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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."
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.
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.
Nintendo's game console is going to get a lot of attention, but in the whole scheme of things, getting the MacBooks out this week rather than next week could mean millions of dollars in additional revenue.
Print outs.
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.
"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.