New Macbooks

[MartinLee]

Ok, as some of you old time members here will know, I love Macs.

But

wtf are Apple doing?! Their laptop line up is a complete mess now, I'll try and explain...

They've replaced the old Macbook Pro 15 inch with a nice shiny new glass and aluminium ones, they've also added a glass and aluminium 13 inch Macbook (not pro) to a slightly updated Plastic Macbook. The thing is, the bottom of the range 13 inch Macbook costs more than the old style Plastic one but has a slower CPU and no firewire.
Just to make things more confusing, the Macbook Pro 17 inch is still the old style version, without the glass. Im guessing a glass and alu 17 inch is on its way

In my opinion, if youre going to make a budget product ie Macbook, look like and cost like a premium product, why not make them part of the same product line as the premium?

Why not make the new glass Macbook a Macbook Pro 13 inch, to go with the Macbook Pro 15 inch, and broaden the range of the cheap plastic Macbooks with a 13inch and maybe 10 inch Macbook Mini (like the Eee PC's) so you'd end up with:

Macbook Pro - Glass & Aluminium
17inch From $2.800
15inch From $2.000
13inch From $1.200

Macbook - White or Black Plastic
13inch From $800
10inch From $600

Macbook Air - whatever, silly product for people with too much money


Also, while I'm on the subject, it would be really nice to have a mid-range tower, like the power of the iMac but without the screen. The Mac Pros just cost too much and the Mac minis just aren't powerful enough. I think its time Apple start offering more choice like other PC makers, it can only help their sales!

[Edited on 10/15/2008 by MartinLee]

[MartinLee]

blimey this place isn't as geeky as it used to be *backs away*

[TheDoc]

I'm just about to leave work, but I do have an opinion on the matter. I'll just have to wait until I get home!

[mkeefe]

I was out of the office today, but I have an opinion. Okay, you heard it online.. but here it is again. :)

I think the new offerings are a joke, they aren't for professionals (glossy screen) and to top it off the lack of quad core or blu-ray or mega ram updates make it an incremental advancement.

That being said I may get one (irony, I know) but the reason is because mine is almost 2 years old.. and I need more video memory.

Matt

[ms]

Interesting Article.

Yahoo News (http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20081015/ap_on_hi_te/tec_techbit_microsoft_apple)

[Edited on 06/21/08 by ms]

[TheDoc]

Just a quick clarification on the processor, the 2.0GHz that's in the new ones is actually quite a bit faster than the 2.1GHz in the $999 model. It has a much faster front side bus and I believe a larger L2 cache.

Having said that...

No matte screen? Are you kidding me? I don't give a crap about this stupid "sexy glass" thing. The fact that during the conference he tried to tell me that glossy was better for professionals made me hurt inside.

This was supposed to be a major upgrade. Instead, it was a major design upgrade. At the end of the day, I don't really care how my machine is made, as long as it functions as it should. They spent tons of time talking about it because that's all they had to talk about! This didn't need to be a conference, this could've been a press release.

Aluminum Macbooks, that is great. The NVIDIA 9400M is great as well. LED backlit is a plus as well. I'm indifferent to the multitouch. I suppose I don't use my laptop on the road enough to make use of it, and when I'm at home I'm using an external keyboard/mouse/monitor. Missing firewire isn't a big deal to me, as my external HD is USB. But if you're going to drop firewire, at least replace it with a USB port.

Overall I think the good outweighs the bad, but it's certainly not a major upgrade. Perhaps the graphics will blow me away in the end (after they do real real-world benchmarks) and I'll consider more than a flashy new skin for the Macbook.

[mkeefe]

Originally posted by ms
Interesting Article.

Yahoo News (http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20081015/ap_on_hi_te/tec_techbit_microsoft_apple)

[Edited on 06/21/08 by ms]

While interesting that Microsoft would do that, its not false. Look at the facts. However, a Mac has its place (I have 3 of them) and will always. This is just a company not happy with the recent updates and went "all political".

Matt

[dave_100_uk2002]

I agree Matt, When it comes to competition, they are not going to roll over and let their competitor steal the limelight. Either side(s) are going to try and eliminate the other. At the end of the day its business, who wants to come 2nd?

[ms]

The problem is that Mac has a monopoly.
I would love one but having close to $7000.00 in software and that is most likely on the low end compared to some of the people here I can't see it.

Edit: Guess I forgot to mention I run a PC.

[Edited on 06/21/08 by ms]

[dave_100_uk2002]

Im a PC! *Not from the Microsoft ad in anyway*

[dogtrombone]

Originally posted by MartinLee
blimey this place isn't as geeky as it used to be *backs away*

:roll:lol A while back I found a site selling "geek" clothing... there wa a great T shirt with "Geekier than thou" on the front. Interested? :lol

Oh, and as a longtime Mac user, as well as being involved in the marketing and advertising industry, I believe Apple have more often than not struggled with getting a logical balance to their product line. Very often smacks of the "Ooooh, SHINY!!" syndrome. The other thing that has always bummed me about Apple is the completely inadequate standard RAM, which becomes wasteful to change as the standard modules are inevitably small, and end up taking up RAM slots.

[MartinLee]

Yeah I'm not overly happy with the glass only screen option, I can't imagine it being that practical. I use an iMac for work but I don't have a window behind me so the glossiness isn't a problem. Also I'm guessing the new Cinema displays are glass too. :s

I wouldn't say Apple have a monopoly as such because they don't dominate the whole PC industry, it's up to them how they choose to distribute their software, and remember Apple is a hardware company primarily and the choose to only offer quality high grade hardware. If you want a cheap plastic dell for $600 then thats up to you, you could always hack OS X onto it if winblows really bothers you.

Dogtrombone: lol yeah actually.... no lol. I was just stating that no one had replied all day when people used to jump on topics like this, I guess it just hadn't been noticed :)
And I totally agree with you on your points. RAM costs apple sod all so why not just throw loads in there and make everyone happy, at least they've put 4Gb in the Pro's.

[dogtrombone]

I think the fact that RAM costs Apple nothing is exactly the point. It costs them nothing, but they charge exorbitantly for RAM upgrades. Much better to buy RAM elsewhere... Other World Computing etc.

[MartinLee]

Crucial.com is pretty damn cheap and they have a good system for finding the right ram for your machine

[mixedupmacandpc]

looks good on paper, sorta. i guess i will see next month on shopping trip to BKK. the missing firewire port on the MB is just ridiculous, and sticking with nvidea after last years macbook pro debacle sounds risky (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377). and yet another video out cable spec?!? give us a break. but u can't stop progress. what are we gunna do? we gotta have them. sure wish the mac pro line would get an update and when are the new cinema display's coming? that's what i am looking forward too...
coocoo

[MartinLee]

I think their choice of graphics card is a really great move despite previous problems.

What I'd like to see is a mid range tower between the mini and the pro

[mixedupmacandpc]

Originally posted by MartinLee
I think their choice of graphics card is a really great move despite previous problems.

What I'd like to see is a mid range tower between the mini and the pro

Ha! I agree with u 100% on the tower...the ancient macpro we have is so old it's starting to rust:) so a lower-cost solution would be really cool. but trust me, i know, the nvidea chips rot and i almost lost a client over one. i suppose one could say that ATI has made bad chips, but they have not put one in a mac of late. i am still struggling to get that mbp repaired for free, as it's had 2 logic boards in 13 months (nvidea failures) - along with a long list of other problems that i won't belabor.

on another note: has anyone touched a new one yet? wondering if the keyboard resembles the macbook keyboard & the aluminums. they look similar. that would be grand. that old mbp keyboard was the pits...almost embarrassing.

[mkeefe]

The points on RAM couldn't be more true. I know the first thing I did on my MacPro and MacBook Pro was went out and bought new sticks, of larger ram, for less..

Nvidia has done alright for me, so no issues there. On the keyboard, it does look exactly like the old Macbook and the super thin desktop keyboard... which if it is, thats a selling point for me, this keyboard is simply awesome.

If i do get one I will probably spring for the faster chip, get standard memory, forgo SSD (too expensive) and put my own RAM in it once it arrives.

Matt

[MartinLee]

Yeah screw the SSD, its just not worth it at this point

Apparently there arent any of the new Macbooks in any of the Apple stores, maybe scared of having finger prints all over the glass?

[mixedupmacandpc]

nice review:
http://gizmodo.com/5063492/macbook-and-macbook-pro-dual-review