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Apple Unveils New Macbook
Several readers have written in to mention that Apple has released the new Macbook on their site. Yahoo! has details from the press release: "With prices starting at just $1,099, the MacBook lineup includes three models: a 1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz MacBook in a newly designed, sleek white enclosure and a 2.0 GHz MacBook in a stunning new black enclosure. The new MacBook offers performance up to five times faster than the iBook and up to four times faster than the 12-inch PowerBook with a completely new system architecture including a 667 MHz front-side bus and 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory expandable to 2GB."
...FireWire is present, as it is on all new Intel-based Macs to date, proving that FireWire isn't going anywhere (anytime soon, anyway) on Apple's computer products. It also totally shatters Jason O'Grady's ridiculous predictions that "FireWire is gone completely from the new Intel iBooks", which were widely accepted as fact. Of course, it made zero sense at that time, too, but that didn't stop it from spreading around the net like wildfire.
;-)
Note also that the MacBook features the Core Duo, not Core Solo, and the screen resolution has increased from 1024x768 on the old 12" iBook and PowerBook to 1280x800.
With the array of connectivity (mini DVI also supports VGA, S-Video, and composite), built-in Bluetooth and 802.11a/b/g (yes, a is included and supported by the OS), the ability to boot Windows natively or use Windows (or other x86 OSes) in virtualization, for just over $1000, this looks to be a great deal.
It appears that some of the traditional differences between the "iBook" and "PowerBook" line are shrinking even more; I wouldn't be surprised if there was no 12" MacBook Pro based on the new MacBook's specifications.
One hopes that Apple is applying a reasonable amount of thermal paste on the new MacBooks.
Apple's website saying the family is complete has no bearing at all on whether we can expect any new arrivals- it's not like they'd put "coming soon" and hurt the sales of the current products.
DVI, VGA, S-video and composite out all require adapters (sold separately, of course).
Lies about crimes
Not to mention their second screen praising. Catch is that any option you would like to use has been sold separately.
Signature Pro version 1.13.2-3 release 83.5 beta3try7 after-breakfast edition
Nice.
I wonder what does Dell charge for a built in hi-res webcam, slot loading optical, 1.08 inch wide "my 5 year old just stepped on it" resistant case, scrollpad, iLife and OS X.
Now it looks even worse for Dell.
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
It's late May, HS graduation is around the corner and here comes Apple with its flagship college laptop. At this price point, and with these specs, I'm pretty sure Apple won't be able to fill demand. A it's an $1100 Apple engineered laptop with built-in webcam, wifi and bluetooth that can also run Windows (and run it VERY well) - AWESOME. Sure, nobody's going to be playing games on it - nobody ever bought an Apple laptop to play games before (generalization) - but 90% of college students aren't CS majors and there are probably more people interested in the iSight web cam then in 3D performance.
Not too big, not so small that you can't see the screen, with a LOT of horsepower under the hood and the incredible iLife package to boot. The only comparable performance/form factor laptops I can find after a cursory search are $1700+ VAIOs, so the price point is pretty great too. If I were a betting man, I'd be putting a buy order on some Apple stock today.
(All this said, the only one I would ever think about getting is the lowest-end model and dropping in some extra RAM.)
Or maybe they think that you should pay the 17.5% VAT your government imposes (Tax is not included in US prices, but traditionally IS included in UK prices). This should have been obvious to you, as the Apple UK store even gives you the prices "ex vat": 637.45, 765.11, 875.74. I did the math at today's rate, and the 875.74 comes out to about $1650usd. Which means that you're paying about $150 in import fees and tarriffs.
Apple isn't screwing you. Your government is taxing the shit out of you. Deal with it, or change it.
With a much better OS?
I'm not sure what you value your time at, but I don't have the time nor CPU cycles to run spyware detectors, malware detectors, virus & trojan detectors, etcetera. I also don't have the time to f*ck with a corrupted registry nor to format/reinstall the OS along with all the software/drivers every 6 months just because I decide to use the comuter. I'll probably settle for a simple firewall though.
I bought 2 macs for my parents after I was tired of doing the above and more everytime I came to their house. I run Linux, Mac, and Windows myself and if I ever move off a Ubuntu, I'll consider a Mac before any Windows.
Because being cheap is going to cost me more in the end.
I was really hoping Apple would step up and try to develop one. The Win Tablet market is so inadequate.
Integrated graphics?
It's the low-end consumer machine. Having integrated graphics is common, just look at other machines in the same price range.
Shipping with 2xSODIMMS? (meaning your tossing out both)
The intel chipset used needs paired RAM chips for reasonable performance.
Black is essentially a premium color? It cost more that the system below it with a $50 upgrade to the HDD.
You were expecting it to cost less than the model below it? Yup it's a $50 hard drive upgrade and tax on the fashion conscious. If you don't like it, don't pay it.
Not good enough.
...then don't buy it. What is the point of complaining here that a machine doesn't have the specs you want?
Larger display == better notebook? How do you figure?
I buy one of these, I buy it BECAUSE it has a small display. The same reason I bought my 12-inch iBook. If you offered me a choice, one of these or the 17-inch Pro model, for free, I would take the 13-inch (barring selling the 17 and using the money to buy the 13 of course). I want my notebook to be portable; I already have a desktop machine that is a pain to lug around, I don't need another.
/usr/games/fortune
The black MacBook also comes with an extra 20GB of storage space (80GB standard in the block vs. 60GB standard in the white). This either explains the price difference or allows Apple to obscure the actual price premium for black, depending on how cynical you're feeling.
The only comparable performance/form factor laptops I can find after a cursory search are $1700+ VAIOs, so the price point is pretty great too.
You can get a similarly equipped Dell E1405 for about $800. The only thing missing is a webcam, but an USB webcam would cost you $25.
But then, when I was in college... I bought Levi Jeans. Some students can afford to spend twice as much for designer labels.
G4 PowerBooks were dog slow until the day they announced the MacTels. And please don't accuse me of trolling when Apple themselves is now claiming a 5x increase in speed!
Yes, because as chips get faster in the future, we realize that we were total chumps for buying such slow, expensive chips in the past. You had an Apple II? What a chump you were for paying so much money for a slow old 6502 processor. You had a 80486 PC? You should have just waited for the Core Duo!
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
Okay, so it's not just me. I saw that on the page and did a double take. I really don't like the look of glossy screens. I've been seeing more and more on Windows laptops and I've always thought, "God, I'm glad my laptop isn't like that." I prefer the matte and I hope Apple isn't moving away from that.