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MacBook Announcement Expected on Tuesday
wwhsgrad2002 writes "Both ThinkSecret and Apple Insider are reporting that Apple could hold a press conference as early as Tuesday, May 9th, to announce their new line of MacBooks. The laptop will be the Intel-based successor to the company's popular iBook line. The 13.3-inch widescreen MacBook is expected to sport Core Duo processors from Intel Corp and pack novelties such as a completely magnetic latching system, built in iSight video camera, and MagSafe power adapter. Additionally, each MacBook is expected to come bundled with Apple's Front Row and PhotoBooth software applications. A coding glitch with Apple's Web site has all but confirmed the MacBook moniker for the new consumer laptop."
Damn, and I just got the 15" version. Would be nice to have one that's a little more portable. Definitely happy with the performance though.
[%] Cingular Ringtones
Cheers,
Ian
Please, don't put some toilet video card in the macbook. I'm looking at you Intel Integrated.
If you're going after the college kids market AT ALL, the macbook has to be able to game at least most of the time.
--- Do you believe in the day?
Why would they time it to be the same day as Nintendo's press conference on Tuesday?
I understand that they're different markets, but all eyes are going to be on Nintendo that day. They could easily put it off a week and get 100% of the attention.
And by floppies, of course, I am referring to your testicles. Be very careful when snapping your mac book shut if you aren't wearing pants.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
... and on this Tuesday Apple made announcement that they will announce on Saturday the date of the next announcement about their laptop.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
I would definitely expect there to be a Core Solo option at the low end of the line, and some of the features from the MacBook Pro are certain to be missing. Integrated video would certainly seem likely - after all, there have to be quite a lot of potential MacBook buyers out there who don't care/aren't willing to pay for dedicated video in their notebook.
i forget
If you had your testicles in between the keyboard and the lid when you shut the machine, then I'd be very worried.
By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
how else do you cum on a chick's face?
It would be nice if Apple was less focused on the US car driving market and considered releasing a sub-notebook (<0.9kg) for those of us that walk, fly, and/or use public transit, and need to always carry around a computer. I have desktop computers with large displays at home and work, so I don't need to lug around a monstrosity, when I need a computer during commute and when traveling, just something small that easily fits in my purse.
As a frequent business traveler, I have been buying and using small Intel based Japanese sub-notebooks for 8 years, and would love to buy a Apple notebook that can run MacOSX, especially now that I can use bootcamp to multiboot other OS's as well. But I don't see that happening anytime soon.
Maybe Apple should licence an OQO or similar sized device and port their OS to it, if they aren't interested in building a sub-notebook from scratch.
... then we don't have to guess.
Do those two names strike anyone else as a bit silly? I wish Apple had kept the PowerBook name.
First, Apple needs to get schools looking at these models for next year. If the company waits much later, schools are already going to make plans based on existing models.
Second, I doubt Apple thinks it will be upstaged in ANY way by Nintendo -- and I think that judgment will be correct. Many gamers and geeks will be paying attention to Nintendo's announcement, but an Apple announcement will greatly upstage it in terms of media attention, IMO.
David
Apple Stores are hosting a pre-release event for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Tuesday, May 9th. MacBooks will not be released on the same day.
By virtue of its name the MacBook is a low-end version of the Pro. Fair enough, but the specs are pretty much going to be identical to the Pro version I guess, except with a lower end GFX card, less storage, smaller screen, slower CPU. I've suddenly stopped finding Apple hardware releases interesting.
... is a Hardware fetishist. The specs of the MacBook Pro vs the lower end MacBook will not be all that much different than those of the G4 PowerBook were when compared to the old iBook line. The MacBook [Pro] still holds it's own when compared to the vast majority of PC laptops available on the market today in terms of innovative design. With a handful of exceptions the competitors still look like bricks by comparison which was already true when they were compared to the G4 PowerBooks three years ago. Not that the Hardware is the most attractive part of Apple computers anyway it's the OS, it's ease of use and the various specialist applications that the Macintosh platform excels at... and lets not forget the complete absence (so far) of malware.
Only to idiots, are orders laws.
-- Henning von Tresckow
Print outs.
The pro line is called the MacBook Pro, so the consumer line is called the MacBook. I expect the Intel towers, if they ever appear, to be called the Mac, MacTower, MacPC, or the like. They do seem to be moving away from the brand of 'power' to the brand of book.
As far as the screen size, the industry does seen to be standardizing on the 13.3 screen as the small entrant. In terms of cost, this is probably the best choice for the entry level portable. What is interesting is that this probably means that we will see a consolodation of the iBook and Powerbook into a Macbook. The MacBook will be a compromise dimension betwen 12 and 15 inches, while the pro models will be 15 and 17 inches.
Which also leaves the 12" models in limbo. These are really a perfect size, and if the 12" PowerBooks are ever $800 dollars I may buy one, as we are unlikely to see such a machine again. I wonder how long Apple is going to produce PowerPC based macines, which is, really to ask, how long until the PowerMacs are replaced. Or is Apple just going to produce laptops and media centers, and leave the pro image editing to the MS crowd? I shudder to think.
In any case, we will see what happens over the next few day and the next year. Certainly Apple has plenty of time to pull an rabbit out of it's hat since we won't see big PC sales until christmas of 2007 when MS vista will be ready for prime time.
Oh, the joys of life. Perhaps I will get a PowerMac G5 yet, even if they slurp electricity like it is water.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
I have an old G3 iBook, and it's too big. To get me to buy another portable they need to offer something comparable to a Sony VAIO 505 in form factor. Or preferably, a tablet Mac, but I doubt Steve's biases will let that happen.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Religious war? More like a troll. Try giving some examples to support your opinion. Good for design and that's about it? What rock have you been hiding under? I know a TON of scientists who are using macs, because OS X has the ability to run all the UNIX tools we are accustomed to, but they have an easy to use interface and all the business type software that's missing from a linux machine. Plus, being able to drop into an apple store in any major city to get help when your video out isn't working and you have to give that powerpoint presentation tomorrow is a nice bonus.
The whole "they don't have the software" argument has been dead for a long time - the only markets where OS X software isn't up to par with windows are niche ones - specialized proprietary software with a small user base, or things like games. As much as it might shock some people, most people don't buy their computers to play games.
Come on, if you're going to bash macs, update your talking points. 1998 called, it wants its troll back.
Cause the PC laptop offerings have heads spinning? Please.
Or because there's no tablet (hint- they won't do it until they get it right - after two PC stumbles, who can blame them)?
Or because the Apple market has held its own and continues to build eas of use and value? Count me in.
Case in point. My wife just bought the latest Acer which has the touted features of:
- brightview screen (a shiny piece of plastic that produces glare and fingerprints at an astounding rate)
- constant light for the bluetooth status (thanks - eats batteries)
- constant light for the wifi status (ditto batteries)
- constant light for the battery, num lock, cap lock (all of which are mirrored in the taskbar anyway)
- three USB ports Woohoo! One more than an iBook!
- a four cell battery which is an eight cell battery with four cells torn out. Honestly, you can squeeze the case and feel where the missing cells are supposed to be.
- 2.5 hour battery life if you spring for the 8 cell battery separately.
- Speed. It's a 2.something, if I turn off all the fancy XP graphics under system performance, it can almost keep up with my 1.33 iBook for general use with a few apps open.
- software. none. after loading her up with picasa and itunes, whenever something mildly novel comes up, she shuts the lid and asks me to do it on the iBook. And she knows how to work a PC - she does it all day at her job. She's a wiz at office + access, but for real world stuff, the integration just isn't there - they made this point in one of the new apple ads - and it's about time.
I'd rather spend my time getting the work done than figuring out the workaround or forking over the license fee for getting it done on a PC.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
You see, the key to Apple was product differentiation. I don't think people really understand what Apple has taken on when it moved to Intel.
Essentially it's moved its entire product lifecycle up a gear. You'll see newer, faster Apples appearing much more frequently than you used to, because Intel release interim speedbump chips throughout the year - maybe as many as 5 or 6. For Apple, this is a good thing.
But, Intel also releases a new platform technology every year or so, so when Yonah's successor Merom is released, Apple has no choice but to do the same, otherwise it has a marketing dilemma of people doing a like-for-like speed comparison between a Yonah Mac and a Merom PC.
Now, we know that comparing Macs to PCs is apples and oranges, but Joe Public doesn't know that and would possibly plump for a fast new Dell over what on paper looks like a slower, older Mac.
The other downside is that by keeping up with Intel releases, Apples are going to date a lot faster. In a year, the 15" Macbook Pro will be a slow Macbook Pro assuming Apple keep up with Intel. Now it may not be slow to use as OSX software doesn't seem to bloat as fast as PC stuff, but it could potentially cause confusion for new buyers.
The bottom line is that essentially, Apple have rescinded some of their control over their product line development. While they can innovate on peripheral elements such as illuminated screens, magnetic power cords and the like, the core of their machine is now owned by Intel and they are going to have a much tougher time exhibiting the kind of product differentiation that they have been able to in the past.
Seeing that Intel is pushing Duos very hard. Dell is delivering Duo notebooks at the 699 price point, mostly when you catch them on one of their "sales". I have seen 15.4" versions with default options hitting as low as 649 for a 1.66 Duo.
Now some will say that Apple does not have to consider Dell or XP notebooks in their plans I think they do. The price segment the new MacBook will be headed into will be up against the bulk of the XP systems out there. Also take note that many college age kids will look at prices and features. Since most work can be done just fine on XP systems for school work Apple will have to consider their offering closely.
Things I expect. At minimum a 13.3 screen, probably a 14 as those screens are in good supply. Base model will be a Core-Solo and max will probably be a 1.83 Duo. Integrated graphics will probably be default but they honestly should at least offer a X1400 256mb option as this feature will appeal to many college age users as well as those looking for a lower priced system to run both X and XP. We probably won't see drives as large as the Pro and will see a 4200rpm in the base model. Gigabit ethernet, USB2, FW400 and a cardslot are a given (chipsets are common for all, it probably would be more to actually get an old 10/100 chipset). figure a good keyboard without backlight but I expect iSight.
Get a x1400 256mb, Duo 166, 512 base (2gb max) out the door for 1299 and I will be all over it.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
There's your answer. At least nowadays (the Powerbook Duos were a while ago), Apple seems to feel that the notebook should contain everything you're going to actually need on a frequent basis. So there aren't external drive bays, docking stations, port replicators or things like that - and yeah, they lean toward the larger screens.
:)
The old 12" iBook was 2.2kg, the 12" PowerBook was 2.1kg. So far, the MacBook Pros have been a little thinner and lighter than the PowerBooks they replaced. If the new MacBook is actually thinner (as has been rumored) than the old iBook, maybe they can get it down to 2kg or less - that'd be nice.
(If the specs are at all decent, I need to buy a few, anyway.)
Incidentally, I have multiple colleagues who use 12" PowerBooks and just tuck them (in thin sleeves) into their little-tote-bag purses. Amusingly, they frequently breeze through metal detectors where everyone else's laptop gets taken out and turned on, because after all, nobody wants to search a purse.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
I have to say that apple has nice packaging but they are bum (to use a technical term). They don't support the software I want.
Can you elaborate on that? If you mean they don't support Windows software, well that's like saying the Apple orchard doesn't support orange juice production. If they don't support some specific piece MacOSX written software package then I would have to ask since when is it the OS maker's job to support the software? That's the software company's job. I don't complain to Microsoft when Firefox crashes on my XP machine.
Expect Intel toilet-graphics in all but the most powerful MacBook, if even that. Remember, this is their budget machine. The toilet-graphics will allow them to drop the price OR make more of a margin on the computer. Either way, they win.
This is super disappointing to me. I was really hoping Apple would come out with a small tablet with a discrete graphics controller. I love mine, but would get rid of it in a second if Apple came out with something just like it.
+++ATH0
Fortunately, Linux runs on them, so you can have the best of both worlds: Apple hardware and Linux software.
In a couple of weeks I plan on getting one of the new 17" Macbook Pros and was thinking about setting it up for dualboot. As it has BSD under the hood though I don't really think it's needed. Installing Linux on a new Mac is more a desire than a need the way I see it.
FalconShould there be a Law?
Are you aware that 15" are fuck fail for portable laptop? (and 17" are even worse of course). That's why some people are waiting for a Macbook (Pro or not) at or under 13" as their personal saviour.
10-14" is where you get laptops, over that it's undersized desktop with batteries.
"The way we can tell it's C# instead of Haskell is because it's nine lines instead of two." -- wadler
if you want to preserve your virility and still use a macbook pro on your lap, use iLap. Sinve I got it, there is no more reason for me to stand up from the couch and sit in front of a desktop computer ;-)
Very true: the MacBookPro gets VERY warm, VERY quick. In fact, in all honesty, I have probably forfeited my ability to have children.
Worth it. Totally worth it.
Best. Laptop. Ever. And before anyone says "mac fanboy" (no contest) let me at least say that this is my first Apple since my IIe circa '85.
barack to the future?
Laminated, obviously.
By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
MacBook has the word "MAC" in it. That's Apple's very expensive brand name, and they would do very well to promote it. They learned this from the auto industry.
"What kind of car do you drive?"
No one says "oh, I drive an SC 430." They just say, "I drive a Lexus.
Focus the brand!
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
Why dual boot when you can virtualize?
"The way we can tell it's C# instead of Haskell is because it's nine lines instead of two." -- wadler
I work at Apple and can confirm that there will be Intel processors in this line-up of notebooks. Hope this valuable information helps.
Full Tilt
Perhaps Jobs is sitting in his execs chair reading /. stroking his white cat and laughing manically as his latest plan comes together.
So that means its safe sex. Right?
"Pro" does not mean "bigger screen." I want a 12" or 13" laptop (actually, I'd take a 10" or 11" laptop if it was superhighrez), but I also want non-integrated graphics, backlit keyboard, gigabit ethernet, lots of video out options, and so on.
The most important feature in a laptop is portability. I don't want a fucking iBook. I want the smallest fully-featured PowerBook imaginable, and, ideally, I want it to have 1600x1200 even on a 12" screen (OK, perhaps that's hyperbole. But 1280x1024 at minimum. Fuck 1024x768.)
Why can't Apple just make it happen? I don't want to lug around a 15" machine just to get all the real features.
Um, Apple always outsourced their CPUs. Motorola/Freescale made the G3s and 4s, and IBM made the G5s. Before that Motorola made the 680x0s. Apple was a member of the PowerPC alliance and got some input that way, but Motorola and IBM made the chips. The extent of Apple's pull was revealed when IBM didn't produce a notebook G5 or even keep up with Steve's processor speed promises, and Motorola stagnated on the G4.
You seem to think that the processor makes a Mac. It doesn't. Apple may well keep up with Intel speed bumps but that doesn't mean they have to make a big product announcement every time. Apple commonly tweaks their product lines with little or no fanfare and their real innovation has always been outside the processor.
Rosetta chip? What?
The myth that they are 'design' machines really needs to die. Maybe back in the late 80s, when the only WYSIWYG DTP software available was on the Mac, but the Adobe, Macromedia and Quark software used by most 'design' types has long been designed / developed in a cross-platform way. By numbers, there is more design software on the PC.
I don't really think there is a lot that makes the Mac an inherently better platform for 'design' - or rather, I don't think there is anything that makes the Mac a better platform for design that doesn't ALSO apply to other fields.
As for software support in general - as a software developer who uses both PCs and Macs, I've not found myself stuck for anything. I use different programs on both machines, but you can achieve the same functionality on both platforms. Sometimes I find myself cursing not having Expose, Xylescope, native PDF support or the Omni apps on the PC. Sometimes, as with Oracle XE, the problem is in the other direction.
If you're not a troll, I'd suggest developing a bit of curiosity towards the systems you use, and a bit of flexibility with your tools - it could pay dividends for your career.
'Capitalists of the world, unite! Oh
Actually, it's not a Rosetta chip. It's a Rosetta stone. For some reason, Apple decided to put a small engraved stone inside every Intel Mac. This stone is read by a very tiny scribe that lives inside the computer and translates instructions on the fly for the processor. The scribe gets bored after a couple of hours, hence the inclusion of the iSight camera on top of the screen of most of their new models to allow him to get a view of the outside world, like a periscope, and the lackluster performance of the Mac mini: the scribe can see nearly nothing, which makes him angry. He has to move to the IR receiver for the remote control to watch something else than a hard drive or his personal stone.
Dude, as much as I like HP stuff; they son't make Toughbooks. Panasonic does.
I'm guessing the cat is black. Otherwise you would see white cat hair on his black turtleneck sweaters at the keynotes.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
I've been using an Apple machine in one way or another since 1987, when my family got an Apple IIGS. I've never owned a PC. I've had an LC, an LC II, a Centris 660av (the machine of the true believer), a PowerMac 7500 (that lasted through so many upgrades by the end it had no original parts left except the case and power supply), a white iBook, PowerBooks 180c, 520c, Wallstreet II G3 and Al G4, and a Sawtooth G4 (I got lucky and got one of the original 450MHz ones, before the speeds were reduced.)
Right now I have the PB G4 and a Core Duo Mini. I sold the G4 tower (it was also pumped full of upgrades) and just about made enough to cover the cost of the mini--try doing that with a 6 year old PC.
Here's my point--the Core Duo Mini is the coolest piece of Apple kit I've used since OS X 10.2 came out and I switched over permanently. The 1.66 Duo is enough faster than the 1.25 G4 in my PowerBook that I have started to complain about the PowerBook. The OS feels tighter, somehow. I've never had a single problem with Rosetta, apart from a few PrefPanes and plug-ins not loading, which was expected. Mundane things, like browsing in Safari, are hilariously faster. Harder things, like transcoding video, are noticeably quicker. Parallels is nice to have around, even if I never use it.
If the new Macbooks are this good, they're going to be the biggest hit Apple's ever had, particularly at the college level. I don't know any non-geek students who still buy desktops, and the speed and polish of the MacBook coupled with the whole BootCamp/Parallels thing is going to wow a lot of people. I was initially hesitant about the Intel thing, but it really has breathed a whole new life into Apple's product line.
london is drowning and i live by river
Are you modeling the universe? Mapping the human genome? Folding proteins (and I'm not talking about 'folding@home').
I hate to break it to you, but 64-bit isn't 'faster' than 32-bit...
We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
I put up with control-click under System 7, under OS 8, under OS 9, and it's ALWAYS been one of the things that pissed me off the most about Apple... their declaration that one mouse button was enough for anyone, alongside this ongoing addition of extra mouse buttons on the keyboard. It's purely hypocritical... if remembering whether to use the right or left button is Too Hard, then remembering whether to use control, shift, command, or option is no improvement.