Hands-On With the New MacBooks

Paige Philuer writes "Macworld has a hands-on article examining the new MacBook and MacBook Pro — not a quickie look from Tuesday's event, but a lengthy, in-depth look with laptops they actually have in their offices. Some interesting observations: No FireWire on the MacBook; the TrackPad doesn't feel like you're running your finger across a pane of glass, though that's what it is; and switching between graphics cards in the MacBook Pro requires you to log out." Reader Bourbon contributes three links at CNET related to the new models, too: a positive written review (giving a score of 8/10 to the new MacBook), a video review, and a behind-the-scenes look at how the new models are machined.

Comments

Re:Graphics switching disappointing beside Lenovo

[niteice]

Apple doesn't use X. They probably didn't have time to fix WindowServer before launch, but I'd imagine that it will be fixed for Snow Leopard.

Re:Brightness

[ceoyoyo]

The LED backlights seem to dim better than the old fluorescent ones did. My not-quite-latest-generation-now MBP with LED backlight works just fine in a dark room and goes nice and bright for a non-dark room.

Re:Who cares about the hard drive

[Jophiel04]

You should take a gander at the user manual for the new MacBooks, as the RAM is user replaceable. http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/MacBook_13inch_Aluminum_Late2008.pdf As for your rant about the hard drive, this is a great move.

Do you realize what the most likely component on any given laptop to fail is? Setting aside occasional bad crops of GPUs, logic boards, the most likely component in a laptop to fail is the hard drive. Making replacing that simpler and easier is a great idea. In addition, apple charges ridiculous prices on their upgrades, so making yet another component in the machine readily user replaceable is both technically useful and empowers the consumers to make more relevant choices for themselves.

MacBook Hardware

[SLOviper]

More information at ifixit.com with complete tear-aparts as usual:
MacBook: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/First-Look/Mac/MacBook-Unibody
Pro: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/First-Look/Mac/MacBook-Pro-Unibody

Re:Brightness

[CODiNE]

It's not a real solution but holding control option command and 8 inverts the color making the screen a negative. Works well at night when you want to keep the light level down.

Re:Two separate NVIDIA GPUs?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I'm frankly rather surprised at the limitations on switching. Sony has been pushing the dual GPU stuff on their higher end laptops for a while, and if Sony, who basically shoves other people's hardware and software into pretty boxes, can get an Nvidia part to work properly on a Microsoft OS(Vista no less), than I would have expected Apple to have it together on their own OS.

I assume it'll come sooner or later.

Just bought the 15" MacBook

[mlts]

My quick comments while I'm erasing the hard disk and reinstalling it: (I always erase the HDD on all new machines to check for any SMART errors, and to know that the install is clean)

First, the package it comes in is 20% smaller than the black MacBook's tote box. Styrofoam is a thing of the past, replacing it is plastic. Its easy to pull out the MacBook and peel off the plastic on it, easy to yank out the power adapter, but you have to use a thin piece of cardboard to pull the OS media box out as it is set flush, with no fingertip grips to make it easier. This is a very minor thing, though.

Second, the MacOS CDs are not 10.5.0 as with the black MacBook. You get 10.5.5, and a DVD with the applications.

Third, like every article says, if you need FireWire for mLAN or other music tasks, go for a Pro, or hit Apple Refurb for a previous model. FireWire is a thing of the past with this model. For what I'm using it for, the two USB ports are good.

Fourth, its noticably thinner than the MacBook it replaced. Its not thin enough to slide into an envelope, but its definitely able to be slipped in a briefcase. Its definitely a nice student notebook for sling through classes.

Fifth, I personally have not noticed any significant changes to the screen between the previous generation, but I'm glad Apple went this route, because LEDs supposedly have a much longer life than the CCFL backlights.

Those are my first impressions for now, while I blank the disk on it. Overall, for what I need it for (slinging it around campus) it should do the job well.

Re:Mini DisplayPort is not a standard

[p0tat03]

I don't buy it either. Has Apple seen an HDMI port? It's downright tiny AND carries audio data (would work great if you want to put a movie on your TV!)... DisplayPort might be the new hotness, but HDMI is well-established, with lots of hardware and software support, and is small enough that Apple really wouldn't miss the room.

Re:Who cares about the hard drive

[MojoStan]

The latch is locked when the kensington cable is in. I don't remember where I read this, but I'm 100% positive.

Just to make other readers 100% HIV positive, here's one place I read this: "Hands on with the Macbook/Pro's removable hard drive".

From TA:

• "First, the battery cover is now removed with a latch instead of the old rotational lock that required a coin to turn. Secondly, the Kensington lock port, when activated, will also lock this latch and keep anyone from stealing your battery, and more importantly your removable hard drive."

I'm surprised anyone would complain about an easy-to-replace hard drive on a Mac. Some current and previous model Macs make it a pain in the arse to replace the hard drive.