800 devices does slow the rate to 400, because I keep on hearing mixed opinions on this, some say it does some say it doesn't???
You are probably right. I've just checked system profiler on both of my Macs and this is what i've found.
MacBook:
5 USB buses (3 USB, 2 High Speed USB)
Trackpad, built-in KB are on the same bus.
IR Receiver and Bluetooth controller are on separate buses.
The rest 2 buses are for 2 USB ports. Interesting is that iSight is reported to be on the same High Speed USB bus as one of the external devices (iPod), but after I switched my connected devices (1 is mouse and other is iPod) the iSight also moved to the bus that has iPod on it.
Strange, makes me think that there's only 1 USB bus for ports :/
iMac:
only 2 buses (1 USB, 1 High Speed USB)
All internal stuff hangs on the USB bus, while all the external devices are on the USB High Speed bus.
Interesting. My aluminum Macbook only has four. The IR receiver is on the same one with the KB/trackpad.
USB is being hacked to death like System 7~MacOS was, and we know all the issues with that one, right?
In every technical performance category FW is better then USB.
It makes Apple computers look bad by relying on a port that is inferior to the design goals Apple set up.
Has Apple lost its way??
In every technical performance category FW is better then USB.
It makes Apple computers look bad by relying on a port that is inferior to the design goals Apple set up.
Has Apple lost its way??
Are Macs still in a class by themselves?
Believe me, it is a question that I have been asking a lot lately. I wouldn't call it soul searching, but it's difficult for a long-time Mac user like me (since the original Macintosh c.1984), to start contemplating another system other than Apple's. But that is precisely what I am starting to seriously do now.
It is difficult to believe that their "Pro" line is such, when certain features that you would expect from a "Pro" model, just isn't available. And yet they still charge double or triple the cost of another system that is much better equipped by another brand.
Before, just having OS X and avoiding the hassle of drivers, justified the extra price. But now all drivers pretty much work no matter what the system. Moreover, Windows 7 is turning out to be the real deal and Linux has proven to be a viable alternative to OSX.
If Apple doesn't realize that you can only dictate to the market what it needs up to a certain point, then they may have to relive history all over again. If you remember in the early 80's, Apple was the system to beat, but due to Apple's persistent inflexibility to the market at that time, it was soon overshadowed. In the span of a couple of years, Apple went from being the major player to a struggling contender. History can repeat itself again, if they are not careful.
I want to stay with Apple, but if it is not looking after their fan base's needs, well...
Believe me, it is a question that I have been asking a lot lately. I wouldn't call it soul searching, but it's difficult for a long-time Mac user like me (since the original Macintosh c.1984), to start contemplating another system other than Apple's. But that is precisely what I am starting to seriously do now.
It is difficult to believe that their "Pro" line is such, when certain features that you would expect from a "Pro" model, just isn't available. And yet they still charge double or triple the cost of another system that is much better equipped by another brand.
Before, just having OS X and avoiding the hassle of drivers, justified the extra price. But now all drivers pretty much work no matter what the system. Moreover, Windows 7 is turning out to be the real deal and Linux has proven to be a viable alternative to OSX.
If Apple doesn't realize that you can only dictate to the market what it needs up to a certain point, then they may have to relive history all over again. If you remember in the early 80's, Apple was the system to beat, but due to Apple's persistent inflexibility to the market at that time, it was soon overshadowed. In the span of a couple of years, Apple went from being the major player to a struggling contender. History can repeat itself again, if they are not careful.
I want to stay with Apple, but if it is not looking after their fan base's needs, well...
Yeah, I think a lot of us are in this same boat. As a loyal Apple customer of over 22 years, I never thought I would look outside of Apple as long as it lasted. But a number of product decisions lately, made solely for reasons of increasing Apple's profit rather than technical superiority, have left me (gulp) questioning my faith! There's a limit to how long the old computer customer base will accept nothing but more snazzy eye candy products.
I very seriously doubt it. The next question is will it be removed from Apple's consumer desktop line, the Mac mini and iMac.
Apple providing a 17" matte version.
I bet that wasn't on the original roadmap until they realised the uproar they caused with glossy-only 15".
They have been. I believe computers are going to start receiving the attention they deserve.
Steve Jobs leaving. I don't think he will return in the same capacity as before, if at all. I think the transition to new leadership has begun.
So maybe new minis and iMacs are delayed because they are furiously adding Firewire back?
So maybe new minis and iMacs are delayed because they are furiously adding Firewire back?
Haha they arn't delayed but I doubt thats the reason they havn't come out yet. USB 3.0 is about to become mainstream and Apple knows it. Plus the Pro users who actually need firewire have the Macbook Pro. Hence the hint in the name, Pro.
So we are starting with the doomsday predictions again?
Steve will be back in June. You have no evidence to say otherwise, so all your predictions are complete BS.
USB 3 is not near market ready yet. Apple isn't going to wait until it is to release new computers.
For all we know, that could have been the plan from the beginning; the 17" wasn't announced along with the MB and the 15", there's no way it could have been affected by the anti-Glossy mobs.
Plus there isn't a heckuva lot to connect to it and actually take advantage of it, is there? I personally haven't seen any USB3.0 specific devices, such as hard drives.